THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2769, 12 May 1916, Page 7

THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

ONE TOPIC—THE WAR DOMINION'S GREAT ACHIEVEMENT D. H. GUTHPJE (Oroua)' opened the Address-in-Keply debate at 7.30 p.m. lie thought the speakers in tho debate would be well advised to follow the good example set by His Excellency, and corfjuo their remarks to one subject onlv and that the war. He hoped that nieml bers would speak earnestly of those things in which they might assist New Zealand and <he Empire in the great turmoil in which we were now engaged. The Speech referred to the great record of gallantry-achieved-by the Australians ami New Zealanders in the Gallipoli campaign And this was no time for criticism of .that campaign., Many families were sorrowing the loss of dear 'ones who laid down their lives in the terrible fightiii" there, but lie hoped and believed that time would heal those wounds, and that to those who were mourning now would come happiness in the thought that their men had laid down their lives in a great cause. One result of the war had been tho setting up of. National Governments in different parts of the Empire. Here our National Government haduvon tho regard and esteem of the people of the Dominion, and lie believed that what had happened in this connection would be productive of great good in the politics of the luture. It would make tho rival parties more tojerant of each other, and make for a better feeling generally, Fortunately for us we were enjoying prosperous times, and the earnestness and diligence of the Ministry hau contributed' to our happy state in no small degree, especially in ensuring that facilities would not bo lacking for the-trans-port of our commodities to the Home markets. He hoped this state of affairs would continue. For the year just closed wo had achieved a record never before approached in production and export. Our trade had reached tho rein'arkablo amount of in value, equal to M!) lis. 9d. per head of population, a record unapproaelied by any other part of the Empire. Thjs was a matter for congratulation, showing the resource aiid

industry of our population, when this remarkable result could be obtained even after so many of our men had gone to serve the Enipiro in battle with the enemy. Over_ 75 per cent, of our pruduofs came directly from the land, and several millions .more came indirectly from the land. A good deal was said oil occasion about .-the good fortune of the farmer, but: the fact was that a majority.of our fanners had their noses to the grindstone always, and were unable to see more than three months ahead how they were .to..meet their engagements. The bulk of the money made for New Zealand was being made by very hardworking men indeed. He spoke also, of the fruitgrowing industry, predicting a great future "for it. He hoped that the Government would do something more to/ asist in ' the establishment on a sound footing of this industry. The Defence Administration. New Zealand' hud'much to be proud of in regard to the work she luid dono to help 'tho Umpire with fully-trained fighting men. Ho would not decry the Defenco Department because of somo little things ot which' he did not approve. He had had little grievances against the administration, but they were of Small moment by comparison with the general result. Our task was a difficult one, for the reason that we had had no organisa-tion-on which to build. Long ago, when it was suggested by the Defence -Minister that we should prepare to train an expeditionary force of 8000 men the suggestion was ridiculed. But New Zealand had now sent 50,000 men, who had won fame for New Zealand on the hills of Gallipoli, and who would yet win honour ivith tho armies in Prance. No man cculd have carried through such a task as the raising and equipping of such an army and come out scatliless, and the Defence Minister deserved full credit for iiis discharge of his very important and very onerous duties. Some people were not satisfied with the provision we were making for our soldiers in tlio matter of pensions. It was /true that we were doing more than other countries, but that should not be our standard. "Wo should aim nt making as generous provision as wo could afford. He was very pleased to note that provision was - being made by which land could be fouud for soldiers when they camo. back from the war. Many of these men had come from 'tho land, and. when they came back and' left the Army they-.would bo glad to settle on. land again. Blocks of very suitable land had been secured for settlement- by soldiers. . ■

Ho was suro that when Sir Joseph Ward made his statement of the state ot our finances, honourable members would, bo. gratified with tlie satisfactory result lie, would be able to show. There had been careful and economical administratjon, and great credit was due to the right honourable gentleman and his "oolleagiies(for their careful' and'watchful regard. for the Dominion's affairs. ROBUST PATRIOTISM. "LAST MAN AND LAST SHILLING." Mr. G. W. FORBES (Hurunui) congratulated tho mover ' on the very line tone of his addres.s • The occasion was . unique. There had never been beiore a National Government in , New Zealand, add a great change had certainly 6otue over., the tone of the speeches' of politicians in Parliament. Much good had been, done by the National' Government, and the members of it deserved all, credit, for- the inaaiier in which they' had dropped thiir party strife—lio littlo' thing to do—and joined, in one Government, to carry ,on the greut .work lying to their hands. The one object of every meniber. of Parliament now should be to assist the Government in every , way to. do New Zealand's part ,iii. achieving successin. the war.' So they, would pre&eiit to the country'and i to. the world a united front. All had no doubt read, with pleasure and pride, in the speech of His Excellency, the congratulations of His Majesty 011 the valour and good soldiership of our men .'on .Gallipoli. That, campaign had had to be abandoned,'but it was a matter for .extremo satisfaction. that no word of complaint had been made about this withdrawal. Now our men. wera on the West front, and he believed that if steps were to be retraced it wpuld iiot be by our men, but by the'enemy. (Applause.) .. . . Compulsory Service.

As a farmer he approved very strongly of .the early, sitting of Parliament, ami he hoped tho precedent established would stand.' l't was common, knowledge that Parliament was called together to ]»s> a Compulsory Service Bill. It was very necessary that we should orgaliise along the very best lines-all our national resources. Under the voluntary system we had done very creditably indeed. New Zealand had raised large forces -under it, but the system had outrun its usefulness The time had been reached when -the sacrifice it called''upoli the people to make was very very unequal indeed.- - Some were making great sacrifices, and somo were making none at all. ■ The , time would come when we .should distribute the.sacrifices equally. To carry out our' pledge that we were with the Empire to. the last man and the last wo 6hould organise -' our manhood ■ resources to the fullest possible extents From Ills own experience of 'recruiting work lie was sure that the 1 measure would be well received by the community.. (Applause.) The voluntary system was not working fairly or equitably among men who had responsibilities, and these were the class of men who were left.. These men. were quite ready to serve as soon as things were put on a proper footing. (Hear, hear.) The country was prepared • for' a complete measure, an heroic measure, and he hoped that the Government would introduce such a measure as would be found to bo effective, and would not heed to be amended at auothpr special session of, Parliament. But now we were drawing- upon a class of men who were jnaking serious financial loss in going to the front, and leaving dependants behind, and we should do our best to make good to them the loss they were making. . It was said that. the pre-' sent pensions scheme was 'unsatisfactory, and that this was the cause of the failure of the voluntary. system. He had met men from his own district who had enlisted, and some who had returned from tbe war, anil he had. never heard: one word said by-any of them about the pay they were to get or the rate of pension. •Dr. Thacker: They .ire wealthy men. Mr. Forbes: They are not wealthy men who are going from my district., They are -working men. . . . But they are not of mercenary minds. It is.the men.who , are. talking for them that are of mercenary minds. (Applause.) When tho compulsory system was established, he continued, an Exemption Board would ho necessary. / He hoped the Government would not put on that Board "too much • of tho military element." . A Local Loan? We had said we. were in the war to the last man and the last shilling. . He wished to say a little about "the last shilling." He had read the speech of Sir Reginald M'Kcnna, in which- he said that owing; to the public spiritedness of the overseas Dominions the drain. upon the resources of the Mother Country was lessened. This announcement was cheered. When he read that he wished that jS'ew Zealand had been included in that reference and in those cheers. He knew the argument against local loans, but while he did not pose as ah expert in finance he did not accept them as sound. He believed that wo could raise a local loan, and so bear some small part of the Empire'l financial. burden. However, on this question lie would be guided in great measure by the experience and judgment of the Minister of Finance: But Australia had given us a good lead. She knew what her. state would be after the war, but she had shown courage. He nolioved that New Zealand had as much courage as Australia, and thai) a local loan would be well received. One suggestion lie made-was that interest 011 a' war loan should not be free of incomo tax. He also urged that we should in these times make the best use of our unexampled prosperity by raising such revenuo as would assure Us a reserve to meet the depression after the war. The country was in a heroic mood, and would support the Government in any just taxation proposals that m'iglit be introduced. Land for Soldiers. Referring to the question of land for returned soldiers, he said the Primo Minister would find the House sympathetic to any proposal to find land for such men. Every effort should be made to help every man who desired to get on the land. Preparations should-be i.eguii for receiving the Main Body. Tho me'n coming' back now il'ere few, but tho time was

coming when the men would return in their thousands, lie believed a special Department should be set up, with a special' Minister in charge of it, for the work was too big to continue as at present under the guidance of such, a busy man as the Prime Minister. Tho men would not bo content with "the skim-milk of settlement" in tho shape of. barren ridges, while the cream of the land was held by the men who stayed at home. I'ruit farming was one branch which would probably appeal to the returned soldier. The orchards now planted would yield 'tremendously in the future*, and it would bo obligatory upon the Department of Agriculture to find markets for that produce; Thousands of acres in the north of Auckland were eminently suited for fruit growing, and the Government should prepare that land for occupancy. by the soldiers.

lie appreciated the lead given by tin mover m the brevity of his speech, anc he proposed to follow it, although h< would like .'to discuss such questions a; trade relations- with the Mother Countrj and 'trade after tho Avar. He believet that this latter question should not. Ix left till'.after the war/and therefore .h< was glad to noto'the confcrcuces "\vk\cl were being held in Europe. This wai a war of organisation and machinery, anc it was for this Parliament to make this Dominion efficient and productive. Om of the best ways o£ doing that was t< see that nothing was done to bring tin National Government into disrepute. Th< best side of the Government should bi shown to the people—that was what m done in party politics, and it should bi continued even in the days-of the Na tional Government. He had much plea sure in -seconding the . motion for thi Address-in-Beply. (Applause.) War Exploitation. Mr. A. HAIiRIS (Waitemata), after're ferring to the benefits of the Nationa Governinent, touched ■ upon the ; cost o living, and urged tlmt steps should 1> taken to prevent exploitation of the'peo pie. Attention shculd also be ' directei to the big war profits "which were bem| made by some trading firms. The Gov ernm-eut should act in this matter, aw see 'that such' iirnls bore a' fair propor tion'of the cost of war: Pleas for economy had been made, and he believed the conn try was prepared-to submit to economy On behalf of his own,district, lie offered if other members would do tho same, no to ask the Minister' of Public 'Works fo/ a single peuliy of flew money fof road: and; bridges. He did not seo tho neoes 'sity'for raising a public, works loan with ; in ;. the Dominion-' The proposei i Compulsion Bill" should hove-..-: beer , introduced a year. ago. The 1 voluii' tary- system . had dismally . failed, , good as it was in times of peace. • He paid'a tribute to'the work of the De- : fence Department and to tho Minister of Defence, who was a much-maligned man, as would be shown full well in the future. Probably fewer, mistakes,- liad ■ been made, in New Zealand than in. any other part of the- Empire, "and he Relieved that the peoplo of New Zealand were.now realising.tho value of the. great work- which the Defence Minister had done., • ■ . The Cost of Living. Mr. .C. lI.'.POOLE- .(Auckland West) charged the Government with a studied "delay in carrying out the pledgo given at tiie tinio of the formation of tho National 1 Government to deal-with tho cost of living. There was. no' moral, commercial, or national justification for any Parliament to 'permit exploitation of the peoplo, during the'time of War. Jit 'was high time to remove this , unrest from -t'lo heart of tho Dominion, arid give the people tliiit confidence "which was' ne'e'e'spr.ry to carry.on the war. lln reference to. the tributes paid to . the' Hon. Mr. Allen, ho declined, to believe I 'the suggestion that when ho came" in to. power'there was .110 organisation in the'country in relation to defence. Ho contended' that the party which was in power before laid the foundations, of the mechanism which produced that magnificent army which won immortal fame onGallipoli. He condemned the. methods adopted' for the 'rfiising of patriotic funds, and especially the. sending of the'Minister'of Internal. Affairs "round the back-door to collect the-.shekels,", .with there-suit that at 'the present : time .th<jse funds were being drained'of .money that should be found by the Government. The people of tho country would .not tolerato, ho said''further,.any lackadaisical policy 111 tho treatment of the cost of living. . On the compulsory service proposal. lie said lie believed , in the commando system by which , each area could be made-respon-sible, either by ..'voluntaryism or conscrip : tion,- for its quota. Because of tin. Government's various delays and omissions the people of the country were suspicious-of the Government's conscription proposals, as they feared discrimination. " . 1 !',. -

Mr. Miissey: That is a very.'\wrong liing'.to say.' . •; ■;

Mr. Poole: I am, putting tho ease', as I. believ6 it.. He said, further, to the Minister ,of Defence that a sneer at* proposal was ijot adequate compensation for a'suggestion. made: with a view to solving difficulties.. ... Mr. Allen: T,here aro no difficulties. We are .getting over them. all. '"■ . •' Mr. Poole: Oh, ho; you .are not out' of the wood yet. I ..wish j'ou were. . The Minister, he said, had .no soul. If lie had • more 'thcro would be fewer difficulties. V Mr. Allen: My soul. is. not in , your keeping'.., Mr. Poole: lam glad it'is not. ;'. At 9.23 tlie primes Minister moved tlie" adjournment'' of ...the debate, • and ' the House rose.