THE PRIME MINISTER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 1, Issue 45, 19 November 1912, Page 2

THE PRIME MINISTER.

BANQUETTED IN PUKEKOHE. G THERING OF PARLIAMENTARIANS. Glowing Tributes to Mr. Rflasse/.

We R.fnrin Party w s xtremely u forunhti in hatfina such wretched weiiher for Saturday night's banquet tend red in Pukekohe to the Prime Minister, Mr Masse*'. During the aftern'un a drerchig rain fell, and at night a return of winter was suffered. Still the tables in th* mah hall were packed, and it was e3timatel that 280 were present. !t was a distinctly representative gathering, including manj members of loral bcdies and prominent repreientatives of the farming community. The hall waa gay with bunting and decoration", whilst th' tables were furnish d for a fine feasting by' Mr W. G. Abbott, if the Pukekohe Hotel. Music by Meredith's orchestra lent distinction to the dinner. For the invited guests a special place was provided tor each, ana the namfcard fystem that was adopted prevented confusion nf any kind. The Mayor of FukeKohe, Mr. C K. Lawrie, presided, having on hi 3 right htnd the Hon. W. F. Ma?sey, Prime Minister, and the Hon Dr Pom»r?, ani on his left the H n. K. Heaton Khoies, Gsreral. Other members of Parliament at the table were Messrs J. H. Bradney, Auckland West; A. Harris, Waitemati; K. F. Bcllaid, Raglan; J. S.'Dickson. Parn-11; C E. Stat: am, Dunedh South; F. Mander, »larsden; ar.d J. A. Young, Wiiksto Numtrocs apologies for unavoidable abaci ce, with congratulations to the Prime Minister, were read. At uire o'clock the toast list was begun, ad "Tie King" aiid " The Governor'' were honoured "OUR GUEaTV' The Mayor proposed "Our Guest" in an appropiia'.e speech. When Mr Massey rose to reply he receivi d a great ovation. From prohrged applause the demonstration developed into cheering, until at length the companv broke into an enthusiastic "Jolly Good Fellow" annn, with the heartiest of "hip, hip hurrahs." Mr Massey was in goo J form, but in bnijth of speech he sa.rific.ii his privilege in trdcr to afford the banqueters an opportunity ot hearirg the other Ministers and members of Parliament. He with cordial tteiing of the personal Franklin friends he valued, although they might be political opponents. He dealt with the history of his accession to power, and the strenuousness of the session In 1905, he remind.d tht:n, his party sustained a crushing defeat. Many people said they were crushed altogether, hut the people of Franklin thought otherwise. They gathered in their hundreds—he might say in their thousands—and declared t!iey were not beaten, as they were ready to fight again. (Applause). Mr Massey ontinued by briefly sketching the progress of the party up to the time of the memorable success this year. From 11 to 37 members the Ref rm Party rose from JJje ashes in 1908. arid in 1911 /they were hack to theiJiOwSe" wito 38 pledged suppers. (Applause). Three supporters were not JirSifioers of the party; the people knew how some of the pledges had been kept. However, the time came when the late Government was defeated, and be believed he could say that the present Government had justified the confidence reposed in them by the people of this Dominion. (Loud applause). During last session they weie not defeated en a single divinioa, which fact aloie spoke volumes for the solidarity a ;d loyalty of the party. Mr Massey proceeded to touch on one or two of the legislative proposals de-Ht with. There was the reform of the Upper House, the constitution of which he had frequently declared was not sufficiently democratic. That House had been given tha opportunity to reform itselt, but it had declined to do so. Next session, however, new proposals would be introduced, ard there wculd be very little difficulty in pissing them into law. The management of the public service was not satisfactory, and amendments had been made whereby this service would be removed trom political control With capable men a« manages he was that Hi'' civil servants themselves, after a few years' trial, woiilil be glad that tin i m asuro was passed the most important Bill introduced into ttie House was tho Land

811 (Applause). For t e la t twenty yean the policy of this cnjntry wa* a leasehold p liey, and every po sr \~ obstacl w.:s pla-.e<J in tha way of men gjttiiiK the frerhold. "Let me tell yoj," sad tht Prime Minister, ''that the land policy of the present Government u a Ireehnld policy." (Applause and voices: "Quite rignt!" hear, Lear," etc). By making th: acquisition of the freehold po-.sibli b : en made which woul i affect 8500 settlers, with 2.700,000 acres of land, whi would now be emancipated if they so desirei it. He could nut deal with all the legHatio-i that had been introduced, but the country hid now had the first instalment of the Reform Party's programme. What they were aiming for was a commuuity of freeholders with ev ry man farming his o»n land. The claims o! thi veterans who fought for us in the Maori war had also, and for the first time, been recognised. (Applaim) The Ministers were naturally proud of the p sition they occupied; stili they were not there from personal or selfuh motive?, but because ttey Relieved they could do some good for the pejple of the Dominion of New Zealand. Mr Masiey concluded, amidst hearty applause, by thanking them again for the invariable kindness shown to him during the many years tint he h»d bec-n connected wi*h Prankli". "OUK PARLIAMENT."

Captain Colb.'ck prop re i "Our Parliament," during which he discussed defence matters, lis r marks being Utsr on replied ti bv the Hon. R. Heatoa Rhode?, PostmasterGeneral. Dr speech was easiiy the best after-dinner effort of the evening. "We fought you chap* one time," he said, and aided drily—"but we are not gdng to tio it again. We found you pretty goo! at the game. But," he went on more gravely, "if ever f is rou.try were threatened we would s'and aida by side with you to the lan man and woman—ataiid in defence of the country where it his been out happy lot ti commingle man fo man " Dr Pomare, who represents thM Natives of this district in Pailiament, gave some of his impressions or thi House. He'entered Parliament with reverence for the hi? men of th? past—■ and he was disilluaioni.jefrr itTefe are some honourable members who were "honourable" -ia thg House! They had likened the Reform leaders to a peripatetic band fj'l kangaroos -hut he noticed they gf 0 t mo it of the hops! ne pictured one/ genus politician as having a skip/ like a rhinocerous, a glraffian neclj, a head like a sandfly, and the venomous tongue of something With ~tr Latin designation. After so foe anecdotal humour, Dr Pomare. said he chose Mr Massey as his leader when the odds were against him; he st:od alone when a-H the Maori members were opposed to the pres>nt Prima Mr.ister. "Plain, blunt, but as honest as the day is long," was his tribute to his Chief, and the words were heartily applauded. "That is the man you have at the head of affairs m this country, and that is the man you should keep at the head of affairs." As a membsr representing the Natives he kn.w that the Maoris would now get a square deal. The Maroi had been blamed for many thing?, but the fault had not been with the Maori, but with the legislators of the past 20 been tied hand and fool, and no wondet that their lan:i had been over-run with weeds and rabbits, After referring to the hi o 1 of the two racss which ran in his veins Dr Pomare recited sime fine verses "written by a barbarian," said the Doctor, "who was returning to New Zealand after a trip abroad." The writer shrewdly suspects that the barbarian wai ,the Doctor himself. From the opening: "Hail Maori land! Hail Mother land!" until the last lines the audience listened to the polished word? with attention And ths destiny of the Maori, absorned in th 3 whiles, was pictured in the individual possessing: "lhe white man's more prosaic mind, "The poet Maori trenu." Long and loud applause rewarded the Doctor's speech. Mr J. Schlaepft-r, president of the lor-al l.rauch of trie Reform League, pioposed the IL form Party in suitable term?. Messrs Mander, Bollani, Young, Sta-

tham, Dickson and Harris, M.'sP., all i recorded, and their speecha were> tributes to the great-hiartedness," ths patience, and the untiring work ■of th:ir respected Lhiel. J'They said he couldn't Mr Bradney, "why, he is a twß'leader. He always leads and never drives." (Applause). "You ought to he proud of nim," said another speaker, and the voices came vigorously ba n k from the hall—"We ara, ws are!" » "The Ladies" w>:re toasted at the call of Mr J. Flanagan (Drury), the response being made by Dr Wake. "The Press," wa3 honoured at the invitation of Mr J. W, Johni, the newspaper representatives replying. Uuiug the evening songs were sang by Mi A. Young, a duet by Messrs B. Andrew and W. Jones, and a trio by Messrs J. Koulston, W. Jones and A. Young In function was concluded by Mr Ma:sey p:cpo i g " Ihe Chairman," aid the realty singing of "Auld Lang fc-'yne." Fifteen minutes before ths midnight trains left the company dispersed with general congratulations upm tha complete success of the gathering.