HIDES AND BOOTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2102, 13 March 1920, Page 2

HIDES AND BOOTS.

!!'. WARD'S ■ (’[TALLENT IE TO

Mb. NEWMAN, M.P

-Mr Edward Newman, M.P.,' writes ns fed lows to the Wellington Post: — "Sir.—line! AI r Ward taken (ho trouble to rend Hie rejiorl of my speeeh at Marlon, in either the Dominion, the Want;amii ChroniHe. or (lie Rnngil il:ei Advocate,- he would nol have made his sillv (Tmllem;e.

‘‘l. did not say ‘Thai !nm,e profiteerinc- had been done was nnqne<tamable." 1 said, ‘I hoped that the Oovernmcnt would slop profiteeriiiii',' ill it were proved to exist, after a thorouph investigation had been made by the Hoard oi' Trade. "With regard to .Mr MasseyV statement about raw material beim;

..sent to Attslraliii and eotninc back in the form id' bools, 1 certainly said. ‘That .Mr Massey had made

such a statement.’ The Auckland Weekly of llic lilt insl. reported so, and so did all Hie oilier iNew Zealand papers, and 1 believe it lo he true, ll is not for me lo defend (he Prime .Minister’s statements, he is quite'able to do that himself, as Mr Ward find mil if he tackles hint.

"Before Mr Ward a.uain rushes into print, he should make certain of Bis facts. 1 feel sure that the public will .demand that the question of ‘profiteerinp-' in connection will: tin manufacture and sale of footwear

shall he exhaustively investigated without delay. If fhe verdict of the Board is that there has .been no ‘prolileerini’-,' then Mr Ward will he Jtislilied in taking hack his cheque for .rJbO; if, mi the other hand, Ihe decision is that “protileerinc” has. taken place, Ilien i assume that, tlui ITS.A. will henelil lo I lie amount named.

“If Mr Warddhinks he is coinc ji! .-■lull liie months of j)iil»iif iik j m in New Zen hi nd hy (hrealeninc them with monelary Irfsses if the)' refer In 'prothecrinc,’ then lie never made a yrcalcr mistake in Ids life —I can assure idm of that."