ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 787, 24 November 1922, Page 5

ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

MR MASSEY AT OTAirIUHU. A GREAT RECEPTION!, The Prime Minister, the Right Eon. W„ F. Massey,. addressed the gSectors'of Otahuhu. in the Public HI, all on Monday evening. JHis Wardship the Mayor (Mr R. B, W oc g copied the chair and the hall was packed, numbers having ito be turned Swav The Ho«, CL J. Parr. Mis : Parr." Mr G, E. V. Pearce (chairman 'of Mr Massev's Otahuhu commi-tee). Mr Jas. Atkinson (,ex-iMeyor) and numerous other prominent residents we're on the platform,. In introducing the Prime Minister Mr Todd said that it was many years since he had addressed a meeting at Otahuhu, the last occasion being before the waf. Every fair-minded New Zealander of whatever shaue of opininon must admit that during the whole of his strenuous term oi office, Mr Massey had met every crisis with unfailing courage. Mr Massey, he said, would be glad to a recognise amongst the audience many I who had supported him in ma campaign. Mr Todd then congratulated the Prime Minister on his good health, and on behalf of the residents of Otahuhu and surrounding districts welcomed him to Otahuhu, Mr Massey, who treceived an enthusiastic reception, said that before beginning his address he must congratulate the residents on (the progress ,and prosperity of Otahuhu. The" town had grown out of all knowledge in the last few years and he had noticed a change every time he had passed ,aiong the Great Soutti Road, He then referred to the cordial relationship that existed between the peopte connected with the prim- . ary industries those connected Pwith the secondary industries. This ' cordial relflftonship was essential to the development of the Dominion, and on several occasions recently ne had received proof that it existed and would continue to exist. Mr Massey then quoted figures to show the progress (that had been made by the ♦ secondary industries since the ye,ar 1911. The Dominion was now getting over the slump and was well on the road to prosperity. There was no royal uoad, however, and the onlv way was to increase production. The outlook for the-future wfts now good, wool having recovered from the slump to a- lairge extent, and meat, with the exception of beef, being on the up grads' The representatives of the Meat Export Board reported that Hull, Bristol Manchester,. Liverpool -and Cardiff were all demanding a share of our produce. The establishment of this Board had been severely criticised but the effect had been that the price of meat had gone up in England within a ifew days" of the Government coming to a .decision Ho establish it. The matter of the transfer of £2,000,000 ?"om the Advances Department ha-d been severely Criticised by Us opponents. The facts were that that the money was actually transferred before he became Minister of Finiance, but he did not say that he would not have done the same, It w,as the practice never to allow money to lie idle and' if one State Department had a surplus it was aJvvays transferred to some other department in need of funds—interest being paid by one depjaittment to the Other for the use" of the money. At the time/ the transfer was made there was practically no .demand for borrowed money owing to the war. but nearly all, \f no* all, of the £2,000,000 h»ui now been paid back The demand for borrowed money at present seriously exceeded the supply owing to the activities of local bodies and farmers were having serious difficulty in securing loans owing to'the'fact that the lenders lookerf on ioca: bodies debentures as beinu a better security than mortgages. The Financial Statement; would show xhat instead of taking money, fro:-.: the Advances Department the Government was actually paying £2*ooo-000 in, and he hoped they would able to put in an even biggef - sun. next year. Money was going to be much cheaper in the near future, and be believed it would become as cheap as it was 25 to 30 vsars ago. He said that in spite of reports to the contrary the Government was not going ito withdraw superannuation from anyone who was entitled ,to it,. With regard to taxation he most emphatically .denied the statements 'in newspapers th.at taxation was highev in New Zealand than in Australia. (These statements were based on (the fact that two years ago owing to the fulfilment of orders placed during the war years enoVm'ous quantities of goods weve imported, and in consequence the Government collected an extraordinary amount ir Customs duties}, Taking normal! years in New Zealand the official figures would show that tax>a- * tion was considerably lower hdre. (Applause). Continuing, Mr Massey referred to the itax free debentures issued by the National Government during the war, and said that it was a serious mattar to have £51,000,000 worth of property tha: was not taxable, A voice : Why not pass an Act making it ta^abl'e. Mr Massey : I am not going to confiscate any'property dr to go back on any bargain that has been made., By the issue of per cent, taxable debentures the Government has redeemed over £7,000,000 wdrth of tax free debentures up to date. Mr Massey then refenred to the question of a State Bank, and quoted figures to show that better results from the Government's point of view were obtained from the Bank of New Zealand than the Commonwealth Government obtained from the Commonwealth Bank. In veiw of the fact that the New Zealand Government owned one-third of the stock oi" cie Bank of New Zealand and appointed four out of the six directors ihe bank was in effect a State Bank, He i.iso referred to the fact that a much Vixger riropoijtion of the fund? oit|f the five joint stock banks operating here were lent to producers than

was the case with the Commonwealth Bank. No Government wou.d in his opinion create a State Bank when the effect of so doing would be to .depreciate the vasuq of the State’s holding in the Bank cyf New Zealand, In conclusion Mr Massey referred to the dangers of; the three party system, and appealed for the maintenance of a strong Government. (Applause.) A hearty vote of }thanks to Mr Massey for his able speech and off confidence in him as the hey.d of the Government and candidate for Franklin was proposed by Mg' W. J, O’Hara and seconded by Mr Jas. Atkinsory The motion was carried by ,an overwhelming majority, and thyee cheqrs were given for Mr Massey. Later the Prime Minlistcir and party were entertained to supper by a number of friends and supporters. MB MASSEY AT PAI\\TOETUE. ADDRESS TO HIS ELECTORS. EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE. BIG EFFORT TO BALANCE. EFFECT ON COST OF LIVING. Mr Wi. F, Massey addressed a gathering of some three hundred electors in the Public Hall, Rapatoccoe, on Tuesday evening last Mr J, Franklin presided. In his opening remarks the Prime Minister congratulated the district on its progress. There was a time, he said, when he knew every individuals in P/apatoetoe but now he knew hardly any. “The big thing just now,” lie began, ‘-'is to get the finances of tne country into as sound a position as possible. In doing that the great difficulty is to being the national expenditure within the national income. But the Government is flocking forward with much more confidence than last October, Directly arising out of the war was an increased expenditure of £14,500,000. Though it was possible to reduce the expenditure's better times came and >the Government was .doing; it —they would never get back to the expenditure before the war, and must not expect to. But as the expenditure was being curtailed, taxation being reduced and this was reflected in a reduction t 0 the cost of living. (The Government had taken a lead by reducing the cost of two important commodities - flour and sugar. Controlling Flour and SugJM* Prices. Mir; Massey was not in (favour of Ijresppssing on the domain of private enterprise, and he did not desire me Government ito control the price of flour and sugaV' much longer, but he could say this : the price of sugar right from the beginning of the wall' was lower in New Zealand than in any other country in the world outside the sugar producing countries themselves. Just before the recent strike broke out sugar was 3"4cl in New Zealand j in Australia it was sd. Moratorium and State Advances. Regarding the moratorium rendering all mortgages exempt from collection up to December 31st,'t, 1924, Mr Massey could sav that it had slaved many farmers from being som up all! over the dominion. But he had to look forward to doing something pretty substantial two years now# The Advances to Settlers Department, he said, was one that wanted strengthening. Within the last fortnight £2,000,000 had been paid into it to meet the tremendous demand for borrowed money at the -present time', and at the same time a new departure was made that he thought would pan out all right, by arranging that in addition to lending on mortgages the department would lend on “chattel securities” up to £SOO for 5 years at 6ri per cent; that is, on machinery,, on stock and otner liquid assets. Next year he proposed to still further strengthen Jie Advances Department by paying in to it three million sterling. There was a genuine desire to help settlers and yet not involve ( any loss to the country, Developing the Exports. Regarding- reduction of nonuses he Government wouVd: not make any change unless the cost of living justified it Last year the country’s exports totalled £43,000,000 and the impdrts £36,000,000 That was a good difference but it w-as not quite enough. Mr Massey wanted to see the exports brought up to £50,000000. That was his great objective, hut it could not be reached without work —hasjd wdi’k. The Government could not do the work that it had done during the last three years unless it Racl a good majority. Three Political Parties, At the present time there were unfortunately in New Zealand three political parties,,, .and each of them aspired to hold the reins af office. That was a natural ambition, and he couLd not find fault with But the policy of the party led by Mr Holland idid not enjoy the support of a great majority of the workers of this country. That party was not very numerous in the House, and he felt sure they were not numerous in the country, though they made a grqat noise. “Vote Massey Out.” Labour; was quite willing ri> help the Liberals to “vote Massey out/’ but iff the Liberals got (into office by their support they were to dictate their policy Supposing Mr Holland and his (friends, after the general election, held the balance of power, if they turned the Government out. then a policy of revolutionary socialism would result, Personally Mr Massey thought the Labour Party would be increased at the election, but get into power he thought they never would. (Applause). “Noi Evolutionary Socialism.” The policy of revolutionary socialism—not evolutionary socialism —said Mr Massey, was that the State should take over the means of pro-

duction, distribution and exchange ; that is, everything that individuals owned to-d/ay. That was the policy off communistic Labour. (There was only one way to avoid it, and that was to give the present Government a majority as good as they now had. He wanted to impress upon the public of this counfry the graveness oi the danger; he wanted to see the country governed on sound and rational lines, .and he wanted to see prosperity retuU'n.

Mr J. Watson moved a vote oi thanks and confidence in Mr Massey, not only as the representative of the Franklin electorate, but also ,as the future Prime Minister, and <in the party of which he was the accredited chief. Mr A. W. Hall, in seconding the motion, said he wanted to see Mr Massey go back to Parliament with a bigger majority than even. The motion was supported unanimously ancl carried by acclamation. THE Eli AN Kb IX SEAT. .MU MASSEY'S COMMITTEES MEET AT O'TAHITII . "A DISTINGUISHED LEAD EH.” Rcprescntalives of the various local committees in Hie Franklin olectorale. working in I lie interests of the candidateure of Hie Prime Minister. HI. Hon. W. F. Massey, met in the Masonic Hall, Otahuhu, on Wednesday earning. A number of ladies were prescnl. The Mayor of Otahuliu, Mr H. B. Todd, presided. ’Those present expressed their determination to assist to place Mr Massey al the head of the poll with an even greater majority than that secured at the last election. The following resolution, moved by Hie chairman, seconded hv Mr J. Boldlyff Mayor of Bukokolie, and supported by Messrs F. Perkins, .1. B. Sim, J. G. Ward (Pukekohe), A. Willis. Hew W. 0. Wood (Papakura). E. S. Peglrr (Manurewu). .1. Franklin. A. W. Hall, . McFarland (Papatoetoe). J. Roiiltson (representing Palumalioe). T. Brooks (Drury), 0. Ingram) Hama llama), T. H. Sand ford (Takanini), .1. Atkinson, A. Trenwilh, IT. Stringer. G. Pearce (Olalndiu), and others, Was carried unanimously will) hearty acclamation and musical honours: “’Thai this meeting, representing praclically Hie whole of the Franklin electorate, desires to record' its warm appreciation of the splendid services rendered to the district by its illustrious member, lU. Hon. W. F. Massey, throughout the long period during which he has continuously been their Parliamentary representative. “H also desires to express its unabated confidence -in the Reform Government of which the Prime Minister is the distinguished leader. "Realising Hint the Prime Minister's constituency is not only Franklin, but in a wider sense the whole Dominion, his combined election comrniliees, on behalf of the electors of Franklin, gladly lake over llie rresponsibility of securing Mr Massey’s return In Parliament by an overwhelming' majority, leaving him at full liberty to devote h.fs attention t G other parts of New Zealand in order to expound the policy of the Government and meet the criticisms of those opposed to his administration. “Finally, this meeting recognising the pre-eminent necessity for a strong and stable Government to assist the country in getting back to normal prosperity, earnestly hopes that the present Government will be returned faith a strong working majority, thus enabling the Prime Minister to cari'y on the woijk of recontraction to which he has so successfully devoted his unflagging energy sinice the termination of tne Great War.” The keynote of the speakers’ renpirks was a general expression of appreciation of Mr Massey’s broad Imperialism and His long an.d cusguished services to the Dominion of Empire and the Dominion^