PARTY POLK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1938, Page 7

PARTY POLK

THE LABOUR GOVERN RECORD ADDRESS BY MR ELECTION ISSUES DISCUSSED. 1 "This election'is remarkable \£ 01 fact that for the first time in th hls ” tory of New Zealand the first Lp^”- 11 ' Government to hold office has W? 6 * 1 able to come before the electors ant.'-. on its record of service and its per; lormance in Parliament, ask for continued confidence," declared Mr J. Robertson,. Labour candidate for the Masterton seat when addressing a large audience in the Opera House last night. The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, presided.

Mr Robertson was on excellent terms with his audience and was given an attentive hearing, there being an entire absence of anything in the nature of interjections or heckling. At the conclusion of the meeting a motion was passed thanking him for his address and expressing confidence in him as the Labour candidate and in the Labour Government. Cheers were also given for the Prime Minister, Mr Robertson and Mrs Robertson, who was present on the stage.

Mr Robertson said that on election day Labour asked the people to compare the Government's record with that of the previous'Government and to judge on that issue alone. The principles of the National Party today were the same as those which actuated the National Government in its policy during the depression years. If faced by the same circumstances and conditions again the National Party, if placed on the Treasury Benches, would make history repeat itself. The National Party was not a new party, but was actuated by the same motives and methods of approach as the National, Government had been.

After dealing with the “bogies and phantoms conjured up by opponents of -Labour to put the. fear complex into the electors,” Mr Robertson went on to contrast the work of the Labour Government with that of the preceding Government and to criticise the latter’s financial policy of reckless borrowing and plunging. In the fourteen years prior to the advent of the Labour Government £73 millions had been borrowed to “make New Zealand safe for the London money lenders.” Labour had freed the country from the disturbing influence of overseas borrowing and had gone a long way towards insulating New Zealand against an overseas crisis. Labour had already insulated the dairy farmer and it would not be long before there was also a demand from the wool grower foi' insulation. The amount required annually to serve the national debt was now the lowest since 1916—£4 16s per head of population. During the term of the National Government it had-been £6 5s per head. After two years of Labcur rule the people of New Zealand had £137 millions left after paying all taxation as compared with £79 millions in the last year of “Tory misrule.” Allegations that Labour had imposed a crushing burden of taxation on the country were not borne out by facts disclosed by taxation returns. It was not correct to say that the benefits of increased salaries and wages had been cancelled out by the increased cost of living. In the three years of Labour administration Post Office Savings Bank deposits had increased by £l4 millions and 101,000 more people had accounts in the Bank. In the PostOffice Savings Banks at Masterton and Eketahuna deposits in the last three years had increased by £ 188,000. There had been a 40 per cent increase in the consumption of commodities, which was proof positive of the real spendingpower of the people. Labour had never considered the question of the country quota. It had much more serious matters to attend to. If there had been any intention to abolish the country quota mention would have been made of it in Labour’s election manifesto. Mr Robertson described as a “pack of lies and the deliberate telling of lies in an attempt to distort the true facts.” statements referring to house construction in Masterton contained in a National Party pamphlet. The pamphlet stated that only 30 houses had been built in Masterton during the last three years whereas there had been 112 by private enterprise and in addition 30 State houses. ■ After dealing with Labour’s attitude towards the Rimutaka tunnel project. Mr Robertson passed on to discuss the Social Security Act. According to a report by the Managing-Secretary of the Wairarapa Hospital Board, he said, the total payments of patients' fees at the Masterton, Greytown and Pahiatua Hospitals last year had been £B,OOO. Had the Social Security Act been in operation, however, the collections would have amounted to £lB.OOO. While he did not suggest that the National Party was responsible for its issue, he would ask Mr J. H«. Irving, the National candidate for Masterton, if he would repudiate statements contained in a pamphlet being issued to the electors and if he would join with him in telegraphing Mr Hamilton and asking him to repudiate them also. Mr Robertson concluded his address by appealing for continued support for the Labour Party and referring briefly to his work for the Masterton electorate during the last three years.