SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13527, 8 November 1911, Page 6

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

1 Addresses Awarua Electors.' Warm Reception at vyi'nton. Opposition’s Policy of Misreprosentation. And Distortion of Facts. - j INVERCARGILL, November 7. The Premier/ Sir Joseph Ward, addressed the electors at Winton this evening," and received a most cordial reception. . 7 Such, a large crowd had gathered in Winton' to; hear the Prime Minister that the-hall originally engaged was not nearly large enough to accommodate them, and an adjournment was made to a larger" hall, where fully 1500 people soon packed in. ' Sir Joseph was loudly cheered as with his party he made his; way through the crowded hall to the pdatform. ' The Mayor of Winton, Mr- J. P. Mc- ■ William, presided, - and at the'conclusion of 'his introductory remarks three rousing cheers wet©'given for Sir Joseph Ward. lirhis opening remarks Sir Joseph made sympathetic reference to the death 'of Mr Massey’s father, and went on to say that in his remarks with reference to matters in his electorate he was not going to'allowany , feeling Of bitterness to influence him •towards his opponent for .the Awarua seat., MACHINE-MADE ; SPEECHES. Sir Joseph spoke first of what Jie termed the Opposition’s policy of misrepresentation and distortion" of facts, and referred scathingly to the machine-made speeches of innocent dupes of the Opposition party, which- were -putting many a good manwrong in New Zealand. He quoted Mr Fowlds on his retirement from the Ministry in confirmation of liis contention that no charges of Tammaiiyism or corruption could be Upheld against; the present Government. He quoted, also, the late Mr T. E. Taylor and his successor, Mr Isitt, in the same connection. - THE, PUBLIC: DEBT, He had a good deal to say about the increase in the public debt, and quoted masses of figures to show that most of the works, constructed with. borrowed money were interest, bearing. He also" submitted "records to show'that comparatively little. opposition; bad -been, shown «by .members of the .Opposition - Party to different loan proposals. THE DREADNOUGHT LOAN. , His remarks-in justification; of the Dreadnought loan, were received with cheers. He referred in detail ,to- the benefits , to settlers from the. Advances to Settlers Department and the financial soundness of that -Department. Last year a sum of. .£2,4.00,000, was loaned to the settlers of New . Zealand, and for-the first six months .of this ..year the settlers had received about .£1,400,000 from the Advances to Settlers Department. Sir Joseph also spoke of the; success of the Government Annuities. Act, and gave particulars of the various classes of unemployment and the increased costs of living. . ' LAND, LEGISLATION. • He resented very strenuously the unfounded statements that the present Government had no land policy, and claimed that at the present time, there. was a Ahoice of Ut> less than eight different., kinds of, tenure. In-, the amount of landsettled he had beaten liis(.predecessors by, over 100,000 acres.,, It bad been said thatas Minister for Lands bo had not- been a success. and that be. knew nothing about lands. But he claimed that he- had -put more vigour into the Lauda Department than- any other Minister-in-the past.-15 of 20 years, and the .results showed, that- . this was so. '■ -i STATE GUARANTEED ADVANCES. The Prime ,Miniver , referred to some results of. the.working of the State Guaranteed Advances Act, and criticised in passing the attitude of the members of " the Opposition in this regard;when Abe Rill was before the Hpijse and at the sent. time.... THE. MOKAU. ; " '' Tlie whole "story of the ,'Mokau land transaction was dealt with fully. , THE GAMING LAWS., ; Speaking of the gaming, laws Sir Joseph Ward said that he wag not sorry for one thing he had done in this connection. All Sensible people -. recognised that tlie gambling laws had run riot, The amendments made confined, .betting to racecourses, did - away with." tofa.shops,, abolished, telegraphs to racecourses, and made the calling of the booKmaker illegal. He was not, aud never had - been, against horse-racing. He believed as a sport" it deserved encouragement, but as a public man bo did not approve of the former state of affairs, and maintained that there were abuses that had had .to.be tackled.The abuses had all been removed, and rightly so.

THE LICENSING LAWS. ; With regard lo' the licensing laws, lie , said the question not being a party one, the law was nqw amended should be given . a trial. If there were any further changes .it ought, to be'on the lines of . a ~55 per * cent., majority for National Prohibition, and three-fifths for district No-license, In the event of prohibition being carried he did not think the revenue should be. made up altogether from a tax on the land, and certainly not from a. tax.ion,, small land holdings. DEATH DUTIES, i Numerous instances were...given of the incidence of death duties in, support of the contention that this form of taxation was just and equitable. The Prime Minister mentioned, that, the earnings from the ten public departments created by the, present Government, : and most of them by .himself, amounted to nearly one and a half millions. THE FIVE MILLION LOAN. • He spoke at length and with some degree or indignation regarding.; Opposition criticism. of the five millioh'loan, and dared That Opposition members ayere in possession of, all the information, members of,the Government,possessed. He fiad read ~the cables in the House. The net return was, .£96 6s. Full details could not bo obtained from the High Commissioner until,the sale of the remaining; ,£142j000 of’ -Stock was completed. The expenses of the loan amounted to .£110;480.' AN OEIGINa- METHOD. hj. ; The Opposition pursued a method not followed anywhere else in the world, of aading the discount to the expenses of the loan and calling, the total; thus -obtained ‘ 'the expense of raising the loan. A COMPREHENSIVE SPEECH. • The speech contained a comprehensive. reference to all the legislation undertaken by ; the. Liberal, Government.. In answer to the allegations .of public money having been-spent oh private land m Awarua, Sir Joseph declared that he had never at any time, to his knowledge, authorised any public money to be' spent on 'private land. Ho was instituting inquiries, and, -if ; there were eases where had unwittingly been so spent, then refunds would be insisted upon. At the conclusion of his address of two and a half hours Sir Joseplr Ward was a ccoraed-:a v vote of thanks and unabated confidence .m the Government of which- he was the head,'" —- -