ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1920, Page 5

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

GOVERNMENT ATTACKED. OPPOSITION LEADER'S VIEWS. COUNTRY'S DUTY TO SOLDIERS. .- By Telegraph.—Press Association. " " Wellington, Last Night. In continuing the debate on the Ad-dress-in-Reply in the House of Representatives this afternoon the Hon. W. D. S. MacDomild (Leader of the Opposition) denied the assertion that the Speech by the Governor-General was not a pessimistic Speech. It was,, he thought, distinctly pessimistic, even bordering on tragedy. This applied particularly to the financial position of the country. He regretted Sir Joseph Ward's absence from the politics of the Dominion, which he regarded as a disaster'to the country. It was not his intention to unduly harass tho Government, but the Opposition had a duty td perform, and his Party proposed to watch keenly the conduct of the Government. There were one or two pertinent questions which he would put to the Government, and that was his reason for moving his amendment. He' appreciated the '.for unity made by Mr..Hoekly. Coming to the land settlement" policy of the Government he questioned ..the wisdom of playing with the prices 'for' land, because many men going oil the land had not sufficient experience to get enough out of the land to pay for iti He favored the establishment of industries in the Dominion, but that time was not yet. Britain could not supply the machinery necessary) moreover, such a policy would only tend to drawpeople from the country into the towns, and that was most undesirable. CABINET CRITICISED. , His fjrst reason for Moving wtlrit Of confidence in the Ministry was the Premier's failure to surround hirtiself ■With a competent Cabinet. Immediately after the general election in December last it looked a> if the whole question had not been dealt' With iri the', ; light of the needs of the country, but in the llgiit of Party ends. <■ >., Mention had been made of tUb Pfelmier's great service in Labor matters. This he questioned, ahd instanced the trouble in tho ranks of the railwayrnea ns a case in point. Why were the railways taken from Sir Williain Heftiest J Mr. Massey: Because he handed them over. ' ' ■ ) ■ Continuing, Mr. MacDohald said that if the railways had remained in charge of Sir William Herrics, the trouble which afterwards developed would not have arisen. The fact Was the Premier was trying to do too much. He was obsessed with his own prowess, and consequently public affairs suffered. His second reason for moving the motion" Was the faihtfe of the Government to effect electoral reform. Ha blamed the Government for hot supplying a substitute in the cases of the second ballot and the reform df the Legislative Council. He called upon the Government to appoint a committee, of the House, or a Royal Commission, to go into the whole question of electoral reform. *' SOLDIER settlements: He analysed the figures of the last election, claiming, on the Votes cast, that the Reform Party should have had only 29 European seats, and other Partics 41 between ,them. An it Was, the Government had 44 seats, and other Parties ohly 33. This, he thought, Would not satisfy the people, and for that reason they could not have confidence in the Government. He asked the Government to set up a commission to inquire into the various electoral systems, because he was confident something better than "first past the post? could be found. j Coming to soldier settlements, he had pointed out that there were only throe sources from which land for soldiers could be obtained—Crown lands, Native lands, and the purchase of large estates. Ho blamed the Government for - not breaking tip big'estates. Since the election not a single estate had been bought on the East Coast, where there Was ample land. The large, land-owners Were going to hold to their properties with the greatest tenacity, and if they were not willing to sell at a reasonable pri.ee, then compulsion should be brought to bear on them, and he asked the House to show sincerity onHhis point, as there were a large number of men wanting land who were utterly unable to obtain. it. Finance should not be the difficulty; that could be' arranged. '.-'■! MORE GENEROUS TREATMENT. Moreover, more generous financial assistance must be given to soldiers, as it was no pleasure to go through a BOldier settlement, owing to the limited amount of capital they had to work on. But the main point was to break up the big estates to aid the loyal men who fought for the country. Dealing with the cost of living, he expressed the opinion that unless Gov- , ernment expenditure was reduced the cost of living, was not going to fall until the Government exercised economy. It was useless for Ministers to stand up and preach economy to the people. He advocated a commission to go into the currency question as one means of stabilising the economic position of the Dominion. He urged the establishment of a fleet of colliers to secure an adequate supply of coal to the Dominion. New mines should be developed in the Dominion itself, especially new State mines, as, in view of the abnormal coal shortage, valuable produce in the cool stores was liable to perish. . He had hoped to refer to the Labor unrest and the position of mining, which at the present moment was particularly dead, but as his time was up he would content himself with moving the following amendment to the motion before the House: "We feel it our duty to submit to Your Excellency that it is essential Your Excellency's Government should possess the confidence of the House and of the country, and respectfully represent to Your Excellency that such confidence is not reposed in the Government as at present constituted." "NOT BANKRUPT YET." The Hon. D. H. Guthrie (Minister of Lands) contended there was nothing "tragic" in the Governor's Speech, but it struck a necessary note of caution to the people in view of the present position of the 'Dominion. Yet tliere was nothing to fear, and he was specially impressed with the tone of optimism of the mover and the seconder of the motion, who declared the Dominion would win through if each individual only did his duty. '

■*i ' . • produce by the Imperial authorities,' be- ~X cause it was the only way by which Sj our finance could be secured. -'Tto ie- f -v suit was that we were able to carry out •■■ '„ our obligations in connection with tho '' . ■ war", and carry an extra burden ot with comparative cftse. New, . '■] Zealand was not bankrup't yet, and ■, ■ there was every reason to feel optl- •... mistic as to the future. ; ■ ■ - . v He declared the Government was do- „' ing all possible for ret'—'od soldiers, v but he deprecated the : o.pa.cijat the re- yjJ turned soldier was tlie must person >in IS the Dominion who had u» i>a considered. . Vj* There were others, and. it .was the duty . ;| 'of the Government to administer the ', >.;| affairs of the country in the interests of - .'!; the whole of the people, and not in' ■''•'' the interests of one class. ; f ; He contended the Government had not ■ > ■ been idle in the matter of breaking up big estates, as tho records of the De- '■" \ partmont amply show. It was true that '' ! in the early stages of the settlement of •' ■-, soldiorg men more or less inexperienced . had been placed on the land. That was \: y ■ inevitable under the .circumstances; but- ':' these men were not left to their own , •'£ devices, for experts were appointed to ' ,'*? \& go about amongst soldier. settlers to. .'*.<s? instruct them in farming methods,'and ',l reports, showed that most satisfactory A m results were being achieved, ■ ■ \ WORK OP REPATRIATION.. j'M In defence of the Repatriation Depart- '7 ?M ment's work he quoted statistics *hW- jp ing the number of men settled, homes' ,»K purchased, and areas 'now readjr-W ia If preparation for future aettleme|K, In \-M these settlement schemes, he cMnnte&pJl -IS parts of the Dominion were being equit- ,;sj| ably treated, In the matter ,of purchas* , :< i|fl ing homes for soldiers he was the policy, was not relieving the houtfJJlra shortage. What they wanted were nwrisfE home!!, and he intended strongly commend Cabinet in future to new houses rather than purchaser* jpljl . --M ones. The finance of "soldier .J| had been most satisfactory, .as WjjKjr-.-s •_ m bad debts were made. > This wajfflmli.' v ;'. remarkable and satisfactory stttagjut''*'*)' just on £20,000,000 had been eapstfMd ';,,, on assisting soldiers. -v-.;\. >. ": . In reply to the Leader of tion's reference to big estates; he'stated ',. that the Government had just completed >t J the purchase of a very valuable ! in the Gisborne district. .. ,- ,< „- ■ i. r . He defended the conduct of .the Qov- >-j ernment in connection with men, * i who were followef up most careJtyUy, ■\j and their interests watched over assldu- \.;i ously wherever they might be. ' ' ';> ,%■s!*, When the House resumed jnHhe evan- Jp ing, Mr. E. Newman s»Jd s feo%iposi|&iKM had not the slightest ohance ing the Government, and tactics were U Waste of time. JtrvSto-'* .",■.' Callum •repudiated thi» suggestion, *nd '.''* the debate was adjourned and the Hojuw rose at 0.30 p.m, .' v 1&