NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9604, 19 December 1896, Page 8

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

A general meeting of the members of the i National Association was held last night at 1 the Oddfellows' Chambers. The President (Dr. Jennings) occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance, and the Chairman announced a number of apologies for absence. The President read tho following report of the Council:— *' Since our last meeting the general election has become a matter of his. { tory. The National party has every reason to be proud of the result, for though Mr Seddon will have a majority in the next Parliament, the Opposition has been very largely augmented, both numerically and in. tellectually. Canterbury has every reason to congratulate itself, for, whereas at the previous general election not a single' Opposition candidate was returned, it is now represented by five able and staunch Opposi! tiomsts in Messrs Rolleston, Wright, Moore Wason and Lewis. (Applause) The Can*, tcrbury section of the National Association may fully claim to have had much to do with this satisfactory state of things for it is worthy of more than passing notice that in those electorates where branches of the National Association were well organised ' there our candidates were returned, whiist on the other hand, in electorates where the Association was weak or did not exist thera tho Opposition were defeated. In' short the election has clearly demonstrated the necessity for and the utility of the National Association. To prove this we need not go outside the Christchurch electorate organisation. Three years ago, when no such or" ganisation as the National Association existed, the Oppositionists were hopolessV defeated, no candidate on our side beincr able to poll 2000 votes. At the by-election Mr Lewis, the National Association candi date, was returned, polling 4700 votes. At thia election Mr Lewis was returned at tho I head of the poll with 6570 votes—(Loud 1 applause)—being 1128 more votes than the Hon. W. P. Reeves polled three years asm. Mr Lewis holds the record for Christchurch Mr Beswick secured 3874 votes, beins within one of the number (3875) secured by Mr W. W. Collins at his election three years ago. Mr Donnelly was close to Mr Beswick with 3709 votes. The members of the National Association can therefore congratulate themselves heartily on the results of their efforts. The Council desires to urge upon the members the necessity for fostering and strengthening the Association by every possible means, so that ie may be able to continue its useful work and play even a more important part at the next election. The Council while recognising the good work done by many of the women of our party, especially those ladies who worked so energetically in the District Committees, feels convinced that the woman's vote and influence has not yet been fully felt on our side. It is necessary for them to learn before too late that unless they work steadily and continuously to help their menkind defeat will be nearly inevitable." (Loud applause.) The Chairman said he had great pleasure in proposing the adoption of the report. lb was brief and to the point, which was what a report should be. It was the report of a Council that saw good omens in the victories which had been won, and the steady advance made by the Opposition through, out New Zealand; auguries of further progress and future victories. (Applause.) The Council was determined that the National Association must be kept alive, and very much so indeed. The existence of the Association depended upon keeping it and its principles as much as possible before tho public. If the Association were purely an electioneering body, it might be possible, to take a rest for two years, and then organise for a coming election. The chief funotion, however, of the organisation was to educate the people. This required a considerabla amount of brains, energy and money. The Council wa3 determined to undertake the work of organising and educating the electors; it would find the brains and energy and trusted to the supporters of the Association and those whose interests it protected to give their assistance. (Applause.) A Sub-Committee had been appointed to propose a scheme for the future conduct of the Association, and their report would be presented at the January meeting. In Canterbury there was a lot to ; do in the way of starting branches,'and even in Christchurch there was a wide field to exploit. Popular political addresses should be given and literature distributed, for it was necessary to keep in touch with the electors and the eleotors in touch with the Association. They Bhould learn to look upon the Association as the centre from which radiated political honesty and purity; they Bhould be taught to feel that it was a political body which would see that the wants, rights, liberties, and grievances of any and every section of the community would.be honestly and dispassionately con- * sidered (applause); that it was a force against which corruption and maladministration would strive in vain. (Renewed applause.) He felt the time had come when the Association must fight and win, but it would not win unless it went in for steady organisation and work. If the members allowed themselves to go to sleep for the next year or eighteen months and expected to wake up at the end of that time like a giant' refreshed,' they might find themselves mistaken, and instead wake up, like Rip Van Winkle, and find themselves out of touoh with the political surroundings. (Applause.) Other political bodies ' were at work ; the prohibitionists hoped to secure the third seat, the Liberal and Labour parties were anxious to gain a seat, so that it was for the National association to fight for the position right from the jump. (Loud applause.) He moved the adoption of the report. Mr A. G. Howland seconded the motion, which was carried with acclamation. The Chairman said that the next business was to hear short addresses from several of the candidates, and he would first call on the senior member for Christchuroh. (Loud applause.) Mr Lewis said he was pleased to set what had grown out of the original meeting held in that hall to form the National Association, and while he felt pleased at the good men it had been influential in returning, he regretted that equally good men, and perhaps better, had not been sent, up to Parliament. He was rather pleM&a also that the results of the eleotion would not turn the Government out of V° w *f> because any Government following it would have had a very difficult task to perform, - and it was just as well that the Government which had got the finances of the country in such a critical state should be forced to But their own affairs straight. The present opposition with the intelligent members of the Liberal party were sufficiently strong to *eep the Government in its place. (Applause). The Premier had said th%t the country had endorsed his policy. If they looked at tho divisions on the Loan Bui and the sinking fund question, and then remembered the number ,of supporters the Government had lost, they would ccsie to the conclusion that the Premier was a Ijtws previous in his prophecy. Another thing the election had shown was that the pemw had come to the conclusion that we' had quite enough of labour questions in Far* liament, and had rejected som* « the extremists, and of the five, who took a prominent part in stonewalling' the Liquor Bill Messrs Collins, Willis, and McLachlan had been defeated. Men WW Dr. Newman, Earnshaw, and MoNab had also been defeated, which went to show that ;. the extremist was not wanted. He next referred in warm terms to Mr Massey and his choice of fighting the Waitematoaert <; where he had been previously defeated, and P.; suggested that the President of the Christ? church National Association should write to the President of the Auckland AssocJation .« conveying to him the appreciation of the {■. members here of the attitude he tookujj m , the recent contest. (Applause.) He lf? r s Lewis), knowing the effect and influence the Association had throughout the colony, hoped it would continue its efforts. a» believed that Mr Scobic Mackenzie was influenced in coming out for Dunedin by the fact that an Opposition candidate had woni a city seat, and the same remark applied w Mr McLean, of Napier. Thesewere. two instances in which he thought the oyelection had had a marked effect. l£P plause.) If it only had the effect of inducing Mr Scobie Mackenzie to come out and win he thought ■£;£.*£ ciation had justified its existen«yAP plause.) He hoped the m embe Association would recognise their and that it would encourage cress. (Applause.) . . -Ai Mr Wason Baid that the Assertion MP to make the people understand m»*>*Ksl presented the moderate party, and that »• unproved condition of the people *» m "