TAUMARUNUI SEAT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 305, 3 June 1915, Page 8

TAUMARUNUI SEAT.

MR. G. W. RUSSELL, M.P., AT ' WAITARA. J AN ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. THE GOVERNMENT CRITICISED. There was a good attendance at the Clifton Hall, Waitara, last night, when Mr. G. W. Russell, M.P. for Avon, took the platform in support of Mr. W. T. Jennings' campaign in the Taumarunui byelection. Mr. W. F. Jenkins, ex-Mayor, occupied the chair. Mr. Russell, in opening his address, expressed very great regret that wh?n the Empire was in the throes of tho greatest war in history the Liberal party should be forced to the platform in a political contest. It was no fault of the Liberals that party politics had not been dropped altogether. That party had always been quite willing to subordinate themselves entirely in the interests of the Empire. He referred to the conference held between the leaders of the two parties, throughout which the Reform party would not give way in any manner to Sir Joseph Ward's suggestions that the election be postponed. They had now the extraordinary position that while in Britain there was a coalition Government, in New Zealand the two parties were practically at each others' throats. Although the Reform party had sent no Ministers to the Taumarunui electorate yet, in that evening's paper there were telegraphic* reports of speeches of no less than four Ministers, viz., Messrs'Maavey, Frascr, Herries, and Bell. They were making these speeches solely for the purpose of influencing the Taumarunui and Bay of Islands elections THE BY-ELECTIONS.

Sir Joseph Ward had been criticised for assisting the Bay of Islands Liberal candidate, but he would not have been worth his salt if lie had not done his best to assist to regain the seat. Dealing with what was now termed as the Wilkinson case, the speaker said that in 1911 Mr. Wilkinson, in the Government interests, contested the Bay of Islands seat against Mr. Vernon Reed at the next election. Mr. Massey decided to run Mr. Vernon Reed for the seat, ind therefore induced Mr. Reed to carry a message to Mr. Wilkinson offering him a seat in tho Legislative Council in order to clear the road for Mr. Reed. The judges in the recent petition had disqualified Mr. Reed from again standing If that was done to the man that carried the message —what about the man that mado the offer? What was the position of Mr. Massey? TATTMARTINTTI.

The speaker went on to question the judges' decision in the case of Mr. Jennings, declaring that he, if any man in the country, was justified in having a vote. If he was not, what about Mr. W. H. Herries, who was on the Tauranga roll, giving his place of residence as Rotorua. He had made enquiries and found that Mr. Herries had not been resident in Rotorua for five years. Again Mr. Massey and his family had been living in Wellington since 1012, but he was still on the Franklin roll. He was very pleased to be there that evening to support the candidature of Mr. Jennings, whose namo had become a byword in connection with his consistent and determined efforts to assist the settlors in the backblocks of the Taumarunui electorate.

Mr. Russell then proceeded to compare the two parties—Liberal and Reform — which represented the two great classes in tho country—the wealthy and the working classes. It was duo to the fact that there was this division in the ranks of the people that they had party politics. The Farmers' Union conference in Auckland recently condemned party polities,, but party politics were, the salt of political life, and they could not possibly do without it. The Reform party had fought the progressive Liberal party for 21 years, but on securing the treasury benches had seen the "necessity for appropriating -this policy, and had immediately done so.

Then the Government had promised the reform of the public service. They had appointed public service commissioners to deal with this matter, and ui> to the present, the only thing they had done was to increase the wages of civil servants. The Liberal party did not complain at this, but what wore those, public service commissioners doing? Mr. Triggs hod been for some time engaged in arranging shipping facilities for the export of their produce. Mr. Thomson was engaged as chairman of an education commission. It thus appeared that their services as Civil Service Commissioners Were not required very urgently. " Land tenure was the next question dealt with, and in this connection the speaker pointed out that tho Government had only granted the freehold to Crown tenants. Why did they not go further. Seeing that it was a panacea for all land difficulties. In the last year but oiie of Sir Joseph Ward's office he granted 123,000 acres more freehold than Mr. Massey did in his second year of office.

FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT'S FINANCE. The revenue last year was over £1,000,000 more than In the last year of Sir Joseph Ward's last year of office But the expenditure had increased hy over £2,000,000. In the year 1011, under Sir Joseph Ward the excess of revenue over expenditure was £1)54,107; in 1012 it was £720,000; in 1913, under Mr. Massey, it was £(152,000; in IDU £402,000; and at the end of last financial year, March 31st, 1915, only £03,720. The expenditure on the railways during the March quarter of 1913 was £BBO,OOO, but the corresponding quarter of the following year it was only '£708,000, with 01 miles more of railway. This appeared to be good business. But on looking into the matter it was palpable that it was faked in some manner, and that was by paying certain accounts on April Ist instead of on March 31st. NATIONAL DEBT AND TAXATION. When Mr. Massey took oJTice the net debt on the country was 82 millions sterling, the next year it was 87 millions sterling, and the next vear it was £91,(189,000. Then again, taxation when Sir Joseph Ward left office was £lO Ills lid. The first year of Mr. Massey's oOice it increased to £ll 4s 3d. The next year it again increased, being £il 7s 4d. That was what the economical cheese-paring Government had done. , ■ Tho speaker referred to the Govern-

ment's action in connection with the insurance of cargoes of their produce for export to the Old Country. The Government proposal, after the contihual and consistent urging of Sir Joseph Ward, made provision for them to insure their produce—to the extent of £SOOO, and then of £15,000. This for cargoes of tho value of anything from' £200,000 to £300,000. The trouble with the Government was that it did not contain one. business man —in business matters they were absolutely inoompetent. A few weeks ago Mr. Tau Keniire, the Maori member who gave people two guesses as to which side he was .standing on, had written to all the couniy councils in the Northern Maori Electorate asking them not to levy any Maori rates until the Government met, as ha believed that the Government was going to bring down new proposals in this connection. What grounds had he to say

that?. He (the speaker) did not con- - sider that the Maori lands of the North Island should be locked up, receiving all the benefits of European expenditure and contributing nothing towards it. (Applause.) A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Russell for his address, and a vote of entire confidence passed in the Liber- ' til party. The motion, which was proposed by Mr. Vowles and seconded oy Mr. W. Telford, was carried unanimousfr. ' ______ AT TJRUTI. Mr. Russell spoke at Uruti on Tuesday night, Mr. (.!. Barnitt occupying the chair.' There was an attendance of over ■lO. The address was listened to with interest, and at the conclusion a voto of thanks to the speaker and confidence in the Liberal party, led by Sir Joseph Ward, and to Mr. W. T. Jennings as representative for Taumarunui, was carried unanimously.