TWO OPEN-AIR SPEECHES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 496, 27 October 1928, Page 10

TWO OPEN-AIR SPEECHES

MR. ANDERTON BRISKLY QUESTIONED LABOUR’S INTENTIONS Two open-air addresses at the Manukau- Ranfurly Roads and Manukau-Alfa Roads corners were delivered last evening by Mr. W. T. Anderton, Labour candidate for Eden. Air. J. W. Yarnall, representing Labour in Parnell, was to have spoken at the same places, but did not arrive. At Alba Road, several questioners troubled Air. Anderton with queries regarding finance. “This country is productive enough for all our needs,” contended Air. Anderton. A Voice: Don’t you realise that production will not pay the interest on our debts? Where are you going to get the money to put men on the land ? Air. Anderton: From the State bank. It will be the first thing set up by Labour when it gets on the Treasury benches. Another Questioner: And how are you going to do that? “I can tell you how Labour will do it, but I cannot give you the brains to understand it,” was the candidate’s response. “It is all empty-headed nonsense about where Labour will get the money. Pressure will be brought to bear on wealthy squatters, and a State bank do it. but I’m if I can get you right.” “You cannot get money simply by setting up a State bank,” persisted the interjector. Air. Anderton: We shall utilise the note issue. The Interjector: You will depreciate the currency if you confiscate what is in the bank for your issue. Air. Anderton was emphatic that a State bank would be dominant in three years. His addresses consisted of a strong criticism of the Coates administration. Tho Prime Alinister’s promises had not been kept. Vested interests were behind Reform in the 1925 elec.tion, and were now being put to use again. “The existing conditions in New Zealand are disgraceful,” said the candidate. The United Party, as AD\ Anderton described it. was a “patchwork of individuals with no political conscience,” and the “odds and ends of the parties.” Reform and Labour were tho onlj’ parties to be considered. After the wise rule of Richard John Seddon, New Zealand’s administration had fallen behind. “Sir Joseph Ward put the blight on New Zealand legislation,” Air. Anderton said. Among the first things to be carried out by Labour’s policy were the establishment of a State bank, the breaking up of large land holdings, motherhood endowment, unemployment insurance and adjustment of pensions.