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THE MANAWATU SEAT

MR. NEWMAN'S CANDIDATURE GOOD MEETING AT RANGIOTU 'By Telograph.-Speoial Correspondent, Palm(rston North, November 28. Mr. Edward Netvmnn, Government candidate for the Manawatu 6eat, addressed the electors at Ikngiotu last night. There was' a large attendance. Mr. H. Bond was in tho chair. At the commencement of his 6peeoh, Mr. Newman said that as in previous contests his opponent could depend upon it tlmt no personalities would bo introduced into tho campaign. He pointed out that, a resolution was passed by the Reform Party inviting moderate men to join in combating the spread of revolu- ; iionary and anarchistic doctrines in New Zealand, but did not meet with a favourable response from tho Liberal Party. Ho thought Sir Joseph Ward's action in leaving the National Government at the timo lie did was a mistake. Mr. Newman then ttcnt at length into tho reasons for tho forming of tho National Government, the principle of which was "to win the war," and lie claimed that it was indisputable that it had fulfilled tho object for which it was created. This was proved, he maintained, by the.figures quoted, namely, that wo had raised, trained and equipped 112,000 men, mid that when the armistice was signed the position was that 99,882 men had actually embarked, while 10,848 men were in camp training, the balance being made up of home service men. So that the close of the war found the- New Zealand- Army at full strength, with an ample reserve.behind it, and 12,000 in training in camp. He claimed that Sir James -Allen and the Government deserved credit for tins M-ork.. It had been admitted that tho material was of the best. quality, and wherover our men had gone, in Egypt, Palestine, France, England, or elsewhere, they won tho admiration and respect of all who canio into contact with them. Tho financial result of the war was that, our National Debt was increased from a hundred millions in 19H to two liun■drod millions in 1019. Ho went on to emphasise thri fact that with the exception of the throe|)cn«> on tea placed upon thnt commodity to increase the old ago ajul othor pensions, the Customs tariffs on the necessities of life liiul not been raised, but tho land tax had been increased from .£767,151 in 1914 to JC1,512,603 in 1919, while the f'ncrca.so on the income tax was from r£554,271 to .£6,210,339. The total receipts from land and income tax from 1911 to 1919 amounted to The income tax exemption of ,£3OO had not bcon altered as in othor countries, and the usual allowance for children and lifo insurance remained. Looking nt tho other sido cf tho picture, tho Nnt'onal Government had revenue which had risen from .£12,415,915 in 1915 to .£22,352,372 in 1919, while the rfltimate for tho current year was .£22,919,165. The bank deposits bad risen from 271 millions in 1014 to 50} million?' in 10)9, while tho, amount to credit of depositors in the ' Savings Hunk was ,E16,9K>.450. It was very satisfactory to hnvo that evidence, thnt tho workers of this country had saved money during the war. Tho candidnte tilien referred to the work of the Government with regard to repatriation, and stated that 11,200 men had secured employment, 22,236 were receiving vocational trninins. 3200 soldiers had been settled on 1,200,000 acres of land, and 2400 were assisted to purchase homes. Up to October 31, 1919, the total amount authorised under tho Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act on lands for settlement amounted to' ,£10,509,907. 'It appeared that tho average cost per aero for private estates purchased for soldiers' settlement Tras and tho average cost of settling each soldier was ,£2300. Mr. Newman thought that the timo had como when Foldier settlement should be made on tho bush lands of the ■tfrewora Country, in which the Government held at present 750,000 acres. He thought that it should bo opened up by lig'ht railways such as were used in Belgium and' iYunco during tha war. Under such a sehemo all iho so-enlle<l unearned increment would go to the soldiers. Hebelicvcd that the amendments made in the Land Act in 1910 whereby land could bo taken over at the Government valuation nt the (itc? witih 10 por cent, added would effectually stop tiho aggregation oflami. Mr. Newman then pointed out that the accumulated surpluses of land and incomo tax amounted to ,£15,239,000, all of which and about: iC2,(100,000 besides canio from increased taxation oil land and incomes. This excess taxation was collected in pursuance of the policy of making tho people pay while the country was prospering on war expenditure. ' and was collected for war purposes, and tho Government decided that ]2J millions o£ it should bo expended on repatriation of soldiers. Tho candidate then dealt with the cost of living, and stated that all increase in the cost of living could not bo avoided during tho war. In New Zealand it had increased 43 per cent., whilo iu 'Vu«tralh it had increased 46 per cent., in tho United States G3 per cent., m Canada 75 per cent., and in the United Kingdom, 110 per cent. The Hoard of Trade controlled tho prices of about 60 articles of daily consumption. The prices of bread, butter, sugar, and meat had been kept down by Government action, and 169 butchers now held permits to get meat purchased by the Imperial authorities for sale to people of tlie Dominion from the frown monl stores. The amendments recently made to the Board of Trade Act to prevent nroiileeriiiK wore Admittedly most urns-

tic During the war education had to eome extent been neglected, but the Act passed during ihe 1019 session provided for a loan of 3.1 millions tio bo spent for educfil'onnl purposes. Mr. Newman ex-i.i-essed the opinion that Icachei's snlatics wero inadequate, in snito of the ~creases that had been made, but the Gnvcvnrtinnt had undertaken. thftt m tho \iiiv hJhups of next sewion it, would hiinV dmvn. fompi'ohonsivi; lepisinton dealing with education. Mr. Newman expressed himself in favour Of keeping (ho l'ubliu Servico fruo trow political

control, The Housing Act passed last fcsslou provided for & million per annum being spent for housing purposes, ,£750,000 of tills boijijr for workers' homes. It also increased the income, limit for workers to .£275 per annum for those with not moro than two children, with an..increase of JG2O for each extra child or dependant, up to • .£355. Sir ( Joseph Ward suggested the money/required for this scheme, should 'be provided out of the Savings Bank nt 3 t ijor cent., but Uiq speaker was of opinion that this would not be ill tho interests of depositors in the bank, and tho Treasury should provide tho money for the housing schemo from other sources,

Tho candidate also dealt with tlift Eailwny. Amendment .Bill, indentured labour in Samoa, Women's Parliamentary rights, the Undesirable Immigrants' Exclusion Act, tvml with reference to the last-mentioned explained that tlife object wag to prohibit the landiilg of Hnmipns or other aliens without the aufiiiorify of tho Attorney-General, also to prohibit tho landing of persons w'hom the Government had reason to believe were disloyal or disaffected, or whose presence in New Zealand would bo injurious (o good order or government). Tho object Of this legislation was to prevent this country being flooded with I.W.W.'s, Bolshevik!, or other disaffected persons. He desirpd to point out tilmti Mr. Holland and Mr. Semplo voted against the clause rctiuirihg from persons arriving in the Dominion information regarding tlieir nationality, and that Messrs. Holland. M'Combs, Scmple, and Walker voted ngainst the clause empowering the Government to prevent the landing of undesirable persons. Mr. Newman then referred to-Mr. Massey's work at,(lie Peace Conference, and the immense valuo of the Nauru deposits of phosphate, in which the Dominion now had an interest. He stated that on a vote of no-confidelico lie would support Mr. Massey, but on any reconstruction which might fake place afterwards ho claimed the right to vote as he thought right in tlis interests of the country. He believed that rapid and vigorous development of the resources of tho country was imperative.

At the close of tho addr»=s, which was attentively listened to, the candidate received a hearty vote of thanks, which was carried by acclamation.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19191129.2.77

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 56, 29 November 1919, Page 10

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,375

THE MANAWATU SEAT Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 56, 29 November 1919, Page 10

THE MANAWATU SEAT Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 56, 29 November 1919, Page 10

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