PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 679, 20 June 1914, Page 5

PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH.

Mr Massey delivered an address in the Town Hall to the largest audience which has been seen in Te Kuiti. a» eight o'clock, when the Prime Mimater appeared on the stage the hall was packed, many being unable to obtain Bitting room, while a number made their way round to the back and occupied the wings of the stage. Mr Massey'a appearance waa the signal for an outburst of applause which continued for some time, and ended with cheera. The Mayor occupied the chair and briefly introduced the Premier to the audience. In opening hia address Mr Massey referred to previous visits he had Dl id to Te Kuiti, and to ' the warm welcome he had always received, whether as private member. Leader of the Opposition, and now as Prime Minister. The large audience was proof of the manner in which the town and district had grown. In the not far distant future he waa sure the King Country would be one of the best producing districts in the Dominion, and Te Kuiti one of the foremost inland towns. Before dealine with the political questions of the day he wished to make it clear he was not there to abuse his opponents, and ha would only refer to them wuen it was necessary for him to reply to their criticism. He understood the "flyiag squadron" had visited the district, but he left it to the intelligence of the public to judge between them. The Government had been criticised for many things and had been faced with immense difficulties when they took office. Fortunately difficulties had the knack of disappearing when tackled properly, and the initial difficulties of the Government had been «o treated.

FINANCE. Mr Masaey reviewed the -position in respect to finance when the teins of Government were handed to his party. They were faced with a depleted treasury, and enormous commitments with little or nothing to meet the obligations and with a depressed money market. So serious was the position that the Minister o* Finance was Bent Home to raise the necessary money to maintain the credit of the country. The speaker quoted figutaa showing the position to be over £770,000 of promises with only £17,000 to meet them. Moreover, between eight and nine millions of Bhort-dated debentures fell due tr/fe year and preparations had to be made to meet them. He was gad to be alia to state that financial matters had eased so gtaitly thit the Government was enabled to extend the limits of the lending departments to the full capacity. When his party came into office the limit of the Advances to Settlers Department was £SOO. and the Loans to Local Bodies limit was £s ° oo 'J'""J applicants sometimes had to W «"M before they could be accommmodated. The limit of the Advances betters Department was fixed Dy Statute at £2OOO, and he was pleased to state the Department was pi* ed to advance up to that limit. Applause—Previously no advance would be made for the purpose of paying off old mortgages. He was pleased to say that restriction had now been removed.—Applause.—ln the case of loam to all local bodies great extensions had he«n made and arrangements had been entered into whereby advances could be made to local bodies up to £60,000 in three vearß For example, any local body which had not borrowed for three years could raise the whole amount nf £6O 000. If an amount had been borrowed, then the £60.000 less the amount which had been raised could be otained. This provision gave the local authorities desirous of progress everv opportunity to develop their Set. and he trusted full benefit w6uld be received from the provisions

bo made. Mr Massey referred to tbj loans recently raised by the Dominion, and compared them favourably with loans raised by aister Dominions. When the applications for the last loan had been put on the market for four and a-half millions, the total of twenty-six and a-half millions had been offered. When he had travelled over some of. the Dominion roads recently he had almost regretted they had not accepted more. However, this indicated that the British investors had absolute confidence in the country; in its prosperity, and in its Government.— Applause.— Mr Massey read a statement by the Secretary of the Treasury rebutting Mr G. W. Russell's recent statements that a surplus of over £BOO,OOO haj been left by the Ward Government 'and not touched by the Mackenzie Government. There were obligations which had to be met before the Massey Government took office which left very little available for expenditure. LAND QUESTION. Dealing with tha land question, the Prime Miniater said the freehold pledge had been kept by his party. During the first session of Parliament a Land Bill had been put through with little opposition, and during last session a further Land Bill had been pasBed after a strenuous fight. The result waa that all Crown tenants except those on endowment lands oould obtain the freehold. A further result of the freehold campaign was that whereas previously there was a majority in Parliament opposed to freehold there was now a majority in favour of it. The speaker dealt with the case of the Hauraki paßtoral lands in terms of previous speeches, and vigorously defended the action of the Government. The stonewall over the Bill had been engineered for purely party purposes. The Government recognised fully the importance of the agricultural and pasotral industries to the Dominion, Beeing that eighty-five per cent, of the country's exports consisted of these commodities, and intended to encourage closer settlement wherever possible. The trend of population was to the towns during the last dozen years, and it was the duty of any Government to make the land productive to the utmoßt extent and do everything possible to encourage population to the country. The Government by promoting workers homes in the country wa* extending a system which promised to be highly beneficial As far as the system had been tried it had proved satisfactory and would be extended as finances permitted. He hoped to go much further in the near future and had already arranged to build a bund-, red honsea for country workers in various parts of New Zealand. NATIVE LANDS. The native land question was a difficult Bubject to handle, but the Native Minister had been able to straighten out difficulties which bad previously existed. He was endeavouring io bring the native! up to the plane of the Europeans, and encourage them to work side by side with their European brethren. DEFENCE. The speaker dealt with defence matters on lines of previous speeches, and defended the Government's policy. He quoted General Hamilton to the effect that the Pacific was that part of the world where continents meet. He believed it would be the storm centre of the world, and they would have to fight for naval supremacy as their forefathers had fought in the Northern seas. There had been a change of opinion 01 the part of the Home naval experts, and they had to i meet altered conditions. He held strongly that the defence policy wbb I above party considerations.and hoped 1 it would always be kept so. What--1 ever ships were owned by the Dom- ' inion in case of war they would i pass automatically to the control of 1 the Imperial authorities.

CIVIL SERVICE. ■ Mr Massey pointed to the increases which had been made in respect to several branches of the Civil Service, including railways and police, and the extra provision made in regard to pensions. The age limit for women's pensions had been reduced to 60 yeats, widows pensions which had formerly ceased on the death of the recipient had been continued for the benefit of the children, while still further improvements in respect to pensions were to be made. The present Government had also redeemed the many promises made in respect to Maori war veterans and those men who had fought for the country in the early dayi were now in a poßitionto claim a pension of £36 a year—Applause. —The speaker defended the appointment of the Civil Service Commissioners, as lifting the service beyond the scope of political influence and giving he same "opportunity to all of advancement. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. In referring to the matter of the reform of the Legislative Council, Mr Maesey detailed what had been done in the endeavour to carry out the party pledges. A further bill would be introduced dealing with the ques- | tion. He blbo pointed to the appointment of Sir W. Hall-Jones, and Messrs Barr, Paul, and Earnsfaaw as indicating that the Government was not confining its appointments to political supporters. INDUSTRIAL MATTERS. In regard to the industrial troubles Mr Massey defended the Government's action in the recent disturbances. He reviewed the happenings at Wellington and stated the necessity for specials was urgent. If similar circumstances arose again similar steps would be taken. In reply to an interjection Mr Massey said he did not think they Were likely to be troubled with another Waihi strike. He had been there recently, and thought anybody talking strike there would be treated summerly. In reply to a further interjection, the Prime Minsiter stated the Waihi trouble arose in the time of the previous administration. Continuing, Mr Massey said he believed many of the men went out in loyalty to their leaders He sympathised with the men, but made no apologv for the leaders; th« country could do very well without that type of men. As to Sir Joseph Ward's statement that he could have settled the strike in two days, the Prime Minister said he believed the Leader of the Opposition had stated he would have setled it by means of a secret ballot or failing that by the reading of the Riot Act. Such a statement was ridiculous. The speaker said he himself had the opportunity to settle ■ seriouß dispute between the marine engineers and the shipowners, and had done so. —Applauße.—He hoped the Riot Act would never be read in New Zealand In conclusion, Mr Maßsey said the event) had proved the people had got a Government in office which was equal to every emergency, financial and otherwise, and he looked forward with confidence to the issue of the coming elections. THANKS AND CONFIDENCE. At the close of his speech, Mr Massey was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, and one of confidence in the Government, which was proposed by Mr T. Pine, and seconded by Mr E. Burnell. The motion waa carried with a small number of dissenters, amidst loud applause. The mover coupled the name of Mr C. K. Wilsen, member for the district, with the motion, and Mi Massey expressed pleasure at this, and paid a tribute to the valuable services rendered to the district by their representative. The meeting broke up with loud cheers for Mr Massey, followed by the singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." The Prime Minister was entertained at a complimentary banquet at the Commercial Hotel. A full report of the function will appear in next ssue.