POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 August 1919, Page 6

POLITICAL.

ADDRESS BY MAJOR HIKE, M-P. AT STRATFORD TOWN HALL. Though the weather was far from favorable, a fairly large number </f people were present in the Town Hall, Stratford, on Wednesday evening, when Major J. B. Hine, M.P. delivered a political address. Mr. W, J. McMillan (Mayor) presided, and the speaker was accorded an excellent reception. Major Hine said lie was not going to keenly criticise the National Government, but would speak more from a constructive point of view. He would first like to express his appreciation of the work done by his neighboring confreresMessrs Jennings and Wilkinson and the lato Mr. Olcey—during his absence. After referring to the progress of Stratford and congratulating the Educatidn Board on the progress made towards getting a new technical high school, he said the Government had made a grant of £4OOO for a post office before he went away, but owing to the war nothing had been done. He hoped that the work would be pushed on as speedily as possible. SERVICES OF THE LEADERS. Yesterday, the speaker proceeded, the leaders of the Government returned, and, no mattev what their political opinions might be, they must recognise that MrMassey and Sir Joseph Ward had represented the country at the Peace Conference with honor and dignity. They could all extend a cordial welcome to them. Discussing the National Cabinet, Major Hine said it had been formed for the purposes of the war, and all woulu agree that without it conscription would not have been carried. 1 Ho knew that the National Government had failed in many things, but it had done admirably in other respects, particularly in raising loans for the war. The Minister of Defence had borne the great burden of the day, and, though he had received much condemnation, he had stuck to his guns. Now the war was over they had to view things in a different light, and the national policy would need reconstruction. AN ACUTE QUESTION The opinions they held on many things five years ago would perhaps, have to be changed. Dealing with labor, Major Hine said it was one of the most acute questions before the public at the present time. He believed that extreme Labor in this country was on the wrong track, and that good, sorind, common-sense Labor was on the right track, and they wanted to bring the latter to the policy that the country was out to benefit them. Eighty per cent, of the people in this country were workers, and if they all pulled together they would be able, to benefit themselves and the country. Labor was divided owing to the extreme clement in its ranks. As a- moderate thinker, he would pay that Labor deserved better attention and better wages in some respects. He was thinking of the miners- He had no sympathy with the man who said that the miners went slow. Government statistics showed that the output per man had not varied more than ten tons at the outside per annum during four or, five years. The reason for the trouble was more deep-rooted. Miners were leaving the mines beeause of the conditions. The Hon. A- M. Myers had had a circular printed showing the conditions of coal Btocks in New Zealand for the past two years. A cut was intended in May, 1918, but it was decided to postpone it, in the hope that supplies would come forward. In the meantime they tried to get boats to bring supplies from Newcastle. Then the epidemic, followed by the holidays, came, and stocks fell down to zero. After that they pulled up to 20,000 or 30,000 tons, but Easter came and the went down again. Mr. Myers said that an attempt was made to get Japanese and African coal, but coal could only have been obtained from these places at prices (Jiat they could easily have got it at in New Zealand- Why pay £7 for Japanese coal' when they could have got all the coal they wanted by paying at the rate for coal hewn in this country? The Government said they tried to get ships, colliers etc. He quite believed that. All the more reason why they should have tried to get the coal out of our own mines. He did not think Mr. Semple was right about the quantities of steam coal in the country. Many people had curious ideas on what constituted steam coal, and that was how they got mixed up. Some foolishly said that the railway restrictions were a political dodge. That was nonsense, because it was killing the Government. No Minister or politician would lfty himself open to such a charge as that. The coal shortage was acute, and he was afraid they had not reached the worst yet. He doubted very much if the conference now sitting in Wellington would be able to come to an agreement. THE STRIKE THREAT.

Referring to strikes, Major Hine said he did not believe that any section of Workers in the country had the right to paralyse trade generally, and that was what the miners were out to do 1 at the present time. He further believed that, as far as the State service was concerned, strikes should not be allowed. He would say, also, that no lock-out should be allowed- They should be able to find a body of reasonable men in this country who would be able io assess what was fair to Labor. If a body of men accepted the Arbitration Act they r should not have the other weapon as well. The same should apply to the employers, and strikes and lock-outs should bo made criminal acts. They would then soon find a solution for such a_ deadlock as they had at the present time in connection with the coal miners. There should be a clause in tho Act making it a seditious action for a man to incite his felloW;Workers in the State service to strike. ' Labor was entitled to a fair wage, but Capital was necessary. Some were out to destroy Capital, but what they wanted to do was to control it. Very soon they would be in the thick of the producing season, and if they could not get their produce away the country would be in a bad way. Concluding his references to Labor, the speaker said that his whole sympathy was with the man who received the lowest pay, and if these was anything lie could do in Parliament to help thefo men he would do it. -' ' REPATRIATION. j Coming next to repatriation, Major Hine paid he favored the scheme formu lated by the Returned Soldiers' Associations' Conference in Wellington for settling soldiers on the land. The Land Board was overloaded with work, and could not attend fully to the returned soldiers. He paid a tribute to the R.S.A-, which, lie said, was a power in the land, A&d JUd usable At its bead, whs

were out to do their best for the soldiers without trenching to an alarming extent on the capabilities of the country. What they wanted to do was to give' the soldier a fair chance, whether they put him on the land or provided him with a home. THE COST OF LIVINO. The next question dealt with was the cost of living.' llow dismally the National Government had failed in this respect, said Major Iline, they all knew. The cost of living had gone up and up till for the sovereign they now got value for about 13s. He believed that the control of the primary products of the country should continue for many years to come. The Government had controlled, and still controlled, tbo price of butter, and the only objection made by farmers was that the money for the equalisation fund should come from the consolidated revenue. This, he thought, was a sound contention. If any produce was kept for homo consumption and was sold at a lower rate than that prevailing on the Home market the producer should get a quid pro quo from the Consolidated Fund. The whole of the consumers should bear any loss. He knew that many farmers would not agree with him in his advocacy of continued State control, but there was a possibility that produce would sell for some time to come in the markets of Europe at famine prices, in which case it would not be right to charge the same prices herePrices must be kept down to enable their own people to obtain what was requisite. He was not only referring to butter, but wool, flour, and meat, and the loss to the producer of selling at reduced prices should be made up in proper ratio by the whole community. The wealtuier the man the more he should pay.

PROFITEERING. Referring to profiteering, he said they •were all quite sure that profiteering existed, and the trouble was that the Government, in trying to find out who was responsible, had never gone below the surface. Taking hides, he was quite safe in saying they were no dearer than they were before the war; yet the prices for all leather goods had enormously increased. There must he profiteering somewhere. Wool had been controlled, and yet when they considered the prices of serges and other woollen goods they were bound to conclude that big profits were being made somewhere—here and in the Old Country as well. Instances were known of the same stocks being put up 20 per cent, without anv reason whatever- In all probability stocks of goods of all kinds were going up in price at the present time because of the shortage due to railway restrictions. This was profiteering, and the Government was blameable for not knowing what was going on behind the scenes. Shipping very probably had some effect. Everyone knew yiat a shipping combine existed. He thought it was time' they had a State service. The shipping companies had made very high profits during the war. The Australian Government had bought a fleet before the war, and the profits had paid for it. They should either have a State or a producers' fleet. He thought that a fleet owned by both would be the best. The boats' could take Home the produce i..ul bring back other articles for consumption, and in this way the Government could keep down the cost of living. He knew from the prices paid by the War Department for clothing that profiteering was going on. These prices were only half those ordinarily charged. IMMIGRATION. Another thing the country needed was an immigration scheme. He had found among the British soldiers in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria a keen interest in the conditions of life in New Zealand, and information was eagerly sought by them. They all asked the same question: How would a man who had no money get along? He had assured them that provided ho was prepared to work and was thrifty he would have no difficulty. He believed that a large number of theso men would come out if the opportunity was given, and we could do with a large number of agricultural laborers, miners, fete. They should guarantee men like these work and assist them in coming out. They would do well for themselves and add to the country's production.

PUBLIC WORKS. If there whs one thing more than another that had disappointed him in the administration of the Reform Government lit waß the failure to bring about a reform in the methods of carrying out public works. They all knew that great waste was resulting from antiquated methods and the want of machinery. He supposed the waste amounted to 25 per cent, of the expenditure. Up-to-date methods and a good contract system for the men were required. He believed in the contract, even for miners. They did not want to : kill independence, for it was individual j effort that made the man. They had been piling up the debt during the past few yearß, and the money spent would be non-productive. THE PUBLIC DEBT.

The public debt now amounted, he believed, to about 180 millions. Some people* said that if we could borrow for destructive works we could also borrow for constructive works. He did not think we could borrow in England at the present time at less than 5 per cent., if at all, and he doubted if any attempt would be made to raise money at Home for some time. New methods of borrowing would have to be adopted. For public Works they should adopt a new scheme altnirp-thev. Our exports had greatly increased in value, though not in quantity to the extent that they had hoped. They Wanted to increase the quantity as well as the value, and if they could do that and keep down their imports they would have a good margin for works of development. He thought they should carry out public works without borrow-■ in? either in this country or in England. (Major liine's explanation of how this is to be done will Ibe found in another column.) THE LIQUOR PROBLEM.

Dealing with the liquor problem, Major Hine warned his constituents of the danger of State purchase and control There was a moral and a financial side to the question, and the moral side was the more important. There were wople who did not want to have anything to do with the trade, and we had no right to ask them to be co-partners in it. Then on the financial side the buildings, etc.. of the brewers and all interested in the trade were to be purchased by the State at their full value if State control is carried at the next, poll. In addition, the brewers and licensees are to receive as compensation two years' nett profit, the yearly profit to be averaged over five years. He did not think that was right. If the State, Was going to take over the trade, how much was it going to cost, the country! Abolition, .been owscM their liability

was limited to 4% millions, hut in this case they could put it at the lowest at 10 millions. Could not this be better invested in improving the condition of workers in this country and in settling men on the land? IN CONCLUSION. Major lline referred to the changes that were taking place all over the world. It was quite pcssible to carry out a sound development scheme if only the people would pull together. He thought the National Government should pull together for a time. They wanted a Moderate Party. The old political parties were in the melting pot, and it was impossible to say what would come out of it. There was going to be a great upheaval in politics, but the common sense party would prevail, and if they did, there need be no fears about New Zealand. Concluding, he said he would take opportunities later for dealing with other questions. (Applause.) QUESTIONS. On questions being invited, Mr. Kirkwood said that Major Hine had told them that he was in favor of no-license and that he was against State control. Would he tell the meeting whether lie was a total abstainer or not? Major Hine: I am not a total abstainer. Mr. P. Coe asked if Major Hine would favor meeting the requirements of all returned soldiers before granting assistance to immigrants. Major Hine: Most decidedly. He was hoping that all returned soldiers would be speedily settled. A member of the audience asked if Major Hine did not recognise that paper money had a lot to do with the increased cost of living. Major Hine said he could not see that it had.

Mr. C. D. Sole: Would you favor a State Bank along the lines of the Common wealth Baijk of Australia? Major Hine: No. Mr. Sole: Your proposal amounts to the same thing. Major Hine: Within certain limitations. If we are to have a State Bank it would be better to take over the Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Rutherford: Are you in favor of a farmers' hank for the purpose of settling farmers on the land, the issue being backed by the State? Major Hine: Da you mean subsidised by the State or wholly issued bv the State? Mr. Rutherford: Practically issued by the State.

Major [line: I do not favor a bank for any one section. If it exists at all it should be for all. He did not think, he added, that the Government should part with its interests in the Bank of New Zealand, but should extend its functions. Any scheme which would have the effect of reducing the rate of interest to the borrower would have his support. On the motion of Mr. Hignctt, seconded by Mr. T. Phillips, a hearty vote of thank* was accorded Major Hine for his address, and a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting.