THE ELECTIONS.
TARANAKI SEAT. ME. SMITH'S CANDIDATURE. Mr. S. G. Smith addressed the electors at Koru yesterday at 8.30 a.m. and received a good reception from those present, including many ladies. At the conclusion of his address' Mr. Smith was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence.
At 12.30 ji.m. Mr. Smith gave an address in the local railway goods shed. Only one question was asked, which had reference to a universal Saturday halfholiday, and at the conclusion a resolution of thanks and renewed confidence was carried unanimously. MR. BUCKERIDGE AT CARRINGTON ROAD. (Published By Arrangement.) Mr. G. H.* Buckeridge, the Reform candidate for the Taranaki seat, addressed a meeting of electors at the Carrington Road School last night. There was a good attendance, Mr. E. Pepperill presiding. The candidate gave a very convincing address, largely on the lines of previous speeches. At the conclusion he answered a number of questions, and was accorded a vote of thanks and coufidence.
MR. BUCKERIDGE AT OMATA. Mr. 0. H. Buckeridge addressed a largely-attended meeting & the Omata Hall last night. Mr. E, Bailey was voted to the chair. He first explained that he was opposed to the principle for, which he believed Mr. Smith stood, and not to Mr. Smith personally. He considered there was no ground for saying he was a stranger to the district. He looked upon his selection by the reform Party to contest the seat as the greatest compliment that had ever been paid him. He said Mr. Smith may have been a good member, but the district should not be satisfied with a "good," when a "better," or a "Best" was available. In regard to the needs of the district, Mr. Buckeridge said he had been so long associated with the farming interests of the community that he knew what the farmers wanted. He had worked and organised for the farmers for thirty years, and he had the satisfaction of knowing he had come out at his country's call and placed his 1 services at the disposal of his country in the greatest crisis of her history. The" best men in the country were wanted now, and he wanted to see the affairs of the country conducted on sound business linesThe speaker then dealt with the qualifications of the Leaders of the two main political parties in the House today. He said there was another party in embryo which had a leader, but there were only two parties to be considered. Mr. Massey was the only leader at the present time capable of steering the country through its crisis. He was a man whojn he (the speaker) was proud to support. He had been a supporter of the Reform Party for many years, when Mr. Massey had only a very small following in the country. He had supported him in better days, and he hoped to support him in the best days or his political career. Further, Mr. Massey, had taken a fine part in the peace negotiations, and held his own among the leading statesmen of the world. The fact that he was given the chairmanship of one of the most important Commissions of the Conference was sufficient to show the esteem in which he was held among them. Yet he had declined all the honors that could have been bestowed upon the Prime Minister of a country. In contrast with this spirit he held up the actions of Sir Joseph Ward in accepting a knighthood, and the people had to pay, and be pleased to see the only political peacock there was strutting about the country. I?i regard to the Liberal policy, Mr. Buckeridge said it was only a string of promises, and did not constitute, a policy. What the Liberals had done in the past had brought about the chaotic condiditions that existed in regard to land settlement. Their policy was to put settlers on the land without respect to any access to their properties. He also laid to the charge of the Liberal Party the responsibility for many of the weed-infested areas 1 of land all over the Dominion. This policy had brought about a very unhappy state of affairs, and had been the ruin of many settlers, and had driven others to death and mental asylums. He was right out against such a party ever having the reins of Government again in New Zealand. The policy of the Labor Party was still more dangerous and ruinous than that of the Liberals. Their "go-slow" policy was the worst thing they could ever have adopted, and it had had the effect of making men with capital hesitate to put it into businesses which necessitated the employment of men. He knew of actual case? of this, and said it was the worst thing that could happen to a, young country which required development. What the country wanted today was staunch and stalwart men who knew what they wanted, and would fight for it until they got it, and he intended to do that. It would cost him pt'rso?ia! loss, but it was the people's .fight and he was out to help them. Mr. Buckeridge then said that as he had been pulliug other people's policies about he wanted to show that he had something to put in the place of what he was 1 pulling down. What New Zealand wanted now was the means pt increasing production so as to enable it to pay its way such as the Co-operative Agricultural Banks system, which had proved so successful in Germany and other countries and latest of alt in America. Mr. Massey lmd specially looked into this system on his recent trip Home, and it was to be given a trial. In that way it could be made possible for men without capital to take up land. And if money was available in that wity it would also be an inducement to suitable men and women to come out from the Old Land and settle here. At'the present time there was a real shortage of labor in the Dominion. He knew, as secretary of the Repatriation Committee I at Hawera, that when employers asked them for men they could not supply them, and headquarters at Wellington could not. After money and men, what the country wanted was cheap manures, nnft he eulogised the statesmanship or Mr. Massay, in realising the needs of the farmers of the Dominion, and securing a share in the phosphate deposits of Nauru Island, which were estimated to be sufficient for 200 years. He advocated in this connection freightage by co-oper-ative owned or chartered boats. He also urged that the limestone deposits of Taranaki si ould be made more accessible to farmers.
Dealing with (he matter of railway construction, Mr. Buckeridge said he was against the policy of starting railway lines all over the country with a view to catching votes. He said the parable Un*s should be conwlAtai *t>]» *ailUat
possible moment. In the past, under the Liberal administration, the only way to get a railway was to send a man of the right color to Parliament. In regard to the Opunake-New Plymouth line it had remained for the Reform Party to commence its construction at Te Roti, and but for the outbreak of war the line would probably have been very much more advanced than at present. The incident at the last session of the line being, cut out of the Authorisation Bill was a mistake. . He gave due credit to those who had been successful in getting it reinstated.
Speaking of education, Mr. Buckeridge said he favored free education trom tne primary school to the University. In order to compete with other countries the children must be educated, and they must have to teach them the best brains and the best trained teachers that could be secured. Mr ; Buckeridge also spoke on the question of military training, and wnile being in favor of gome, form of such training he did not believe in sending boys to camp for four months in the year. *
Reverting to more local matters, the candidate stressed the importance of the development of the New Plymouth harbor, which he had favored for many years, because he realised that there was no other place in which a deep harbor could be made for Taranaki. He also urged that one of the early requirements in that connection would bo the duplication of the breakwater line in order to iaciJitare the inwtrd aid outward handling of the goods'. At the conclusion of the address a number of questions were answered and a vote of thanks to Mr. Buckeridge, confidence in the Massey Government, and in the speaker as a suitable person to represent the district in Parliament was moved by Mr. Vickers, seconded by Mr. Luvton, and declared carried. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting. MEETING AT UPPER MANGOREI. Mr. Buckeridge also addressed a meeting of suppliers at the Upper Mangorei creamery yesterday morning, and received a very good hearing. His address followed the lines of that given at other centres, and at its conclusion the candidate was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks.
THE STRATFORD SEAT. MR. MASTERS AT LINCOLN BOAD. Tho schoolliouse at Lincoln Road was comfortably filled to hear Mr. Masters c.n Thursday night. In dealing with iiir James Allen's scheme of military conscription, Mr. Masters spoke very Btrongly on the innuendo that lie had itated "that we had at least 40,000 trained men with war experience ready at a moment's notice. Why the expense of training others!" He Tepudieted any such statement, : and denied strenuously ever having made any remarks to that exect, and further cha*. acterised sucli tactics as being reprehensible. He favored the school cadet system being reinstated, aud the- .Basis of our defence being the navy. He opposed the population being charged 10s per head per annum for the creating of a military caste, and also the taking into camp for a lengthy period the lads of the country. At the conclusion of the meeting Mr. Hen wood moved a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr. Masters, which was carried unanimously. The candidate was given cheer after cheer, as was also Air. S. G. Smith, M.P. Mr Winthrop presided.
HON - . J. B. HIKE'S MEETINGS, Major Hine addressed a representative audience at Makaliu on Thursday afternoon, and received a very attentive hearing. Mr. Rentoul presided, and at the 'conclusion of the address votes of thanks and confidence was carried unanimously. A crowded house greeted Major Hine at To Wera on Thursday evening, the speaker being accorded' an attentive hearing throughout. Mr. Kemp occupied the chair, and the usual vote of thanks to the speaker was carried unanimously, on the motion of Mr. StoneWigg. SIR JOSEPH WARD. GOOD AUCKLAND MEETING. A RESOLUTION OF CONFIDENCE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Auckland, Last Night. Sir Joseph Ward addressed a crowded meeting in the Town Hall concert chamber. He was received with cheers and Spplause.
Ho referred to the fact that the Liberal Party had drawn first blood by the election unopposed of the''Hon. A T Ngata. This, he considered; was a grand omen. He contended the present system of first past the post in Pafliamenetary elections unfair, and said Mr Massey had not provided the promised improvement in the system. The Profiteering Act of which Mr. Massey had spoken was prepared by a Liberal Minister. He had made it clear that unless ho could hold office without station from the Extreme Labor Party n& would refuse to hold office.
There was stagnation in public works in New Zealand, yet the Premier spoke of galvanising public works. The Liberals were appealing to the moderate section of every class of the community, and Labor should be represented in the next Government. The Liberals were out to see large landed estates out up. Sir Joseph Ward dealt at length with other points in his policy. A resolution expressing unabated confidence in him as Leader of the Liberal Party was carried.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19191213.2.38
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1919, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,006THE ELECTIONS. Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1919, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.