POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4488, 6 November 1922, Page 1

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

THE THAMES ELECTORATE.

MR. T, W. RHODES AT NGATEA. A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS. An address in connection with his electioneering campaign was' delivered by Mr T. W. Rhodes, the sitting member for the Thames electorate, at Ngatea on Thursday evening last. Mr W, G. Hayward was in the chair. The number present was not large, only about 30 electors, including, a few ladies, putting in an appearance. At question time some of the Government employees (Lands Department worknien and telegraphic lipesmen) criticised the Reform Government’s actions, particularly in connection with the cut in w,ages. A vote of thanks was eventually passed to Mr Rhodes'.

The chairman said Mr Rhodes would require no introduction, as he was sufficiently well knpwn to his constituents. The speaker was sure that Mr Rhodes would be returned at the elections. PROGRESS OF THE PLAINS! Mr Rhodes said he had the honour of having represented the district ever since it had been a settlement. He was pleased to see the progress' on the Plains, and at Ngacea in particular. One address he gave at Ngatea was amongst the flax bushes. Ngatea was becoming quite a town now. Rapid strides had been made with bhe butter, factory;,, which was put up with the idea that it would suffice the needs for many years to come, but before the end of tihe first season it was found to be not large enough. That was' the greatest testimony of progress. He had been jocularly twitted in the House as having the Hauraki Plains on the brain, but he had always invited the members to visit the Plains and see for themselves. The Plains had an equitable rainfall and mild winter. Outside people did not realise the advantages ruling on the Plains. He had seen a paragraph (in the Paeroa paper, he thought) about a visitor from the Waihahapa district saying that the climate here had added £lO per acre extra on to the value of! the land.

HIS OPPONENTS. He did not go about posing as an encyclopaedia, but, said Mr Rhodes', he would answer questions to the best of his ability. If he could not he would say so. He would not say anything derogative about his opponents. He thought there were two others against him. He would endeavour to show that he was the only “pebble on the beach.” That was his business. He gave some details of what he had done for the Plains, saying that since he had been in Parliament the money for works on the Plains had been assisted from the Consolidated Fund. Mr Bratlie and Mr Hallyburton Johnstone had been the battlers for the bridge here, which was how .an accomplished fact. The speaker, with these twp gentlemen, the chairman, and others, had gone as - deputations to the Prime Minister on several occasions, and had gained a substantial vote—more than what was’ previously promised. In connection with the post office at Ngatea, he said he had tried to get a larger one, but at the present time, when moneywas so tight, it was impossible for a Langer building, bu: had he not “been pushing the barrow” they would not have got. even that. He had also given assistance foi- the school and the teacher’s residence. He eulogised the services of the headmaster, Mr Jamieson. THE REFORM GOVERNMENT.

He was. standing, he s'aid, as an accredited Reform candidate. Originally he was ah Independent, as a freeholder. For the past 10 years he had supported Mr Massey, and he saw no reason for changing. There had been no harder row to hoe than the time through which, Mr Massey had held office, and. Mr Massey was the right man as Prime Minister.. He said Mr Wilford was a good man, but not one for the Premiership. He eulogised the good points' of his party. They were not yet through the period of reconstruction, but with a good Government they had nothing to fear. THE PUBLIC DEBT.

The Government, continued Mr Rhodes, had often been blamed for extravagance. The public servants-, when they went away tp the war, had been promised that their positions would be available when they returned.

Mr S. Bradley: But were they ? He contended that they were not. They were promised things they never got. Mr Rhodes said he did hot object to interjections, but he did object to another speech being made in the middle of his. He would like the interjector to keep his arguments till afterwards. He said that when the public servants did not get their positions there had been good reasons. When the war broke out, continued Mr Rhodes, the Public Debt was £90,000.000. Now it was £200,000,000. Tire annual payments now were very heavy indeed. Economies had been effected. The cut in salaries was to be regretted, but it was the only thing to do. The only other alternative would be to sack servants, who would then join the ranks of the unemployed. The economies effected amounted to £5,190,000, and during the present year approximately £2000.000. TAXATION. One of the drawbacks was heavy taxation, but taxation could not be obviated. It was not possible to reduce taxation much ,but ■something had been done in this' direction. Labour said tax the rich man.

A Voice: Quite right. Mr Rhodes said the big income taxpayers were the companies, and the companies consisted of private men often farmers. Land and income taxes had been reduced this year. It benefited the people at large, LAND SETTLEMENT. Regarding land settlement, he said most of the land settled of late years had been through the Repatriation Department.. The returned soldiers had been pretty well supplied. The total number ofi soldiers who hail benefited under the Repatriation Department was 20 278. There were over. 4,000,000 acres of land settled, and 440,000 acres were being opened for selection at the present time. There was, an area of 2600 acres on the Hauraki Plains now being drained and being made ready for settlement. HOUSING. Regarding housing, Mr Rhodes said the Government had a big housing scheme, but it had been found that the interest changes would be too heavy, and the Government decided not to go on with it. However, the scheme had not. been abandoned. Over 10,000 houses had been provided m New Zealand. They had not all been built by the Government, but the Government had given assistance. The Government h'ad spent £6,542,119 in this direction. If the Government went on as' it had been doing for another three years there would be nothing to fear regarding the housing shortage. Money would be loaned on 'very reasonable terms in the near future. The State Advances- Office had been authorised £2,000,000 for extending the scope of the Department. EDUCATION.

Some people said Mr Rhodes, had said that the Government bad done a lot in election year and was going to cut it down next year. He said they would not cut down the Education vote next year. Benefits had been increased for education during the past year. Even men on lighthouses and right in the backblocks could get education facilities for their children. It had been contended that the Government had been supplying the town and neglecting the country. He (the speaker) had contended that also when he wanted a grant for the country, but he considered the country was now getting very fair treatment. There had been a teacher's residence erected at Pipiroa and one was being erected at Ngatea. Additions were to be made to the Turua school and also to the Ngatea school in the near future. Preference given to tire country schools was shown in the following figures : 636 schools costing £lOOO and under had been erected recently, 48 costing between £loo*o and £2OOO, and 22 over £2OOO, making a total of 706 in all. There were then only 22 large schools. , '

MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCE. During the last session the Meat Control Board Bill was passed, giving the board power to control the export of meat. It had the effect of increasing the price to '.the producer and not to the consumer. A Voice: Socialism. Mr Rhodes-: Call it wliat you like. I call it co-operation. Continuing, he said the result would, be a saving on freights. A Bill for the dairy producers had been held over. If the Bill came forward again he would support it unless it was shown to him that the dairy producers would not benefit by it. The object of the rural bank was to give groups of settlers power to combine and form an association to make financial arrangements for the lending of sums of £5OO to one another for the purchase of chattels. Mr Rhodes supported the scheme.

Regarding the amendment to the Dairy Produce Act, some suppliers to dairy factories had not been fai"ly treated concerning the over-run, especially with the proprietary concerns. The new measure gave power to the suppliers to have investigation. INTEREST OF THE FARMERS.

If re-elected he would go on in the same lines as he had been doing and ■support the Reform Government, He would advance -the best interests of the farmers and every section of the people in the district he represented’ and for New Zealand as a whole. The dark clouds were passing away, with prospects of bright sunshine in the near future. He extolled the virtues of the Reform Government and Cabinet. It was a truly liberal Government. A large number of them were farmers. He resumed his seat amidst applause. SUPPORT WAGES CUT.

A man at the back asked, if Mr Massey contemplated a further reduction in the salaries of civil servants, would Mr Rhodes support that measure.

Mr Rhodes said that authority was taken for three cuts, aggregating £45 a year. One reduction of £l5 was made at the beginning of the year, and later a further cut of £lO. The third cut depended on circumstances. The advances were made as the cost of living rose, and would be reduced if necessary. He thought it a great deal better to reduce the salaries than to throw the men out of employment.

The Questioner: They were thrown out just .the same, Mr Rhodes: They were hot thrown out just the same. The Questioner: Then you would support the further reduction ? Mr Rhodes : Certainly I would if it was warranted. M.P’S. SALARIES. Mr McConnell: Will members of Parliament participate in any further cut ? Mr Rhodes said the New Zealand 1

Jeglstlature was the lowest paid of i any of the other Dominions. If the | speaker was to ask Mr Holland i? ; lie was better off now than whep ho ! was a printer, Mr Holland would say , no. It would not be possible to have | labour men in Parliament if they were not paid enough to keep them. The net results of a Parliamentarian | were small. It would not be a fair I thing to ask members of! Parliament, to take less than what they could , pay their way on, SOLDIER SETTLERS. Mr Bradley: Are you in favour of soldiers paying £65 to £7O per acre for Piako land ? Mr Rhodes said he was not conversant with the matter. Mr Bradley: Take the Or on go Settlement. Mr Rhodes : I was there yesterday, and a finer lot of men you could not find. They’ll do all right. Mr Bradley: With a swag. Could any of those men tell you how many teeth a cow has got ? The chairman said they should keep to political business, Mr Bradley said the land settlement was not fair to the returned soldiers. Mr Rhodes said he could not let a statement like that go unchallenged. There were no returned soldiers better treated than in this country. Mr Bradley : I can’t say I’ve discovered anything liberal since I’ve been back. IMMIGRATION AND UNEMPLOYED. Another question was, would Mr Rhodes' support Mr Massey’s Immigration policy. ? Mr Rhodes : Yes, I would. The labour market had not been flooded. A Voice: Could you give me the figures of born and bred New Zealanders unemployed ? .Mr Rhodes: No- I can’t. I don’t think there are many New Zealanders who can work and who could not get it. He could get them work pn the Government relief works. A Voice: At ten bob a day.

I Another Voice : Starvation wages. | BOARDINGHOUSE TARIFFS, i Mr McConnell said the majority of : the civil servants were boarding, i What steps were the Government tak--1 ing to reduce the tariff in bdarding--1 houses that had never been reduced ? Mr Rhodes said he did not know I what was being, done in boardinghouses, but a number of public servants could combine and live cheaply, i Mr McConnell said the cost of living had not been reduced the same ■ as the wages. I Mr Rhodes said the wages were re- | dueed by the Court oh figures sup- | plied by the Government Statistician. Mr McConnell: Would you be surprised to hear tha- men with the Lands Department had been cut £4O pt r year the last six months ? Mr Rhodes : Yes. He said Ke did not knew that. Mr McConnell: I’m just telling you. Mr Rhodes’ asked Mr McConnell to put it in writing and he would inquire into it, > Mr McConnell: . I might get the ‘‘bullet.” ; Mr Bradley: Are you in favour of . one man in New Zealand holding i 250.000 acies of land? . ! Mr Rhodes said it depended on •, what the land was like. He was of the opinion that a man should hold ■ ' what he could make a living on. > VOTE OF THANKS. Mr J. Bratlie proposed a vote of ■ thanles to Mr Rhodes. • Mr MeKercher seconded, and the - motion was carried. About five dissentients put up their - hands against the motion.' . I Mr Rhodes said it was the first > ; time in his' existence that he had • 1 seen men hold up their hands against j a vote of thanks. : ; A Voice : I understood it to be a ; i vote of confidence, i: ' Mr T’ncdes : The confidence comes > ' at the baDot-box. I A vote of thanks to the chairman • was carried by acclamation.