A WORKING AGREEMENT WANTED.

Shannon News, 16 March 1923, Page 4

A WORKING AGREEMENT WANTED.

NOT A DISSOLUTION. MEETING AT TAUHANGA. (Special to “Times.”) TAURANGA, Last Night. Long before the time appointed for the commencement of Sir JosephVVard’s opening meeting at Tauranga to-night the Town Hall was filled to, to: the doors. This reception was, mbst enthusiastic, and he took the : platform amidst cheers which lasted q\iite a while. He was accompanied by Lady Ward, and the chair wad fasten by the Mayor, Mr B;» Dive. In introducing Sir Joseph, Mr Dive said! he? had been the best Postmaster-Gen-, eral, and, the best Minister for Rail- 1 ways New Zealand had ever had. The absence of Sir Joseph from the political arena had been to the detriment of* New Zealand as a whole, and there was a great demand for his re-entry into political life. All were aware thht Tauranga had a reputation for having sent a great man to Parliament and it had an opportunity now of perpetuating that reputation by sending to Parliament another great manBy so doing Tauranga would be conferring an honour on itself, and doing N|w Zealand a great service. JJere Mr Dive opened a parcel that had been left on the table and found that it'was a’horseshoe. Calls of good luck came from all quarters of the’ hail.

There was prolonged cheering when Sir Joseph Ward rose to reply, He said he appreciated the welcome extended by Mr Dive, as they had not soj long ago sat on opposite sides of thfe House of Representatives. He deeply deplored the death of Sir Williajm Herries, who, he remarked, was the first prominent man in New Zealand to telegraph an expression of regriet on the occasion of'iSir Joseph’s defeat for Awarua. “Now,” he asked, “Why am I in .the field?” —“Because you are wanted ! ” came the answer from the back of the hall. (Applause.)

—“I could not have given a . better answer if I had tried," . said Sir Joseph. He said he had been earnestly requested to stand, and had de T cided to do ,so. If he was the better; ' He was also told' he ebuliF

not be such, a gqod ..taimar. as liis opponent,, but the fact was that, hm whole* diving- and*-business for fortjj. years had been in*-association witn farmers. He was told, it was a, terrible fthihg to be a "stranger m the district.-- Washea stranger?

A voice: Noli ' «. : sir Joseph: Certainly not. A* a matter of fact there wem on all sides in the district monuments to the beneficial* work he, had'' been responsible for. Take-, for instance* the Rangitaiki , swamp scheme, and the Hauraki Plains schemes; He went yon to say that he stalrted the TaurangaWaihi railway (ch,eers).' Hisi colleagues, by the!way, had fallen twelve 'years to push ‘ the line along twelve, miles. (Laughter.)'. ‘‘This parochialism, this cry of “not living in the- dis- ■ trict,” he said, “brush it aside for all time. We don’t look at a person in the street and v ask ‘Do you come from Tauranga?’ or ‘Do you come from Stewart Island?’ ” Referring to an editorial in the Auckland “Herald, asking where he stood in the matter, and offering certain criticism, he : S aid that he had received from Liberals in Christchurch a message, to; the. effect that* the members of the : old. Liberal Party desired to -express a wish that Sir •Joseph would' score a decisive victory in Tauranga. • His disavowal of a desire, for a dissolution and some working agreement between the two major parties'was- both sane and right. That,, said Sir Joseph, was his view. There were most important public affairs'that required the gravest considefhtioft ; by- Parlra-/* meat, and to have another appeal to the country if it could be prevented, by the commonsense of the members, would be next door- to criminal. It Was a bounden duty to try to prevent a dissolution t by exercising commonsense. '

NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCE;

Referring to the general positionafter the war, Sir Joseph-said that before lie left' the National GoVernmenl the amount of money expended by the Government for the war wa5,£29,000,000, That money wast adyaned by the British Government, and when he wlis *ln England he arranged that they* would not be ahle to; Gall on Us tO' pay it alter the war,, and he got it put into leans lh England. At the end oi the National' Government; he, as; Finance Minister, left 17 J' million of. surpluses, and invested 15 millions of them in British Treasury" Bills. He was the only Finance ; Minister who, whs able to say after the war that his country did not owe the British Go., vernment a penny piece, and, at the same time had a sui-plus of 17$, millions. He said, that if he were in office to-day he would put penny postage into operation in, this country within, 24 hours, because he considered' it would be of general benefit and increase the postal revenue.

Speaking of the Tourist Department, Sir Joseph said the present mistaken policy should not be pursued. , The resorts should be made cheap enough to get the people to use them. In his opinion, the. great State Departments which helped everyone in the course of their business ought to be made attractive for the people to use. The great national sport of racing, which paid very "heavily in taxation, should net be asked to pay more than its THE MORATORIUM. "We are suffering from that wretched Moratorium being kept on' the Statute Book. How many* of us understood the effect of the moratorium? A voice: “A good few.” Sir Joseph: Unhappily that is true. You have no among the men who have money to lend. They cannot let the mQney go under 8. per cent., and there are fbw on the land who can afford to pay that interest. Good men and their wives on farms during the last few years have been almost strangled to death. Soldiers are on land at more 1 than twice its value in some cases, and everybody knows it. THE RAILWAYS.

Sir J. Ward said that he did not hold the opinion of many people in regard to the management of the railways. He had known the General Manager for many years, and regarded) him as one of the most capable officers who had ever filled -that position. “But,” he said, “I am going to" make a suggestion in connection with' providing money for the farmers and carrying on the railway construction so> that we shall have our , railways finishing while we are aliye, and I am going to suggest how we can carry our water power schemes 1 to a conclusion. I want to 1 draw attention to th§ general position of the railways in this part of the country, though it is not very dissimilar to that in other points. From Mercer to Paeroa there are 39 miles unmade, and from Taneatua to Opotiki, 25 miles unmade. I have also in my possession a list of railways in this country that are being carried on like snails. One railway, in the North Island has cost £216,000, and the whole revenue has been £lßl. A voice: What about Waiuku?

Sir Joseph: That is the one to which T .refer. There are six railways on which £593,000 has been spent and hardly one of them earning enough to:pay for the grease, because>, they are not completed. It is mighty hard for anyone to* suggest carrying on these undertakings, but they must he carried on unless we are, going to dry up> the country. They can only be carried out if you have a broad policy. I am going to indicate that broad policy, and il‘ the House of Representatives have the. courage of mice they will put something of the kind into operation wtihout delay,” • Sir Joseph Ward’s speech lasted less than two hours, and at the conclusion there wag a unanimous vote of > confidence and a demonstration of great enthusiasm. When the cheering had subsided, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” broke out, and the National Anthem was sung. It was a wonderful meeting.