BAY OF ISLANDS SEAT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2468, 22 May 1915, Page 6

BAY OF ISLANDS SEAT

e — CAMPAIGN BEGINS SPEECH BY HON. A. L. HERDMAN OUR AMAZING PROSPERITY (By Telegraph—Special Correspondent.) Rawer?, May 21. • What is really the commencement of the fight in connection with tho byelection for the Bay of Islands seat was a speech delivered in the County Hall, Rawene, to-night by the Attorney-Gen-eral (the Hon. A. L. Herdman), followed by a few remarks by tho selected candidate of the Reform Party (Mr. William Stewart). The hall was well filled, and Mr. 11. G. Cochrane, chairman <jf the Hokianga County Council, presided. In the course of his opening remarks Mr. Herdman regretted that Parliament and the country were to be denied the services of tho late member for the district (Mr. Vernon Reed), to whose work ho paid a. tribute. Proceeding with his address tho Minister said that in these times of stress and struggle he thought it would have been infinitely better had tho two candidates for the Bay of Islands seat been permitted to canr on the battlo without any intervention from outside, but in view of the fact that the Leader of the Opposition had entered the territory and started the campaign on behalf of his side in politics, it had been considered necessary by the Government that anything Sir Joseph Ward had had to say should be replied to, and he had como up to tlie Bay of Islands to put the Government side of politics before the electors of the district. (Applause.) • Sir J. C. Ward and the Ceneral Eleotions. He quite agreed with the Leader of the Opposition in the view that he held that the General Election, taking place during the timo that our nation was engaged ill a life-and-death struggle was undesirable, but he was afraid that the right- noil, gentleman, possibly through a lapse of memory on his part, had hardly considered the position of the Government with accuwcy,i Ho had noticed that Sir Joseph Ward had said at a meeting which lie addressed_ that it was against his (Sir Joseph Ward's) wish that the General Election was held at the usual timo. He (the speaker) would like to place what actually transpired in connection with the matter accurately before the people of the electorate. Some little time after war broke out a conference was held between Sir Joseph Ward and some members of his party, and Mr. Massey and some members of his party to consider what should be done about the General Election. The conference was held in the Koyal Oak Hotel, Wellington because of the then indisposition of Sir Joseph Ward. At that coilterence the right hon. gentleman suggested that the General Election should be postponed till the end of March, 1910, or possibly April, when, if peace had not been proclaimed, Parliament could meet and decide what to do. The Government considered such a proposal continued Mr. Herdnian quite unsatisi i r /v and suggested that there should be a postponement of the session for twelve months, anid that if in the meantime peace was proclaimed, then the General Election could take place immediately after the proclamation of peace. That proposal was not agreed to by the other side, and the negotiations fell through. On September 22 last Sir Joseph Ward made a speech m tho House, in which he made a statement to the effect that it would be far better to defov the election until at least March of next year, aud further on in his speech, .Mr. Herdman said, there was the statement "that if at tlie end' of March it was found that circumstances connected with the war were unfavourable, it would bo an easy matter to dofer tho election for another three months."

A Reasonable Proposal, The proposal which tlio Government made, proceeded tho speaker, was a perfectly reasonable one, and had it been accepted there woild have been no General Election in December, and no by-election to light at the present time. The conditions proposed by Sir Joseph Ward were such as no reasonable body of men could possibly accept. TL\e Minister then went on to refer to the conditions in New Zealand arising out of tho war, and what had been dono by tho Government to meet them. When war was declared, he said, it was confidently predicted by many people that there would be confusion and panic and grave dislocation in the country, involving individual loss, and that the community would suffer. Thanks to the prudent steps which had been taken by the Administration since the outbreak of hostilities; not only had they been able to play their part in the actual struggle with considerable success, and with great credit to tho young men who were actually in the firing line, but the business of the country had been carried on with complete success, and tho people of New Zealand to-day were probably moro prosperous than they had even been in tho history of the Dominion. (Applause.) Amazing Prosperity. The prosperity that existed at the present juncture was amazing. It would, ho thought, interest the setlers of the district to know that the value of the total exports of the Dominion for the year ending March 31 last amounted to £27,476,000, as against only £23,471,000 for the corresponding period last year, an increase amounting to £4,000,000. (Applause.) Since the war began, a period of ten months, the value of the imports from New Zealand amounted to £22,564,000, being an increase of £2,583,000 over tho corresponding period of tho previous year. The figures he had quoted showed that tho trade of tho. Dominion had been very little disturbed, because, notwithstanding that war was raging, we had been able to increase the value of our exports by an additional £4,000,000, which amount would gradually bo distributed among tho i citizens of tho Dominion. Perhaps the most reliable barometer which could bo relied upon to gauge the gcnoral prosperity of tlio average citizen of the country was the Post Office Savings Banks. On August 4, 1914, tho war commenced, and for the nine months ended April 30, 1915, the deposits in tho Savings Bank exceeded tho withdrawals by. £1,496,000. That, said the speaker, was a record for tho Dominion. Not only did it prove the remarkably fortunato condition of the people of the country, but it also demonstrated that public confidence in tho Post Oflieo Savings Bank was firmly, established. (Applause.) Cuarding Against Unemployment. Ono of the objects the Government had in view after the outbreak of war was to guard against unemployment as far as it was humanely possiblo to do so. Special caro had been taken to provide for the unemployed during tlio year, and in places like Cbristcliurch and Dunedin, where local bodies or other associations raised funds for tho purpose of providing against tlio danger of unemployment, the Government had subsidised thoso efforts on a £ for

C basis, and in some instances • special grants had been made involving in all, including the subsidies, the payment to Christchurch of £"300, iuid to Dunedin £1800. As a further safeguard, between 1500 and 2000 men had been placed on various public works, and provision of a similar character would bo made during the winter of this year. Steps would also bo taken by the administration to provide work for carpenters. masons, bricklayers, and painters. To afford help to the men of theso trades the Government had sanctioned more than the ordinary expenditure in tho renovation of mental hospitals, post offices, courts, and police stations and other public builaiiigs. It was interesting to compare the employment afforded by tho .Public Works Department for tho financial year ended March 31, 1915 (the war year), with that of the previous year, when the Empire was at peace. Tho total number of moil employed by that Department on railway construction, roads, and other works for tho last year amounted to 6271, as against 3989 in the previous year. (Applause.) The Government bad endeavoured to manago the affairs of this country in phenomenal times as if nothing phenomenal was happening. In that connection tlie settlers should know that the total expenditure of the Public Works Department, excluding liabilities on public buildings, railways, and roads, was £1,386,000, which was not to bo considered a bad record for war time. (Applause.) Ho supposed thai it was well within the knowledge of tho peoplo of the Bay of Islands district that tho Government was called upon to perform the responsible task of purchasing the whole of tho meat output iu New Zealand for the Imperial authorities. Tho Government had entered upon this big undertaking on March 4 last, and between that time and May 14 it had shipped to England 92,498 quarters of beef, 625,505 carcasses of mutton, ana 803,505 carcasses of lamb. The total payments made to date on behalf of the Imperial authorities for the purchase of meat amounted to the large sum of £1,536,893. (Applause.)

The Minister, in explaining the naval policy of the Government, paid a glowing tribute to the British and Australian navies, and the gallantry displayed by the New Zealanders at the Dardanelles. He said that those whose sons had fallen had the warmest sympathy of all the people of the Dominion. (Applause.) The Minister concluded his speech amidst applause, and on the motion o! Mr., J. W. Davis, seconded by Mr. E. Ferguson, was nccordod a hearty vote of thanks for his address. A vote of confidence ill the , Massey Government was also carried, followed by three cheers foi Air. Hordman.