POLITICAL POINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 259, 2 November 1925, Page 8

POLITICAL POINTS.

JOTTINGS FROM THE PLATFORMS. i At Mr. Osborne's meeting at Devonport on Saturday night, Mr. R. F. Way, Labour candidate for Parnell. referred to the "beautiful" circular that had been distributed in the newspapers that day by the Reform party. The circular contained patriotic pleadings with the motto at the top "Safety First." "That reminds mc of a rabbit which had the same motto, when it had to scurry for its hole." Majority Rule: "When the Liberals were in office no candidate could be elected to the House lof Representatives unless he received an absolute majority of the votes cast," said Mr. Oakley Browne at the Masonic Hall on Saturday. He went on to explain that the majority rule bill was the only piece of Liberal legislation that Reform had taken off the Statute Book. Our electoral system was altogether wrong and in the interests of good government majority rule was necessary. "The "first-past-the-post" system was in favour of Reform and they knew perfectly welt that the moment majority rule was re-enacted, the death knell of Reform iwould be sounded. (Applause.) The Wages Reduction. Answering a question at his Masonic Hall meeting on Saturday evening i.i regard to the wages reduction question of which so much has been heard oi late, Mr. Oakley Browne, Liberal candidate for Auckland East, said he was not going to put himself in tinposition of being a challenger or of being challenged' on the subject. speaking, however, as one who had been "or many years in intimate touch with he inner side of politics, he would .= v that a Minister of the Crown almost invariably approved of a departmental report before it was presented to Parliament, He could not believe that a responsible Minister would allow anything in regard to policy to be included in a report unless he not only concurred, but was willing to bring the proposal before the House in the form of a Bill. It was quite evident that the reduction of 7/6 pw week in the worker's wages was to be put into effect. It had been nipped in the bud, however, by protests from till over the country, and the Governim-m now disclaimed all responsibility. This sort of thing had characterised" Reform throughout its term of office. I