THE CAMPAIGN IN AUCKLAND

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 54, 27 November 1919, Page 8

THE CAMPAIGN IN AUCKLAND

BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR •. REFORM THE '-BATTLE FOR PARNELL ■'(From Our Special Correspondent.) ~...:■ ..... Auckland, November .25. ■ . Tjie election campaign is still going remarkably well in Auckland from the point of view of tho Reform Party. Thero is a buoyancy, nnd enthusiasm among tho supporters.of the Government which the-.Liberals aro quito unablo to emulate. . The' Liberals have lost tho attack. They are fighting a defensive battle. They are explaining nnd neologising and endeavouring to provo that they have not yet .-. outlived their usefulness. They seem to be losing heart and confidence. In my previous reports I. have referred to the good nrogress made by the Govern- ■ ment candidates in the Ancklnnd West, Roskill;' and Auckland East electorates. -The, tattle is still proceeding favourably . for Reform in these" districts. As regards I Auckland ~Wi>=t. the general opinion now is that Mr. Entricnn. the Liberal candidate, will have to be content with third place at the poll, nnd that tho renl fitrht will ha between Mr. Bennett (Government) and Mr. Savago (Labour). Mr. Potter, tho Government candidate- . for \ Eostoll, continues to gain ground,- nnd ; even'his onnonents admit privately that '.- he must win the feat. -Mr. Clutha Mackenzie's second public meetinnr was quite as enthusiastic n"s the first. The amount of support bo is gettiner i« remarkably . Rood. Tlie friends of Mr. Myers are extremely 'anxious. They realise'things are jroiner against them, nnd that they are ■ noting the hardest political fight they hayo ever fought. An Interesting Contest. The position in Parnell is interesting. ■ Jfr. ; I)ic>6on is beincr opposed ■ V a lndy /Mrs..! , . .E. P.wme) 'and by Mr. T. Blnndworth . (Labour). Mrs. Bniraip's candidature cannot be treated- . with-disdain. Shi is making n spirited, ilirht. and is 6iire to have many sympathisers. She is; a fiood speaker, nnd ha? a very pleasant mnnner. which <H»arms) hostility. Mts. Baumo must poll well. . , Tim .Labour candidate 'is. adopting /n. conciliatory tone. He seems to b° anxj- ■ flin not-to friditen anyone. Tl> ; is preaching a Labour 'gospel verv different from the oie pr»ached by tho Labour extremists when thpy arn not angling for the vnfes of level-heiuled' wnnle. _ But Mr. Dickson has naturally felt it hip duty to enlighten the electors regards' '"" the" rea.l aims and ideals of the wild men. At his first meeting lie produced n "ma.ll booklet, wbieli ho announced to bo n. • piece of literature prinNl in 1910. and entitled "Unionism Old and New." (Wind ar/plause from a section of the audience.)' : Mr. Diokson: I thought that would find my-friends. Mr. 'Dickson applied himself to the book, and, after feadin? a rather inflßm- ' matory passage, remarked it was just aa. well to know tho members of thet extreme. Labour Party were, and what thw h".d 'subscribed to in the vast ■Mr. Dickson went on to say: And who do von think *-ns the litTaiy secretary of tlio Auckland 'branchVf tho New Zealand Socialist Party in 1M0? It wai Mr. vTora Bloodwnrth. (Loud anplaune, minnrled with .cheers from a section of the audience.) ' Voice:-. Give U3 some'of your politics, Dickson. '..•«• Another voice: They don't like it. Give them'eomft more. . • Mr. Tlickson: Yes, that's rieht; they don't like it.. They are not electors of Parnell "\Yhv don't you com", out and ■•■ say' they- are-Hed Teds.? (Loud anplause and nnroaripue interjections.) And I say now 'let these men come 'out in their ■ •■■ truo colours.: Why don't they, state now who-thny are and where they; are? A vote of thank's, and confidence was . carnefti'withbTlt opposition. Mr." Dickson may not be a brilliant 7 -platform politician, but ho :s well 'cnJ dowed with' that shrewd • -which is of mob Croat value to the State in .these critical times, and the'fact that ne stands straight out for firm and stable . povernment i? making his election surf-. It is'true thai'in days gone by Parnell - -K-as. .Tesarded as a Liberal seat, but thing?' have preatly chanced einco then, and the trend of poTiulati™ has confirmed and strengthened Us Reform enaracter ■- The mroporterß of Mr. Dickeon are working'hard"for their ountHdate but they aro not anxious. Neither Mrs. Mr. Bloodworth is likely to oust''the' Kefonn representative. The preponderating influence of Eemuera ; Bhould mnko Mr. Dicteon's position sate. ;'■*•''•'' " AIT Well In Eden. Mr C" J Parr is almost certain to hold ' Eden'" for Eeform.. Edenis α-bi? district and contains a very considerable Labour element but tho average working man in Mr Parr's district is'not very sympathetic with the wild and mischievous .- theories of the leaders- of the extreme 6 Mr_Pi)rr is opposed by Mr. H._E. KornWow (Liberal) ami Mr. O. M3rine (Labour). Both of th<=se candidates started their-campaign before the conclusion pf the* session, and had made some progress before. Mr. Paw had bosun to organise his ■'■effort; ' But the Reform candidate has now regained any .ground he' may have lost through bis Me anpeaTance in tho field, and' is meoting with hearty support wherever ho goes. Mr. Parr is ■ putting forward a very advanced programme of social reform, in winch the needs and aspirations of the workers have n prominent, place. It is we known that Mr Parr is not a slavish follower of Mr. Mossey,buthefeelsthatMr.Ma SS pvis tho strongest and safest leader in « e=e difficult times. .In us snoeclii at Mount Albert, Mr. Parr referred to the present, —-position of parties. He said he was not i warm advocate of tho party system as it had been.carried on in New Zealand. ■ There must always bo parties if there Tvae to be'good K overnmeiit, but tho condition of the p-rh«s p. this .ountry was very serious, lie detailed the circunistances, so fnr as they had been made public, regardinq the attempts to achieve n permnnont fusion of, parties, and asked. In tho light of the present situation, what we were to do. A voice:. Put 'Reform in. r _ Mr. Parr: "Beform is going -in. MaKe not mistako ebont that." Tie said H-nt Mr Massev had snrnriscd ■ rven ni3 . friends with his of tho situation, and had earned the irretitiule of nil reasonable'people. For that ren=on 'ho was a-sunportor of Mr. Massoy, who w n etronger mon limn rv?n ii close acquaintance bad previously lrd him to#un■pwe. (Applause.) He could not support the TMilicy of the labour P«''ty, nor of Sir Joseph Wnrd's Partv. Tho one alternative for himself, nnd the nlWnnlivc •which he Imped the rntmVry would ndont, was to support Mr. Mapsey. (Anplanse.) Only two wee put and ansv-pr-ed, nftei - which, on the motion of Mr. A. C. Cnnghey, a unanimous vote of thank's to. anil confidniifo in, Mr. Parr vp"» unanimously carried. The Onnosition cnndiilnte for Todon is '. not making nuich stir. Th" public hearj ; very littio about him. H.i> is a good speaker, but his camnaictn does not niiucar (to be well organised. Owing to tho v-aninir ponnlarity of the old Liberal i Party there is not much dnvimr power ■ behind his effort. At any rate, the dnv- - . nower <r. not sufficient to carry Mr. ; Mow loth" ton of the ~oil. It may : Tint ""en )>" .«iiffici<?nt to secure him tho : M'Brine, the -■ f-ifntla and collwnw . r ? W ft. fl ,-t -M wi^insivo. "W-f'c?!-. but.in tho U™ r l^e'it' , "vrnfs ' th«- ('lectors of F* ! qrV' A likelv to be mW«I l>? , r :tlb. 'nfl wor(U from tho* who have Sv converts which Mr. mn - v '•■ nmkc will be at the expense of the Oppo- - lltlon" candidate, and the knowledge o^

this fact will tend to strengthen the rally of 'believers in stable government around the banner of Mr. Parr, who is almost sure to retain Clio sent with a good margin of votes in his favour.

LABOUR CANDIDATE AT MASTERTON

SAYS HE IS NOT AN EXTREMIST. (By Telegraph—Special Correspondent.) Masterton, November 2G. Mr. Mex. M'Lcod,' the official Labour candidate for the Masterton electorate, delivered his first speech hero to-night. The Mayor, Mr. W. 11. Jackson, presided over an attendance of about one hundred and fifty people. By way of introduction Mr. MLeod repudiated the statements made in tho Press and otherwise that he was an extremist. He challenged anyone to say whether lie had advocated extreme measures a3 a member of the Borough Council or in his capacity as a private citizen. Ho had no word to say against any of the other candidates, but he ha'l something to eay in criticism of the political parties, pasr and present. It had been contended that in other countries a Labour Party was necessary to counteract certain undesirable influences and practices, but these same influences and practices existed in New Zealand, and therefore a Labour patty was just as necessary here. A financial statement had been issued by Sir James Allen in 1914. which in many respects provided matter for interesting study. The statement showed that of six hundred thourand adults in New Zealand, only one hundred and twenty thousand were land owners, four hundred and eighty thousand being landless. This was after the Liberals and. Tories had governed the country for a great number of years. Mr. M'Lcod went on to show the inequalities nrovided by tho land and income tax returns. In a speech delivered by sir John Findlay, it had , been said that :t tool; £2 Bs. per week to keep a worker without allowing for fln Y luxuries. It could be proved that this sum was quite inadequate, and anyway, since that speech was "made the cost of livin? lw< increased enormously. It had been said that -wastes had increased since 1914. The wages of a few had been raised, but those of the majority had remained stationary. There, were many workers, receiving not more than ,£3 per week. The speaker went on to refer to tho newspapers of New Zealand as being owned and controlled by the capitalists, nnd always endeavouring to camouflage the main issues. The share-; holdors in Tnu Dominion were the subject of a lons tirade, it being mentioned that '15 of those holding shares owned between them two million pounds worth ot unimnrnved value. The names of all Jifl shareholders were read and thfeir personal wealth enumerated. These people were all sunporters of the land monopolists. The "New Zealand Times"-referred to as tho brewers' and ir«>rcn<;nts' organ -and tho "Lyttelton- Times" and • the "Otago Times" were-all treated tho same examination. " The Labour Party contended that the land, of the Dominion should be the property of the peonle, and the unborn millions to come. They maintained that all tho land should be held by the State. Most of the email former were heavily mortgaged, and dreaded the reduction in price of any of their commodities, lo protect the small farmer against the v fair comnetition of the, wealthy land owners, tho Labour Party proposed to control air dealings in land nnd money. They proposed to establish r. State bank, regulate shipping, etc. The owner ot land would be compelled to occupy his land nnd cultivate it, and no transfer of land could be made except through the agency of tho State, thus abolishing land agents. In •stating the case for a State bank, the flotation of loans by Reform and Liberal Governments was criticised. Tho Labour Party quite realised that tlie flooding of the country with paper money without tho corresponding wealth to back it would mean a nee in tlie cost of living. That had been the policy of the various Governments to finance the war, and the effects were now being felt. If the Government could afford credit with which to back a private bank it could certainly aftord to back and run a State bank, .the speaker's party did not agret, , with the proposal to pay ten million pounds for the purchase of the Bank of New Zealand. The Commonwealth Bajik of Australia was an example of what could be donewithout the aid of capital backing. Ihat bank 'had now branches in all parts ot the Empire. The Labour Party stood for free, secular, and compulsory education, and the issue of free books by tho Government. The maximum number of pupils permissible in a. class ■should be lowered, tho salaries of teachers should be increased, and the schools and playgrounds should be enlarged, i-'no candidate considered -that the gratuity given to the soldiers was not a gift but tlie just due to tho men who had sacrinced everything to light for n», ■ In conclusion, the candidate dealt with tho housing problem. 1 ) liners wages, tho 1913 waterside workers strike, the shipping ring, and shipping matters generally. ' , r , r , r ' ~ In reply to questions, Mr. M Leod said he would voto'against Mr, Massey in the event of Sir Joseph Ward moving a noconfidence motion. He would not favour tho granting of eubsidi's to the Roman Catholic schools. He agreed that the hours of work for shop assistants should be reduced.' He dm not hold with tho proposal to establish military camps of four months' duration. Tlie labour Party advocated that the liquor question should be decided by a referendum, with preferential voting, on four isA"'vote of thanks was tendered, to tho candidate and another to the chair. ••■