LAND SETTLEMENT AND SOUNDER FINANCE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 71, 14 November 1931, Page 5

LAND SETTLEMENT AND SOUNDER FINANCE

MR. VAILE'S POLICY U! ' INDEPENDENT REFORM CANDIDATE :: OPENS HIS CAMPAXGN REASONS FOR - gOING TO POLL " § — * * Talcing as the two main planks oi his policy, a fuller utilisation of the Dominion's potential resources by closer settlement * and development, and the introductxon of sounder national fin- *j ance, Mr. E. Earle Vaile, Independent Reform candidate. for tlie • ; Rotorua seat, opened his campaign before a capacity audience » ■ in the Grand Theatre last evening . The candidate was given a ;; most attentive hearing brolcen by occasional interjections qnd after answering an exceptionaby long questionaire, was accorded a vote of thanlcs and confidenee by an emphatic majority. ' " y In tlie course of his speech, Mr. Vaile- explalnej^jhat he - , had decided to contest the seat as an Independent Jtefbrmer as a result of an unanimous requsst from a representative meeting of party supporters in the district. He had been asked to - -> withdraw by the Leader of the Reform Party, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, but in view of the unanimous request made to him, and the fact that before the Coalltion, he had been the officially endorsed representative of Reform, he had decided to proceed.

The Mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, was in the chair, and introduced the spealc" er. Mr. Vaile opened his speech by | paying a tribute to his three political opponents. All were men of honour and integrity and he knew that the campaign in the electorate would be j cleanly fought. "Let us support our cause and let them support theirs and then let the electors judge between 1 us," he said. Our Maori bretliren had a very clear view in these matters, Mr. Vaile added. A Maori never belittled an enemy but praised him to the skies. Then if he was defeated there was no dishonour and if he was victorious, so much greuter the triumph (Laughter) . •> These wei*e very serious times in which we lived, proceeded the speaker. Not only were the public finances in a very serious state but the very foundations of democracy were being assailed. Democracy must learn to discipline itself or it would inevitably fail and be replaeed by some forrn of autocracy. In his opinion, one of the most insidious of the forces working against democracy at the' present time was Soeialism. Socialism envisaged a supremely gifted few, and it was to he hoped, a benevolent few, who dictated to the majority even to the extent of what occupat'ons they should follow and how they should live. It denied personal liberty and entailed a subservient state of mind. Mr. Coates's Atfcitade Mr. Vaile then referred to the circumstances which had led to him offering himself for eleciion as an Independent Reformer. In tlie first place the Leader of the Reform Party, Mr. Coates, had asked him to offer his services, and this request had been reinforced by the friends and suppoiters of the party in the district. Later some opposition had arisen, but at a meeting held at Putaruru, he had been chosen to earry tlie Reform banner in the district. This had been confirmed by Mr. Coates and the central .executive in Wellington. Then, however, the Coalition had developed and he had immediately wired to Mr. Coates asldng whether he would still consider himself the party candidate. He had received no reply for some days and finally a letter had arrived in which Mr. Coates requested him to withdraw. The opposite view, howrever, was taken at a meeting of supporters in the district and again at a later meeting at Putaruru a unanimous resolution had been passed asking him to stand. Mr Coates had been kept fully advised of the position but had had no representative if he had desired oinii presentative at Putaruru although he could have had such a representative if he had desired. No communication regarding the position liad been received by the district Reform executive from headquarters, which he considered was a great slight. Crushed Betv/een Two Recently divisional organisers of • both the Reform and United Parties had been in Rotorua and had interviewed him with requests to stand down but this he had refused to do. The United man had told him that he would be crushed between the two party machines but he had told the organiser that he was not going to be frightened by that. Before the Coalition the cry at a Reform meeting in Wellington had been organisation and more organisation and it had even been suggested that a school should be instituted for intending candidates at which they could be taught to repeat the

parrot cries of party. On that occasion he had informed the meeting that the only means by which the party would progress was to put forward a sound and constructive pol'icy and carry it out. At present it loolced as though the party machine would ask people to vote for a bag of potatoes or a truss of straw providing it had the party tag. "I can assure you that I will not say that "my policy will come down from my superiors," concluded" Mr. Vaile amid applause. Dealing with policy, Mr. Vaile statKis Platform ed that broadly speaking his platform could be divided under two heads. Firstly the development of our natural resources rather than foreign, hothouse, and coddled industries, and secondly sound finance. Some candidates would talk a lot about New Zealand as a young and wealthy country, but nothing was actually further from the. truth. In actual fact it was one of the most remote pieces of land in the world and half of its area was so brolcen that it would never be of much use for production. It had three main assets. It 'had what was probably the best climate in the world, it had some of the most unique and remarkable scenery to be found in any country on the globe, and it had people of exeellent eharacter. We in New Zealand must exploit these natural advantages to the full but we could not suceeed if a lot of artificial industries were fastened on the country's baclc.

A protected industry exacted a con'triubtion from every other industry and conversely, an unprotected industry surrounded by protection, faced a very serious handieap. In this connection, Mr. Vaile strongly advoeated a policy of free trade which he deseribed as a "policy of friendship, courage, and plenty" while protection was a policy of "cowardice, enmity and scarcity."

Scenic Assets. . » Dealing with our scenic assets, Mr,: Vailo stated that he had travelled all! over the world and he knew of npl country where so much wonderful and! varied scenery was packed into sp„ small a compass. This asset should be exploited to the full by the en-, couragement of tourists, but it should be remembered fin this connection^ that we had to face a great handieap; in the distance of the Dominion from Europe. Before a man in England* could visit New Zealand 'he must havp£ L'rom six to seven months leisure and from £600 to £700 to spend. People >f this elass were not plentiful and sp; must be encouraged in every "We may not like. the accent of' the tourist but the accent of h.sl money is always the same and it iS, very welcome," said Mr. Vaile amid; laughter. '{'■ So far as the eharacter of the peo-; ple was concerned, New Zealand was; fortunate in its sturdy pioneering? stoclc. It had no convict taint or coL\ our problem and its nativ.e, race wasgiovving up in friendliness and co w operation with the whites. Its clim'-» ate, although it had its critics, wasl remarkably productive for anything which required a sueculent p'astur-" age. - i Basis of Sound Finance "The only basis of sound finance is that there are 20 shillings in a; sovereign and when they are all gone,. there is nothing left," said Mr. Vailef proceeding to financial matters. "We1 have been able so far to get over that by borrowing a pound from Mother and when that was done borrowinganother but now Mother has not got it to lend and we have got to lookafter ourselves." Mr. Vaile strongly advocated al drastic reduction in borrowing and a restriction of public works to con-; form with the national ineome. In-; terest had to be paid on borrowed; money and interest was a erushing; thing. The country had borrowed so; much, ho said that it was drunk and Ifugged with borrowed capital and, thought that it could not get on 'without it. * "And what have we got to show for it?" inquired Mr. Vaile "an ornarmental University tower, the longest; hole in New Zealand, doubtful hydro-1 electric schemes, and a lot of useless railways." A voice: What about Taupo? Mr. Vaile: Unfortunately, we have not got the Taupo railway. Dealing with railways, Mr. Vaile expressed satisfaction with the setting up of a railways board freed from political control but expressed the. opinion that more representatiori should have been given on the board to the Department of Working Railways. Burjdens Qn People The burdens of the people must be lightened, proceeded the speaker. It was a basic fact that those who were in work were supporting all those who were not working, from the idle rich downwards. At present those earning money were required to carry Maori war pensions, Boer war pensions, great war pensions, old age and widows' pensions, epidemic, miners' and special pensions, family mairitenance, unemployment relief, hospitals, asylums, all charitable aid instithr tionp, drunkards, gamblers, loaferS', ! sehemers and bankrupts, thos'e' who did not pay their debts, hurglars, thieves, forgers, and embezziers, together with a host of ofiicials and police to look after them. "We must reduce these burdens-,"

said Mr. Vaile. "If we don't, we will find that people will no longer worlc hard and save but will join this miserable throng of dependants." Dealing with civil service and Government costs, Mr. Vaile stated th£t during the years 1914-1929 the nupxber of civil servants had increased at nearly five times the xate of the population while between 1914 and 1930 the expenditure on education had increased in a similar ratio. The cost of education in 1914 had been £1,586,000 but 16 years later it had increased to £4.058,000. In the face of this position both public and prjvate economy must be effected, ari'd the country must be run on a mor.e moderate scale. A saving of 2/- per . week per head of the population Would result in a total saving of £7;800, 000^ which would go a long way towards' solving our diffieulties. The people must grapple with the position and dispense with luxuries. There would have to be, fewei* motor cars, i pictures, and weeki-end excursions. " * • Unemployment ' Dealing with unemployment, Mr, I Vaile said that in his opinion the I greatest contributing factor was high j protection all over the world. The I only true cure for unemployment was I employment. Charity and No. 5 SchI emes Were not a bit of good.- Charity j in large doses was poison, although in | small doses it was a necessary and a i useful thing. Mr. Vaile referred at some length to the purchase of the Galatea property in connection with his land set-

tlement platform. The Government had paid £100,000 for Galatea he stated, and had spent | another £100,000 in malcing roads to I it. In addition there were 34 miles of [ internal roading, 5000 acres of | ploughing, 175 miles of fencrng, and J when all the costs were taken into | account each settler on the estate i would cost £3000. It was impossible for the country to carry- expenditure . ... . • * t