PROTECTING THE FARMER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 491, 22 October 1928, Page 12

PROTECTING THE FARMER

LABOUR PARTY’S CLAIMS MR. LEE MARTIN IN RAGLAN (Special to THE SUN) HAMILTON, Sunday. “I give you m.v absolute assurance that the Labour Party does not intend to interfere with the existing tenure of the land in this country. What we want to do is to stabilise the farming industry." This statement was made by Mr. W. Lee Martin, Labour candidate for Raglan, speaking at Te Kowhai on Saturday evening. Mr. E. C. Hockin presided. “We want to create a satisfied producing community,” he continued. “If any proposal to interfere with the existing tenure is brought forward, I promise to oppose it.” He said that ir: his judgment the platform of the Labour Party was the most definite, the clearest, and the most concise of any platform before the electors to-day. It did not matter what opponents said. The only things that mattered were the statements made by candidates and the party’s manifesto. * The return of the Reform Government to power with such an overwhelming majority in 1925 had been the worst thing the electors had ever done, as with a stronger Opposition the country would have received better legislation. Mr. Lee Martin advocated the placing of large sums at the disposal of the State Advances Office to meet the increasing needs of farmers for agriculural developments and for homes for workers. He would advocate the borrowing of sufficient money to clear up the arrears of applications received by the State Advances Office. It would be a long time before cheap electricity would be available in New Zealand, he said, owing to the tremendous expenditure involved in the schemes in hand. As far as Arapuni was concerned, he had always believed it would have been better to have concentrated on a steam plant at Huntly. Referring to the land policy, the speaker said if the Labour Party were returned to power, it would do what the Reform Government had promised to do three years ago. Fertilisers and freight on fertilisers should be much cheaper than they were. He considered the Agricultural Department was not awake to the requirements of the farmers. Mr. Lee Martin said he was not opposed to immigration, but he considered that work, land and money should be made available for immigrants when they arrived in the country. A hearty vote of thanks, proposed by Mr. C. A. Magner, one of Mr. Lee Martin’s opponents at the by-election last year, was accorded the speaker.