THE HUTT SEAT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 49, 21 November 1919, Page 8

THE HUTT SEAT

ROWDY MEETING AT PETONE . MR. COTTON HECKLED A very noisy but ,-ifood-natured crowd filled the Empire Theatre, Pet-one, last night, when Mr. W. Cotton, the Moderato Labour candidate, laid his policy before them. Everything' went quietly at the beginning, but as the speaker proceeded interruptions increased, and at times yit was impossible to hear what was. said. Tho bulk of' the audience apE eared to bo supporters of the official abour candidate, as references were continually mado - to Mr. Pritchard. Mr. M'Ewan (Mayor of Petone) occupied the chair. Introducing Air. Cotton, ho said the candidate had taken some interest in tho district, and he was practically de-puty-Mayor of Lower Hutt. He asked for a paticnt. hearing, and said everybody had a right to try to attain a place in Parliament. Mr. Cotton was received with applauso. He took a great interest in local poli. tics. ho said, and thought no ono could do better than he had dono. The present member was an able man, but ho had not used his ability to the beat advantage. (Applause.) Tho present Labour unrest was not caused by tho wago system. The timo was coming when Labour would liavo a say in interests of the country. It was partly tho fault of both Labqur and Capital that things were so unsatisfactory. He wanted to know "what Ward and Massey had dono to stop profiteering." A voioe: What will ,you do? ' What was wanted, said Mr. Cotton, was increased production. Tho "go-slow" policy and "stop-work" meetings were not goiiig to'increase production. "What would, happen if we all stopped work?" A voice: We'd have a good time!' (Laughter.) , Tho Government, continued tho candidate, should push • the hydroelectric scheme. Tt would increase production. Ho knew something about it. The hydro-electric schemo would pay for itself in three years. Ho epoko of what had been dono ill tho south in forming tho Expansion League and pushing the schcmo on. (Cries of "Jtrllo," etc.). Tf wo could settle the labour unrest it would be a good thing for the country. The capitalists would not invest' their money because they were afraid of Labour, >and this was driving money out of the country! Tho Government should own. tho coal mines, as the coal belonged to tho people. The'way the miners lived was scandalous. If conditions were not improved the coal shortage would conThe Union Company was not short of coal because they owned tlio best mines. (Hero the speaker's voice was drowned by uproar.) Ho spoke of the amount paid per ton to t.hc miners for the coal they dug, but his remarks were inaudible on account of the noise. Tn answer to questions as to who were" the Union Company, he said, "Bill Massey. Joe Ward and Co!" Slate banks, ,State'doctors, and maternity homes should have been established years am. A voice at the back: And State bakeries! The candidate: No! He went on to deal with tho waterside labourers and tlio unrest amongst

them, but could hardly bo heard for remarks from members of tlio audience. Ho advocated superannuation for bverybody. lie thought men who mot with accidents should be paid full pay. It was done by tho Hutt Borough Council. (Interjections and laughter.; Tlio Legislative Council should bo elected it' wanted, lie thought it was not wanted. A man only li.ad to try for Parliament two or three times and fail and ho was drafted to tho Legislative Council. A voice: You're a moral. Tho candidate: No! 1 am after this seat and 1 will get it. (Cries ot "'Ah!") Sir Joseph Ward, continued tho candidate, mado a mistake when ho issued war bonds free of incomo tax. It was dono for the big man. The soldier when ho came baclc had to foot tho bill! Another mistake was mado in allowing tho Union Company to amalgamate with the P. and U. Tho Government should have owned the ferry service long ago. They had no ships to carry the coal from the pit mouths if required. The Government knew tho soldiers were getting married in England, and they had done nothing to provide housing. 110 thought they could have instituted a system of building houses. Tho Government' were advancing money to soldiers to buy houses from the landsharks. They would never get the good frum their money. Wellington was congested, and so was tho Ilutt. It should never liave been. Mention was made of concrete 'blocks for building, but tho noisy element had command, and the candidate's idea was lost. Referring to land aggregation, tho candidate said Mr. Massey lost his .opportunity here. There were 80,000 big farms in Now Zealand and 15,000 small estates. It was.-a disgrace for some to, have all and others none. He advocated the graduated land tax as a method to .stopping aggregation. The Government again gave soldiers money to buy land at ridiculous prices. He wanted to know what had been dono fon soldiers on tho land. There was nothing to 6top a soldier doing what he liked with land ho got; In Canada ho was assisted to settle. Here two seasons would seo our soldier farmers back in the towns. Tho land should be taken by Government debentures. (Laughter.) Some men mado more in one deal than tho smaller landholder mado in years of work. It was wrong. The present system of education was a good one. daughter, and "Speak up!") He would vote for free and compulsory education. Better conditions were wanted in the schools. The system had been starved. They had not a better one anywhere if it were looked after. He advocated free books. The education system of New Zealand could produce men of character. He was not a prohibitionist, and ho was not in favour of State Control. They could not control what they had, in hand now. If they had the right Government —t(A voice: "Well, go and sit down"). Ho had voted for liquor on tho racecourse bccauso 75 per cent, of the people wanted it. He did not agree with tied houses nor "closed up" bars;. He did not see why it was so. (A voice: "To keep tho draught out.") He waß not in favour of 10 o'clock or G o'clock, closing. The hours should be from 11 a.m. till 8 p.m. They would get extremists and moneyed interests in Parliament in the . future, and the other people .should see they were represented. Tlio moderato righttlinlking people should go in or th'ero would be no decrease in the cost of living, and things jvould never be any different. He condemned the action of tho extremists. 1 Cries of "Who ijj-o they?"'' Tho candidate: Some of the Labour agitators. (Uproar). s The candidate tried to speak about the "agitators," but could get no further for tho noise, and concluded. The Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewah? said . some of them had had a good time. (Hear, hear!) Mr. Cotton would bo pleased to answer what questions, tho audienco oared to ask— 1 Voices: \\ r hat is he talking about? Questions were then fired in from all directions. Aimember of tho audience: What organised body of Labour asked you to come out? Mr. Cotton: Nobody. I am out on my. own. ' , - In answer to a question as to how ho would vote on a uo-cgnfidence motion, the candidate said that would depend on circumstances. Ho would support Mr. Massey for preference, but would have no one toll him how tp vote. A questioner: If yoit are standing in tho interests of Labour, would you retire on a show of hands? The candidate: No. Under no circumstances. A voice: You haven't the brains! An elector: What have you against tho platform of Labour? Mr. Cotton: I liavo nothing * against their plattorm, but 1 can't stand the men who aro behind it. (Cries of "Get away!) > The candidate said, in answer to another query, that lie' would not grant money to private schools. Nor was he m favour of women being appointed as' Justices of the Peace. He approved of their being appointed the jury; in female cases. Asked if he were in favour of tho compulsory training scheme and tho taking uf civic rights Irom conscientious objectors, and indentured labour in Samoa, Mr. Cotton replied in the negative. Someone then moved that:—"Mr. Cotton is not a fit and proper person to represent organised Labour in .the Hutt," and this was seconded, and carried witli loud cheers for Messrs. 1 Pritchard, Soniple, Holland, and Webb. A vote of thanks for Mr. Cotton's addiess was carried by acclamation, and the meeting broke up with cheers for the official Labour candidate. MR. WILFORD AT EASTBOURNE OPPOSES LOCAL NAVY. Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., Literal candidate for the Hutt seat, delivered Ilia opening address at Eastbourne last evening. Mr. P. 11. Mather, Mayor of Eastbourne, presided over a large attendance. Outlining his. platform, Mr. Willord first dealt with taxation. The difference between tho Liberals and ltefornieis was the incidence of taxation. The Liberal Party stood for an increase in graduated land tax on largo, estates, the graduated tax on largo incomes, and on death duties. None of these proposals was in the Reform Pnrty's platform, nor never would be. In the Inst few years in this country twenty-one men died leaving In England, when war broke out, tho toll on big estatis over a million was lifted'to 40 per cent. In New Zealand the largest toll paid was 15 per cent. Why'should not tho hiira estates of deceased persons in NewZealand be graduated until they reached at least double what the State was getting now. The graduated land tax on large estntes was the only tiling that would prevent aggregation. In NewZealand a man getting „C 30,000 a year paid tho same rate of income tax as a man getting .E67WJ. A graduated tax for stamp duty on land purchases was also advocated by tho candidate. • Touching on tiie cost of living, Mr. Wilford said that from tho day ho entered the Ministry till ho left it lie insisted that tlio Board of Trade Bill should include machinery to stop the profiteerinir that was going on. The Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald's new Board of Trade Bill would be effective if its adopted father, the Keform Party, put its clauses into effect. As for land a?" '.'rogation, the clause put through bv tho Government this session had as much chance of stopping tho evil as a gasmask had of stopping a The lieform Government complained becaus? the Liberals had left them. Personally ho was glad to get out. If the Liberals had no initiative and no brains why tlio complaint from tho Reformers' about Sir Joseph Ward and his followers deserting them? The National Government succeeded as a war Government, lint failed as a domestic Government because of tho absence of party Government, which was an essential to good government. The Eeform Government were out for a local navy—a small fleet of our own for defence purposes. This meant an outlay of .C'JO.OOO.GCO ill order to be effective. A voice: Not it! What they mean is a small fleet of submarines and minelayers and destroyers. Tho candidate went on to lioint out thn huge outlay that any local navv would involve. He was dead against the proposal. If they had any menacn in tiio Pacific and any belligerent country

attempted to make war on New Zealand, they might smash some coastal towns, but tho fight which would decido r our fato would lake placo wliero tho American, the British, and the Prcncli fleets were. Tho locale' would, therefore, bo in tlio North Sea, tho Mediterranean, or the East. What New Zealand should do was to pay what contribution tho great trained minds in England asked towards tho upkeep of tho Imperial Pleet as a fair and just levy. In other words, ho favoured "tho old scheme" with increased contributions. He was absolutely opposed to Sir James Allen's idea of putting youths into camp for threo or four months at a time. If Sir James Allen were returned to Parliament, as a Minister ho would force this proposal on tho country. Ho (Mri Wilford) did -not .want to see militarism in New Zealand. ( A voice: And tlio Liberal Party put tho boys into gaol before the war for not attending drill. If you are not a militarist, why don't you pull out? The Hon. Mr. Massey was next taken to task by tlio candidate for allegedly failing to keep a promiso to repeal the second 'ballot and put something in its place. So far no substitute had been provided. Coming to the industrial situation, Mr. Wilford questioned tho efficiency of tho Arbitration Court, on account of tho inability of the members of tho Court to grasp the details of every dispute coming under their purview. The solution was to provide tho means by which tho men who considered tho dispute were experts in tho particular trade or profession involved. His advice was: Pull out the > Conciliation Commissioner and put the Judge of the Arbitration Court in his place, s pnd leave the rest of the personnel of the Council as it at present stood. The appointment of conciliation commissioners, operating over "the whole of New Zealand, in each trade of importance in the Dominion, was next urged by the speaker, who then passed on to the coal problem. Ho stated that ho 6tood for tho maintenance absolutely of our education system—free, secular, and compulsory. * Ho 1 also wished to see education free from the primary school to the university, and he favoured tlio inclusion of tho Kindergarten ill our system. He was also an advocate of increased powers for; school committees, bigger salaries for tho-teachers, nnd the introduction of a Dominion promotion scheme. Ho was also in favour of vocational training 'and continuation classed, freo dental and medical services for the children. 110 did not, however, believe in Stato doctors. Tho nationalisation of tho coal mines of tho Dominion was suggested by Mr. Wilford. Stato colliers should also bo provided. Ho did not pretend, however, ' that there would be no strikes after tlio nationalisation of the mines. ' Some attention was devoted by tho candidate to the subject of strikes, to which, he emphasised, there Were threo parties, the employer, employee, and tho public. The trouble in tho past had been that tho last-mentioned had been often overlooked. The public could bo tho determining factor in every strike. If tho strike wero without reason or justice the public would not accord it its support, and it would collapse, and vico versa. Ail unjustified strike could not live. / Given mi Arbitration Court that everybody had confidenco in, composed of oxperts, then they would begin to meet the troublo half way. Drawing to a close, Mr. Wilford strongly urged, in view of the "perilous" in<lustr;al situation, the calling of a national conference of employers, employees, and departmental heads in order to define a national industrial policy. Tho country was crying for it—aching for it. Unless such a conference wero held a disastrous crash would come, nnd it would then 'be too lato to appeal to reason. As a last- word on the subject he said that there was no policy in "reform" of industrial construction at till. - At the conclusion of his address, Mr. Wilford, after answering a few questions, ' was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence, and threo cheers wero given for Mrs. Wilford.