THE ONLOOKER'S CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 269, 13 November 1935, Page 27

THE ONLOOKER'S CASE.

MR. COATES AT HELENSVILLE.

In your report of Mr. Coates' meeting at Helensville on Saturday night you allege that "noisy opposition from a party of Social Credit enthusiasts was encountered by the Minister of Finance. . . . . Those who tried to break up the meeting did not come from Helensville." We have made careful inquiries, and we find that there were very few Social Credit supporters present who were not from the Helensville district or from neighbouring parts of the electorate. Nor, so far as we have been able to ascertain, was any attempt made, by anybody, to "break up the meeting." There certainly appears to have been a great deal of protest when Mr. Coates, either through inability or through unwillingness, refused to give a direct answer to a question by a member of the audience; but this is naturally to bo expected at election meetings. What we take serious exception to is the suggestion, or the implication, that there was an organised attempt made, by members of the Social Credit movement, to "break tip" the meeting. If you have any proper grounds for making such a statement we should be glad to know them. We feel that it is unfair to make such statements unless you are in a position to substantiate them. And since our own inquiries point to a different conclusion from the one voiced ill your columns, we are curious as to what evidence you base it upon. GEO. JENKS, Secretary, Auckland District Council, Douglas Social Credit Movement.