Page 6 Advertisements Column 1

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 487, 17 October 1928, Page 6

.Achievement m n m m mm . *i fht Hon. Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, P.C., G.C.M.G., K.C. The Hon. W. Downie Stewart. The Hen. F. J, Rolleston. The Hon. G. J. Anderson. The Hen. A. D. McLeod. Hon. Sir Robert Heaton Rhodes* K.C.V.0., K..8.E. JN politics Parties must be judged, not merely by their Promises, but by their Performance. That is a fair test. In the election Campaign now developing, the slogan of the Reform Party might well be: “POLICY, PROMISE and PERFORMANCE,” for the policy laid down by Mr. Coates at the last election has been successfully carried through, and the promises made have been consistently honoured. The Coates Government record isiwell summed up in the headline to this page— ACHIEVEMENT. Developing the Dominion ! Highways, Railways and Hydro-Electricity^ " | ‘HF Coates Administration has achieved immense improvements in *• the Roading of New Zealand, a bold policy resulting in vast advancement in length and quality. In just over three years the Main Highways Board assisted in constructing 430 miles metal roads, 240 miles tar and bituminous roads, 27 miles concrete roads and over 3i miles of bridging at an expenditure of £2,648,657. Legislation directly to the advancement of highways improvement includes the Petrol Tax (1927), utilised for main highways and roads Outside the Main Highways Scheme; the increase of the Tyre Tax (1926), which is paid into the Main Highways Account Reserve Fund earmarked for maintenance of Main Highways. An Act (1926) authorised an increase of from one-third to onehalf of the Main Highways Maintenance subsidy to Local Authorities. Elimination of level crossing dangers is being gradually effected. 2,700 miles of Subsidiary Roads, and the Main Roads through all Boroughs of under 6,000 people have been declared Main Highways. 10,000 miles of the country roading derived benefits from the operations of the Main Highway Board. Last Session a further Act was passed under which the powers of the Highways Board were enlarged to enable the Board to give still further relief to Local Bodies in the matter of Main Road Construction and Maintenance. The Reform Government recognised the vast importance of Railway construction in developing the Dominion, and on an average every fortnight has seen a mile of Railway built to open up the country and better serve the transport needs of the community. Never in the history of New Zealand has there been such tremendous progress and improvement in road and railway transport facilities. Hydro-electric development has been carried out with thoroughness and expedition, and the schemes under course of construction at the present time afford the fullest possible evidence of the far-sighted-ness and enterprise of the Coates Government. THE COATES GOVERNMENT HAS GOT THINGS DONE. Education and Industry DURING the past three years the Coates Government has erecte4 many new schools, expending half a million sterling. Schools of the old type are rapidly disappearing, and in the new buildings great attention is given to hygienic conditions. Where localities desire it experiments are being made with open air schools with a view to ascertaining the beneficial effect on health. A Correspondence School, providing edcuation to over 700 back-block children, has proved most encouraging by results. • A large amount of remodelling of old school buildings has been done and this work is being pressed steadily forward. Groups of country schools have been consolidated in several favourable localities where transport can be arranged. By this means country children can attend a school as strongly staffed and as fully conducted as any city school. A Progressive * Policy! Wise Tariffs! Though large classes still exist the numbers in each class have been reduced by more than half, which itself shows that the staffing of schools must be more than previously. Students are now being trained in a new system of physical training which, by strengthening the important organs of the body, will conduce to good health in middle and old age. Facilities for giving manual instruction to senior pupils in primary schools and to junior pupils in secondary schools and district schools have been greatly extended. Children from country schools are carried free by rail to centres where manual training is provided. Child Welfare has progressed greatly Dental Clinics have been developed and the health of children specially cared for. The average annual salaries paid to teachers has increased by varying amounts of from £Bl to £126 during the past ten years. Education conditions in New Zealand stand on a par with the most progressive countries of the world. Industry— The Coates Administration has shown a sympathetic attitude towards industry. It has encouraged production by all possible means, and sought to promote friendly relations in industry. It has consistently advocated and striven for a friendly spirit of conciliation and goodwill. In 1925 there were 83 Labour Disputes; in 1926, 59; in 1927, 40 (of which the Labour Report refers to 27 as being trivial), and for 1928 the figures are still less. The National Industrial Conference (1928), promoted by Mr. Coates, has brought a greater understanding between employers and employees. Both Primary and Secondary industries have received sympathetic consideration and the Customs Tariff brought down and passed by the Coates Government was recognised to be the most statesmanlike and soundest revision ever framed in this Dominion. THE COATES GOVERNMENT HAS GOT THINGS DONE. Pensions and Social Welfare IT has been the Coates Government's policy to continue the splendid, humanitarian and social work of the Reform Party. The latest step in this direction the Family Allowance was quickly brought into practical shape, and in its first year of operation carried £37,514 into the homes of the workers. This Act, which fairly represents the sympathetic view which Mr. Coates has always taken in respect of the struggles of the family man and his wife in poor or restricted circumstances, assures an allowance of 2/- per week for each child in excess of two, where the average weekly income of the parents does not exceed £4. During the 1 6 years of Reform Administration, Old Age Pensions have been increased and conditions of the Aged and Widows ameliorated in a variety of ways. Here are some of the changes showing the generous improvements : per annum. Humanitarian Achievements ! Old Age Pensions— Reduction of the pensionable age for women from 65 to 60 years . . Widows’ Pensions With one child under 15 Allowance for each additional child . . Limitation of Pensions for Widows . . Family Allowances 2/- per week for each child in excess of two. Income including allowance not to exceed £4 per week plus 2/- for each child in excess of two. A beneficent and statesmanlike Act has been passed by the Goates Government for the protection of the public against risks associated with motor accidents. This Act provides a system of compulsory insurance under which all motorists at a trifling cost are placed in a position to pay compensation to those who may suffer injury through motor accidents. During the past three years the Coates Government has shown its practical sympathy with the workers by making advances to the extent of nearly six and a half million pounds to enable them to buy their own homes. Think of it; over six millions advanced to workers on cheap and easy terms nearly double the amount advanced by any previous Government in the same time. The Child Welfare Legislation of the Government, and legislation for the better treatment of the mentally defective, are other outstanding achievements. THE COATES GOVERNMENT HAS GOT THINGS DONE. Post and Telegraph PROGRESS in Post and Telegraph expansion has been as remarkable * as it has been sound. All over the country services have been improved and the public afforded greater facilities. The work of the Department has been placed on a sound business basis with commercial accounting in all Departments. The receipts of the Post and Telegraph Department advanced from £2,889.450 (1925) to of £530,061. Payments, which in 1925 stood at £2,416,257, were reduced to £2,299,51*7 in 1928. a decrease of £316,4&6 to the Coun- ‘ try’s advantage. The surplus, which in 1925 was £473,193, increased to £1,029,940 in 1928, a difference of £656,747, due to sound, and businesslike Administration. During 1 6 years the Reform Government has erected new Post Offices on an average of one every three weeks. Telephone Stations in 1 925 amounted to I 1 5,549. These have been largely extended, and in 1927 numbered 132,089. The number of Depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank is 804,725, with a Deposit Toteil of £47,758,726. Businesslike and Profitable Management! THE COATES GOVERNMENT HAS GOT THINGS DONE. OUR IMPERIAL STATUS. = No feature of the activities of the Reform 1 Government has been more marked than the | increasingly important status it has won for § New Zealand in Imperial Affairs. : The good work done in this respect by 5 the late Right Hon. W. F. Massey, not only | has been carried on, but has been still furI ther extended by Mr. Coates, jj Like his predecessor in office, Mr. Coates i immediately won the confidence and respect | of the Empire’s representatives at the lm- : perial Conference in London. His practical jj mind and quick grasp of essentials speedily | gained for him a prominent place in the § Councils of the Empire, and to-day New z Zealand occupies a more responsible position jj and exercises wider authority on Imperial | questions than ever before in its history. E Mr. Coates, realising how largely the for- = tunes of New Zealand and the whole Empire I are dependent on a clear and complete under- § standing between the Mother Country and | the Overseas Dominions, has missed no E opportunity to establish closer relations. | The creation here of a special Department : of Imperial Affairs under his own personal : supervision, with trained and experienced = officers to maintain an intimate contact with : the Mother Country and Sister Dominions, | has proved a statesmanlike step of the great--5 est value and importance. % | New Zealand to-day, thanks to the fores sightedness and practical mind of Mr. Coates, | is better informed on, and better equipped | to play its part in Imperial Affairs, than • under any previous Government. The Coates Government offers you the assurance of a Sound, Safe, Progressive Policy for the benefit of all classes and careful, capable and business like administration of your affairs for the good of the whole community. % „ ***£ m wWmm' mmmmm wmmz. m mm. Wmsm mm ms Wm MW mm. ■MW Right Hon. Joseph Gordon Coates, P.C., M.C.