POLITICAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2496, 21 October 1922, Page 2

POLITICAL.

ADDRESS BY MR. BRADY. At the Town Hall last night Aftr"' F. P. Brady delivered an address on the aims and objects of the N.Z. Labour Party. Air F. D. Whibley Labour Candidate for Manawatu, presided and in introducing the speaker mentioned that Mr Brady was again the Labour candidate for Rnngitikei in which constituency lie put up such a great fight at the Inst general election, being defeated only by a small margin. Mr Brady, who was enthusiastically received, said that as at the last election, the fight in December would be between Labour, representing the workers, small farmers and other useful citizens on the one side and Masseyism, representing as did the Tory Party of old, vested interests, the large land holders, eomhines, shipping rings, banks, etc. The Liberal Party was down and out and votes east in favour of the Liberal candidates would be votes wasted. The Labour Party had every reason to be proud of the light put up by their representatives in Parliament. The attitude they adopted on any measure brought down Intel invariably been: How will this affect* ihe useful people? If in their favour they had at all approved of it: if detrimental to the interests of the small fanners and workers, they had always fought >1 renuously against it and found the Liberals walking into the lobby with Reform. The speaker warned the electors that from now on all ,-orts of propaganda will he distributed by the various Reform organisations such as the Welfare League, Civic Leagues, P.P.A, Rotary Clubs, etc., all vieing with each other in lying like gas meters, to ob--eure the real issue. Oily tongued canvassers would shortly be in their midst complimenting dad on hi- farm, shaking hands with mother and kissing the baby, with benevolence shining out of one eye and calculation shining out of the other and he appealed to the electors- to think for themselves on these questions. Mr Brady-dealt at length with the various planks of' the Labour Party platform, pointing out that the party stood for proportional representation; the abolition of tlie Upper House; the removal of all political disabilities of women. The land policy of the Party was not in the interests of the big man lint for the good of the country as a whole. They stood for the conservation of the National Endowments of a land tenure based on occupancy and use which shall secure to the working farmer the fruits of his labour and exertiotjk The party advocated the establishment of a State bank with sole right of note issue and to the exclusion of private hanking. Mr Brady pointed out that whilst the Moratorium Act protected men who luid borrowed money on mortgage ii gave no protection to those who were working on bank overdrafts. Mr Brady touched on the methods adopted by the Reform Party in lighting the election and said that ibis year a great deal was being talked about loyalty. Mr Massey had -aid that all who were opposed to the Reform Party were disloyal, at the same time robbing your neighbour? or did it consist of doThe speaker asked what loyalty meant. Did it consist of flag waving, singing “God Save t lie King ing your best for those whom'you were born, bred and live amongst ? To be loyal to a King was it neces--ary to iie loyal to every act of his minions ? Who made the great British Empire what it was? Was it the titled nobility—those drones upon society —<\r was it the man in the dungarees who wen down to the bowels of the earth to win coal for our industries, those who went down to the sea in ships, the men 117 the factories, in the offices, small farmers, in fact all the useful citizens whom Labour stands for to-day ? When one starts advertising his loyalty the speaker asked his hearers to think of Horatio Bottomley, the most loyal man in England, who sent more men to the front than any other Britisher nud robbed their wive- while they were there. He referred to the loyalty of the Reform Party’s friends who sold their land to the soldiers at prices enhanced by the self sacrifice and devotion to duty of the soldier himself. Air Brady reieiied his hearers to a few remarks of the great and grand old man, Mr Gladstone apropos to this loyalty stunt and incidentally conveying a seimon to Mr,Massey on his recent action in connection with the recent threatened war. Mr Gladstone -aid: “The great duty of a meat, especially in foreign affairs i- to soothe and tranquijse the minds of the people? not to set up false phantoms of military glory which are to delude them, into calamity, not to flatter their infirmities by leading them to believe that thej are better than the rest of the world and so encourage the baleful sprrit of domination; but to proceed upon a principle that recognises the sisterhood and equality of natons, the absolute equality of public right aluong them; above all to eudeavoui to produce and maintain a temper so calm and so deliberate in the public opinion of the country that none shall be able to disturb it.”

Mr Brady concluded his address with an appeal to the electors to support the Labour candidate and on the motion of Mr Rand the meeting unanimously carried a liearty vote of thanks to the speaker for his able address and expressed confidence in the Labour Party.