TEE GENERAL ELECTION BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 52, 25 November 1919, Page 8

TEE GENERAL ELECTION BATTLE

- MR. PIMM'S SECOND BOUT ? I- -. WITH THE ROWDIES LIBERAL OUTLOOK BLEAK 1 AUCEAND NEWS, NOTES/AND COMMENTS

Issue of the Writs. 1 The Prime Minister stated yesterday that the writs for both Maori and European elections would bo issued on No- ■ vember 2S—next Friday. Nominations for tho European elections will close on December 6, and for Maori elections on December 8. Polling day for the European elections will bo on December 17, and for the Maori elections December 18. Writ 9 for the European elections are 'returnable on 26, and for tho Maori elections on January 9. / The Government Leader. The Prime Minister was unable to leave Wellington on Saturday owing to pressure of business, but ho sailed last night. He will bo speaking to-night at . Temuka. Government Candidate for Taranaki. Mr. G. H. Buckeridge has been announced as the Government candidate for Taranaki, in opposition to Mr. S. ,G. Smith, tho sitting member. Mr. ' Buckeridge is a dairy produce broker in ■ Taranaki, and a business man well known all down tho West Coast. Getting Anxious. It would seem that Mr. Hornsby and Jiis friends are getting nervou's as to tho probable result in the Wairarana on December 17. Mr. A. D. M'Lecd is gaining new friends every day by his strong personality and long service in local public matters. A petition was recently in circulation in the Martinborough district, having for its object the inviting-of Sir , Joseph Ward to address a meeting in ' that centre. This is retrarded as e. liirrli compliment to Mr. M'Leod's campaign work, and to augur well for bis being, on top on polling day. A question which might well be asked of Sir Joseph Ward ff he visits Martinborongh. and which will be hnrd to answer, is "Why was it that up until tho announcement of Mr. M'Leod's candidature in tho-Reform interest Sir Joseph Word was industriously searching for a Liberal candidate to oppose Mr. Hornsby?" A Dividing Chasm. Mr. Holland, speaking at Westport tho other evening, contended that the • Liberals and Tories were one and that ft deep chasm senarnted both from tho Labour Party.—Mr. Holland is perfectly right. The public after its experience of the Holland extremists would not hare it otherwise. Don't Montlon It, Sir.

Speaking at Wanganni, Mr. W. A. Veitoh, the Moderate Labour candidate, "warned the electors that, if elected, he would rote for an increase of the mem-J bers' salaries, and, as a compensation for. this, that all sessional committees be held rtfter the closing of Parliament, thereby enabling members to devote all their energies to Parliament when sitting, and during the recesses doing the sessional 'committee work."—Don't mention it, Sir. The general about tho. increase' to members' salaries is that it is'necessary, and fair, to meet the rise in .the.cost of living, not to induce members': to-work overtime and complicate the housing question in Wellington. ' Any Excuse is Better than None. The Labour candidate for Palmerston.Mr. Ayrton, was asked what ho thought of the "go-slow" policy. He replied that "he oould not defend the policy in New Zealand on ethical grounds, but the workers had,to find some solution of the difficulties caused by overbearing employers." This is poor The ' r is not -used in this country as a weapon against "overbearing c'lriployei-s'." It is used by overbearing unions to enforce demands thnt the employers have'been forced- in self-defence and in tho public interest to Tejeet. It lias already, .raised the cost of coal and will' raise ■ it still higher. It is a. policy of destruction and stagnation: it is damaging, morally as well as materially. -Cold Comfort for Sir Joseph. When•• asked at Westport how -the -Labour Party would vote on a no-confi-tkincG motion, Mr. Holland said "he ;hoped' the Labour Party would come back from tho elections as th<v constitutional Opposition, but. if it did not, and Kir Joseph Ward moved a vote of noconfidence, the Labour Party would join with him in ousting Mr. Massey, but 'it Would not support Sir .Tosenh Ward unlc=s he then enactod.tha legislation tho Labour Party was fighting for."—ln other words, the Labour extremists would first rote tho Reformers out of office, and then seek to dictate to a Liberal Government, which Mr. Hollnnd evidently hopes would not be strong enough to stand alone. Tfc Is- just as well that tho electors should know the position. The Battlefield Test. In discoursing on "class distinction" to the electors of Wellington South last evening Mr. R. Scrapie, M.P., asserted that it vas present even amongst th© soldiers oil the battlefield. This statement was promptly repudiated by a woman in tho audience, who stated " . . . they were all equal on the battlefield. In reply, tho candidate informed his audience that ho was no enemy to.the returned soldier, and that returned soldiers had informed hiiii that the Tommy did not get tho same food as tho colonel—Having done his best to discourngo, the efforts to forward TGinforcements for the relief and assistance, of tho men on the battlefield during the war, and eo giving a practical demonetration of his friendship for the soldier in tho fighting line, Mr. Semplo now seeks to curry favour by fomenting class bitterness between the men and the best friends they had on the battlefield. A Quaint Diagnosis. "I believe that signs of unrest in tho labour world are hcalthv signs industrially."—Mr. Dunbar Sloane, Liberal candidate for Suburbs, seat at Knrori last night—Healthy for tho agitators, Mr. Sloane. Mere' Electioneering. Opposition organs, with n degree of unanimity that favours of iuspi ration,nro telling- the electors Hint the Government has "failed to check land aggregation," and that Sir Joseph Ward, if ho had the opportunity, would do very.mueh better. It is fair reply to note what Sir Joseph Ward did to prevent aggregation when he held tho reins of power. Ono of the Opposition newspapers, after referring vaguely to aggregation, says:— "Here you novo the difference between tho party which will not adopt, the only possible remedy for the evil which it admits to be growing, and the party which when in power checked Mio evil, and is now prepared to take the only possible remedy."—Well, tho Reform Government has attacked the problem of aggregation in an earnest and' practical way. It put through Parliament Inst --essioji amending lcislaWon that closes loopholes discovered in previous enactments and that is expected bv practical men to prove effective. What did I'lie Liberals do when lh?v had the chance? 'I icy. ■} era'di;a ! ed tax thnt admittedly did not fvrt W-tion. Tii" ns , nn,r " < ed bv Sir Joseph AVa'd when he■ wms Jf i„isle^PFi.>n.i^S'lihe 1 Nntinr.nl Government but the Liberals:say it is still i-'effective. Now- they plead for anothei «hnice; bull they arc careful not to st-nto what amendment they propose to The fact of tho matter is that talk about agyregaliion is rnoro electioneering.

Something Up His Sleeve. An Opposition apologist ill the. south says Miu Reformers are "trying to comfort themselves" by saying that "Sir. James Allan is certain to have something 'up his sleeve,' and that his anticipated deficit will be wiped out. in due course it only the Reformers get back to office." This 13 a curious example of : muddled argument. Sir James Allen, as a matter of simple fact, has never anticipated a deficit. JIo estimated a surplus of about half a million in his Budget, and when the Supplementary Estimates exceeded this amount lie explained his reasons for believing that a surplus was still in sighti. As 'for the Minister having "something up his sleeve," this statement came first from Sir Joseph Ward and not from the -Reformers at all. Here is what the Liberal "wizard of finance" had to say about the matter in tho llouso during the financial debate:

I can judge the position perfectly well . . . My own opinion is that ho (Sir James Allen) has -£3,000,000 preserved .19 tlio amount thai) will 1)0 available at the end of the year. May I give here a fact that justifies my saying that from my owai course of procedure? Now, if any honourable gentleman will turn up the Budget of the year before—my Budget of the year 1918—he will 6ee thore that I jfave an estimate. I say there that . the estimate for the Supplementary Estimates amounts to .C 1,000,000 sterling, and I estimated the surplus for the year just ended at .£178,965. Now, what was the actual result of that year? Instead of ,£178,965 the balance was J!3,678,773. That was £1,300.000 more than I estimated. Doe 3 the fact prove that that was done intending, to mislead the House? flertainly' not. The Liberals suspect that Sir Jahw ■Allen is doing what Sir Joseph Ward 6ays he did himself, and eo they are reproving the Reform Minister in advance! Strange, very strange. A Palpable Hit. "I don'c think," said Mr. Pirani at his meeting last night, "that any Labour man should stand for robbing his family of sugar, for robbing his family of coal-—" ! ■ Voices in loud chorus: .What about butter? What about the profiteer? But the people would not let Mr. Pirani fay wlmt he thought about butter or the profiteer, or any else far a moment or two. Mr. P'rani said something, but it could not be heard abovo the din. "Bolshevik I"

"As to aggregation of land, there 1." enly one way of dealing with it," raid Mr. Pirani, speaking at Aro Street iast night. A voice: Why didn't you deal with it when your party was ? in power for twenljr years? Mr. Pirani said that lw would stop aggregation by refusing title to anyone desiring to acquire more than the proper amount. And if a man was holding land which he was not using to full advantage, he thought the Stat? should take thi'i land at the Government valuation. A voice: Bolshev'Jc! A Straight Answer. A Press Association message slates that amongst questions asked Mr. D. J. O'Brien, the Liberal candidate for Buller. was the following:—"lf elected, would you' bo in favour of restoring political rights to conscientious objectors?" The candidate, amid applause, replied "Yes, if you will brine back my dead mates from France." The Mayor (Mr. Lever), who presided, had previously refused to preside over meetings of Messrs. Holland and Webb. / Prescriptions to Order—But Vague. 'l'he famili-vr political cry of land speculation and land aggregation was raiseo' bv Mr. Dunbar Sloane, the Liberal_ candidate for the Suburbs .seat,! at Ivarori last night, but like many other critics he was at a loss when it came to offering suireestions for overcoming these twin evils. If large landowners would not read the siens of the times and act accordinriv their lands must, lie remarked, he taken from them by "fearless legislation.'" * Bevoud the use of this delightfully vague and indefinite term tho candidate made no suggestions. Apparently he preferred to leave this problem in statesmanship to his' audience, one of whom incidentally interjected to the effect that a man buying land and holdinc it ran a risk of losing money on it if tho .values dropped. An Auction Bid. Speaking' at Ashburton, tho Hon.' Ti'. Nosworthv snio' that Mr. llassey tried to set Sir Joseph Ward to assist in settling the gratuity question before tlir Coalition broke up, and the latter declined to do it. Then when the Reform Government came down with a proposal of Is. Gd. ner day, Sir Joseph Ward moved to increase the amount t.o 2s. The Liberal Leader thought that this thing would count. There were supposed to 1» uncertain men who would vote in the House for the extra 60:.. and then later., when electioneering, would get up on the Dlatform. and say "we voted for the extra fid." Mr. Nosworthy thonrht that the conduct of the Liberals in this matter was discreditable. The Rights of the Community, "It was M. Clemenceau, who some years ago, when ho was challenged to say 'by what right" tho Government required conscript soldiers to work the railways during a strike, answered in his pointed we.v: "The right of the community to ox'st.' That phrase stated (he wltolo issue wherever there is an attempt bv a minority to imposo their views upon the majrrlty bv # means of paralysing trade and deprived peoplo of tho essentials of life," says the 'Spectator." The Dog in tho Manger. . Trade union leaders in Britain aro opposing schemes of profit-sharing "on tho ground that workers under cppartnership achieve a different economic basis from others." In other words, the worker who has a sharo in tlm profits of his industry is apt to work nard, promoto efficiency and avoid stoppages. This does not suit tho professional agitators who usually are to bo found m control of union organisations. Exploiting the Navy, The Opposition candidates, under the direction of their party leaders, aro raying much about a "local navy." They suggest that the Reform Government is proposing to establish a "local navy," and thai: the Liberals stand for ''an invincible Imperial Navy"—with warships ntationcd in New Zealand waters. As a matter of fact, the Government has made no proposal of a local navy. Tho nearest approach to a local nav.v schema now before the |i?flplc of* New Zealand is contained in Lord Jellicoe's report, proposing the establishment of a New Zealand squadron of the British Var Eastern Elect. Sir Joseph Ward approves that proposal; indeed, he has gone so far as to claim il. for his own. Nobody is suggesting that New Zealand should H't up all. independent fleet on its own account. Tho broad features of naval policy, which aro Admiralty control and local cominovce protection are not in dispute. But why malto tho defence of the country a matter for .party haggling?-