The Political Cam= paign.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 8 November 1911, Page 2

The Political Cam= paign.

MR FIELD AT OTAKI.

IMPORTANT SPEECH

S'EV l<llll3 CIUTIOISM OF THE

OPPOSITION

Mr W. 11. Field addressed a large audience .at the Otaki Town U.aTl last evening. Although interrupted from time to time he had a good hearing and some of his poiuts raised loud .applause. Mr [[. .Freeniiin presided. Mr Field, who was received withgeneral applause, after .some preliminary observations, alluded to the activity of the Opposition _in tho constituency, and said that it was obvious that the Opposition party was out to try to capture the .seat, ,as Messrs Hcrdman, Fisher, Allen, Masscy and Malcolm bad all given addresses in the electorate. This he took as a compliment to himself, and an indication that he bad a linn hold of the scat. It had boon said that the speaker had got Ministers and members_ to assist his candidature by speaking at the recent complimentary social given to him at Levin, but thiis was not the case. Ho wislied to fight his own battle, and wanted no assistance from any outsider. (Applause). Mr Field briefly referred to the candidates lor the .seat, and said the ticketed Opposition candidate was a personal friend of his. The untickoted Opposition man had made a close fight at the last election. Ho was .a man full of energy, and had to ho reckoned, with. The third man was a LABOUR RF;PRTCS!EiNTATJVE pure and simple. Mr Field said ho could not fail to be improved with Mr Itobertson's speeches, which showed him to be actuated with a silicon 1 ! desiro to do good. lie saw no reason for a change of Government, and if elected would continue to support thorn; but he wanted absolute freedom of action. Mr Field explained that he had supported the second ballot in the first instance, believing that it would be an improvement on the old svstem. However, it had not worked out (juitc Ms expected, and was largely a. failure. At the close of t.bcTsession ju.st ended, an opportunity had been offered to kill the second ballot a motion being proposed to that effect. There was a majority in favour of the motion, hut, "si'voral members — tlie speaker included —thought it would hardly he a sportsmanlike thing to do to kill the. measure at that .stage, when candidates had made .alltheir ■lrrange.mcntii on the presumption Ulvnt- there would be A STCCOM) BALLOT. However, added the speaker, ho believed the second ballot was having its last trial.

}lv Field said he was glad to hoar from hi.s opponents that tihere were to be no personalities indulged in <luriu<j; the campaign. He- regretted to see in a newspaper a paragraph to the effect that he would do his best to foster a wrangle between two ol liis opponents to further his own candidature. Such a. suggestion was a most unworthy one. Go had no personal fooling against any of his opponents, or the Opposition. Mr Massey was a personal friend of his. and .hie considered him a most useful politician, hut as -a statesman, ho. thought him an impossibility. He wanted to be (|iiite calm in his statements, in inverse proportion to the dvnuneiatiori of his party hy his opponents The latter had a perfect right to criticise the Government, hut they should -stick to facts, and as they had not, it was his duty to contradict some of their wild statements. The Opposition was endeavouring to oust the Government by innuendo and misrepresentation, and as fast as one charge was disproved they made another. This had been going on for years, but never hnd it been carried 'on to such an. extent as in tho present Otaki campaign. MIS K MM* I&SEXTA'f] ON, • .Mr Jμold proecotled to deal .v'itli) a number ojt mis-statements madu by the official Opposition candidate, line was to the elfect that in the Cook iskiKl.s there- was an utter disregard of tfoiv liquor laws, and peoplo were running riot. Tihe Un-der-Secretary ol Justice stated that duriiijr the whole of his recent visit to the.se islamls he did not witness a single ca.se of drunkenness. 'I'heu the (Jhiel' Justice had boon accused of holding a secret inquiry there, with witnesses unsworn. if Lhe Chief Justice could not be allowed to use hi.s discretion in these matters, they had come to a pretty pass, said Air Field. The enquiry had not been, secret, though the press had been excluded, certainly, Sir Robert Stout deeming this wise. There wn.s no law in the Cook Islands providing for the swearing oi witnesses. "With reference to Oaptain iSeddon, he had been sent Home, together with other officers, under ewicoly the same conditions; no favouritism .had been shown. As regarding the innuendo respecting .Miss Seddon, he wished to state Miss Soddon went Homo on sick leave, just as any other Civil Servant might do, ana drawing exactly the sj\ni« pay. She was not associated with Sir Joseph Ward's party on the trip; did not draw £5 a- week as typist; in fact, was not a typist at all. The Hon. Millar's son HAD GONE HOME, studied, and secured a diploma in electricity, and on his return had been given a position for which jio one else was better fitted. Ho had been treated exactly as others in a .similar position. Mr Field referred briefly to the alleged "star ehamher courts." in connection with the T. Kennedy Maedonald case, and .sa.id that if Mr Macdonald had not been a LojjislativG Councillor nothing would have been hoard of the case. The case was a civil one. Had it bee'i a criminal case, no medical certificate could Jh'ave saved the, offender from gaol. As it was, Mr Macdonald was broken in health and mind, and if the public knew the, whole facts of the case, Mr .Field thought they would sympathise with tho man. (Cries of No! No! "A law for the rich!") Mr Field justified the passing of the recent Libel Bill, which was aimed to i>revent Mich poisnoous effusions as tho Black pamphlet, and referred to certain insinuations made by Mr Monekton with reference! to what had become of certain public moneys. Dealing with the same candidate's

B K FKR EXCES TO CUSTOMS duties, Mr Field explained that the duty on bicycles was only paid on complete machines; nearly all machines cam(j out in parts, and were duty free. It was quite untrue to say that the rich were favoured at the expense of the poor as regards the customs; the only duties on food stuffs were imposed for the protection of the farmers of the country. He strongly objected to the half-truth of the assertion with respect to increase of the public debt (detilt with fully later on), denied that £500 had been, voted Sir Joseph Ward for entertaining on the trip Home,, and stated the £2400 alleged to be paid for Suez Canal charge had never been paid. Only portions of motor oars were admitted to the country duty free—these could not he made in the country. The only duty paid 1 on tea was on packeted stuff, and' although tea to the value of £279,000 had keen imported last year, the total duty paid

was only £616. These wero a icw of the mis-statements made by tho official Opposition candidate. MANHOOD SUFFRAGE. Mr Field snid ho had been taken to task for saying at Levin that at ' heart the Opposition desired to repeal manhood suffrage. Ho detailed the pai-ts played by Sir Gco. Grey and Sir John Hall in securing manhood suffrage, and repented that a largo portion of the Opposition Warned manhood suffrage, for putting them in a back scat in politics, and they detected it. Mr Field iiext dwili, with some of tho UNOFFrCIAL CANDIDATE'S . STATEMENTS. It was quite true such things as knives, forks, etc., bore duty, but tho articles of food on the breakfast table wero practically duty free. The duty wa.s .sustained oil Austrian chairs to protect the local chair manufacturers of other designs. Ho ridiculed the contention that a permanent borrowing Bill had been passed; it was the first ho had hoard of such <\ thing. He ridiculed Mr .Brown's statement that Otnki's proportionate share of tho public works' expenditure would he £20,000. Tn some districts not a penny of public works money was required to be spent. The money .had to bo spent in new districts, and where they bad bad roads, or none at all. ' To suggest dividing the money equally wns" an absurdity. It was a very shortsighted policy. So lone; as he n*ns their member he would see that Otaki got its fair share, but he would not do it at the'expense of the BACK BLOCKS. fls .had been suggested. (Loud applause). Mr .Brown had also said that 5,000,000 acres of native land was capable of p-ridm-tim. A« a niat--t--r Sif.fJUit ;•: .:];• j>; -..-'it Uw there w:is considerably ui::!fi- :s.i>oo.ooo of land in Maori hands cipr.blc of production. The Maori laud settlement poiicy had been a far more progressive one under Sir J. Carroll than most people supposed. (Loud applause). Mr Brown had stated that the Government hat: done nothing with regard to trusts and combines. As a matter of fact we had our '.".w to put them down, and if the law was not effective then it should lie amended. But to say the Government had done nothing was absolutely wrong. With regard to the Sugar Trust that wa.s outside Now Zealand, and it was decidedly an Australian matter. He believed the increase in the cost of living was largely due to the. increase in tho production of gold. The increased cost of living was also due, he believed, to tho increased demand for luxuries. There was a commission to be set up presently. and he believed it would deal with the whole matter exhaustively, when they, tlie people, would ascertain the real cause for the increase in the eost of living. With regard to the Dreadnought, he said that the liil't had had a great effect on foreign nations, especially on Germany. He reminded them that our trade was £35 per head and our whole taxation for the British Navy was 3s 0d vvv ihead, whereas Great Britain, where the trade was only C'2B per head was paying, each man. woman and child, over ISs. He said that, the gift of the Dreadnought was risiht and just. (Loud applause). Continuing to comment on tho insinuations made by the Opposition. Mr Field quoted the speech of Mr Tsitt. in the House of Representatives, in which he said that durinc; the short time he had been in the "House he Oiad listened to one constant stream of insinuation and innuendo. of charges of corruption and craft against Ministers of the Crown. As a result of his careful observation ho wanted to tell his friends in New Zealand that there wns

NO COBHUPTTON, no mnl-administration. and no nolitical graft in the Ministry. (Loud applause). Turning to politics in general MiField commented on tlio question of the public debt and taxation, and said tlvat the Government studied tlie interests of tlio general community, while the Opposition were cun cenied with benefiting the .individual. The Opposition said they would reduce taxation, though at the same time they were prepared to go in for a number of expensive works. With regard to tlio public debt. Mr Field said that at the proKent time it stood at £79,000.0(10. The profit earning portion of that dobt was £'47,023, the interest earning portion was £7,701,000, non-in-terest earning £25,000.000. So they saw of the whole national debtonly 25J millions was a burden on the country. When the Liberal Party Mine into power the debt was £39,000,000. Roughly, there had been an increase of debt of £12,000000. The interest portion of that debt was 8G.7 per cent, and therefore they would see that only 13.3 per cent of the dobt was non-in-terest bearing. Ontho Labour matter Mr Field said that the Liberal party .bad done "ts best for labour as a .whole, and quoted the passing of Arbitration Acts, Employers Liabilities Act to prove his statement. The last session had boon a short one. but he asked them to look through the list of measures passed, and then ask themselves whether the Government was a worn out Government. Tliore w.as every sign of Liberalism ami progress on the .Statute Book this year. As to the Laud for Settlement Act, since 1894 when the Act came into force. 200 estates had been bought, and 5000 settlers had been placed thereon. Last Tear 122 estates were, offered : only 14 wore acquired, because the Land Purchase Board considered the price asked was too high. Yet Mr Massoy said lie would spend £2,000.000 a year, and he (the speaker) said it would be absolutely ruinous to the Sfcate to do that ?.i the present PBICE OF LAND. (Applause). With regard to Free Trade, although the Farmers' [ : nion was advocating it, tho nearer t'rey got to !<Yee Tr.ide the nearer also they were getting to the s'ngle tux, he wa.s one of those who v. :>uld advocate a graduated tax on Jvjhalf of land settlement. The jn-aduated tax had had a splendid i , Feet on doing awr.y with very hrge estates, and the could nntrcnJ1/ say to-day there were any very lirg? estates in tho country. (Ap- ] In'.'se). In conclusion ~\f.r Field r.sked them when considering whom t'ley should support and whom they s>")ould not support not to think oi Sir Josoph Ward alone. Let them r-gard tihe party rither than the man. At the same time he wonilrt ask who was the best PostmasterGcner:" 5 ! they had over had? There would, be only one .answer and chat was Sir Joseph Ward. (Applause). "When he ;vculd ask them who was

Post, Times, Dominion, and the world's loading newspapers at Thompson's, Levin.—Adrt

Have you seen the new "Pandan Hat" for working men? Just tbe h'lt to wear for haymaking, loggingn;j, or general farn» work. They fi "o an improveniciit <ai the old "Island Hat," being st.-fi/g nnd pliable, living a broad hn'ti with a good I'atht'r strap and buckle around frown. Clark's have been fortunate /:i spelling a gowl i|naiility, 18 floKon, froj.'t The maker* at a low prioe, nnd, as usual, iiitoii-.l to snare the Inrirain witii our customers Try cncl Wβ are them 'or the \'ory low price of B.'l nn4 t l«! e ch.

the best Minister of Railways they had ever had they would say it was Sir Joseph. Ward. In tho Government there hail been no corruption and no graft. Had not the Liberal Government done good work? ;If they looked at i lie matter from Jan unbiassed point of view they would come to the cnirliision that they had done ii<>o:! work for the country, and judging by their last efforts they were, likely to continue doing good work in the future. (Loud applause). In reply tr questions Mr Field «;iid': I am not- in favour of teaching the Bible in schools. (Loud and prolonged applause). He considered the present method of railway control was satisfactory. If they were going to make a change in the. Upper House it should be in the way of making it an advisory body. An elector asked whether Mr Field was in favour of recent winin i-sions ? Mr Field: I think they are one of tho banes of society. Why did you then support the motion to exclude the press from the I line charges? Mr Field : I did vote because T have always regarded Parliamentary committees as tribunals whose proceedings should not be open to tho public until they were concluded and their report was laid before Parliament. I think that Parliament should always be the first person to receive a report of a Parliamentary committee. Mr Field, in reply to a further query, said: I am entirely a freeholder. Mr Tonipsitt moved a. vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Field. This was seconded, and on being put to the meeting was carried with applau.se.- And a. similar compliment was passed to the chairman for presiding.