MR VEITCH ON POLITICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3461, 28 February 1912, Page 5

MR VEITCH ON POLITICS.

GOVERNOR’S SPEECH APPEALED TO HIM. LABOR PARTY NOT UNREASONABLE. Interest was given to the debate by Mr- Veitcih rising. He said that for the last 15 years he bad had a great deal to dio witb trades union work- He had imagined that on coming to Parliament he would have to acquire a great deal of polish, but he bad not been greatly impressed with Parliament. At the conference sitting in Wellington business was conducted in a way that would compare with Parliament. Personal reflections were not thrown across the table as they were across the Parliamentary Chamber. He denied that the workers were divided among themselves as was stated by the newspapers. There never was a time when Labor realised that there was so much need for union. Some thought there should be an organisation to defend Labor in Parliament. others that organisations should be formed to defend Labor’s interests outside Parliament. He did not see why both organisations should not exist. It had been said that the demand of Labor was unreasonable. It was only human nature to ask for as much as one could get. One thing was certain, and that was that the workers had never yet obtained anything out of reason. It was fair to deduct that their demands had never been out of reason. He stated that the Governor’s Speech, far from being an insu.lt to the' intelligence of Parliament, appealed to him -very muchlie dealt with several subjects contained in the Speech, especially with the cost of living- He disagreed entirely with the theory that increased cost of living was due to increased wages. In his opinion the chief causes were commercial monopoly, land monopoly, and taxation to raise money for public works. A Tilt at Monopolists. He admitted the honesty of the Giov•emment’s r©mission_ of the duties on the necessaries of life, but the remission had been collared by commercial monopolists. He contended that it was ten times lore reasonable for the State to fix the price of a commodity than that its rice should be fixed by commercial monopolists'. There existed m New Zealand a system of monopoly so complete that it was practically impossible, ■or financially impossible, for any small or financially weak firm to operate successfully in’opposition to them. He regretted that the Monopolies Prevention Act had not yet been put into operation. Sir Joseph Ward: It has. Mr. Vcitch, continuing, said he had not heard of it, but he was glad to learn that it was so. He thought that there was a flaw in the. Act in tha t there was no provision in it for preliminary investigation prior to taking action. That the cost of living is so immensely influenced by commercial nion--opioly was a subject whidh could be dealt with if courage and determination were brought to bear. He hoped whichever party came into power that it would promptly and sincerely take, the matter lip and deal with commercial monopolies.

As to taxation for public works, every year from £600,000 to £BOO,OOO was transferred from the Consolidated Revenue to the Public AYorks Fund. It seemed like good finance, and, looked at. purely as a matter of finance, its soundness might be good finance- What he objected to was that money contributed from earnings of the rank and file was spent in. developing the country to the immediate considerable benefit of the landownersA Remarkable Suggestion. “At the close of the session,” lie proceeded, by way of illustration, “we had a proposal that the Government should buy two million acres of land adjacent to the Main Trunk line. If the land had been acquired before the railway was built we should l have had the railway for nothing. (Hear, hear.) , However, he believed in letting bvgones be bygones. A bargain was made and should be respected. The Labor Party never repudiated a bargain in connection with the freehold question. He had a proposition to put forward—namely, that the State should be allowed to repudiate its bargain made with the freeholders. If the leaseholders were to be given the freehold at.the original value, why not allow the State to resume, at the original value, the land which it had parted with? (Laughter.) He assured members that the Labor Party were not unreasonable, and expressed the lwpe that when . they were called on to give an account of their works—-he did not know whether itwould be three years or three months hence—(laughter)—it would be admitted that the Labor members had notborne themselves unworthily. Dealing with railway matters, he held that the railway men had received coneFssions from time to time, but surely they had a grievance in that the matter they had placed before Parliament lastsession was sidetracked. It should have been referred to some tribunal, failing Parliament, having time to deal with it. In conclusion, he said that the workers were leaving the Arbitration Court because it failed to give them satisfaction.

Arbitration was right in principle. The Court had been established to abolish sweating, and had done so thoroughly- That function it was not now called on to exercise- At present the' Court’s business should be to investigate monopoly. _ Both employers and employed were being squeezed by monopolists. Mr. Veitch was warmly applauded by both sides when concluding.