STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 283, 2 May 1914, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

FEOffi OUR RESIDENT REPORTER.

(hfiee and Job Printing Works: York Chambers (upstairs) Telephone No. 113.

POLITICAL

"THE WAYS OF REFORM." MR. WILFORD ON THE WARPATH. The reputation of the member for Hutt, Mr., T. M. Wilford, as a platform speaker of the first rank was doubtless I ojio of the causes that contributed to the large attendance at the Stratford Town Hall on Thursday night. He is a 'past-master in the art of presenting a case clearly and forcefully, and is the fortunate possessor of a happy fund of humor that accentuates his arguments. The consequence was that the audience rose to the occasion and responded to his artistic manipulation of the strings of the political harp in that whole-heart-ed way which stimulates the master mind to put forth its best. From start to finish the speaker had the audience, with him, and his sympathetic voice gave an added charm to what may be described as a brilliant oratorical accomplishment.

In a few well-chosen words uttered sincerely, Mr. Wilford opened by congratulating the Mayor (Mr. W. P. Kirkwood) on his re-election to office, and or- soon as the cheers had subsided he plunged straight away into the task of exposing the methods of the Reform Go>vnuuviit from the .point of view of the Young New Zealand Party with whom he was associated in the effort to open the cy< .s of the people to the mistakes, failures and breaches of faith that had been committed under the namelof Reform. It had been claimed by the Reformers that they had never been beaten on a division. That was quite true, for the flock of Reformers was so docile thitt it was driven at will, and tie units were,obliged to bang together for fear of being hung separately. He pajd an eloquent tribute to the greatness of R. J. Scddon, who was in every sense a great man, and the greatest statesman New Zealand had seen or was ever likely to see.

. , A MUZZLED PRESS. The speaker justified the action of those members of the Liberal Party who were engaged in visiting different parts of the country on the same mission :is that which brought him to Stratford. He asserted that the Reform Party had acquired such i controlling influence over the Press tliat the true position of affairs was being withheld from the public, so that it wa« absolutely necessary for the Young New Zealandcrs to go round and explain matters. The Press, he said was in a blue fun!.', and instead of serving the public it had been for the last two years serving its own ends and making hay while the sun shone..

THE RED FED. BOGEY. There was no question, said the speaker, that the:principal plank in Mr. Masßey's platform at, the coming election would be that the Opposition were Red Feds., but lie pointed out that the Red Feds, were opposed to the Liberals quite as much as to the Reformers, and had plainly intimated their intention of putting forward their own candidates. A LOCAL yNAYY. ■Mr. Wilford dwelt at considerable length on the policy of the Government as to acquiring a New Zealand fleet. He fully explained the position of matters witli regard to the arrangement with the Home Government as to the Pacific fleet, and denounced Alio idea of New Zealand having a navy of its own, pointing out that the increased taxation which would be inevitable would largely fall on the farmers, as the Customs duties could not be increased. •He emphasised .the fact that while the British "Navy remained pre-eminent, New Zealand required no navy to defend its 'shores, and that if the British Navy were defeated nothing could save New Zealand. The menace of waterways to-day was very different from that of the past, and the only safeguard was in maintaining the British Navy at its full strength. He therefore advocated that it was far better to give ai, increased contribution towards the British Navy than to squander million's on battleships. Every two millions spent oa a battleship must be paid for by the owners of property. In spite of the deniarby Ministers that they did not proposed to build up a local navy, they had appointed a naval adviser and talked about getting a £4oo,ooo.cruiser, so that it appeared as if they were giving homeopathic doses so as to got the people used to the big dose by-and-bye. The | Premier had said he would never be i satisfied until ho saw a British fleet in the Pacific able to hold its own against | any enemy or combination of enemies; | That, coupled with the appointment of I a naval adviser, and the talk about a ( cruiser, waa doing incalculable harm. ' He believed that every man, woman and ] ehiltt would desire to turn out the Government, whose policy could only be described as the apotheosis of bunkum. CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. , The speaker contrasted the maimer in which, when in Opposition, Mr. Massev flung gibes and ridicule on the Liberal surpluses, but when Mr. Allen wanted to raise a loan in England those surpluses were put forward by him to impress the money-lenders with the prosperity of the Dominion and the soundness of the security, and, said Mr. Wilford, "These are your gods, O Israel!" HATRED OF STATE INSTITUTION'S, '"dm is Sliylock's year," asserted the apeakcr, who attributed the tightness of money to the hatred, of the Informers to State institutions, and he instanced the starving of.the Advances to Settlers Office, pointing out how the in.stitution of that office had brought down the rate of interest, which, when Mr. Seddon started the Advances to Settles in 1888, waa 8, 9, 10 and even 1-2 p l ''" cent., but was brought to lesn .lliiin •"■ per cent., but the Miwsey Government bad forced tha people to go to jirivale lending institutions and pay u higher . rate. BOUND TO LARGE LANDHOLDERS. l The Government was hound hand and I foot to the large landowners, that, k ) dio owners of 100,000 acres of improved ' land—the unemployed rich. In ridiculing Mr. Massey's Graduated Tax Bill which it was claimed would sfou aggregation, Mr. Wilford said he had smile, 1 when the measure waa brought forward for it reminded him of the tale of tin E man who had stolen his neighbor's pig and in God's name had given the I roller: to the poor. (Loud laughter). The com bitiod wisdom of tho Ministry had s.ie ceeded in imposing ,Cl2 a year on a mai who had £40,000 Worth of improve land—i'J«t about enough to get a n«i tyro for a motor-car wheel. The hi

landowners knew,they were not .to be tackled. He urged his hearers to ask any Reform speaker for the name and address of any one man who had been put on the land by means of Mr. Mft3sey's Land Acts of 1912 or 1913. He admitted that the Government had done something. They had facilitated the Maoris selling their land, with tie result that they bought motor-cars and went over a cliff. , i

" SHRIMPS INSTEAD OF ROADS. "Yes, the Massey Government have done something," continued tlie speaker "for Mr. Bell, the Minister for'lnternal Affairs, has started a shrimp-catching industry, the shrimps being caught in the Waikato and conveyed to Taupo to make the trout fat." That was a specimen of the combined wistiom of Reform, and every £lO spent in that way was equal to interest on £2OO, so that when a grant of £2OO, urgently required for a back road, was refused, they could remember that the money was wanted for shrimping. OTHER MATTERS. Mr. Wilford alluded to the great work done by the Liberal Government in assisting to provide cool storage for dairy produce, pointing out that the total value of the exports of butter and cheese amounted to five and a-half millions, and the necessity for maintaining New Zealand's high reputation for these exports, and maintaining that the large estates must be cut up so as to provide farmers' sons with holdings. It was also necessary to. have a good dairy school, and he advocated persistent agi-, tation to .-that end.

I Referring to railway matters, Mr. VVil l ford alluded to the importation of Mr. Hiley, who as soon as he arrived looked lover the railways and found he must have a special car. Ee got it, and the next move was the increase of his travelling allowance from 15s to 21s a day.The fact was, said Mr. Wilford, that the, General Manager was being taught his business by Mr. McVilley and others. Alluding to the appointment of Public Service Commissioners, the speaker painted out that they only controlled a part of the service, and he commented on the expenditure of £791 for their luxurious office furniture.

Reduction of taxation had been the first plank in Mr. Massey's speech 'it Wellington on July 8, lbll, and Mr. Fisher was sent to Australia to arrange a reciprocal tariff, but what took placa waskept a profound secret. When ih.j Minister for Customs canie back he hvnted through, the tariff, and found <> item "mops." He took that, and found that a mop contained a nail, so he classed it as hardware, and put 20 per ceit. on it. The speaker held up to ridieu'c Mr. Massey's Reduction of Taxation Pill, whereby a man receiving £7l!0 a yen-obta-ned a rebate of £2 lOs if he'had four clii'dren. IT; also alluded to Mr. Hirdmcn's ao*n.n in relieving Ticrchants fni!]' stamping bills oi lading. Reference was also made to the nonperformance of Mr. Massey's promise to introduce a measure for the relief of t'.e eick and unemployed; to the promised reform of the Legislative Council, the appointment of Mr. Duthie thereto, and the prospect of the Council bcina stuffe-l before next session; also to the repenl of the Second Ballot without any substitute being provided as promisod. Th.» speaker contended that instead of railway engines being made by private firms the work should be done in the fiovernment shops, so as to afford employment in lieu of discharging' men.

Mr. Wilford commented strongly on the action of the Reform Government in damaging the prosperity of the State Fire Insurance Office by allowing borrowers to insure elsewhere. He pointed out that in seven yoars that office had saved the public over a, million and n quarter, but the Reformers had cursed the institution 'when it was established (ind were now trying to undermine its utility merely to help the large insurance men.

BERNARD'S PICTURES

Mr. Wilford said lie firmly believed in arbitration, and had always relied on it, but the Reformers had -anathematised the Act, and he quoted from Hansard to prove the correctness of his statement.

The Roy.d Garlick appointment came in for some very drastic criticism by the speaker, who derailed what hail taken place at the enquiry when Mr. Allen's statement that he knew nothing of Garliek until he was recommended for the appointment was proved to be contrary to fact. In connection with the Government being afraid to supply information, Mr. Wilford gave a very amusing description of how he had put down on the Order Paper a motion for a return which for several days was blocked by the Premier, who was, however, eventually outwitted by Mr. Wilford absenting himself during the time when these motions were reached and giving a written authority to Mr. T. Y. Seddon to move for the return as to the number of short-dated loans the Government nrjd procured. Holding up the Reform journal, Mr. Wilford exclaimed: "Light and Liberty! Yet you can't get a return furnished! -Light and liberty! Ye gods! The public arc blind indeed if they can't realise what the Reform GoI vcrrunent is doing."

Tho E. A. James circular k'tlcr to the branch secretaries of the Reform League, suggesting the 'passing, and telegraphing through the Press Association. I resolutions protesting against the Opposition stonewall against the repeal of the Second Ballot Bill, was scathingly | dealt with by the speaker, and he nnred | his hearers to remember that letter and the factory in which it was produced. ••■ IN CONCLUSION. "Do not," said Mr. Wilford, "believe that we are what they are making us out to be. We are doing our best for the national good. Land, Capitalism ' and Ln.bor must play their parts. We_ desire to help those who wish to get on the land. We are not for the fewas against I the many. Do not believe that if you 'are industrially muzzled you can get j cured by patent medicines. But deep down in the hearts of the people there ! is ii desire for better things, and that on evolutionary and net revolutionary lines.—(Applause)— We want you to raise 1 New Zealand to its proper nlace in the j Empire to which we are all so proud ! to belong, and as a young New Zealander ' T say, 'take courage,' and remember th.it none of the Liberal measures put on the I Statute Bock after strenuous fighting I have been repealed. I do not think it 1 was a bad thing for the Liberal Party ' ' that tho Mflssey flnvcrinmnt got in (A voice: "No.")—I believe, that the confidence so long enjoyed, and the pro- ! sperity which the. country enjoyed under that party, are still remembered by the people. And the few years of the Masi sey Party have shown New Zealand what

to expect if they are to be allowed to hold the reins of.office. We arc all of good heart; the prospects wore never brighter. The Young No* Zealander is, I know, purely Liberal at heart, and 1101 in favor of sham Reform. Months before the election you will be told you are to be given extra .facilities, and this and 'that is to be done, but, I will be gratified to come to your town after the session is over with enough new material to make a speech without repeating a single tiling I have said to-night."

"The Black 13," which was the star picture at Iliß Majesty's Theatre last night, and will be again screened this evening, is a now type of detective drama, retaining all: the excitement of the more chase of the law-breaker, and embodying as well all the best of highfclass photography and sympathetic acting. It «shows the most up-to-date methods of detecting crime and tracking down the criminal, and also the highest pinnacle of criminological ingenuity. The picture must be seen to be appreciated. "Niagara Falls" is one of the finest scenic pictures ever.screened in Stratford. The ceaseless roar of the cataract which has impressed tourists from all over the world, can almost be heard as the screen proceeds. It is a wonderful piece of photography, and presents , an opportunity, which should not be neg- ' lected. In addition, there are views from the Paris Zoo, "Paris FasWions," "His Chorus Girl Wife" (a Lnbiri drama) and two fine comedies. These pictures, with others, help to make up one of the finest combinations which the management has ever screened.

GENERAL NEWS Mr. T. Wilford, M.P., spent the morning in town and was much in ri quest by local politicians. He was motored to Hawera after lunch, Mrs. Wilford accompanying him.

The local Liberals were considerably heartened up by Mr. Wilford's stirring address, and the prospects of the party generally. The speech was the general theme of conversation to-day, it being regarded as one of the best yet delivered here.

The proprietor of the Empire Stables, Stratford, gives some timely advice to horse owners who drive into town for shopping. Readers are referred to his advertisement on this page.

You hardly feel the razor pass over your face when Stan. Sharp handles tbe shaving operation. Added to this delightful sense of comfort is the knowledge that every utensil is sterilised, and everything is absolutely clean. Next Bellringer's, Stratford. • The new winter clothing for men is attractive in many ways. Wise men will buy now while the variety is big, and they will find "The Kash" prices made to suit them. For high quality and low price Mullen and Marshall easily lead in Stratford.

Your photograph swill please them all —some of your friends have been expecting one for a long time—don't be satisfied with one taken years ago. Send them a fresh portrait, just as you are to-day, in your everyday attire. Having your portrait taken is as pleasant as an informal call on good friends. Make an appointment to-day with Mr. McAllister, Stratford.