PUBLIC ADDRESS

Hokitika Guardian, 9 May 1930, Page 3

PUBLIC ADDRESS

BY W. J. POLSON, ESQ. M.P

OATHEIiiNG At IHMN HALL

MANY INTERESTING PROPOSALS

: 1 A,public ~meeting;., i-'JJpyfji Halt ia’ht.eveiiiifguwas audiessed by-Mr VVj. ffdlson, Ai.P..;, (Presideht ( .of the N.Z. tirniers’i Tiitioii). ...There. .was ah attendance of about. seventy,, mostly members of the farming community., Mr ■ Bernard ‘ Ward (Coilnty Cmiirman) presided. Mr J. O’Brien, Ai.i'. for vvestlahd, was also, present. .Mr. Wardi apologised for the unavoidable. absence of the Mayor (Mr Perry j owing.to illness. He had pleasure in introducing Mr .Polsoiti,; Member . 01 Parliament, f'pr Stratfoid': but betiei known ,as President of the Newi Zea-' land Earners’* Union. Mr Polsoii had been . ad.dffisssing meetings, all over the -bbuth' jlslttud. He was ,uis&: very., pleased to. have, their member, Mr J; . -ABfien.; present that, evening. ~ ’ .Mr. J. O’Brien said. it gave hint very great pleasure to extend'*a, wekpirie Ad. Mf Poison.:,to this portion jof the' West ooast. He regretted , that|jMr Pblson did 'not,, Have, the time to see; some of tlie land of. the distinct, He extended a very, very hearty •Welcome to tins Coast arid hoped he woiilll carry dway very pleasant refcollectidhs of liis visit.

Mr-W. J. Poison thariked . the AWo speakers for trie kindly riiahner in which '.they 1 had welebriied. him that evenitlg. He appreciated their welcome ancl wished to vdibe it; The object of his meeting that evening SVd> nonupatty,. though it was of a' poll Li-, cffl nature.; Ho ;rfecogrii§M that the whole; future prosperity of this .cbuii-; i.ry re'stgc}. (Iri the develbjlmSiiU of tliei.. lands. ;In many cases fve htike iiof faith!-feiibugfi In but owh dHtiibts, .arid poksi-biy;.tha|i; includes Wesfflsrhd at the present... tiriiei At the present tittnj New Zealrind had , riiahy * 1 difficulties. They rigairist Vi|jJujrjd, tiine. if they did riot avoid -sothe, of the pit-' falls ,‘thil '■ Australia , fVilSKsufferiiip .frond at the present tiirife. - Ip a boiih-. tty; wTiieh depends entirely for ,'itk iricotfle bn its pririiriry iridustriesj they niust deveioli it ■;bn ;sdiihd. lines. Oitly by -thd probpei ity .of -the pririiriry pfodileel’ bail bvei'ybddy else prosper. Bur trig- the few!'years we had .prosperity, to a very corisiderribie exbqrii in our pririiafy iridusti-ieb. Last yhar rie felt the fii'st of the slrinip that ■ has dtrie to this .country. We fiHd that oiir expbfts have beffii exceeded by’ b"i ihiportei ' lids riffs a very seiiouri riiritt 'tft, eVefi if it werb only a diffefbiicr of fiIOO.CDO; Nbfv we li'fi'vri prices down in fill ou’r primary product's: The fetririi tv.the gold standard wriS orie of the fllfctdi'S iri that rfeffu tioii. Therfe ivdlild Hff affriucK sriiallctrifet-hm for otii pririiary • products :■tliiri yerir, arid sis a cbrisepiience pf ..the' of our iribdhtfi; there'wds fi nhdbssity'tb write!, oiir •.hdtißii&l' v ei had to firid in Addition to thfe .paypiehts foi inlpdrts'j-.tlie Hidriey tb pay for the interest on oiir .debts' rilirdSd, about eight millions, -tlie profits frobi banks, shipping arid other Big iHHitiitlons rr other ttvb millionk During the next .year or trib, \Ve are going .tb-he fa ed kith- troubles that' wotihl have to . V faced.' The*/ effect of fallirig priefes firs* resulted in . f/hlling p'rbdriction. The result df this was tb place .iri in : creased 1 burdeh ori the country;' jj meant’land would go out of produr’titHi. Althdugb they 'edlild .riee tlie birds of sdri-ofv flyittp over their heids there was ncf need to let- theih nesf oh their heads. They cdnld atta' li tlie nfhhlelri 'from a differelit iriglh tb thni •i'll -Hthich Australia wiii dbing.' She had fouhd herself sriddenly face to face with a'financial problelri rind had to take drastic steps' to i,eiideavbur tb rrieet her difficult position. Every inordasp. iri the AuStraliriri tariff trmsf increase 'costs. . The ; pilrbliaSing' pdwc;, df the 'eiist'ofner wbrild' lie 'Wriakdried while there :J wduid be incbeaSOd thxrtion that would ■h'aye'.'td he friade’ to meet'tile'-Ibss'Sustained. .

ite proposed , a .reductiop of thei; costs, which wofild .clieabeh living ant, cheajien 'prqcluctioh,. All costs in Ne\, Zealand were too. high, the . cost of bbvqfiiiherit' was tab jiigH,.. the .cost of ftioney ih \ffeiy, Zealafi.il was obVioufel; tbo ~ The inefeaso m. interest by the biinks tvas a very greedy movement. Instead of pending. .their money td A(istTali.a for investment, the banks should have' kept that money, in;,New Zealand piid assisted the,..,people tylm had earned flint mo hey for ..them. Witl ( the .serious, jelling in pieces they would hb.t-;Joe. hble to cbntiiifie, unless they mnde a silbitfintial redaction in costs.

tjiey tad g°t in this country an Afhitlntion ’Court,. which based itj awards ton the cost of jiving. The) wahjecl to. know .that if,,the, cost; of living, waS reduced .then the cost of wages , should be reduced. /aecofdipgly. ns lcihg as the present standard of livj iiig was ‘ maintained or rhisect. . .The workers writtl.d lie . the better off , for the profibsats lie >vns making. If they ob>l reduce costs thev can reduce wnggs criSts And relieve nhemnlHvment ivitiiiit Aliy hardship' anyone.. tje ftmubsed to ndo-jt a method, tj seneute for reducing +-he cost of the necessities of the, people,, and pliiointhe increase on liixu,fifes. He would strike two millions off. the duty n-j necessity (roods. This would reduce the crist of living by tori pbr cent, iiv r fiian of this kirid it would free eauitn 1 to develop "the primary and second arv jndilltfies bf tfie febuniry. ..The rir.s : would be as wfeli off end wßiild not, Pave tile ffear of uiifeniploynient. Tba+

bo miiiioiis would have‘toji he. raised In another way. He '.proposed '.to .tax •luxuries, which he knew] would not be fayb'Urabiy received by spine seHions. •He* proposed to- tax seV.ei'aj, tilings. He did riot, suggest that tlie plan,. \v;as perfect. Some of ms critics had siud it, a-as a. crude plan. Trie .i.first .''tax lie would suggest was an amusement , La..; .1 tax on'wefy amusement,.be it a football match or a dog tax. A penuy tax on every amusement in this coun,ry was csiimauia 10 \r, mg 111 a imU ,ioii "pOtiiids, His second pipposal wars .or a tax- 011 trie Arpss, saies ; of the lbtels of. this country., He uld abol.niL tbe £4O li ense, and then the bigger the sales the bigger would be the tax. His third tax would be a tax on foreign motor cars that are coming intd this country. Next he'would put a -ax on cue gross . receipts'' of foreign picture proprietors. He had; been i.iU oimpd ciiat these proprietors charged .lie theatre owners 50 to, 60 per cent; m the gross receipts of.-tlleir takings, ‘ins next- proposal >VUS lor ail adJi; iolial 5 pei' cent, ori . totalisritor recipes. If they could afford tp gamble lien they can afford- !io j>ky the additional tax.,. Trie only objection came .i'orn racing clubs. He was proposing , ,itat,.Uie embargo on telegraphihg in•cstments to • Raring' Clubs should be lifted. , if they bet with Itacing Clubs ue Clubs get cash, anti it would assist -to -'prevent .dealing with .bookmakers, iepwrinted; to see- gambling i«bov< can’d and, not underground as it wa t..present. He Wanted to do awa. ■ itri ,the lipoknialter] Those were tiff . ropokilis that he was offering for taxation oil luxuries in place of the taxation ori necessities.

He did riot .want to blamo the pre , sent Government or any other Government' fot the pteserit position of the oiiritry ah the present moment. Gov , 'rnirient riftei- Government have bees lulifclihg up an enoririout loan debt the present loan debt was over £2l er head of the . population. Theivas tile, greatest necessity for increasing production, and reducing expenditure. .He suggested tjhat they, shouh all at halt, in the work bf pushing on I he South Island main trunk railways, he railways at;present were losfn. wo millions yearly and if they ex bndfed another fifteen millions on the;two railways, could anyone i’ity tha. vhesb railways wbtilcl pay interest ob heir cost. He therefore suggested they lioUld call a halt, on the work bf these aiiways and switch t the men employer" on- these works to other, parts of he country‘where there was. plenty, ol ,vo'rk available. Instead, pf , buying >p improved estates it would be much otter to put the men on■ virgin lane if /which there yyas plenty • in Nev Zealand. borne of tliojie put on the ami would prove unfit, hut those win lick to their work could lie pur on ectio'ns and would ultimately .provt bbstantial producers .■ There was much and capable of being handled that riiil gone but of cultivation • simply iifpii’gh, faults. of government, They uuld assist thousands on .to tlie lain ],/. a sound system; of Jqhd cultivation, .le yvbuld .pass over some of his subjects ~n'd .refer;to the question of. taxation if. the, producer. They pnid .land taxi ind it had recently beep increased. In addition to land tax, they had to pay ti ehqr moils sum , in, rates. . They were bayiiig ra,tes and petrol, taxation iri .order to' enable motor traffic to com* ete with our railways. In many coun-fles.tlierb-were.no rate's ,on farm lands. . ne, proper way to increase their reon tie would be to double the petrol jhx, and. so drive a lot : of, the present ci-affic back to the railways. •■ite would go further. ~He would re-i-range iocal governmetit. They, had Highways Hoards whi,cii • Wflre work/ tia Well. , He. would . .apply . the same system to local fioverninerit. He would l'pjiqint one local authority , to carry on instead of a number of small loco, bodies. This was a period, for efficiency ahd.tliey. must be efficient if. they wish to progress. .; . , .. . . ,- He Wiklied also to discuss-. Hie., V- i irig question if Imperial preference. W< K ad been fighting instead pf nulling together, as one glqrioris. Empire. He instanced . the difference betweeti the Hawaiian Islands . in .the, .Commonwealth of United States and the posi r tion of .Fiji, which had .better lands/ and still was riot flourishing, as she could not trade withhqr nearest neighbours. . > _ If there was one tiling he wished to. impress on. them it wgs .the neces- : icy .of. .looking at. the points He waS placing before them, froni tlie point of view of citizenship. From that point

alone cftn they obtain success. If-..we oath oitly. puli together, if ,we can ex-, pitii-fe '{jtiliftS o'f view from the viewpoint ui the‘ ountry as. a whole, then . lie thought they woiild get somewhere; He thanked them heartily lor the way they had listened to ‘him: „ (Applause). : The Chnirnifiii -shicl he 'had ibeeu veiry favourably •-impressed with the. address given thrift evening, lie. ap•prec.ated very mUfc;h the views he had placed befo're theni. ' ; • Mr T. (j’K'fcjii ..(KiijJtatiihi) moved a very liearty vote.l ; of, .thanks anu,..j[pf, predation of tilfe : addrfeks: by Mr Polson . :•>* ‘ .... v r . '• / '

Mr 1). Jeliie (iLraiiura) seconded the moitiion knppreciating itlie addrfess given. ’ 411 . . v. ' , Mr W. A. Jamieson (Koitefaiigi), ;hlso supported -tHfe, carried bv acelamatißti an 1 tTie. singing of “Hof He’s a Jolly Good- Fellow. ” ’ . .

Mr O’Neil akio took tlie'opporiiinity of thanking Atf O’Brien for'the splendid way that he had looked after the Interests of thd fanning eommiii’'itv.while in Parliament. \ Air Polsoh said one. of the keenest Workers on behdlf of the farmers in this district was- Jim O’Brien. He thanked them fob the appreciative Vote of thanks, n k '

| Air O’Brien saitlhe was surprised to receive a vote of thanks that evcrtiite. He had also listened; with ..great pleasure to the speech of Mi 1 Poison that evening. , •

: Mr Polsop then ..moved a vote \of thanks to the Chairman that was carried by acclamation.