MR HOGG'S CAMPAIGN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 18

MR HOGG'S CAMPAIGN.

WELCOME BY THE TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL. "An official welcome was extended by the Otago Trades and Labour Council to Mr A. W Hogg, M.P. (Masterton), at tho Trades Hall on the 7th. The night was bitterly cold and wet, and the attendance was. only moderate. The president of the oouncil (Mr J. Brown) occupied the chair, Mr Hogg being seated on his left, arid Mr W. H. Warren on his right. The Chairman apologised, to Mr Hogg for the small attendance. However, only short notice had been given of their visitor's arrival. It was intended at first to have a public welcome, but the message intimating Mr Hogg's earlier arrival had gone astray. Mr Hogg, as they all knew, had stuck fast to the principles he had advocated __ in Parliament, and at the present time he was of more consequence in the Dominion than a Minister of the Crown— • (applause), for the simple reason that he had manliness enough to stand up for his principles above the power of money or ] place.— (Applause.) "Our interests," said the chairman, '"are the interests of the community, and the interests of the whole of the Dominion are ours, and the lines on which we work are the lines which you have bosn advocating in the Ministry, and for which you are suffering at the present time." — (Applause.) Mr -Hogg had no' more conscientious supporters than the Trades and Labour Council of Otago, and on behalf of .the council he gave, him a very hearty welcome to Dunedin.—(Applause.) • | Mr Hogg, who was warmly welcomed, assured the meeting that it gave him infinite pleasure to be with them, and to meet men, some of whom he knew 30 years ago, when he \va3 a resident of Dunedin. That day he had had a great deal of pleasure in looking round the city and seeing the improvements that had been made. Old buildings had disappeared, and edifices that would ba a credit to any city in the world had taken their place. He had noticed with special pleasure the solid character of the educational institutions. With reference to himself and the position , he now occupied, he felt he had simply done his duty — not merely to his constituents and to- the members of the House in which he held a seat, but also to the people of New Zealand.—(Applause.) He was pleased to say that wherever he had been he had had an excellent reception, and had been entertained' in a most hospitable manner. Perhaps it was because he was a little out6poken that- he annoyed people sometimes, and that, some time ago, he annoyed his colleagues in the House.— (Applause.) But that celebrated speech, which had brought him into notoriety, had done him some good. There was nothing in the speech that called for apology*. He would deliver the same speech at any time, and if placed in the same position again ~he would make exactly the same speech. — (Applause.) He had denounced monopoly, and he would denounce it as long as he lived. He had jbeen a worker himself, and he was pleased to be thoroughly associated and' identified uritdi the workers of the country, and it would be no fault of his if he did not assist in enabling them to make full use of "the opportunities they enjoyed. — (Ap- • plause.) He regarded labour as the foundation of a country's greatness. It was, perhaps, what might be called the lower level, but if they raised that layer they elevated everything above it. It was said a Socialist, wanted to level things down. The true aim of the Socialist was to elevate, and not to depress. Education was Ibeing- used all over tho world to raise the cause of humanity. What was happening at present in the Old Country? Vast strides were being made in the direction of remedying old, moth-eaten abuses — tlte abuses of ages. Changes of a most slupendo'H character were impending. In New "Zealand there was a well-educated people, and with suoh a population they ought to tarry forward the advance of New Zealand, and not New Zealand only, but, by ex&mple, that of the whole of the civilised aworltf. — (Applause.) Let them show how reforms could 6e established here, and that they would be of advantage to the whole race, and other places, like Great Britain, 'America, and ..the Continent of Europe, would follow 'the good example. — (Applause.) He- believed- that if- the men who held the reins of power in 1892 were still in power New Zealand would still be going forward. — (Applause.) But; instead of going forward, it had been going back. " No . 'doubt," said Mr Hogg, " you- have been ob<eiving for yourselves what hasbeen happening in the field of politics. "At one time it was the Liberal and Labour party, and the Conservative, or Tory, party, but they have been getting gradually nearer and nearer to each other — approaching closer . year by year and session by session, — until they were now almost twin brothers. Presently it will be difficult to Aisting-uisb Hfr tween them." He had supjoited Mr Bal- .

lance, because Mr Ballanco was a friend of the people, and thoroughly unselfish. — (Applause.) He had supported Sir John M'Kenzie on similar grounds. Although Mr Seddon did splendid work in the interests of the masses, there were many things he (Mr Hogg) disapproved of. Again ani again he had asked Mr Seddon to carry out reform a that, up to the present, had not been instituted. The crisis through wl'ich the Dominion had just passed had been one of the most disastrous kind. The hands of the clock of progress had been stopped for 12 months. Owing to the want of means the building up of the country had almost ceased, and yet New Zealand \V!-s a 3 fine a land as vraß to be found in any part of the South Pacific, or, indeed, any part of the world.— (Applause.) A number of speakers referred to the good service Mr Hogg had rendered to the cause of Labour in the Dominion, end the remainder of the evening was nicely filled in with musical items.