POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 155, 7 December 1914, Page 3

POLITICAL.

4fMR. WILFORD IAT NEW PLYMOUTH. THE GOVERNMENT CRITICISED. In the course of Friday's speech, Mr Wilford said:— He /stood there as a young New Zealander, Mr Wilford said, to preach the gospel of Liberalism, which was the gospel of the Ordinary man. He represented a party which worked for social reform without engendering social hate, but working always to promote that spirit of fellowship in the nation which was necessary to progress. REFORM'S PUZZLING WAY. ' Mr Wilford sought to shed light on the puzzling way of the Reform Government in regard to finance and renewed his challenge, first uttered on the floor of the House, and still unanswered ' by the Government, that the Government' had deliberately and intentionally, with the idea of preventing the people of | . New Zealand obtaining a full under- > standing of the finances of the Advances I department, repealed legislation and rigged the Statute Book so that 110 one could follow the mazes of their finance. That charge lie would prove tothe hilt. He i referred to the "commitments" in the Advances Departments when the Massey Government took office, and showed that there was a surplus of £51,845 in the settlers, workers and- local authorities branches, although the local authorities branch was heavily overdrawn. But the Government had power to transfer these funds temporarily from one acount to another. This, of course, was done, but, to hoodwink the'people, and make out a case against his predecessor, the Minister of Finance, merelyquoted the commitments over cash j quoted the excess of commitments over cash in one particular fund. He quoted from the State Guaranteed Advances Act to show the power of transfer under the Ward 'Act; which clause was contained in the Allen measure. But under the Act as put on the Statute Book by the Liberals it was provided that "a statement of every transfer must within ten days be laid before both House of Parliament, if sitting, or within ten days of the opening of next session. Thus, nothing could be hidden from the people. That course had been repealed by the present Government, and now the Ministry could make any statement they like, and there was no public return to show that thew were rignt or wrong. The people, would show on Wednesday next that the Government who would "rig" the Statute Book in this wfty in order to cover its tracks was contemptible and unworthy to eon-1 tinue in office, especially when the ministers travelled through the country I (making deliberate misrepresentation* I on the finances of the country. (Ap- • plause). •CLAPTRAP."

Mr Massev had urged that we should not "swap horses" just now. So much claptrap! But now it showed why the elections had not been postponed. It was so that the war could be' used for party purposes to keep the Government in. Australia had "swapped horses," returning a party to power responsible for its progressive legislation in the interests of the people at large, and Sew Zealand was going to return to power a party which has passed the compulsory military training law, and alone had made it possible for Xew Zealand to send away her expeditionary force in such a remarkably short time. STUDDLEMEXT. What had the 'Massev Government done in connection'with the war? They had had no worry about finance, for the two millions asked for by the House had been granted without a hostile word or vote, and Parliament was prepared to grant all that was required, for, though the Reformers seemed to imagine it, the Tories had no "corner" in patriotism. The Tories were no more patriotic than the young New Zealanders What else had the Government to do, finance having presented no difficulty? Mobilisation was the work of the Defence Department, headed by General Godley, "a Ward importation," and that would go on whatever Government) was in power. The Admiralty had to arrange the. convoy and 'sailing of troopships, and all that was left was the provisioning of troopships and the control of the foodstuff's, in these matters the. Government had proved itself false to the traditions which should have been held sacred. This was the only country concerned which had not invited the leader of the Opposition into the counsels of the nation, and yet this Government was one that had not a business head amongst them, and the leader of the Opposition was a trained and clear-sighted man. Mr Wilted waxed scornful concerning the Cabinet's want of business ability, and said Sir Joseph Ward, and Mr Myers "could run rings round the lot of them." Muddlement was a natural sequence. There was thc| canteen scandal. Mr C. K. Wilson and Mr Davy .Tones had protested in Parliament against this matter, being ventilated there, urging that it should have been settled privately in the Minister's room. But he (Mr Wilford) contended that every man and woman in this country was entitled to know that the boys going to the front—perhaps giving their lives on behalf of the Empire—were not exploited by a few I merchant princes who had not a soul above profits. (Prolonged applause). He contrasted the business-like policy

of Senator Pearce, ttio Federal Minister, to that taken in New Zealand. In Australia, the State had bought the supplies for the canteens wholesale, and fixed the prices at which every article would be sold. What did Mr Massey do?— Nothing. He just handed the matter over to two or three big merchant firms in Wellington—firms who were backers, and who had hov.ght him body and soul. These men had fixed the prices at which the goods should he sold to the troopships, and whilst, taking examples, Australia's boys were asked to pay only 3d a bottle in ginger ale, and •2s 3d to 2s M per lb. on tobacco, our boys were charged Is per bottle, of ginger ale, and 8s per lb. for tobacco. (Cries I of shame). Not only that, but our ! soldiers were paying in that 8s the duty of 2s or 3s a lb which the merchants had never paid, and who stood to make 700 to 800 per cent, profit. Not profiting by this lesson and exposure, the contract system had been adopted at the Trcntham camp. lAgain, the saddles supplied to the niounteds for the front were a disgrace. One man jiamed Simpson, in 'Lieut. McLean's force, was mounting his horse when the saddle and the man is suffering

his duty lie would have have, on tile outbreak of the war, taken that wheat at a fair market price, quite irrespective of the war conditions. But, no. He had had recourse to the sheet auction of the shuffler, a Royal Commission,. . -which had not reported for eleven weeks from the time war broke out. Then it | fixed the price of milling wheat at 4s Dd a bushel. 'Nothing was said about I fowl wheat, and dealers were getting • 6s .3d to 7s for that. Not a bushel of milling wheat was on sale. Those , were the business methods of the Government. All they had to directly control arising out of the war were the l provisioning of troopships and the regulating of food , prices. Their methods of dealing with these were methods that young New Zealanders hid contempt for. THE "MULVANEY" (LETTER. Mr Wilford referred to his publication pf a letter from Mr Massey to a , constituent of the speaker's promising Ito bring his application for. a billet l before the Public Service Commissioners, and the publication by the Tory press ' of a letter written by him 18 years ago, iin his political youth, asking the i late Mr. iSeddon to find a billet for a man in his electorate. That man was iMulvaney—a man with one arm, and a number of children. There was this remarkable difference. When tlie Mulvaney letter wa3 written there was no •Public Service Commissioners, whilst Mr Massey, whose letter had been quoted, was the man who went from one end to the other of the Dominion protestting that there was no ministerial interference with the Public Service Commissioners. (Laughter). At any rate, bis (Mr. Wilford's) letter had cost him £250 and bis seat in Parliament, as it was held to have been likely to influence the election. If Mr Massey was prepared to stand the same penalty, then the letters might be fairly laid side by side. , THE "RED FED" CRY. Mr. Wilford reminded his hearers that the Mr. Massey who now warned the people against the supopsed alliance between the Liberals and the Red Feds, was the support of Labor at the previous election, and quoted Mr Massey's famous telegrafii Urging the then Opposition to support Mr Robertson in the Otaki electorate against a Liberal. THE OIL INDUSTRY. Mr Wilford explained his action in forcing a division on the proposal of the Government to loan £9OOO to some oil company, and- said that his action was meant as a protest against the refusal of the Premier to give any details of the purpose or destination of the loan. This loan business was not what was needed for the oil industry. The Government should make a big grant for oil prospecting, just as was done for coal and gold prospecting. The State should become a competitor in the oilfields of New Zealand. He believed in nationalising the industry. , REACTIONARIES. As showing the reactionary spirit of the Tories, Mr Wilford quoted their attempt to do away with the popular election of mayor, the re-introduction of plural voting in a harbor loan bill, and the limiting of the drawing of plans for buildings to members of the architects' asoseiation —a distinct hardship to the worker desiring a home, and to ; Till others who usually depended on ' a builder for this work. The Liberals had effectually settled all of those. Then there was the remarkable clause introduced in the Labor Bill by Mr Massey to provide that any employer might employ his assistant in shop or office every day for fifteen minutes after the fixei\ closing hour without pay. Yet Mr Massey talked about his heart bleeding for the workers. LAND, Mr. Wilford strenuously urged, and promised that the Liberals would introduce a stiffer graduated land tax to cause the subdivision of estates near the lines of communication, and said the Liberal Government in . the past had made the mistake of endeavouring to settle all the backblocks land instead of more closely settilng the land now held in big blocks. The difference be ; - tween the Government and the Opposition to-day on the land question was that the Liberals were determined to break up these big estates, while as long as the Massey Government remained in there was no hope of their being broken up. Replying to a question, Mr Wilford said that the death duties did not affect the man unless he had a very big estate.