THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 252, 21 October 1908, Page 5

THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

i . j TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS I Candidates will address meetings to- ; night as follows: —The Hon. Geo. Fowlds, I at St. George's Hall, Great North-road, at 8 o'clock; Mr W. F. Massey, Rangiriri, at 8 p.m.; Mr Oliver Nicholson, Primitive Methodist Church, Richmond-road, at 8 p.m.; Mr A- A. Creamer, at Manure v.-a. at 8 p.m.; Mr J. B Morton, at Otahuhu; Mr John Bollard. RoskiU Hall, Dominion-road; Mr F. W. Lang, Drury. ■ A meeting of Mr Napier's supporters | is convened to be held in Tarry's Hall, I Xorthcote, on Friday evening. POLLING BOOTHS. The following will probably be the polling places in the Auckland City electorates:— Central: Federal Hall (main booth), St. George's HalL St. James' Hall, and Sailors' Mission Hall. Auckland East: Drill Hall (principal), St. Benedict's Hall, Epiphany Schoolroom, Grafton Football Club's shed. King Edward's Hall, and old age pension office (Custom-street East). Anckland West: Ponsonby Hall (principal), St. John's Hall, Primitive Methodist- Schoolroom (Franklin-road), Queen's Hall, Bayfield school, Richmondroad school, and St. Stephen's Schoolroom. Grey Lynn: Grey Lynn College (main booth), Newton West school, Masonic Hall (Great North-road), Fire Brigade station (Dominion-road), Mount Albert school, Richmond Primitive Methodist Church, Arch Hill Methodist Church, and Richmond Hall. ELECTION NOTES. A very persistent attempt to interrupt tbe political address of Mr. C. H. Poole last night at Ponsonby Hall failed owing to tbe readiness of that gentleman. One man, who was continually calling out lint," was silenced amidst laughter when MrPool? expressed surprise at the restricted character of his vocabulary, adding, "You have been only talking rot ever since the meeting started." Another man, who inquired if Mr. Pooie was in favour of letting Lionel Terry out of confinement, received the proarrpt answer, "For your sake I would not." Another interrupter was silenced by being asked to come on the platform and say all he knew about a certain measure, Mr. Poole adding, "And it would only take half a , minute for you to say all youdo know." Mr William Perry, assistant secretary . for the Anckland Guadiggecs' Union, Waipu, writes:—"ln answer to Mr E GamhePs denial of the statement thai our head brooch in the North unanimously decided to support the Government candidate for the Bay of Islands seat, we, the executive, beg to state that we have before us minutes of a meeting held at Waihopo on September 16, at which Mt Gambel attended, resolving emphatically and unanimously to . support the Government candidate, which resolution we subsequently endorsed, and gave the matter the proper , puhlicity." A prominent member of the liberal . party, who has recently had exceptional . opportunities of judging the feeling in almost every district in the Dominion, , considers that a second ballot wfll very probably be required in the following electoral districts: Waitemata, Auckland Central, Parnell, Hawke's Bay, Pahiatua, Taranalri, Egmont, Wanganui, Oroua, . Mastertan, Wellington Suburbs, Welling- , ton North, Wellington East, Hurunui, Ashburton, and Tuapeka. The contin- ; gency of a second eiection is less likely . in tbe case of Pahiatua than in any of the other districts. Our Wellington correspondent wires:— i "The leaders-of the Liberal party state that it is more thoroughly organised , than its opponents ever dreamt of. In . certain electorates the Government can- . didate has not yet been chosen, but with- , in a week or ten days a final choice will , be made in ail eases. If he has no opposi- . tion in his own district, Sir Joseph Ward , win be free to assist his supporters in other parts of the Dominion whose return is most doubtful. He has decided to de- . vote the gTeeter part of next month to [ helping North Island supporters, leaving , Mr Millar and Mr McNab, who are both - expected to have easy wins, to look after the bulk of the South Island contests, at ; any rate, those in Otago and Southland. . It is not thought by members of the Government that any of the Ministerial , seats are in jeopardy. Sixty seats, according to Liberal leaders, are practii cally assured to their party—42, they say, without a shadow of doubt, and 16 or 18 with very little doubt. The Independent Labour party is not expected to win one meat." i "If .1 could tell you how to cope satis-' • factorily with Use vqatmagiofed. question.

tbe world are fighting to try and find out-"—Mr Moss at Remuera. i "Let us have a Government that desires to hide ■nothing and baa nothing to hide. Else is it good tine for ub to have a change of governors."—Mr Moos at I Remuera. 'It doesnt really matter very much to tbe public who represents them at Wellington. It may matter somewhat to the candidate, but not much to the elector."—Mr Moss at Remuera. Mr J. W. Shackelford, Government candidate, gave an address last night in the Public Hall, Epsom, to a large audience. In the unavoidable absence of Mr Bloomfield, Mr J. H. Gunson was elected to the chair. Mr Shackelford referred to : the Opposition and their actions, and supported the Government, stating that the present Ministry had the confidence of the people, as this election would prove. He spoke on taxation, land, the Arbitration Act, and general subjects of interest. After receiving a very attentive hearing, and answering several questions, the candidate was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks. Mr Gonson was Jieartily thanked for his services as chairman. Mr W. J. Napier addressed a meeting of electors at Mayfield last night.- Mr Andrew Geddes occupied the chair. After delivering a speech which created a .very favourable impression, the candidate received a vote of thanks and" confidence. On Thursday, October 29th, Mr Napier addresses the electors of the Great Barrier at Port Fitzroy. and ou the following day holds a meeting at TryphenaMr Robert Thompson, Opposition candidate for Auckland West, addressed a meeting of ladies only this afternoon in the Ponsonby Hall. THE PREMIER'S TOTJR. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) FEUDING, this day. Sir Joseph Ward left here this morning for Palmerston. He t«*S thanked by the mayor for making Feilding a stoppingplace for main trunk expresses. The Vernier replied! that it would be impossible to ignore a place like Feilding, with the magnificent back country it possessed, and he felt sure the traffic would justify the arrangement. waikato! HAMILTON, this day. Mr. H. J. Greenslade opened! his political campaign at Kihikihi last night. lie condemned the dairying regulations as calculated to fall heavily on the small settler, and the reduction of the maximum loan under the Advances to Settlers Act. He advocated free education from the primary schools to the university, free universal school books, and the establishment of technical schools in Hamilton and Cambridge. He thought the conciliation and arbitration legislation of last session was in the right direction, and -would lead to better relations between employer arid employed. He expressed his intention to adhere to his former stand on the licensing question, for a three-fifths majority, abolition of packet licenses, and the making of beer depots illegal. He favoured borrowing for reproductive works, but deprecated enormous expenditure on public buildings in the, larger cities. He was of opinion tnat a vigorous native land policy should be pursued!. He opposed compulsory military training and single tax. A vote of thanks and confidence was carried unanimously and confidence was carried. HAWERA. HAWERA, this day. Mr. Major, the Government candidate, spoke at Hawera last night, strongly supporting the Government, and declaring the financial position of the Dominion thoroughly sound. He defended the dairy regulations, and asked the peole to support bun again because—and he would say this openly—he might hold a portfolio. He would not think of Parliament if he was going to remain there in the position of a private member for many years. He explained that the reason why he was put off the House Committee was because he voted against the late Mr. Seddon when on the Education Committee. Mr. Allen, he said, wanted a substantial amount taken for superannuation from the consolidated fund, but Mr. Seddon objected to that because it would reduce the surplus. Mr. Major thought Mr. Allen's proposal sound in principle and supported him. By voting tha way. a lot of trouble was caused. A vote of thanks and confidence was dec lared- carried.