GENERAL ELECTIONS

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 96, 12 October 1938, Page 3

GENERAL ELECTIONS

MR. HULTQUIST IN BAY OF PLENTY EXCELLENT MEETINGS HELD In continuation of his campaign Air. Huicquist addressed further meetings lit Muirnta pi the Wuiuuka Gorge on Saturday morning; Tnheatuu, cm Saturday aiteriiooii, and Edgeeumbe on the Jdaugitaiki Plains on Saturday night. J’.ach meeting was excellently attended, and unanimous votes oi thanks to the candidate, and confidence in him were carried. At Watratn Air. J. lledpath presided, in the AVuirata School room, and at the conelusion of the meeting, morning tea was served by the ladies of the district t« all present. Mr. Hultquist was prevented from arriving at Tancatua at 2 p.in. as a result of a large slip which came down on the AVaiotahi Bluff, causing him to make a detour of several miles via Pnerata. llidge. He arrived approximately half an hour late at Taneatua, and addressed the largest political mooting he has ever held in that place.. Air. F. B. Grace, president of the Farmers’ Union, presided over tlie large gathering, and in welcoming Air. - Hultquist paid a tribute to him for the work ho had done as member, and expressed his sincere wish that the member would be returned with an overwhelming majors ty. Alt’. Hultquist addressed tlu- meeting for nearly twa hours, and at the conclusion answered a number of questions in regard to education, and the transport of children to secondary schools, pointing out that the Lalioin Government had made provision lor 7/G per child to ho paid to parents towards the cost ot hoarding children in tin' place whore the high school is situated. In the event ol the* parents deciding to scud their children backward and forwards each day. to the high school, the Department is prepared to pay up to 7/0 per week towards the cost ot transport. ‘’ln very few places,” said Mr. Hultquist, “docs the cost <T transporting children to and from high school exceed that sum. and where it does, I pledge myself to work wholeheartedly in flit* direction of obtaining assistance from the* Government tp cover the entire cost- At the conclusion of Lhc Taitealua meeting a well-known farmer and director of the dairy factory moved a vote of (hanks and confidence in the Government and Air. Hultquist, and this resolution was seconded by auotliei dairy farmer, and carried unanimous-

On Saturday night Mr. Hultquist addressed a. meeting at lOdgecumbe Presbyterian Hall. This meeting was presided over by Mr. J. G. C'olebrook, who like the chairman at most other places, at which Air. Hultquist has spoken, •paid' ir tribute to him for bis services to the district. Here again Mr. Hultquist was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence at: the* conclusion of the meeting. Afterwards he met a number of railway men and discussed with them the Social .Security scheme, ami obtained from them at Hie conclusion of the discussion an assurance that they would work wholeheartedly for this scheme, and co-op-erate with him after the election in an endeavour to have some ol tin* appaicut anomalies in the scheme, insolai ns thy affected railway nmn. investigated.

During the week-end Air. Hultquist addressed a large gathering of electors in the Captain’s Cabin at Ohope Bench. This was the first time lie had ever spoken ntf the 1 leach, and a vote of thanks to him for his visit was carried with prolonged applause at the conclusion of I»is, address.

II F.t'KPTIO.N AT TOKOAIAIIV IL\Y . B LOOK I) GATHFII INC In continuance’ of bis campaign, Air. Hultquist. AI.P-. addressed meetings on Monday; at Ot-oko in tin* a!tornoon, and at Tokomaru Bay in the evening. The meeting held l at Otnko was the largest the member has yet addressed there, and at the conclusion of his speech a number of questions wore* answered, and a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence in the Government was carried. Air. and Mrs. Hultquist and party were afterwards the' guests of the ladies of the district, at. afternoon ten. Air. Hultquist left immediately after the meeting for Tokomnru Bay. when* in the evening, the largest gathering of electors over held in the history of the township, met in the To Pukn Hall to hear AIK ifultquist. Air. F. Bignell presided over tho gathering which gave Air. Hultquist a rousing reception when Jie

rose to speak. At the conclusion oi : the two hours address a number of questions were asked, after which a resolution of thanks and confidence in the Government and Mr. Hultquist as, member for the district was moved by Mr. J. B. Stafford J.P., and seconded by Mr. T. lOonolo. The resolution was carried unanimously, and with prolonged apx>lause. Mr. Hultquist loft Tokomaru Bay early on Tuesday morning for Gisborne, deciding to cancel his meeting at Wuipiro Bay, .as a result of representations mode to him by the residents of that district, who argued that the candidate was assured of an overwhelming vote in his favour in the bay, and that lie would be wiser to save his voice for the evening meetings to be held during the remainder of his campaign. ENTHUSIA ST LO 11ECEPTJ OX MB. HUTiTQUIS.T AT OH MON I) The Ormond Hall whs packed to tlio doors last night-wlien Mr. A. G..Hultquist, Government candidate for the Bay of Plenty electorate was accorded a wonderful ovation, speaking for about two hours. Mr. J. MoOruo, a farmer, who acted as chairman of the meeting paid a great tribute to the work done by Mr. Hultquist as member for tlu> district. - When Mr. Hultquist entered the gathering rose spontaneously to its feet and enthusiastically applauded. Mr. Hnltquisths speech was so frequently punctuated with applause that lie had to appeal to the gathering not to applaud. At tlio conclusion of tin* address a number oil questions was asked and the candidate's reply t ( > each of these questions was received with applause. A vote of thanks and confidence in the member and the Government was enthusiastically carried by the 200 to 250 people who packed the little hall. There were only four or five dissentients. Three cheers were given for Mr. Savage and the Government candidate.

Mr. Hultquist arrived in Opotiki fairly this afternoon and then left lor Whnkatnnc, where he expects to address his largest meeting in the campaign. To-morrow night he will give an address in Opotiki and conclude his campaign by an address at To Karaka on Friday night. MR. SULLIVAN ACTIVE u |(; MAKA rH I ATT END AN CE On his second visit to Wacrengn-a-hiku, Mr. \V. Sullivan, National candidate fur Bay of Plenty, addressed 00 people in tlio Parish Hull at an utternoon meeting. lie dealt lengthily with the Government’s primary produce policy, alleging Ministerial dictatorship and forecasting the extension, of State control if the Labour Government were returned, to take in wool, meat and all other products, as stated by one Labour candidate-

Denting with rating he said the National I’arty undertook to pay a £ for C subsidy on by-ways under county control, giving cll'cct to a certain extent- to the principle of de-rating. 'I he present Government had promised consideration of this question, hut instead had instituted the graduated land tax. On the East Coast a. lot of leasehold land, was not suitable for closer settlement; In. a number of cases the h s sees,’inflicted with this tax, wen' not prepared to renew their leases, owing to increased overhead costs due to Labour legislation. “There is so much land on the Coast,” said Mr. Sullivan, “that they stand it upright.” (Laughter). Another burden In*’ said the present Government had placed on the tanners’ shoulders had been the discontinuance of the C2J per cent, rebate on rates.

On the motion of Messrs. I>. O’Grady and 1). Mills “a hearty vote of thanks to the candidate and every confidence in his Party” was unanimously carried on the voices. Mr. "\V. Campbell was in the chair. Stating that the candidate was not “a professional politician but a plain businessman who. was attempting to combat socialism.” the chairman,’ Mr. ||. G. Smith, introduced Mr. W. Sullivan to a Tvlakiauri audience of about 1;}() which packed the school. The majority were waiting long before the advertised time of the meeting and H o’clock arrivals found the 5.11.0. sign (standing room only) already up. A number clustered 1 round the windows in the grounds. In. a wide criticism the Huy ol Plenty National candidate condemned “the Government’s disregard ol sound finance.” lie was recounting the episode of the Governor of the Reserve Bank and a. Ministerial threat of “running shoes”, when n compart section broke in with: “Running

slices; hear, hear!” . , Mr. Sullivan.: country were run without such men as the Governor of tlip Reserve Bank, I believe it would head for financial disaster. Overwhelming applause greeted this and was generously given throughout the address. The Ormond leaflet incideiit, he thought, had clone the National Party far more good than harm. Tho socialists appeared to be getting bustled. (Applause.) While discussing the National Party candidates, Mr. Sullivan was interrupted with: “What, about the way the National Party crashed last time?”

Mr. Sullivan: The only crash the National Party will make will be through the barrier on October 10. (Applause.) Spicing lii s address with a bund of humour, the candidate had „the audience hanging on his every word in high good humour. He enlarged considerable- on his charge that the Government was socialistic, not labour. “Step by step they had followed Marxian theories,” he said, “and if they got the chance they would have every man a State employee. A voice: Rot.

M'r. Sullivan went fully into detail to intermittent applause. His condemnation of-Sunday political meetings was received with marked approval when he said “ if they cannot do enough work during the week and

observe Sunday as a day of rest, tlley should not be in. parliament.” Labour candidates all over the country, lie stated, were being forced to admit they were socialists. They were hedging and trapped and in difficulties over it, because they were not prepared to admit wliat they planned to cl.oi to socialise the whole country in accordance with the basic plank in their platform. Mir. Sullivan subjected the “Social Security Act” to an analytical criticism,- exposing its unsound” financing as planned by the Government to a barrage of indignation from a small section.

' “The Hon. P. Webb said, ‘We are going to write the profits out of business,' but in my opinion they’ll write the interest out of business too—the personal interest—if ever that Act is put into operation,” said Mr. Sullivan.

Good-natured interjection appeared to be very much to the taste of the candidate, who scored repeatedly with equally good-natured and very quick retort. He reiterated the three charges lie levelled at the Minister of Railways and Industry at Tolaga Bay, and went on to review the results of the Primary Products Marketing Act, condemning State control as “pulling the good man down to the level of"the poor farmer instead of raising the level of the latter.” He said the Act had not fulfilled by any means the promises the Government had made to the farmer when seeking election in 1935, for they had kept the primary producer in the dark as to their real intentions. The consequences of this policy were the votes of “no confidence” Ministers were receiving in farming areas at public meetingsAs at Ormond, that section from which most of the interjections had come remained mysteriously silent while Mr. Sullivan was dealing with this subject./ The Government had definitely let down the primary producer, lie said, and they had to face up to the music at the coming election. “The Hon. Frank Langs rone.” lie continued, “is one of the finest advance agents the National Party have,” discussing the socialisation of land. Laughter from the majority greeted this sally and, surprisingly, pronounced applause came from that end of the room whence had come the earlier interjections, -giving the impression that the speak's sarcasm was completely lost on the Labour minority. “The Hon. D. G. Sullivan lias made a. ‘botch’ of running the railways,” said Mr. Sullivan. A Voice : Rats !

Mr. Sullivan; “It’s a pretty big rat! In 1934 they were under Board control and

A Voice: They wore rusting in stacks.

Mr. Sullivan: They were under Board control, but now they are in a mess and

V Voice: Have you seen the mess?

Mr. Sullivan : J might- if I looked in that corner (inclining towards t-ho voice). Delighted laughter and applause greeted this sally and. shortly after Air. Sullivan commenced outlining the National Party’s programme. He compared hi.s party’s proposals with, what tin* Labour Government had done.

“Derating was promised you by the Labour Party,” he said, “but what did. they do. They said they subscribed- to- the principles of derating and then they re-instituted the graduated land tax by which they took another half a-million pounds from you. They promised de-rating. Oh yes; they would promise you the moon--any-thing to get to the treasury benches — and what have they done? Disregarded the welfare of our primary producers under every heading; increased their taxation, commandeered their produce, and added enormously to their costs.”

•The National Party, he said, would subsidise pound for pound districtroads, and the subsidy on main highways would remain unchanged. “Two women yesterday had to ford two rivers on horses to reach one of my meetings,” he said, “it is an extraordinary position, isn’t it. "We have got) to get metal on. to some of those roads I have recently seen on the East Coast, where people have been living for donkey’s years under unbelievable hardships and conditions.”

A question challenged Air. Sullivan’s -published opinion that a “fear complex was abroad, in Now Zealand” and asked the candidate if he had Mr. Anthony Eden’s article in the “Sunday Chronicle” quoted by AirHultquist, alleging that New Zealand taxation was so low British taxpayers were envious. Air. Sullivan: Distant fields always look greener! until you get there. A Voice: "What about the' Wliaka-

tane Paper Mills clbsing 1 Mr. SullivanV That is an instance of the “fear complex”. A Voice : Would Maoris come under the Social Security Act,? , Mr. Sulilvan: i understand so. They would have 'equal rights. . • A Voice: Is Mr. Coates still an influential member of your party ? Mr. Sullivan: No more than I am. Considerable, banter followed between Mr. Sullivan and his questioner, to the* hugh delight of the audience. ,

A Voice: What was the result of Mr. Hultquist’s wager with Mr. Pilmer about the sales tax farmers. have to pay ? Have you heard We were told that your supporter lost but refused to cough up ;, is that right ? Mr .Sullivan: No- I cannot tell you. I do not know. I was not in on that deal. 1 am not even holding the stakes. (Laughter).

Mr. Pilmer himself was in the audience and he rose and explained the position to the questioner Mvlio was decidedly unsteady on his f§et.

“The judge refused to adjudicate until he had the exact nature of the wager in black and- white,” he said. “I hope that satisfies you.” A Voice: Ho you recognise any difference between Socialism and Christianity ? Mi-. Sullivan: I don’t think you should drag religion ■ into politics. As far as the Christian side of our teaching is concerned. I prefer to leave that to those who are more qualified to expound it. than I am. The candidate concluded his reply by quoting the Commandment “Thou siialt not covet ” expressing the opinion that the socialistic theory, denouncing the small capitalist, must necessarily be irreconcilable with this teaching. A vote of thanks to Mr. Sullivan and confidence in his party was moved by Mr. W. Campbell. The chairman, Mr. H. G. Smith put it to the voices, and' it-was carried by a definite majority.