THE PREMIER ATTACKED.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 203, 12 June 1914, Page 2

THE PREMIER ATTACKED.

About His Broad Acres.

! Mr Russell's Rumblings. In the course of his political addrcsj *t Milton en Monday night, Mr (5. W. Russell. M.l', referred , to the J 'rime Minister's stutement I th?.t "lie knew a man named Russell | who owned (!0,00(1 acres of land in the Noith Island.*' It wis true, said Mr Russell, that he owned a block of land comprisirg over i 00.000 acres in the hack-blocks of ! the North Island, but he emphatically rleniel tint he w:s blocking settlement. Ilia nearest neighbour was liuhl miles away, urid it coit I£7 Ids pc>r ton to bring wool 4.0 j market; but he knew a man named I Maney in tlu North lsUni whs owned 1000 seres of had alnut | twenty miles from Auckland which was worth £4O an acre, a'id he j would tell them further that when ! the Liberal pa'ty wart out of otiice jthpr: were uixty-thrc« railways under construct!.™. Of tlu'sn the Gove-nnrnt had stopped ten. but a lew wctks apo Mr Massey started a railway i.l hia own district. "1 hop* it will improve his 1000 acres of land nt £4O an acre, and increase the value of it," remirked the member for Avon. I'RIME MINISTER'S REPLY. Replying to Mr Riusell's remarks re politicians and brood acres, Mr Massey saya: Mr Russell stated that 1 hold 1000 acres worth £4O an ncre within twenty miles of AucklmJ. That statement, like miny other statements by Mr Russell, is incorrect. The actual position is that I own 325 acres of land at Mangere, where I have lived for the greater part of my life. Of th3t arci 300 acres arc occupied by my cI lest son, who is nnrriod, and who h|a a homestead on the property. I have reserved 25 acres for myself. I have another f.irm about 40 miles trom Auckland which is occupi d by my second son, who is also a married man. This land was practically in its natural stato when we tick it up, but wo are gradually petting it into shape. That is the whole of the land I own, Except that I am a shareholder in a company which was started some time apo to save what at that time was thought (o be a yaluabh industry, and incidentally the company owns some land. "I am not a speculator, and nev.r have bought land for the purpose of selling it. nor have I ever bsught more land than I considered was required for the members of my family. As for the suggestion that th? Waiuku railway, which wai referred to by Mr Russell, will increase the value of my property, it is tuo ridiculous for anything. It will not benelit me by a hundredth part of a farthing, nor will it be of the slightest use when it is completed. I have supported it because it whs promised to the people of my district HO years ago and been pio.nissd on many occasions since then, and because it will pay a high rate of idterest on the cost of its construction from the day of opening."