GREAT RECEPTION AT TEMUKA

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 53, 26 November 1919, Page 8

GREAT RECEPTION AT TEMUKA

PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE BICK AND ASHAMED OF LABOUR •J> ;'V: ■.;'.' .EXTREMISTS. T,-.'. '.--? -■ ( By. Telegraph-Special Correacondent.' / Temuka, November 25. The Prime Minister (Re. Hon. W. ?• Massey) "addressed an enthusiastic gathering at the Theatre .Royal, Temuka, this evening. ( .The building was packed and Mr. Massey' wiis given a hearty reception as he mounted' the platform. The DeputyMayor,- Mr.- G. R. Cartwright, presided, and at his invitation tho meeting opened with threo hearty cheers for Mr. Massey. Mr. Massey on rising to speak was heartily applauded. After briefly returning thanks for his welcomo, Mr. Massey said that tho problems of war had been solved, but we still had to solve tho problems of peace. Tho National Government he considered had done very fine work. Ho briefly sketched the beginning of that Government and proceeded that tho National Government had had some,very unpopular things to for instance, tho passing of- the ".'Military Servioe Act. The passing of, that Act was undoubtedly a great thing to do—(applause) —and it had been followed by Groat Britain and America. It had- not succeeded in.Australia, but all the same Australia did remarkably well in the war. The National Government was able to see to'-it that its promises and obligations to the Imperial Government were fulfilled. It had kept New Zealand prosperous, and she was now one of the most flourishing of the Dominions. He thought ho could say that New Zealand would recover from the-war quicker than any other ' country!' Other unpopular legislation had had to be passed, such as increased taxation;" the cut in the railways owing to the depleted railway staffs was anothr.r unpopular move. Incidentally Mr. Massey paid a tribute to tho work of railwaymen, both those who had gone to the front and those' who had stayed at home. - The National Government had .been unpopular for a time. 'A voice': It is still.-

■'~ Miv Massey. Perhaps so. But I don't think this audience thinks so. (Loud applause.) . ■. ' Proceeding, Mrr Massey spoke strongly of the need for increased production arid tho development of industries in New Zealand. We had; he said, to welcome all' hioreases in oiir population, such as .immigrants from the Old Country. There were many, thousands of acres in New Zealand'which must be made to produco something. . Then. there was a great scheme of hydro-elecliric power to be developed. The country was increasingly . prosperous, owing to the energy and m""dustiy of its citizens. Up till a few days ag0.,£111,000,000 worth of our goods • Iwid been exported to tho Old Country. The bargain with the Imperial Government had proved a magnificent bargain. He was confident that. Now Zealand would always'have a good market as long asjshe produced a good article. ■ v The Coming Election. , Referring: to the coming election, Mr. Massey. said,that he was sorry that there, was not only one party at present. At , this juncture it was/ a great, pity that . party politics had cropped up. With such-'work .to. bo done he would like to have seen the best men- in the countryunited in t'hejiodfc interests of the country. However, there wore now threo parties. A.*voice: There is Labour. What do you think of that Bill? '.ME-"Massey: I'll tell you what I-think ofit-it'is this: That the Parlunwntary Labour Party is not representative of Labour at all;- (Applause.) Mr..-,Massey 'proceeded to express his opinion of the. Labour members of Parliament, and ' remarked incidentally ... that-- not, one of \ them had lifted a single finger' to help the country in • the- war. He. was sick and ashamed of the whole lot of them., (Applause.) The Labour Party , would, of course, gain some seats. He could, assure his hearers, however, that they'would 'not dictate to his Government. It might be some other Govern- . ' ment, ;but if the Labour Party secured control of a Government, though not { actuallyr'in •power, then heaven help New Zealand;"~Matters would become as bad ' •'s.'they-iyere in Queensland, where liv-ing-was-as high as in any part of the world." It would bo serious for New Zealand'if any such thing happened here,and he hoped the people would see to it at-thb poll that such.would not hapi>eu. Ho hoped that they would avert such a position by,, giving a working majority to the-party now in power (Loud applause.)

The Prime Minister went on to speak of the breaking up of the National Government; He was glad to say-that tho House had stuck to him when he faced the sT&ibif which he could safely "say was'the-' most ''satisfactory one he had experienced during his twenty-five years in Parliament. Most important legislation had been'enacted though there were other important matteVs he would have liked to have seen put through. For instanue, . he would have liked to have reduced taxation. Soiiie people thought that tho country would prosper if the taxes were made but ho could tell them emphatically, .that such would not be the case;"' Continuing,. Mr.- Massey said that a great amount of money had been rni£ ed in the country during the war, and , they h3d"'fdund themselves with a reserve of .£15,000,000,. not loan money, but money, .raised by taxation. That money had been most useful in settling 'soino 6000' soldiers. Of the last loan of .£10,000,000, between 9 and 10 millions had teen raised in the Dominion, but that showed that it was not possible to raise any more such loans in New Zealand. ' -

A voice: Why don't you use Hio compulsory,, clauses ? They've Jiever been ■usee],, yet. , Mr. Massey: My friend, you' don't' know what you are talking about. The compulsory clauses v-ere most certainly used—(applause)—but when our expenditure censes compulsion will no longer be justifiable. Moreover, there will bo no more loans free of income tax. (Applause.) These are two things that will come to an end. The Wheat Question.Turning to tho wheat question, Mr. Massey 6poko of the necessity for not relying on Australia for supplies, re-, marking on the serious position that followed a drought. Whatever was done, however, isuffiievent inducements must be given to the wheat growers to increase- their production. It was a wrong thing to go to another country when , wo could produce the wheat in sufficient quantities in our own country. He could promise to give such inducements as ho thought that the producers would bo satisfied with.. Tho Cost of Living. Mr. Massey proceeded to refer to the cost of living, and said that tho present high standard was not due to the increased prices of locally-produced articles or to the increased prices of imported goods. What we could produce in this country wo must produce. Our raw materials must be used, and as far as possiblo our. secondary industries must , be inoroased. By such means we would keep the money in the country, and provide employment for our own people. It had been suggested to him that lie should step tho export of ail foodstuffs with a view to decreasing the cost of living. Wore that to happen, in a few months the country iroiiJd hare plenty of. cheap food, but no-money with which to 'pay for il.. (Laughter.) Tho :nore we produced and the more we .exported the better it. wo iI.I bo for every individual. As a matter of fact tho cost of living in Now Zealand was 'nwer than // in'almost.any other part of the world. That .was some'indication that the Goveminent had been striving to keep down the cost. Admitting that the cost of living - had gone . up,' he was sure that any reasonable man would admit. that the Government had done its very best to keep it down. (Applause ) As far as. profiteering', ■'■• was concerned, and ho would not pretend that this country was niiy better off in that respect than any other oountry, the Board of Trad?,

Bill, ono of" the most drastic Bills ever passed by any Government in tho .world, was dot law, nml was now in ''operation. Tho hones! trader had no reason to fear tho, Bill,.but heaven help the profiteer. The Meat Trust. Mr. Massoy went on. to .speak of tho Moat Trust, which was, ho said, out to exploit tho publio every time. 'do-dug five, as the five firms which comprised tho-trust were known, controlled 95 per cent, of the trade in America, it had got hold of the Argentine, and it was having a serious effect on the meat trade in Grenfc Britain. It had also established itself in Australia, but it ,bad notmuch cf a hold in- New Zealand. He was not much concerned about the danger of the trust iin Neiv Zealand, but ho was concerned for Great Britain. Mr. Massoy. explained the re-cently-passed Bill compelling a slaughterhouse for meat for export to lie licensed. With that Bill and with the Government controlling the railways' and shipping ho had no fear for New Zealand. Nationalisation.

Speaking of nationalisation, Mr. Massey said that it. was justifiable in cert.i in matters such as the breaking up of monopolies and insisting upon enterprise on the part of private individuals. It was, however, not justifiable when it made competition against private individuals who were conducting " business better than the State could. Nationalisation also was no,t justifiable when the money that it involved was needed for more urgent purposes. It had been suggested that the Bank of ]Sow Zealand should be nationalised. The State ns.a matter of fact was tho senior .partner in that bank, and tlio other shareholders would not wish to. sell their .shares at less than their value. Of course,,on tho other hand, the Government would receive the business and revenue of the bank as against tho expenditure. It had also been suggested that tho State should start another bank. In that case, the--State, being partners with the Bank of New Zealand, would suffer through competition. He considered that when nationalisation was necessary it should be put into offect, hut when it was not it should be lett severely, alone. The Housing Problem.

In turning his attention to the housing problem, Mr. Massey explained the legislation for lending money to individuals and to public bodies for house-bmld-ing purposes". At the rate of interest, H per cent., the Government was losing money, and would probably have to faco a loss for some years to come. When the Bill came before the House the Leader of tho Opnosition had complained that the rato of interest of the money for the scheme was too high, and asked why the money could not be obtained from-the Post Office Savings Bank. Money in tho Post Office, said/Mr. Massey, cost Si per cent. It was. at call, and therefore tho rate of interest, must be lower. _ The people who had their accounts in Hie Post Office Savings Bank were the most thrifty people in the country, and deserved every penny of interest they could »et The Post Office money was, however, used by the Government for public works purposes. If it wero taken for other, purposes the Government would have to go outside for its money for public works,' and it certainly, could not. get it under 5J per cent. The speaker briefly pointed out how the Government was endeavouring to>ease the housing situa. Hon, and incidentally remarked that some 600 dwellings would be erected' by March 31. (Applaud.) It was _ up to bodies to do all m their power to assist the Government in this matter. Samoa.

Some people, sa r d Mr. Massoy, questional whether New Zealand was wise in taking- over control of Samoa. In his opinion it was essential that Samoa should remain British. Samoa and a part in New Britain were TCcognised as the most important strategical positions in the Pacific. For 50 years the Germans had been earnestly endeavouring to secure Samoa, but his earnest, wish was that the. British flag would never be. hauled down there. (Applause,) There was, of course, the responsibility of governing Samoa, but on the other hand for, years past the revenue had considerably exceeded expenditure, mid he believed it would do so under British control. •There'had been a great deal of talk, Mr. Massey' continued, concerning indentured labour in Samoa. He explained that when the island was taken by the New Zealanders in 19H' there were 3000 indentured coolies there. Two thousand of'them had been repatriated, but tho other 1000 had asked that their term of indenture should bo extended. This had been done, but the number would not be allowed to exceed tho thousand. Personally he thought that under Now Zealand's control 411 the labour necessary would-be forthcoming without vinden'tured labour. It was, Mr. Massey •added, absolute nonsiense : to rpfer to indentured labour as slavery. There had never been any suspicion of slavery in Samoa, and 'there never, would be under British -rule. (Applause.) Repatriation. After stressing the great importance of tho acquisition of tho phosphate island of Nauru, Mr. Massey proceeded to say a few words concerning the repatriation of soldiers. He spoke first of all of tho universal admiration in'which the New Zealand soldiers had been held. They had been favourites everywhere. (Applause.) Mr. Massey explained tho manner in which the Government advanced money to returned soldiers to start in business, to settle on the land, to buy houses, etc., and also explained the principle of teaching the men new trades incidentally supplementing their wages, and of giving lliem technical education, at the same time paying them £1 per . week. In every possible direction in which tho Government could possibly holp the returned soldier to gain a livelihood it was doing eo, and if other directions could be suggested he would be'only too pleased to hear them. As far as pensions wero. con-, cerned the New Zealand soldier was better off than, any other soldier. A voice: What about Australia? | Mr. Massey: Australia isn't in it with us. : . • In conclusion Mr. Massey said that there.was a great amount of industrial: unrest now, though perhaps less than in other'countries. It was thought that after tho war there . would be a new millennium and a new heaven,- but that was not the rase, ami we must air endeavour in every way to do the best thing for ourselves, for our l fellow-citi-zens, and for our country, and if we did that we would be all right in the end., (l/oud applause.) Mr. Massey was at the conclusion of his address accorded a hearty voto of thanks and of confidence in him as Prime Minister, and in-reply ho urged the people to show their thanks and confidence in him by placing Mr. Burnett at the head of the' poll.