THE HON. D. H. GUTHRIE

Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1918, Page 5

THE HON. D. H. GUTHRIE

ADDRESS AT' INGLEWOOD. , *\ ■'■ The Hon. D. U. Guthrie, Minister fL; Lands, gave an address at the Toffitr; Hall, lnglewood, last night, on behMss of the National Government. ■ There wmJaj a large audience, the Mayor (Mr. 'ffa'A presiding. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson ■' M.l\, was also on the platform. .. -. ' Mr. Guthrie, who was very cordiatty.\ received, prefaced hig address with On; expression of regret at the cause whissh;* necessitated an election in TaraaakJ; ?,| and T.aid a high tribute to tho lata Wbk Okey, and at his request the whole autfi-'ij! ence stood in silence as a mark of ■ri-! 1 spect to tho late member. Mr. Guthrie then proceeded to answer some of tfc';' charges that had been levelled agalm;: the National Government, not only dm- j ign the present election campaign, tab'. before ii, waa commenced. He dealt yiiSUl"the matter of the' loss of life on tile, troopship carrying tie 40th EeiaforW-' . ments, Bhowing that the New Zealand Government had been exonerated from all blame in connection with the occurrence, which, he said, no one regretted : more than the members of the National'-. Government. He also dealt with the question of the soldiers in the cunp. s and their voting privileges, ■ •'■''■" He then covered the ground in tion with the formation of this tion Government, and stated that it wfcs'' brought about by the good'sense of liainent for the distinct purpose of centrating New Zealand's efforts on lie- > half of the war. He dealt with the mea- ; sures which had been necessary, in <jr- ' der to ensure that New Zealand's ob& ' gations in connection with the war would ■' be fully discharged, and showed how im-*'-"' possible it would have been to putthelje' into effect except through the mednrawflf '., a coalition Government. ■ ; ' He detailed the step's taken by 'iheV Government for the disposal of New Ze& '<'■ land's produce to the Imperial Govern- -"'i ment, and also the provision made $r ■ financial advances on the produce which,- • through the shortage of skipfihw, it impossible to life from the cool stores— l 'i those measures being the means of eg- '"• tabhshkg the financial position of the '\ Dominion, both at home and in En*.'-'. land, and also responsible for the fco& .' tmued prosperity of the Dominion. ' ' He claimed that the * ment entitled to credit fjnr tha, re"'/' 1 cord it had achieved along a roaa wiiidi' was entirely new to the Doininlon. ) Whatever may have been their faults or i mistakes, they'had "delivered the goods" '" every time and on time., He .then de>lt' ■ with what the Government was doing '■< for the returned soldiers; Vth with &.'.''. gard to placing them on the land, i. fitting them for other occupations if', their choice, and also in assisting othersV back into their old line of employment. .' He dealt briefly with the general policy; '/■ of the Government in connection witlu" the Lands Department, which, he claim--< a ed, was second to none in important; A considering about 97 per cent, of thVv wealth of the country was derived from/," the soil. The general programme was". the closest possible settlement in the- ' fastest time, They were against aggre--. gation of land . He admitted that \t '"'' had not been possible to prevent aggre-;.-gation altogether up to the present timej'.'but he had legislation prepared Krjtteb he believed would go a long way- to.: "' wards stopping the evil. ■. The Govern- -. mtnt -was also taking means to prevent ? aliens acquiring lands in the Dominion,*' The great essential was to keep'toe land >j productive, develop tho waste lands )ott';, the country, and make them productive * as money and opportunity .offered. '■ ,"i Concluding, kg said tho National- GoVr '-' eminent stood solidly for the good Of '•■' l the whole -count/y and riot for any pM-" 5 *- ticular section of the community., '*■, "■'' The speech was punctuated '.' out iby frequent applause, which, wis. ;' long and vigorous at its conclusion. ~' j Mr. C A. Wilkinson, M.P., also dd- -."-! dressed the meeting, at the conclusion;..' of which a motion of thanks was passed ," to the speakers and to the chairman,. ' for whom -also cheers were given. . : : ' '•' There was some element of opposition -, \ in the audience, which evidenced itself ; ' occasionally. an( l some boo-hooing 'was' [ mingled with the cheering, but the ine&t- ■' * 1 ing was for the most part entirely V ' friendly. ~ ' ' ;■.. The Minister was afterwards entertained at the lnglewood Club. ~' '■ Mr. Guthrie speaks at the People's Picture Palace, New riymouth, at 8 ' : , o'clock. , , . i«