THE BYE-ELECTION.

MR o. J. SMITH AT RICHMOND. ALE (J, J,' Smith, a candidate lor theChristeburcli »tat tvndertd vacant by the resiguaiiim 6i Air O. Lewis, addressed theelectors tit Lit? Hall. Richmond, last night. J hew was a fxirty large attendance. Mr J. A. Flvshcr, in tlic nb»?nce of the chairman of ti\3 Richmond .School Committee, was in the'rhair. .

M-γ Smith said tlwt since deciding to stand ho Und received mauy promisee of support from people of all shadas of political opinion and in. all parts of the electo-r-ate. -He had at a pritr election proin»ed" to give a general support to the policy ofc the Government but had been elected as aa Independent representative/ and claimed that he had carried out his pledgee. Aβ to the Governments administration, I* had felt himself entitled to use his own judgment, and had done so in opposing' the appointment of the Sergeant-at-Arme in 1894. He had supported the Government's land policy, which hs considered; should be further When land was.!' wanted for settlement fair compensation should be given and the land taken. He would etdeavottr to further encourage the workmen s homes scheme so that those for, whom it was initiated would get the full ben-cdt of it. He was in favour of tba periodical revaluation of Crown leases. Hβ had previously supported all reasonable labour legislation, but considered, with $c Hon. W. V. Reeves, that th* Conciliation and Arbitration Act should be applied judiciously. More efforts should be made with the conciliation part of the Act; some of the awards of the board in intricate trade disputes had not Iwen based on the evidence adduced. He bslieved that all labour legislation should apply to both Government workshops and private employers —{applause)—and he would do his best- to advocate this and get it brought into force. He gave an emphatic and unqualified denial to the statement that he was opposed to the Eight Hours Bill. The question of master and apprentices had been removed from tha fis'd of legislation to that of the Arbitration Court. He spoke in favour of the' Elective Executive, the referendum and the initiative. Regarding, tha Upper House, he said there »us a growing party which favoured the abolition of that body. He believed the Chanibw would continue to exist for seme time, but he did not agree with the present method of nomination, which was utterly wrong in/principle. The membars should be elected with the provincial districts as electorates. He believed in the present educational system, but would advocate an increased capitation in respect to primary schools. (Applause.) He favoured old age being paid on a universal basis so long as the applicants were, of the necessary uge, had reaflfsd the prescribed period in the colony were of good character. He was emphatically opposedto federation with .His attitude regarding licensing matters was that he stood for the right of the people to control fiie liquor traffic at tli3 ballot box. If elected he would go to J the House ac an indepencilent Liberal, generally 4 supporting the policy enunciated by the present Government, and Vfi would do his bsst to represent tha city in its .varied interests and for the colony a whole. (Applause). * At the conclusion of his address Mr Smith ■answered a number of questions. . ?Ir W. R. Devereux moved: —"That this meeting expresses its confidence in Mr G. J. Smith, and pledgee itself to do its level best to "return him as member lor the City of Christchurch." This was seconded by Mr B-obsrt Kerr, and carried unanimously.

MR TURXBULL AT WALTHAM. Mr A. H. Tumbull, one of tie candidates for the third Christehurch seat, addressed a fairly laxge number of electors in tlie Wdtham Schoolroom yesterday evening. Mr J. B. Sim was in the eha'ir. Mr Turnbull, who was received with apsaid that he had no personal object to e&rve by becoming a candidate, for Ms only object was for the good of the country. If elected he was not going to »ct aa a delegate, for it seemed to him that in tbe past too much attention had been paid to small petty and party topics, and too little to the broader acts of statesmanship. Hβ was a Liberal and always sh&uld be. (Applause.) It seemed to him unfortunate that the.ostensible Opposition should -be the remnants of the old Conservative party. Hβ considered it a matter for congratulation that the work of. this Opposition was conJined to criticising. The past ten years had, caused a number of Conservatives to amend their views. It was hot desirable, howev&tv that the Opposition should have an opportunity of amending the Liberal legislation of the past ten/.years. The coming ten years, he considered, would be a psriod of more inteliigept criticism by a party in Opposition to toe presert Government.- Mr TurnUull, tfen compared the financial position of the colony in 1890 with what it was now. Continuing, he said that the interest paid by the colony in 1900 was less than what was paid in 1890 by £148,209. There was thus not much i-ootn for alarm, and the ruin predicted by the Opposition wae a mere bogey (Applause.) There was, however, stiii'room foa; criticism. During tbe last ten years deficiencies had occurred. ;and it was better to face them than to pass them by. Liberal Government should be synonymous with good Government and pure administration. (Applause.) The absorption of the Sinking Fundi by the Government was neither carefttl nor w«s finance. The Public Revenues Act of Jast session, which pra«tiea'Jy over-rode the anthdrity of the AuditarG«neral, should be repealed, as the AuditorGeneral should;** restored to his former position; .More recently they had the £40 honorarium scandal!. To bis mind, nothing more than thi* showed bow slight was the moral sense of the' Parliament. The matter should have been madeja- leading question at a g*n*ral election; iThere' was no possible excuse for- the members who voted for the schema, and the matter was a positive ttv.&del. The increaeß m the Ministers' sauries, ba considered, ;was quite justified. T.te GovernmtEt, howeter, were entitled to credit for the good/deads they had- done. Then w*j tha Old-Age Pensions Bill first of all. Ti»n the action tf the Government in regard 'to the Bank of New Zealand had ! pieventcd a finuncial panic and public disaster. Too much conld not be said cone raiag the action taken;by the Government »nd the Premier to the South African war. It enhanced the interests of the colony more «tLan fifty. years' peAce hare dons.. Hβ did "not think that the Ijpftnce compared favour«blv with the action of the-Government, ar.-d lw considered that the retmrned officers »b(>uld assist in reorganising that Department. Tie machinery for carrying out the settling -of the people on the lar,d was due to one who would always be honoured in Canterbury, tbe Hon. William Rolleston —(Applause.)—but the present Administration were entitled to creait for .the way they had enveloped th* scheme. The Arbitration and Conciliation Acts redaunded very creatly to the credit of the Government. He thought if the Conciliation Boards had had the powers possessed by the Arbitration Court, tbe Arbitration Courts themselves would nob have been necessary. Taxation now was on a far more equitable basis than it had been before. The penny uostage, again, waa c< great benefit to* the community as a whde. Remissions also had be? a made in Customs duties and railway rates, while during th* last ten years no less than 400 mil€« of. new railway had been (.(instructed. As J.o ihi future, he did not tlii:.k it neceaeary. tfeafc the revenue and expenditure should continue to increase. The tin>3 had come when it was reaeonable for M&isters t» remain in Wellington an«i take charge «( -their own departments, instead of touring the colony und leaving tieir work to heads of departments. 'Ihe policy of the present Government should ba * progressive one, and lie thought it Mould be. Progress was wanted in the extension of the railways, especially the North Island tnink railway and the Midland Railwar- The Government would ba acting wisely in consolidating the whole of the loan* to the local bodies, and the reduced interest eouH b« employed either in.thereductioo of the rates or in the improvement of tb* municipalities.. In conjunction with the Commonwealth, new Zealand should adoDfc » forward vigorous policy in connection with the islands of, the Southern Pacific • He oon»ide«d that a preferential tosifc. should be between Great Britain and the colonke. He was very much acainst New Zealand Joining the Federation, but he oonekkred tl«t* treaty of reciprocity ■boiltt be entered into with the Commoa»

wealth. He thought tneir aim and object was to solidify the present Government in order to enable them to -carry *uch measures as would be for the good of th& country, fbeir watchword should be progress combined with purity of .administration He should support the present admmietration loyally so Jong as it continued on the Jinee he had indicated. When, however, he saw any deviation from political integrity <«■ straightforwardness on the part of the administration he .should not fail to take thAt into consideration, and? to give hie vote ac his judgment and -his conscience dictated. But until he did see that be would support .tlte present administratioh. (Applause.) If the time ever came when be thought otherwise, if it- was caused by such acts as he had alluded to. then he thonght that, if elected, he should find the electors, of ! Chc-istchurah at this back in tie policy he adopted. (Loud applause.) I In reply to-questions Mr Turhbull said Ihe would advocate early closing on Saturday. He was in favour of a regulative or minimum wage for clerks. He was in favour of equal pay for equal work for school teachers. The first year's rent of Crown teisants should, he considered., be spread over the rest of the; term to enable the tenant to put up a suitable house. He considered the honorarium paid before the "£4O steal" was sufficient, and he was in favour of receiving the amount accocdinglv. He would like to see the local option poll dissociated from the ordinary poll. He was all in favour of temperance, but temperance and prohibition were as wide apart as the pales. Ha would not object to seeing the local option poll taken every six or nine years. In area 3 where prohibition had been carried, the law should be upheld. It -was recessary that th© houses m New Zealand should b9 conducted properly, and an hotelkeeper should not be subjected to a system of espionage. He considered that an inspector of breweries and malt houses should be appointed. Hβ saw no reason why the Government should not pay wages similar to what were paid by private individuals. He considered it* an-error of judgment that the Governments had gone | in for imparting so much railway stock and i material. ■

A vote of thanks and' confidence to Mr Turnbull was passed , unanimously, and a vote of thanks to tie diainnan concluded the meeting.

I In order to relieve the possible crush at the polling booth at Messrs Oates, Lowry,and Q>. s, where there is only room for two deputy-returning officers, extra deputies will be in attendance at the St. John's and St Michaels polling booths. The supplementary roll for tha city/ it is expected" _ will- be readyto-nttnW It will contain upwards of 600 additional names as compared with the last complete It is notified elsewhere that Mr W Hoban does not intend to contest the Cbristahurch seat at the present bye-election. "' Mr A. H. Turnbidi will address the doctors m the Knightstown Library, - High street, St. Albans, at 8 o'clock this even-; m R- ■}-:,. '.. ■%■%■ Mr C, Taylor's Committee met again last niglit. Reports were received from the Sif r ferent districts. ' Arrangement*"were made for public meetings to be held at Bichmond Foresteis' Hall, on Wednesday evening next: at Knightstown Library on Thursday, and a ma-ss meeting to be h«ld in the Square on Saturday evening.