THE STRATFORD SEAT.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1919, Page 3

THE STRATFORD SEAT.

Bx MR. EGBERT MASTERS.

THE GOVERNMENT ATTACKED,

Mr. Robert Masters, the Liberal awl Labor candidate for the Stratford seat, opened his campaign at Wliangamomona on Tuesday evening. Over 70 people, including ladies, were present. Mr. Gleeson presided. Mr. Masters, who spoke fot over two hours, had an excellent hearing. Mr, Masters said that about a month ago he had been waited upon by a deputation of settlers representing the whole of the Stratford electorate, and asked to contest the seat in the interests of the Liberal Party, and he was before them in that cause. He referred to the progress that had been made at Whangamoraona during the past 15 years, and said he hoped that that progress would be continued. In reference to his opponent, he wished to say that, as a citizen, he held Major Hine in the highest regard, and he only hoped that Major Hine had the same respect for him. If so, the fight, he could assure them, would be clean and above-board. He would rather remain clean than go into politics With his name tarnished, and, win or lose, he looped that he and Major Hine would retain their respect for each other. There was never a time when it was So necessary to have progressive men as t was now. Labor troubles, the development of industries, the repatriation of soldiers, and other important questions called for men of keen insight, sound judgment, and progressive ideas. He might not regard himself as much above the average, but if he did not think himself qualified to represent them in Parliament he would i not be there that night. It was for them to judge and express their opinions at the ballot box. He had been a Liberal all his life, and it was as a Liberal that he came btfore them. THE POLITICAL PARTIES. There were three parties in the country. They had the Reform Party, which was largely supported by capitalistic interests, such as the Union Steam Ship Company and big squatters and mer- I chants, trusts, and all of that kin. . They did not represent in any sense the working man or the small farmer. On the other hand, they had the extreme Party, with Bolshevik tendencies. Sandwiched in between they had the huge majority, composed of small farmers, unskilled laborers, artisans, business men, I and that was the party he was repre- j senting, They knew that those who formed the extreme Labor Party had done their best to destroy private interests and capital, hut the remedy for present evils did not lie in this, but in raising the laboring man and in improving his position in a way reconcilable with public rights. Labor and Capital must work together in the best interests of the country. He wanted to explain his position in regard to party. On a no-confldcnee motion he would vote for the Liberal Party, but, apart from that, he would hold himself free to criticise, oppose, or support any measure before the House. He intended to exercise freedom of thought and action, and would not become the tool of any party. He did not want to go to Wellington so that he might be able to write M.P. after his name or to gain social distinction. He wanted to go there with the best interests of the country before him. The party system in New Zealand should be knocked on the head. Major Hine had, the previous evening at Stratford, said the same thing, so that,ion this question, they thought exactly alike. At the same time, Major Hine had stuck more rigidly to his party than any man in the House. He (Mr. Masters) did not think Major Hine liad voted against his party nnce a year during the eleven years he had been in the House. They wanted the spirit of progress in the country. They wanted young men. They wanted New Zealandcrs, and he saw no reason why New Zealanders should not have charge of the Government of their own country He had been born in New Zealand, and the whole of his interests were in Taranaki. i STOPPING PROGRESS. What progress, he asked, had there been in the country during the past few years, anr[ what progress could they expect from a Cabinet in which Sirj William Fraser, Mr. Herries, and Dr. Pomare had a place? No progress was to be expected from such men. He challenged anyone to. point to anything that had been done by the member of Stratford during the past 11 years. An elector (speaking from the porch): He went to Palestine for three years; Mr. Masters: Come inside. If there was no one better than you to go for he would probably not have gone. He was talking of politics. They all appreciated what Major Hine had done outside New Zealand and the sacrifices he had made, but there were others who had made sacrifiqes also. His (Mr. Masters') own brothers had gone to the front, and they had not been conscripted either. One of them had come back badly wounded, and had to give up his position in the public service. THE DRY ROT. Leaving this matter, Mr. Masters said that in moving around the country he found very strong feeling against the Reform Party. The dry-rot had set in Mr. Wilkinson Vvas retiring for Egmont, and for New Plymouth they could not get a candidate. The Hon. Guthrie and Sir James Allen were advocating coalition with the Liberal Party because they knew there was no chance of going back to power. Mr. Massey, in his latest policy speech, proposed coalition. Sir Joseph Ward had been attacked for leaving the Cabinet, but he had joined for the period of the war only, arid did he carry out his agreement? (A voice: Yes.) He had carried it out, and had stayed for six months longer. At a meeting of the Liberal Party, held at the conclusion of the war, it was resolved to withdraw six months later, and notice was given to Sir James Allen to this effect, and no doubt cabled to Mr. Massey. Further, Sir Joseph Ward was never asked to remain. Mr. Masters quoted some of the statements made about Sir Joseph Ward in 1911 by a Reform Government, and said that if one-hundredth part of what was said was true, Sir Joseph had never any right to be in Parliament, and, instead, should have been in gaol. Yet the Reformers associated themselves with such a man as that, and cried out against Jiim leaving the Cabinet. THE SHIPPING QUESTION. Turning to the question of shipping, Mr. Masters said he would deal with it entirely from the point of view of the producer, and he would quote figures, I taking the year as a basis, showing

the enormous excess of profits that had been earned by the shipping companies as a result of the extra freights charged. The pre-war freight on wool was 5-8 d per lb. The quantity exported was 18,398,466,8141b5, so that at the old rate the freight would amount to £479,120 The same quantity at 23-8 d (the war rate) brought the shipping companies £1,820,681, an increase of £1,341,555. On slipe wool the increase amounted to £183,198, on scoured wool £122,147, so 'that the total increase in pre-war freights amounted to £1,646,900. For tallow, the pre-war rate was 40s per ton, but this was increased to 120s per ton, which represented an increase in the freinght collected of £98,060. For sheepskins, there was an increase of £48,674, for pelts £41,595, sausage skins £8568, preserved meats £5902, cheese £100,793, butter £54,258, making a total increase of £2,004,730. The total value of these exports was £16,022,664, and other exports, including meat, were valued at £10,238,783, so that, allowing for the same increase on these, the total! would be £3,257,085. Taking the same j freights on imports, the amount lifted In additional freights from Kew Zealand was £6,533,415, which would pay flv.; per cent, on all mortgages in the bominion and pay the whole of the rates collected by al! wnty councils, borougli councils, town boards, and harbor boards in the Dominion thre<s and a quarter times over. It was double the amount of the customs duties. It had been said that the increase in freights was due to the increased cost of working the ships. He would, in this connection, like to refer them to a statement made by Mr. Bonar Law, who stated that he invested £BIOO in fifteen shipping companies. This amount, at five per cent., would have yielded £405 per annum, but Mr. Bonar Law actuajlv received in dividends in 1916 in 1917 £3847, and this after paying all excess profits to the State. The excess profits paid in England totalled three hundred millions, and if Mr. Bonar Law received £7OOO on his small investment what must the shipping companies have been making? AT THE MERCY OP SHIPOWNERS. Farmers had their co-operative dairy factories and refrigerating works. The people owned the railways and harbors, but when it came to marketing their produce they were absolutely at the I mercy of others. The time must come when they would have to provide for tlw marketing of their produce, or some day the farmers would wake up and find that the Union Company owned their farms. This question would have to bo tackled seriously. Had they heard of anyone who had tackled this question? ■ A voice: Yes, a big noise has been ! made about it. Mr. Masters said they wanted to do more than make a noise. A voice: Then you must stick to the Labor Party! Mr. Masters: I might tell you that I am a long way nearer Labor than Reform. How had Australia dealt with the phipping question? In 1916 the Commonwealth Government purchased 15 steamers, with a tonnage of 101,793 tons, and three sailers with a tonnage of 4900 tons, at a cost of £2,047,900. The net profit from these boats from October, HII6, to June, 1917, was £417,860. \\\- had paid six and a half millions and got nothing. The Australian Government was now building 4S more ships. The New Zealand Government had pnid, (luring the past live years, £3,493,000 to the Union Company and £2,293,000 was for war services. For services by one ship, valued at £60,000, they had paid £131,000 between January 15 and March 12, 1917. The remedy was to purchase their own ships. THE COST OF LIVING. Another question that was exercising the minds of the people was the cost of living, and there was every reason for complaint. As an instance of what had been allowed to go on in the way of profiteering, Mr. Masters stated that within a few days of! war being declared the wholesale ironmongers in New Zealand put 10 per cent, on the whole of their stocks, and they were carrying stocks valued at £250,000. The Government had passed an Act dealing with the standard price for goods, /but, in spite of that law, no action was taken against the wholesale ironmongers, though Mr. Andrew Fairbairn had drawn the attention of the Prime Minister to what had happened. After that a Board of Trade wa9 set up, which consisted of a farmer, a man who had for years been adjusting Labor troubles, and a lawyer. These were not the right type of men, and he would have preferred to have seen a commercial man, a farmer, and a straight-out representative of Labor. They would then have a board representative of those who were most interested in the cost of living. "A CHEAP LOAF." The Government tackled the flour question. They wanted to give the people a cheap loaf. First they went to the farmers, and, so as to enable them to grow at a profit, increased the price from 6s 3d to 6s 9d for wheat. Then they went went to the millers, and concluded an agreement under which must not be sold at more than £ls per ton. The millers said it was not possible to produce flour at that figure, and the Government subsidised them to the extent of £2 18s 4d on every ton of flour produced. They would have noticed £213,000 on the Estimates for this purpose the other day. After the price had been fixed the millers reduced the price of flour to £l4 15s per ton, and later there was a further drop in the price. Then the Board of Trade went to the millers, and said that they would not pay the subsidy. The millers put the price back to £l4 15s, and so retained the subsidy. That was the way the Board of Trade tackled the bread question. A CLASS TAX. if ever there was a class tax it was that, imposed to provide the butter equalisation fund. It was levied on farmers and their wives and children, ojul was a tax on gross profits, a thing previously unheard of. .No matter whether it eost £llOO to produce £IOOO worth of butter, the tax had to be paid all the same. The millers received £213,000 to keep the price of bread down, and the farmer, while paying his share of this, had to pay £300,000 to keep the price of butter down. Mr. Massey, as president of the Board of Trade, was responsible for what was done in connection with flour, and as Prime Minister he was responsible for what had been done in respect to the equalisation fund. Not only did the farmers have to pay £300,000, but an additional £2OOO for audit. Had the money gone to ths workers very few farmers would have objected, but only a small proportion benefited this class. THE PRICE OF SUGAR. They all must know how Mr. Massey had kept down the price of sugar. He eUlmsd that it had been cheaper iu New

Zealand than m any other part of th« world. He (Mr. Masters) said this was absolutely wrong. The price in New Zealand was £25 15s, in New South Wales £29 ss, in Victoria £29 7s 6d, and in South Australia £29 15s 6d. It had to be remembered, however, that the duty of £0 was not paid in New Zealand, and if this was added sugar was dearer here than in Australia. If they had to thank anyone for -Cheap sugar, it was the late R. J. Seddon, who gave them the free breakfast table. The Board of Trade attempted to fix the price of bread, and, as a result oTwhat they had done the price at Stratford was lid, and at New Plymouth, which had advantages over Stratford in delivery and population, the price was fixed at lid. As an instance of the way prices had increased as a result of Government inactivity, he mentioned corrugated iron, for which the highest price paid in the Old Country was £29. This was according to the declared customs. Allowing £lO for freight, the price would be higher, up to £39, and £2 could be added to that for duty, making £4l. Yet iron had been selling here at £BS per ton. The Board of Trade must know of these things. The only case the Board of Trade had taken up was against a Wellington draper for selling a few yards of flannel at what seemed a high" price. Fencing wire had gone up in the same way a? iron, and there had been a rise of £55 without the Board of Trade taking any action. The Government had not been sincere in attempting to keep down the cost of living. It was the wholesale people who were exploiting the people, and the small trader was making less profit than before the war. Mr. Nosworthy (now a Minister) characterised the Board of Trade in 1918 as a "board of humbugs," appointed merely to silence political' clamor about the cost of living, and yet he had re-appointed them for another five years at a salary of £IOOO a year each. Was that the sort of Government they wanted? They had an opportunity of putting In men who would stop that sort of thing. (To be continued.)