WELLINGTON WORTH BY-ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 131, 20 February 1918, Page 8

WELLINGTON WORTH BY-ELECTION

lilt LUKE'S CAMPAIGN

MEETING AT NORTHLAND

Mr. J. P. Luke, the National Gow ernmeiit candidate for Wellington North, addressed a crowded . meeting at Northland last night. Mr. \V. Clark presided.

At Hie outset Mr. Luke expressed sympathy for the ex-member ior the district, Sir. Justice llerdman, in hie bereavement, saying that he wins sure he was voicing the opinion of £lio meeting in saying that there would be- wide- j spread sympathy throughout the ■whole district for Mr. lierdman. Mr. .Luke said that he had been forced, as had other members of the community, to become a supporter of conscription as the- only means by which this' country j could equitably discharge its obligations in regard to the supply of men for the winning of this war. The. recruiting effort in the days of. the voluntary system had beeu conducted with energy, and it had been remarkably effective, but before tho time of the passing of the Military Service Act tho j need had come for some more effectivo I eystem of applying the strength of the country to the task in hand. The nnvilegcs enjoyed by the people- of the country curried with them responsibilities, and every man should near his Bhnro of the bur'den. He spoke in praise of the management of tho camps, saying that although they wero often adversely criticised in our own country, it was the universal opinion of visitors to the Dominion that the camps_ were equal to anything of the. kind in any part of. the worM, and superior to most similar institutions in other parts of the Empire. He exjpreseeu approval also of the orgamisajtion for taking care of tho men returned sick or wounded to this country from tho fighting fronts. Mr. Luke dealt at some lengtli, -with the cost of living. It was often said that,the cost of living in New Zealand had been allowed to rise to a level that would not be tolerated 1 in other countries, hut figures did not bear out this statement. He had ab■■'taincd a table showing the increases that had occurred in the prices of the necessaries of life in all countries of the world from which this information could be obtained, and the figures very very favourable to New Zealand. It was calculated that up till the end I of October, 1917, there had been an j increase in the cost of living in New [ Zealand of 27 per cent., in Australia j of 29 per cent., "United States 40 per cent., Canada 37 per cent., Japsu> G6' per cent., Italy 72 per cent., Sweden 81 per cent., United Kingdom. 102 per cent., Netherlands 81 per cent., Germany 109 per cent., Norway ]10 per cent., and Austria 173 per cent. Ho Baid that the. Government had done eery well to arrange for the purchase by the Imperial Government all our food products usually exported. By this means all the commodities so much needed for the war were prooured by the Imperial Government at prices which, while they paid the New Zealand grower very well, were yet much below the current market values. On. the other hand the business had been handled with a degree- of efficiency which would have been impossible under private enterprise, and farmers nrid other people , interested in the business had been enabled to arrange their finance with tho minimum .of anxiety.

IMr. Lnltc answered a tiumber of qupstions, none of them very important, and the meeting closed with a vote of tlinnks to the candidate for-his nddress. This resolution, whioh was carried hy acclamation, was tlie only proposition put to the meeting. '

MR. HOLLAND'S SPEECH

Mr. H. Holland, the Labour-Social-ist candidate, addressed a large meeting in the Methodist Schoolroom, Moles-worth Street, last night. The hall was filled and some people were unable t'o obtain admission. The chair was taken by Mr. P. C. Webb, M.1 , . Mr. Holland spoke on the Hues of his earlier election addresses. He made an appeal for the support of the Civil Servants, on the ground that the Labour Party would light for the increase of salaries and the improvement of conditions in the Public Service. Hβ considered it the duty of a member of Parliament, lie said, to give the Civil Servants everything they asked for, since they vyere the best judges of ; their own conditions, and he would pledge himself, if elected, to take his directions from the Civil Servants through their organisations, provided that the requests did not conflict with the principles of the Labour Party. The suggestion had been made that the victory of .an anti-conscription, "Bed Fed" candidate at the Wellington North by-election wculd be regarded as a triumph for the Germans. His own idea was that the result of the 'Wellington North by-election was not likely to reach Uerl'in. He denied that lie was a pro-German. Councillor Howard, one of the- Labour members of the Christchurch City Council, spoke in support of Mr. Holland's candidature. Ho urged tlio value of proportional representation as a means of securing to every party its fair share of representation ■in the local and national governing bodies. Mr. Holland was accorded a y<.te of thanks and confidence.

WRONG AGAIN

A Sf ATfcIiEXT BY MR. HOLLAND.

I Speaking at Northland on' Monday nijjiii, Mr. Holland nude mention of α^ailegei l case til hardsliip suffered by tin-, mother of a soldier. Mr. Mo'land said that many of our soldiers were coming back from the war uurvous wrecks, and sonio of them had been so afflicted mentally that they had had to be sent to lunatic asylums. One soldier of whom he had knowledge, an Australian who had enlisted in the New Zealand Forces, had boon lodged in Porirua on his return to thii country. This man hail left his allotments of pay to his mother while ho was away on service, - and when he returned to this country his mother came over here from Australia. There was an amount of £80 clue to her from the Defence Department, and she had not- received a penny of it. She had found also that money*was being deducted from the boy's pay to defray tlil< cost of his maintenance in the institution. ! This case was brought under the notice of the Minister of Defence yesterday. Ho said the statements were inrori-cct. "When members of the N.Z.K.F. are returned to New Zealand as mental patients, and are committed to a mental hospital," ho staid,- no deduction is made from their pay on account of charges for such treatment. Any allotment to a dependant is .continued so long as the soldier remains undischarged, but if his allotment were not to a dependant, payment would cease at the end of the month. prior to his arrival in Now Zealand, m accordance with our practice in repiini to- all returned members of tile- iNew Zealand Expeditionary Force. "Any deferred ot undrawn held pay standing to his credit could only be paid to the Public Trustee while the soldier remained in the mental hospital The only case in which a charge has been made against military pay for treatment was where the medical board found that the mental trouble

was due to the man's own misconduct, and not the result of military e«3» vice."

Inquiry from ilia Pensions Department brought the information that that Department know of only one effse in. which the Mental Hospitals Department liml asked for payment for the upkeep of a soldier patient in a. mental hospital, application being made to the man's father. He represented the matter to the board, and «, pension was a■.viirdcil sufficient to cover the cost of maintenance of the soldier in the institution.

SOLDIERS' VOTES

SPECIAL LEAVE TO BE CHANTED.

ilr. i'. Fra-scr, acting for the Labbur Representation Committee, recently approached the Prime Minister and the Minister cf Defence in regard to the matter of soldiers' votes, and a reply ha* beer, received that ercers have been issued to the effect that soldiers in the camps are to bo given special leave which will enable them to get Jα to Wellington and record their vote.

Mr. K Kennedy, secretary of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee, writes las follows:—"In the issue cf your papsr*to-day you publish a- statement that Comrade Doudall was ejected ior interrupting the meeting of: electors that was addressed by Mr. Luke at ihe Kelburn Kiosk last evening. In casL , the inference may bo drawn, or that some of th» electors at this meeting may think that Mr. Dowdall is connected with the Labour Party, I want to state that Mr. Dowdall'is not, arttf never has been, a member of the Labour Party. And as the Labour Party stands for fair play to all its opponents, I wish to repudiate and express oar disapproval at the action pf Mr. Dowdall in interrupts ing any gentleman who may be addressing any public meeting."

Mr. J. P. Luks will address the electors at St. Paul's Schoolroom, Tinalcori Road, this evening. A public, meeting for ladies only will be held in the Kelbuni Kiosk on Thursday evening, when addresses will be given by the Prime Minister, the Hon. D. li. Guthrie, and Mr. J. Hutcheson. Mr. A. de B. Brandon will speak' at the Masonic Hall, Boulcott Street, to-iiisht, and at Northland School' tomorrow evening. Mr, H. E. Holland will speak at the Kelbuni Kiosk to-night, St. Paul's Schoolroom, Tinakori Road, to-morrow evening, and at the Masonic Hall, Boulcott Street, on Friday evening. At noon to-day o. meeting will be held \in the Post Office Square.