WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 133, 22 February 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

MEETING OF LADIES

ADDRESSES BY MR. MASSEY AND

'-MR. GUTHRIE

MISSTATEMENTS CORRECTED

A PLAIN TALK I"

A meeting of .ladies in the interests /of the candidature;of Mr. J. P. Luke for, Wellington North was held in the Kelbum Kiosk last night. Mr. ,1. Hutcheson presided, and addresses were delivered by the Prime Minister (the •Right Hon. W. F. Massey), tho Hon. D. H. Guthrie, and Mr. Luke. There was a large and representative audience of ladies. . The Choice of a Candidate. Mr. Massey said hq was glad to havo'the opportunity of addressing this representative meeting of ladies of Wellington North, and or clearing up some of the points discussed in the last three weeks. He did not propose to indulge .Jn heroics, but to toll plainly some very plain, tiuths. He might have to tread on the toes of oiie or two people, but he would avoid personalities. He had been found fault with because he nomi'Bated Mr. Luke. For this he took full Responsibility, hut he did it after consultation with his colleagues and many of the people in Wellington North. And \o whorS should he have looked hut to the Mayor of the city in his search (for a candidate; the man holding the position of first citizen in the capital ■city of the Dominion, t3i© man who had Hone as much as any man in New Zealand to carry on its f-hare of the war? iThe Mayor held his position by the yoto of the peoole, and he (Mr. Masteey) hoped that by ! their votes he would flbe member, for, WeHiiiKtS»i North. . I . The Real Issue. Many side issues had been raised in {the Section; the real issue was whether Wellington North was to be an indication to the people of New Zealand and of the Empire that-New Zealand .was.prepared to carry on the policy on which it had embarked to help to save the Empire—the policy,of offering its \Jast man and last shilling. We were Dow up against the gravest crisis in tho history of the British people. Now •Zealand had taken the lead among the (Dominions, and of this he was extremely glad. Her soldiers had done well, and by their valour and good conduct .had won for their country a high placo among the nations of the Empire, possibly among the nation's of the world. He hoped that Wellington North would . jgive indication that it was not war ■weary, but-was with Britain and the British Empire until victory and the neace that it. would bring should come. :He,spoko of the., arrangement made when the National Government was

. formed, saying that the members of the Government had carried out the pact , 'to the letter. They had combined to ' 4/elp New Zealand to do her part in the war. They now asked the people of Wellington North to do their small part by returning a man who'had done his best'to help New Zealand in 'the war. Speaking of the wonien of the Empire, he said there was-never a war in ■which'the •women had' taken such a snlendid part. He had seen tens of thousands of women m England working in the munition 'factories, on the ifyrms. doing toilsome work, and doing it well. In New Zealand the sane onnortuii'ties did not occur, but the will was there, and they did well. Effect of the split vote. He spoke of Mr. Hadfield's attempt 'to ridicule the idea of Mr. Holland being elected. But Mr. Massoy said the possibility of Mr. Holland being elected must have been in his mind. It must have' occurred to bin''that the patriotic vote would be split, and that there was a possibility of a third man Slipping in between—a third man who is an opponent of conscription, a pacifist, a Red Fed., a- revolutionary Socialist. This was,the plain truth, and it would he an everlasting disgrace to the people of this constituencv if such a man were elected. And if he 'were elected"it''would be because of ' vote-splitting. . It.would, of course, be, a. slap. in thp face for the National • Government. The Government, would get.over that, but how would it be received by the.boys in the trenches?What would the boys" say if they read ■ 'that a man opposed to conscription and the win-the-war policy of the Government had been elected? Thev would say that the people had cone back on thsm. But the people of New Zealand Would not go back on them. (Applause.) The Trip Home, Suggestions had been made that his proposed trip Home with Sir Joseph Ward-would be useless. He assund the meeting that neither of then; wished to go Home, He ventured to fay, however, that their last trip had been ■ attended with most important results. For the first time representatives of the Dominions sat at the Imperial Council table, and history would do justice to this event as marking the opening of a new era in Empire government. There would be a great struggle over

the German possessions in the Pacific, and Now Zealand was vitally interested in the retention of these islands by Britain. On this account alone it was necessary that New Zealand -should he represented in England. He was nronared to do his duty hero, but if Par- , liament said he ought to go he would / goHire of Steamers. -Reference had been made to the large 'sums of money paid to the Union Steam Ship Company for hire of ships. But New Zealand had value tor this money. The big sums' paid included such- items as purchase of coal, and, hosts of expenses in connection with the running of the ships. We had talten over the ships at the prewar value, and in case of accidents the value to be paid would bo pre-war. value, and not the present value which was double or treble pre-war value. Ho ventured to say that the Defence Expenditure Commission, now in this ■ country, would say that the "Government had made au exceedingly good bargain.

The war loan issues had been criticised because of the exemption of the moneys invested in war loans from income tax. This was not the great concession some people suggested. After the war it would be possible to reduce income tax, and the concession would largely -disappear. In other countries of the Empire loans were raised under the same conditions as here. Sneering reference was made to soldiers at as. a day. What the Government actually paid for the maintenance of the soldier was lis. a day. He did not say this was too much. Nothing that could lie paid to the boys would compensate them for the hardships and dangers they suffered. Cost of Living. It was simple folly to talk about keeping the cost of living from rising in war time. The cost of living was lower in New Zealand than in any other British country, probably lower than ill any other country .in the world. ■He recognised that, the 27 per cent, increase was a serious matter, but no

Government in this country could stop the rise in the price of those commodities imported from abroad, bought at much increased prices in other countries, and * carried at higher freights over the sea to us. All that the Government could do was to prevent exploitation, and this it had done. Arrangements had been made to control the prices of our locally, produced food products. These prices were kept down to the export value, and this was all that any Government could possibly do. People of small means were no doubt having a hard time, and perhaps it was true that wages had not increased in proportion to the rise in the cost of living. Tho Government had raised the salaries of Civil Servants, and most local bodies Lad followed the Government's example. Speaking of sugar, ho said that it had been estimated that the saving to this country owing to the low price of sugar here was not less than £350,000 a year.

It was being said that the Government was not doing- onongh for the soldiers. He did not say that enough was being done, but he did say that it would not be prudent to do more at present. The pension of a widow with three children was £3 10s. a week, and nothing on earth could interfere with that pension. He wished the Government "could do better than that for the families of men who had given their lives for their country, but he t would suggest that this was not a bad pension. (Applause.) He was of opinion that the children of the fallen soldier should be the wards of the State, and that every one of them should bo given a trade or profession at the expense of the State. (Applause.) Mr. Massey went on td detail the schemes of assistance for soldiers under tho control of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department. He gave a 'few instances, also of the aid given to families of soldiers through the Financial Assistance Board.

He regretted very much the introduction to fills fight of such side issues as prohibition, beer, wowserism, even sectarianism. He would like to have seen this all left alone until after the war. There was really one question at issue, and if the electors of Wellington North would put the side issues out of mind, and think only of the main issue, they would be doing their duty as citizens, and he wpk quite sure that he would be satisfied with.their vote. (Applause.) The National Government. Mr. Guthrie remarked that it had been said that Mr. Massey had acted like a political boss. That was absolute nonsense. Anyone who knew anything about political organisation would know that Mr. Massey followed the right course. Mr. Massey had consulted the members of Mr. Herdman's committee and those -electors who were easily accessible and well known to him. But what meeting had been called to hring out-Mr. Brandon ?

The chairman: The licensed victuallers. (Laughter.) Mr. Guthrie said he was not aware nf any meeting. It appeared that some few gentlemen had tried several candidates in turn, and succeeded' at last with Mr. Brandon. Mr. Guthrie hoped that the. people of Wellington North would strengthen the handsof the National Government bv returning to support it a good member and a good citizen (Mr. Luke). The Candidate. Mr. J. P. Luke addressed the meeting only briefly. He had the right to ask for the suffrages of the people of any part of Wellington because ho

was a citizen of Wellington. He spoke of what he had done at the time of the big strike, claiming that ho had served the city to the bast of his ability at that time, and he believed it had not been to the discredit of the city. Some statements had been made about his having tried unsuccessfully in other electorates. At the invitation of leading members of the Reform Party in Wellington, he had agreed at last election to go for AVellington South, but he knew that he could not win that seat. However, the issue at this election was wh.eth.er_ the people approved of the present military system in New Zealand—-a system which jvas the greatest credit to the country's administration. _ That was the main issm—the only issue. Mr. Luke commended the ladies for their splendid war work in' Wellington. This work began from the very outbreak of war, and it had gone on without interruption ever since. He continued with the subject of work for women in industrial, commercial, and _ rural occupations, saying that he did not believe, in discrimination in pay against women. (Applause.) A number of questions were asked at the end of the meeting. i