LABOR'S NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

Hokitika Guardian, 24 February 1919, Page 1

LABOR'S NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

mr. Holland at kokatahi

On Friday evening, Mr IT. E ! . Holland, M.l*. spoke to a large audience at Kolcatahi in furtherance of the Labour Party’s National Campaign. His speech was much on the same lines as that delivered at Ross. Mr J. McCormack occupied the chair, and the speaker received an excellent hearing and was loudly applauded on resuming his seat. .

A number of questions were asked and answered after which Mr Holland was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, on the motion of Mr Wallace. A collection was taken in aid of the Party’s national fighting fund and a number of new members were enrolled.

MR HOLLAND AT HOKITIKA. The Labour Party’s campaign on tlic West Coast was continued on Saturday, when Mr 11. E. Holland, M.P., addressed a meeting in the Town Hall, Hokitika. There was a good attendance, the hall being well filled. Mr Neil Marmi presided and introduced the speaker. Mr Holland commenced his address with a reference to the coming general elections, which he said might corne as t.ujy as J uly and which again, might not (Mine this year. The Labour Party would uncompromisingly fight against. | any attempt to further postpone the appeal to the people. The present Parliament, with the exception of a few members elected since 11)17, did not represent the people and had no right to make laws iii the name of the people. The Labour Party challenged the Govrnment on both its acts of legislation and administration. Those acts were generally speaking, based oil class considerations, as was evidenced by the Government’s war legislation, .its atticure in the matter of war loans, and its policy in the matter of war profiteering. The war profits on wool up to the end of 1617 had amounted to at least £14,000,000 —in other words, with the connivance of the Government the wool capitalists up to the cud of December, 1917, wrung from England £14,000,000 more for wool for war purpose than the Germans would have paid for it, had they bought it prior to the war. The secret Abstract showed that, although wo had supplied England with 43,339 ctvts of butter less for the eight months ending August, 1917, than for the same eight, months of flic previous year, we had charged her £58,994 more. Although we had supplied for the same period a decreased quantity of 82,199 cwts. of cheese, the increase in price had been £543,918. Wo had supplied a decrease in sheepskins (needed to make vests for the soldiers in the winter trendies), of 0,221,8071b5., and had exacted an increase in price of £420,207. ;We had, prior to the war, supplied Germany, who was then our sole customer with scheelite at”£los/7/por ton, hut as soon as Germany was cut out as a customer and England wanted sclieelitc for war purposes the price went up first to £142/15/-, then' to £162, and during ihc i;eccnt session of Parliament it stood at from £221 to £238. In all. the war profits on goods exported to England for war purposes were, up to the end of December, 1917, not Jess than £28,000,000 and on goods locally consumed not less than £17,500.000 —a total of over £45,000,000; and this was on some goods only. Another £10,000,000 might easily be added for commodities not dealt with in the statistical reports. As a result of this war profiteering, added to (lie general war conditions, the cost of living had considerably increased, so much so that now the sovereign had depreciated to somewhere in the vicinity of 13/6 and it required about 30/- to purchase the foodstuffs that I would have purchased prior to the war. While the cost of living was rising in this way, the Government was busy holding down wages by means of the war regulations, the Arbitration Court, and other methods —such as hroatening to cut off the subsidies from local bodies which paid their employees more than 11/- per day. The Government was also endangering the railway service hv its refusal to concede the moderate demands of the Loco men, hut it had not hesitated to laise the salaries of the highly paid men in the service by as much as £2 and £3 perweek. The Government’s handling of wartime finance had operated to make presents of huge fortunes to the big investors. Its indefensible payment ol 4 V per cent interest free oi income tax, meant that if an investor placed £30,000 or more in the wait loan his interest would be the equivalent of 7 per cent ; £5,500, 6 per cent; £I,OOO , 5 per cent; £SOO, 4] per cent; but the smaller investor only received the bare 4J per cent. Professor Hunter bad shown that the investor of £.1.40,000 at •> per cent, tinder the old system would be £lßl3 per annum, or nearly £35 per week better off if he realised and placed his money in the war loan at 4.t per rent, free of income tax. The case of the Union Steamship Co. presented ,n concrete example. The, Company loaned Lite Government £250,000, ami this at 41 per cent, meant (hat the interest amounted to £11,250 per year, or a fraction under £2lB per week. 1 lieeau.se the interest was free of income tax the Union Company was about £5,000 per year, or £IOO »per week, better off than if it had invested its quarter of a million at 3 per cent under the old system. Then they hurl lo remember where the Company got the quarter of a million. According to Sir Joseph Ward, the whole of the Company's fleet could lie built for a million ; but the Hon. G. W. Russell had told them that up to the end of March, 1917, the Government, had paid the Company £2,393.000 for (lie hire of some of its boats for war purposes; and lie understood that the Company had up to the present received more than live millions for

the hire of some of its ships, and before the war conditions had ceased to. operate the Company would have received six millions this way. The Labour Party stood for a State-owned shipping service. The speaker ban proceeded to state the Labour Party would fight against Sir James Allen’s conscription policy of sending the boys of 18 into camp for four mouths and described the proposal as an insidious attempt in the direction of the systems of France and Germany. He denounced the methods of rushing legislation through the House without giving either the members or the public adequate time to study the contents of the various Bills, and also condemn, ed tlie Government’s policy of conducting the work oT Parliament during midnight hours. It claimed that the Labour Party was the legitimate and logical successor of Ballauce and Seddon, and the fight of the future would he between Labour on the one hand and a Tory-Liberal combination on the other hand. The Labour Party’s challenge to the Government was for a fight to the political death, and its clarion call was to all the elements of human progression to come together in a solid phalanx so that when the guage of battle was at last accepted by their now reluctant, opponents, the result would be victory for the people and defeat for the very worst Government, Mnoriland had ever known. (Applause). In answer to a request for questions a e.6u pie of unimportant ones were asked and replied to. Mr Logue then moved a vote of thanks to Mr Holland for his able address. This was seconded and carried by acclamation. A similar vote to the Chairman, proposed by Mr Holland was also carried by acclamation and the meeting terminated, after Mr Holland bad given a reminder of his meeting in the same hall on Tuesday evening.

MR HOLLAND AT RIMU. Last evening Mr. H. E. Holland, M.P., spoke at Rimu in furtherance of the West Coast effort- in connection with the Labour Party's National Campaign. There was a large attendance, and Mr E. A. Wells, M.C.C., presided The speaker was given an excellent hearing and was applauded through out. He spoke on similar lines to those of his Hokitika address, reported in this issue. At the conclusion of his speech he was accorded a vote of thanks by acclamation, on the motion of Messrs Logue and O’Brien. The meeting concluded with three cheers for the vietorv of Labour

This (Monday) evening Mr. Holland speaks at Ruatapu, and to-morrow evening he lectures in the Town Hall. Hokitika’, on the Secret Treaties. He is to speak at Kiimnra on Wednesday, and then proceeds to the Otira Line. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Holland M.P., for Grey visited the Seaview Mental Hospital and also the general hospital. At Seaview he was shown over the institution by the chief attendant Mr Dowling, Dr Cotter, and the Matron. He was taken through the general hospital by the Matron and Dr Cotter.