THE COMING SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1922, Page 5

THE COMING SESSION.

ADDRESS BY MR. S. G. SMITH, M VARIOUS QUESTIONS REVIEWED. HIS PARTY ATTITUDE. Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P. for the Taranaki electorate, delivered a pre-sessional speech at the Empire Theatre last night. The theatre was comfortably filled, and tbe speaker was given a very attentive hearing throughout. The Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson) presided. Mr. Smith prefaced his main remarks by saying that he considered it the duty of the representative of the people to address the people at frequent intervals and to say something to them on political -matters. The present Parliament was now approaching its last session, and the speaker hoped to do something to keep hit seat warm for the first session of the next Parliament.

The speaker then directed attention to affairs connected with the Imperial Conference, which was attended by the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The speaker did not want to detract from the ability Mr. Massey had shown at that conference. Mr. Massey had, however, laid stress on the good opinion of New Zealand which obtained. in the Homeland, a feeling which, the speaker asserted, went back to the days when Richard John Seddon first brought New Zealand under the favorable notice of the Motherland. The position of New Zealand in regard to Imperial affairs had not yet been truly defined, proceeded the speaker; but Mr. Massey, on behalf of the country, had agreed to the naval . programme, and four battleships were to lx built costing from six to eight million pounds each, towards, which New Zealand was to contribute a proportion. Thils there was a danger that, with this power, a man not so evenly balanced as Mr. Massey might attend a similar conference and commit the country, without the Iftaowledge or consent of the people, to an expenditure of millions of pounds. A second point that wanted to be made clear was New Zealand’s position under the League of Nations.

INCREASE IN DEBT. Dealing next with local politics, Mr. Smith said it was' small encouragement t ) those out of work at the present time tj see the way the country was being mismanaged by the Massey Government. Mr. Smith quoted the Statistician’s official figures to show how the National Debt had increased from 1911, when Mr. Massey said his party, if given office, would reduce this debt, from £81,078,122 to £206,324,319 in 1921; and the Massey Government had been in power for nine of these years. Not taking into consideration the amount if approximately £80,000,000 which had been borrowed for war purposes, the ordinary debt had increased by £44,390,227 in th it period. The position in New Zealand at the present time was acute, and the speaker spoke as a New Zealander, not wishing to damage his country’s credit, but in a spirit of honest criticism. This year £8,000,000 loan-money would fall due; last year the amount was £5,000,000. In the newt year £50,000,000 would fall due, and it was misleading to say the coming years would be all right for the country. Of the monies borrowed recently, the speaker estimated that 41 millions would be reproductive, 45 millions was for investment purposes, 13 millions would be indirectly reproductive, and 105 millions would be unproductive. Other figures were advanced, all of which, Mr. Smith said, 'showed that the good old ship of State was all right but a new captain and a new crew were needed in place of the hide bound old Tories. The Government,. he declared, had been suffering from “squandermania,” and hundreds of thousands of pounds had gone into the pockets of their friends. Taxation had not been reduced, as promised in 1911; industrial peace had not been restored, for from 1906 to 1911 47 strikes, lock-outs, etc., had occurred, but from 1912 to 1920 the number was 345. LEGISLATION CRITICISED. Referring to business dealt with at last session, Mr. Smith mentioned first the Local Bodies’ Finance Act, which said that local bodies could not borrow money except under exceptional circumstances, such as in case of floods, earthquakes, etc., without first asking the consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs, which was a system of Government patronage. In spite of the putting into force of the retrenchment policy, the Government had created a new department under a native trustee, a department which could at the present time, in view of the financial position, have been administered under the Public Trust Office. The absurdity of imposing an amusement tax on children attending picture-shows and on those attending agricultural shows was pointed out by the speaker. The former imposition had been withdrawn, and the speaker thought the latter would also be revoked at the coming session. Other enactments commented upon by the member were the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement, Expiring Laws Continuance, and the Shops and Offices Act. The latter was a consolidating measure, but tbe position iu egard to obtaining an universal half-holiday was shirked. Mr. Smith went on to refer to the Forest, Public Trust Amendment, and Country Telephones enactments. Congratulations were extended by the speak n* to the commission which had reported o-.i the tariff question, but it gave increased ; opportunities for some big South Island ‘ manufacturers to extort more than ever i from people in the North Island. The j heavy increase on tobacco was condemned i in view of the fact that this provided one ‘ of the few comforts enjoyed by people in country dsitricts. The anomaly existing between the re- | duction in the civil servants’ salaries and the 10 per cent, rebate on the land tax was discussed by Mr. Smith on the line* t aken by him at the recent civil servants’ . meeting at New Plymouth. Mr. Smith re- i viewed the position from the viewpoint of the various departments of the service, and explaining his action when the Public Ser- j vice Expenditure Adjustment Bill was he- ; fore the House. In passing, Mr. Smith i directed attention to the Newsletter, a i copy of which he produced, which was | purported to be issued “in the interests of good Government and loyal citizen- I ship,” but which was really “a little Massey I paper.” In one passage it stated that the j annual wages bill of the Public Service ; was £10,000,000, or £4,500,000 greater than j in 1914—a statement which Mr. Smith j characterised as untrue and incorrect. P. AND T. ALLIANCE.

Discussing the Alliance of Labor and the. Post and Telegraph Association, Mr. Smith made it clear that he did not believe the salvation of the worker lay through industrial action as the alliance constitution sought, but by political action. Nevertheless, if the Pont and Telegraph Association chose to link themselves up with the alliance, why should the Government take objection, seeing it had allowed the railwaymen to affiliate? Opportunity ’’as taken by Mr. Smith te

say a few words in favor of the atiftudd taken up by Mr. R. Masters, M.P., in connection with the alleged cement trust, mrf although Mr. Masters’ case was dealt with under an order of reference which had to do with something he did not say and thfl case dismissed with costs to be paid by Mr. Masters, yet the speaker felt sure that public opinion felt that his colleague’s accusations were true, and that be had acted out of a sense of public duty. (Applause-X The action of the Solicitor-General in speakof Mr. Masters as “that little storekeeper from an obscure Grillage,” was undignified and not fitting to his office. - '>■ it Pensions and the recent campaign ton- . ; ducted by the Returned .Asafci-a-1 tion on behalf of soldiers, more. especially ' ' those permanently disabled, were subjects i touched upon by the speaker. regard to defence/ he said that the expenditure I last year was £200,000 in exceas,. of that authorised, «sd while he did n<W- favor no defence expenditure, he thought the amount could be c-o&siderably reduced. The success of tbe repatriation scheme generally waa acknowledged, but not the high prices paid for some of the land, the speaker particularising- Sir Edward Mitchrison’s estate, of 2987 acres, which was purchased by tbe Government for £38,000. PRESERVING INDEPENDENCE. “And now I want to discuss my own position with you,” said Mr. Smith, who affirmed that next to a good Government the most important thing was a good Opposition. The Opposition to-day numbered 32, and some, outside of the Labor Party, had discussed the question of whether these various sections of the Opposition could work with a little more cohesion in order to offer constructive criticism to the Government. The speaker had been asked to join the United Liberal-Labor Party, but had made it quite clear that he would attach himself to no party without first consulting the people who had sent him to Parliament. He proposed to give general support to the United Liberal-Labor Party, for . he believed they would work for the good of the country; but he was not going to bo a party hack, a mere voting-machine, aa some of the Government’s negative members were, in order to serve the ambitions of some party leader. He would not join the Labor Party, the so-called Reds, for he had no confidence in their leaders. Before concluding, Mr. Smith referred to some remarks made by a speaker at a recent meeting of Reform supporters, having reference to himself and his attitude in matters in the House, saying that before accusing him of voting in the same lobby as the so-called Reds on the Public Service Adjustment Bill the circumstances should first be taken into consideration. Mr. Smith indicated that he had hoped to speak on the meat pool, the housing problem, the immigration question, and unemployment, but time prevented. He said, however, that the local conditions in i reference to unemployment had eased conI siderably in the last fortnight. ( Mr. Smith was heartily applauded on reI suming his seat. I No questions were forthcoming, whereupon Mr. Geo. Roper moved that tbe meeting thank the member for his able address and record its appreciation of the manner in which he has represented all classes of the community in Parliament, and express renewed confidence in him. Mr. Roper added that he knew no man who had worked harder for all classes of the community than Mr. Smith, especially so for workers and returned soldiers. Mr. R. Cock, in seconding, said he was pleased Mr. Smith was in favor of the old Liberal Party, and he thought that New* Zealand would be a long way better off to-day if the country was led by a man like the late Mr. Seddon. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr. Smith, in returning thanks, said the next elections were going to be fought between the progressive forces and the old reactionary forces, and all side-issues must be dropped.

A vote of thanks was accorded to the chairman for presiding.