THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17613, 16 November 1922, Page 9

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

V—--5fJ I cu® TO - DAV ' I „ WSTmGS ' SECEPTIM RATION teleoiiam.) ,Jt^ ASI INGS, November 10. H-i 31 . 1 . , r ...og riven a iiwthe largest aud.ence M * meeting m of late-comers w.re u, the theati including tl ml f n iWed the lines of 31 f £ T tbc North an TLfi A fe»' interjei humorously deai L &&«„ re d effectively, were th ffjnd * n ?* e that the audience wa Mr Massey wishing hi. elections, moved by 31 £,ii MP., «'» 3 carricd a ifigft ' le m " iw 'TMiWtoa t< pfi--10 FROM AUCKLAND. t J-PARR'S REPLY TO t MR WILFORD. ; I 0 "thb MMS.") November 15 .ij, to tho speech made by ththe Opposition on Monda; the Minister of Educatio. £-$«• Mr Parr , B . aid f tha , liad offered nothing fresl Siw- His main stoc !f , " dbune Mr Massey and hi Saadiridaally as gross incompet Tflj. haidly oarae weU from Mi v bo had .displayed an un ■W". . a: J^ B part: I lover rosi ere nevei ared thai th. that tw 1 investihat then ion storef r-GenernJ !,Erogres'pndlor fe«d ; ,of a jme'; very allowed, d; see no ils an<l rmc^certain 1 decided arid^ihe anth^ >partyj

them with 1 lis strong personality." The reason ft;r this regrettable oversight, it was explained, was that Mr \> ilford had been engaged in building up a business as well ad a .political reputation, but tho djiy was coniwhen Auckland and New Zealand wou d have an opportuiiity of making good their loss in this direction, for Mr Wilford would soon bo able to shoiv his ability, and his_ ninny ! fine characteristics and qualities of j leadership. Tic importance of the lat- | ter qualities was emphasised by Mr X otoll. "I do not want to harm Mr Mcsv>y' lie declared. ' Poor old chap, I'd ba sony to see hinv meet with an t.ccident or coino to any harm, but if such a thing unfortunately eame to pa.->s, do you mean to say there would not spring lip a man who could a sun 1 " til" pos ti-o.i lof leader? Give Mr Wilford the opportunity. and ho will make a ; name as tic Liberal leader that will I*> second to none in this country." The candid te dext mainly witli the j alleged maladministration of Eeforni in | such matters as taxation, immigration, I and soldier settlement, until .1 voice | from the middle of the hall exclaimed, I in rather weary tones, "Will_you givo lus your political platform. AVo haven't got much time." "I stand for the platform of my party, which has been propounded' in the daily Press, and a 9 one of Mr AVilford's team I do not feel inclined to cackle about some litt'e trifle, but rather to abide by tho broad principles of Liberalism," was the dignified reply. GISBORNE. (press association telegram.) GISBORNE, November 15. Mr Geo. Wildish, Libsra'-Labour candidate, opened his campaign to-night. Ho supported in toto Mr Wilford's platform and- approved tho offer made by Mr Massey to send troops if necessary to the Near East. He said he had promised Mr Wilford to vote with him on a no-confidence motion, but on no account would be support a like motion moved by the Holland party to a question right or wrong. He added lio would never vote with Mr Holland on such a motion. The candidate pledged himseif to vote against a third cut m the wages of Civil Servants. He was accorded a vote of thanks. NELSON. ' (PBESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) NELSON, November 10. Mr Albert Gilbert, Government/candidate for the Nelson Beat, addressed a vory large meeting in the Theatre Boyal last evening. He announced himself a strong supporter of Mr Massey, as the only possible leader at the present juncture. He commended the humanitarian legislation of the present Government, and also its impartial distibution of public money. He urged the importance of production and of lessening costs in every .reasonable way. Ho was warmly applauded at the conclusion of his address.

DUNEDIN CENTRAL. (PBESS' ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAH.) DUNEDIN, November 15. Mr C. E. Statham, sitting member for Dunedin' Central, opened his campaign at Mornington this evening. The Mayor of Dunedin presided and there were "about 180 electors present. Mr jßtathatn said that 'ho stood as a straight out Independent, pledging himself only to the political principles for whioh he stood and holding hinjeelf free to" support- or oppose on its -merits any- proposed -v legislation.* He dealt with his BOjcalled : political iwandenngs. and shofeed 'that though he had unfortunately, through force of circumstances, had -to change his,associations moire thjan onoo, hj« End. stoodunsworvmgly for his political principles and ideals. He stood for proportional'representation, which' he claiined could, be put into effective operation with-the retention of the oountry quota, reform of the 'Cirancil,: the. Elective Executive, a &tate Bank, sound finance, and- business methods m administration. He strongly advocated a universal superannuation scheme which would onoe and for «11 do ftWay with, the anomalibs: and injustioes existing under the Vpsefit pension and State superannuation and' particularly the penalty imposed: upon thrift and industry .uiidef the Pension Act. He dealt with the financial situation strongly - impressed 1 upon < his - audience the danger o'f the proposals jof the IWroluliohaxy Siwialist Party. ' OLUTHA.

i ABIOCUTIOK TEI<EOBAK.) v ; •' • • DUNEDIN, JJovember 16.. Mr A*- S. Malcolm, Beform candidate -for the ClUtha seat, spoke in the Oddfellows' Hall, Balclutha, on day night before about 100 people. The candidate'' .that the Government hW brought the country through three criti«j -years by providing cheap money for producers .through the State advances office ( and bringing in .immigrants -to develop the country, and by reducing''expenditure, He declared for the abolition of the Territorial system "and thie- maintenance of the present system ' of Toting. had an open mind as to a State Bank. Eegarding the • railwa2TS) he urged that a Board should 116 appointed outside tho service and the traffic managers given local -authority. The candidate was accorded a vote of thanks. i WAitATIFCr. . (ntsss ASSOCIATION TBLXORAU.) i DUNEDIN, November 15. " .Mr James Hotn, Liberal candidate 'for Wakatipu. addressed a moeting of electors at Roxburgh. He referred to tl>© fact that the Public "Works vote for the North Island was greater than that for the South Island by £<30,000, and said members had deoided to take action; to bring about a. more even distribution of tho money., Irrigation ill Central Ota go would have a grait effect on its productivity, and one result wpuld be that in ; two counties alone the*nttmber 'of sheep would be increased by tjvo millions. He blamed the Prime Minister for acting in the interests of the Conservative Party, and said Mr Massey'}mt< off the collection. of the land'tax-in the North Island from October to November,' but denied any privilege in that respect to South Is- i land: farmers. Mr Horn was accorded-1 of thanks. v 'The Reform candidate ;for Wakatipu, Mr J., Ritchie, spoke at Roxburgh <m Tuesday night.' He advocated that there /spou!d be no change in the Government at period in th® history of .tho country. The action of thi Education Department in tending teachers and erecting schools in the was warmly eulogised; also the provision made for medionl and dental attention to children.' He rothat the t railways were not paying, amJ isaid ' if 'he had his wav be wpulft'jise tße He expressed disapproval of the present co-operative 'Public i wcrks, and suggested the eimall ■ oontract principle ns preferable, -bemg speedier and cheaper. 'A rote,of thnnlra .was carried unanimously.

I RICCARTON. i fc - S. s. KYLE A3? FEND ALTON f k' Kyle, the Reform candi--0 date for tho lticcarton electorate, .-.d----f . resse( l a meeting of electors last' nighl m St. Barna'oas's schoolroom. Ther. r vf lß ? crouc^ attendance, over whon , Mr G - Gardner presided, and the can 3 didate's remarks were listened to witt j. tile keenest interest, there being nol j, a single interjection made during ili< 1 evening. ' Mi Ayle, who was' received with ap- . pl au se, said that the electors wouk , Uo to consider the question a< 1 to u ' llc h party tiiey should vote for tits wouiu remind tuem that befon 2 a Labour man could represent them b« 1 would have to consider the , of Labour. Tlie Dominion, said the j speaker, had been, and was sUil , passing through a period of iinancia > depression as was being experienced al b over the world. The position was it no degree due to the action of th< ' Government. Mr Kyle went on to speali l or land tenure. :ihe Massey Governr ment, he said, was a freehold Gov--1 eminent, in which respect it differec t from the Liberals, The freehold wu; > beyond doubt the better system. Take, • toi' instance, property which was own'ec by the themselves. It was always the better looked after for the reason that the people had a greatei interest in it than an ordinary tenant would have. It wjis the same with tho land. People who had the freehold would always improve it to a larger extent than if th 9 property was only held'by them on leasehold. At the back of Canterbury there were thousands • of acres of high country which could i be opened up and made to carry thous- . ands of slieep if the land was made freehold. By this means the badly , diminished sheep flocks of the Dominion , might be replenished. At' the time of the last general election there was a [ cry all over the country to put the i returned soldiers on tho land. This was done, but soon afterwards the great slump that was still affectong the world came, with a result that sheep which were worth £2 a head to-night were worth only 10s tomorrow. For this state oi affairs the Government was surely not to blame, especially as the markets had slumped all oyer the world. Mr Kyle strongly supported the Government's , immigration policy. It was only right, he said,, that British people, if they wanted to come to the Dominion, should not i:e prev<j»ted from doing so. He. maintained that the Government, was not to blame for the housing shortage. In fact, they had done all . they could to meet the position. Mi Seddon's Government had done "J™ to relieve the shortage; so also had the Mackenzie and Ward Governments. The present Government had something to their credit in this connexion, having built no fewer than 10,000 houses in the last three years. He was not in. favour of the Government building tor people. ' He believed it was far better to advance the necessary money for the purpose: such_ a policy would result in people staking a greater interest in their property. The Nortbcote Settlement,. for instance, was not vptv satisfactory. Its lack of fences militated against the privacy that people 80 much liked to have, and it was easy to imagine the trouble that could arise through the domestic washing blowing into an adjoining yard. It was better to allow people to erect buildingß in a "locality selected by themselves. With regard to the education sysMr Kyle said he believed that the poor man's child should have equal advantages with the rich man's. While the Government had done good work in education matters, and was still improving,the system; it was yet open to further improvements. In the latf tnree years the Government had erectad trine 600 schools. In 1911-12 th > expenditure on education was £1.500,000, whereas in 1921 it was £3,500,000, an. increase of about 2J millions. ' This showed that the Government was realising its responsibilities. He would like'to--see a different system; of teach- ! ing adopted in the country districts than-.the present system. For in- j stance, the curriculum should be al- j tered so as to enable the children to j get a better training in agricultural: matters, so as to fit, them for following up farming pursuits'. The Government had been criticised for its payment ot teachers, but if a comparison was made with New South Wales it would be found that the advantage was iivith New Zealand. The- salaries of headmasters in 'the Dominion, Grade 1 to ranged from £467 to £660. In New South Wales the corresponding figures were £299 to £403. From these figures it would bo seen that New Zealand teachers were not so badly treated after all. Tho national dobt, £219,000,000, sesmed a heavy burden for tho Dominion to bear,'but if the assets it had, such as railways, public buildings, forests, etc., were taken into consideration, it would be found that the financial position was not nearly so bad! as some -people thought. He supported the action of the Government with regard to the reduction in the bonus given to Civil servants. .Although the people of i the Dominion were said by lno.e who criticised the Government to be heavily taxed, they were in a better position than the people of Australia and of England. In New Zealand no man had tO;pay income-tax unless his salary amounted to at.least He iv..s n - I lowed £SO off for each child he might have and his life insurance pivriijuihs ' wero exempted. In Australia irccmeI tax had to* be paid on £2OO and upI wards, while in England the amount taxable m the casa of single men was £l5O and of married men £265. There Wore a number of: peonlo who thought that the Government should take ov*the Batik of New Zealand! Well, they owned one-third of the Bank to-day. He did net favour n State B rnk. In the last ten years, he said, the sum of about a million pounds in taxation had reached the Government from tho various banking institutions of tlie Dominion. He condemned ji<>r«rtiGnal representation. lie boheved that this system would do aw.iv w.th the country quota, as a country representative | would havo no chance iOi re- i sentative of the cities. The repeal of j the second ballot by tho - | ernment had been condemned, but he: believed that had the Li I.era Is Uen returned to -power, < hey w-u d i.a%e rr- J oealed the' measure themselves, as it hSd been* proved to be a failure. He could wot b€o any better system thaa j first past the post. - The Government. in:'! been taten to task for importing coal, but how. could they have done other-vise in view of the go-slow pohcy adopted by the minereP He believcd that when the! Otira tunnel was conipletsd 'he saving . ,n the cost Vof Handing,. <:oal woula ; bring abovit a great reduction m i nrida of the oonsumere. Touching; the strike, Mr Kyle said that; thrre were too many people, who,. Ti hile taking advantage of every rise thTt was ottered, to _ them by one of the ; finest and fairest tribunals m the world, > were unwillinK to . accept a. reduction when the circumstances _ necessitated such being made. Be asked the electors to notice Labour's attitude with" regard to the matter. . He a strong fiUDDorter of ihe meat poo Land believed thSt it would result in the producers better prices for their meat. In Mr P Kyle that the leader of the Government was a man who was looked up to and respected in'«ide the Dominion and out ofit. He had his seat beside the best men m the Empire. The liberal Party was tv e . did rot seem yeW

land, who thought that *h salvation of the . country _ waa to be found in revolutionary ideas. He believed that the iietoimers.would go back stronger than ever. With regard tq, himself, he liad been a resident of Canterbury for sixteen years, ot which period twelve years had hee n spent in the .Government service. H® had been interested in agriculture an his life, and was to-day a member or the council of the Canterbury A. and P. Association. . .Replying to questions, the candidate expressed himself as being in favour of South African war veterans being given the same treatment by the Government m the direction of land settlement anu other benefits as those given to the men who returned after serving in the Great War. Ho was not favourable to reducing the vote for educational purpose©. On the motion of Mr J. G. Herdman, seconded by Mr Trevor Foster, the candidate was accorded a vote of thanks for his address. In returning thanks, Mr Kyle referred to the late Hon. William Rofleston, who had been a representative of the electorate about twenty years ago. He hoped that at the end of the elections the district would again be represented by a supporter of a party with similar principles.

The open-air meeting outside _th i Papanui Town Hall, advertise* 3 by Mr J. A. McCullough i be held to-morrow night, ha 1 been postponed till Thursday next, a 5 Mr H. S. S. Kyle is addressing r. meet ! ing in tho'Churcli schoolroom to-morrov " night. 31r Mc-Cr.llough will hoid an open ' air meeting at the Railway Crossing f Brvndwr, to-morrow, at 8 p.m. Mr G. Witty addressed a well-attend ed meeting at /the Hall, Islington* M ' Leslie presiding, and received a heart: vote of thanks, on the motion of M ? Lloyd, seconded by Mr Jones. A largo meeting of electors of Ric carton assembled in the Orange Hall ! Greendale, on Tuesday evening to hea: the views of Mr J. A. McCullough, La bour candidate, who received a heartj vote of thanks. ' CHRISTCHURCH NORTH. I MR E. H. ANDREWS AT KNOX SCHOOLROOM. Mr E. H. Andrews, the Independent Reform candidate for Christchurch North, opened his election campaign in the Knox' Church schoolroom, Bealey avenue, last night. There was an attendance of- about two hundred persons, over which Mr W. M. Horton presided. The chairman said that Mr Andrews was standing in the interests of the Reform Party, and although lie was not the official Reform candidate, it had been feltthat a Reform' candidate should run for. the .electorate. About tSOt) people had' put their - names to a requisition asking Mr Andrews to stand in the Reform, interest, but when an endeavour, was, made to get the support of the official party, behind it, it was found that some sort of pledge had been given that no Reform candidate would be run, in Christchurch North, if the Liberal Party did' not run a candidate in some other constituency. He did not know by what right a small party pledged away the interests of ,Christchurah North. Tho numbers were so small that they had noi right to decide for the majority of the electors that they should not have a Reform candidate. They believed that Christchurjch N,orth,was a Government constituency. , (Applause.) Mr. Andrews, who was received with applause, said that he made no apology for appearing as a candidate for Christchurch North. The pressure brought to bear on him, ,the solicitations of his friends, and the .. large, requisition presented to him, left him really but little option. The action of the "Reform League 'had, had, considerable influence upon his decision. He detailed the ciii cumstances which had' led to the discusj sion regarding tho candidates .for tho and which had made the ; electorate the cynosure of all eyes, and j had made his name well known throughlout the Dominion. He went back, he said, to a social given to Mr Massey some time, back, when some people approached Mr Massey and suggested that Mr Isitt should have' a clear run against Labour in Christchurch North. Unfortunately those who approached Mr Massey, had not taken the Reform Executive into their, confidence. Some time afterwards, at a meeting of' Reformers, representing Christchurch and North Canterbury, it was decided that bvery seat should be contested _by the Reform Party ? if it were possible to secure a candidate. : At that mooting he was approached to become the candidate for Christchurch North. An executive was formed at that meeting, consisting of representatives from Christchurch North and other electorates. That executive subsequently confirmed the resolution to put up a candidate'for every seat. Again his nam® was. mentioned, the only condition he made was that if a better man appeared he (Mr Andrews) would be prepared to stand down and give thei chosen candidate'every assistance. At a meeting held in St. Matthew's schoolroom, Mr C. P. Agar had been selected; hut Mr Agar found that he could not. accept nomination. After trying two others they had coin© back to lnm (tho speaker) and for about a month,he was accepted by the people of Chriutchvrch and waa congratulated everywhere by hundreds and hundreds of people as being the selected Reform candidate for Christchurch North. He had had the endorsement of the Reform executive, if not officially through its secretary and some of its member*. There were people in the hall who, when the petition was put before them to sign, had rang up the secretary and asked if he (the speaker) were the official candidate and had received a reply in the affirmative. The secretary had introduced liim* to scores of people as the candidate selected to represent the Reform Partv in Christchurch North, and lie had gone about his pre« parationb. It . was then Mr Isitt became alarmed and got his friends to work. The organiser of the Welfare League from Wellington appeared with others at a meeting in Christchurch and pleaded that Air Isitt should not be opposed. These visitors did not get much of a, hearing, and went aWay tar from happy. Later a meeting wa» held, and some representatives who were not electors of Christchurch North had pleaded for its postponement; this was ngreod to, and Mr' Isitt came down with ids famous pact, or compromise, and said what the position was. Mr Isitt had not exactly turned a Reformer —if he had, probably they would have been quite satisfiod. (Applause-.) Mr Isitt had said the previous night that he was a Liberal with a Radical tinge; he (Mr Isitt) was a foli [ lower of Mr Wilford—a man that he (Mr Isitt) had said he would not follow at any price; he (Mr Isitt) was not going to vote against Mr Massey on a no- j confidence motion. Mr Isitt had 6aid that the mantle of the late T. E. Taylor J had fallen on him (Mr Isitt). .What; had become of that mantle to-day ? (A i voice: He's lost it.) He pawned' it, and has never teen able to redeem, it. Mr Isitt was an Independent-Liberal-Re-form candidate; in fact, he wanted the votes of all parties; but the man who tried to serve two masters was bound to come a thud. (Applause.) People liked a straight-out man—one who' stood for one thing or another—even if they die- , agreed with him. After the last eleo-' tion Mr Isitt allowed it to be under- , stood—it had been understood during the last three ye*irs—that he would not bo seeking re-election. He (tho sneaker) had been asked to stand at last election,

and Mr Franklin, who was then, and still was, chairman of Mr I&itt's committee, said to him that he had heard that he had. been asked to stand for Christchurch ?«orth, and asked if it were true. Wihen he (the speaker) replied in the affirmative, Mr Franilin sa'd : "Well, look, if you will stand down this .time Mr Isitt will not be a candidate at next election, and you shall have a free run as far as we are concerned." _ He had chargod Mr Franklin _ with that statement recently in tho presence of witnesses, and he did not de®y it, but hadl said that it would be a disaster to have a change just now. (Laueihter.) was another thing he wished to refer to, and that was Mr Isitt's statement that the P.P.A. had guaranteed his expenses. (A voice: He said "paid your expenses.") That was the dirty sort of tactics that Mr Isitt was starting straight away. Ha I promised Mr Isitt that somo of the j mud he was slinging would stick to him (Mr Isitt). (Applause.) It was j a deliberate misstatement: he (the j speaker) was not receiving a single penny direct from P.P.A., or through them. (Applause.) Before he j went into a thing he counted the cost; | if he could not finance the thing, or could not arrange his finances, he kept out of it. (Applause.) Mr Isitt made the statement, and some of tho papers were saying that he was I the sectarian candidate. He was not j the sectarian candidate in any shape or form. He came out as a straight- | out Reformer. (Applause.) He wantjed all the, sectarian votes, and no. doubt he would get .them, because he stood for a square deal for all. He I did not care what sect they might be —he stood for equal rights for everyone. (Applause.) Some time back tho newspapers had been, eulogising him. He quoted from "The Press" of August 25th, to the effect that the possibility of a Labour candidate winning should not deter Reformers from doing their best. That was, said the candidate, what "The Press" had said. To-day it said: "Vote for a Liberal with a tinge of Radicalism.'' Mr Isitt had referred to him as "an intruding circumstance." (Laughter.) (A voice: He said ,that you didn't count.) Mr Isitt would not be able to count the numbers that he (the speaker) was ahead of him on the night of the election. (Applause.) He asserted that the fight would be between himself and Mr Isitt, and said that he did not think that there would be a fight between them if the Reformers did their duty and voted for. the Reform man. He detailed his work on local bodies, and said that he was standing as a supporter, of the present Government. He did not for a moment say that the Government was faultless; there was no perfect Government. Referring to the railways, lie questioned whether & real solid, shrewd business man would have cut, out trains and reduced staff when the .railways were not paying. To do so was to throw, away business that might he done. He advocated light petrol trains on branch lines. He advocated ,the reduction of postal and _ telegraphic charges with the view of increasing business. -A vigorous land policy was required. There were thousands of acres carrying a few sheep that could- be producing ten times what it was producing at present. Waste, arid l land, at present producing nothing, could by the application of scientific methods be made to pay satisfactory returns on capital outlay. Finance was a big subject, and as the time was getting on he could only touch on it-lightly. He believed that rigid economy could be exercised in the administrative departments of the Government. Expenditure on education was increasing because an attempt was being made to centralise control in Wellington. The education vote should not be cut down, but every penny should he spent to the best advantage. He , stood for National Prohibition by the vote of tho people—(appTause)— and could not consistently support State Control. He did not favour proportional representation after the ex--peri'enoe of it on the'Gity Council; He hoped he ha'd impressed them -with the fact that "his sole desire' was the progress and security of this beautiful country. (Applause.) Replying to questions the candidate eaid that, if elected* he would give an annual account/of ' his stewardship; members of Parliament had been most lax in He was in favour of giving all/possible assistance to returned eoldyefs who were likely to make good settlers. He was in favour of the issue of absent voters' permits in connexion with municipal polls. He was not in favour of the life of Parliament being extended from three to five years—the electors should have the opportunity of getting rid: of men they did not want at the end of three years at least. .. '

Mr G. T. Jones moved, arid Mr S. Bobertaon seconded, a vote of thanks and confidence. -. The motion was agreed to, with only a few dissentients. Continued applause followed the announcement that the motion was carried.. The Rev.-J. K. Archer addressed a meeting at the corner of Westminster . street' _ and Cranford street last * evening. There was a large attendance. Mr Archer received a vote of thanks and confidence. A similar vote was -passed at a meeting held at the corner of Westminster street'and Shirley road.

AVON. MR SULLIVAN AT ROLLESTON STREET. Mr D. G. Sullivan, the sitting member for Avon, who is seeking re-election tie a Laboi'j candidate, opened his campaign last night, when lie. addressed a large gathering of electors in Rolleston street had: The Rev. Clyde Carr presided and Mr J. MeCoinbs, M.P., and Mr E., J. Howard, M.P., occupied scats on the platform. . ( The chairman said that Mr Sullivan had for the pr.frt 20 years been connected prominently with the Labour movement Jin Christchurch and had held many important positions. Mr Suliivan said that even his opponents would admit that he had done well for his district, during the last three years and had secured for tho Avon a fair share of the loaves and fishes! The school children would benefit by the; grants prooured for extensions and improvement at various schools in the electorate. He had also obtained several concessions from the i Government for ,the benefit of the New Brighton district. Ho felt that he had done his duty by tho electorate and felt confident that the electors would think likewise j The Labour Party in last Parliament j formed the, effective .opposition to the j proposals of the Tory Government in power, a Government that was of no uso to the, working people or to any broad-minded jcitizen who desired that a Government ehould. not minister to the capacity of those who already had but that tho powers of Government should be cxeroiscd for the benefit of the people generally. No other Government in the British Empire had so callously linked its interests with tho wealthy people of the' country as against the working people." The "time would come if the present Government lasted when this country instead of being in the van of progress would be one of the most backward in the Empire. A voice: Rub it in, Dan. Mr Sullivan said the Government had acted for the wealthy and against the workers in four ways. (1) Increasing Customs duty; (2)»lteducing wages; (3> Qurtailing t k 6 pay of p U *gi ic vants, and' (4) Granting rebate conoes-

sions in land and income-tax to tho wealthy people. During the war peri «i certain taxes wore imposed on tea and other commodities, which previously had not existed. It was claimed at the time that the taxes were wanted for financing the war and it was assumed that tfce taxes would be withdrawn alter the war. Such taxes, however, were retained in the new proposals and tbo Government also proposed to impose fresh taxation otv other lines of common household use. The Government said they expected the extra duties would provide an additional income of a million sterling a year. The new taxation was a big hit to the ordinary wage-earner, and to a mnch larger extent than the actual increase in duty indicated for the profits of wholesaler and retailer were added to the extra , cost and the result was that the consumers ■would have to pay at leoet a million and a half additional. In any case the Government would not get the net million, for the cost of collections would have to be deducted, .and the final result would be that whereas the people would have to pay ft million and a halt extra, the Government would probably not get more than £600,000, and the merchants would get £500.000. AVhile the present Government discountenanced direct action on the part of tho workers, yet the Government itself had resorted to direct action in its attack on the wage-earners. The Government had really enlisted itself under the black flag of piracy in the manner that it had attacked the wages of the workers. At no time during the war had wages synchronised with the cost of living, for, whereas the cost of living had increased 85 par cent., wages had increased by no more than 62 per cent., a difference of 23 per cent, in favour of the cost of living as compared with wages. In March, 192*2, wages generally stood 1 at a, 47 per cent, increaso over the 1914 wages, while prices stood at a 67 per cent, increase over the 1914 prices. The position of the public servants was even worse. The teachers suffered, also the railway men and the post and telegraph officers, for their; wages never showed an increase of more than 52 per cent., in many cases much less, as against the increase in the cost of living of 85 per cent. The Government were not prepared to give to the workers the concession of withholding a reduction in wages until the cost of living fell to a corresponding extent, llie Labour Party had stonewalled the Government's amendment to the Arbitration Act which gave the Court powei to reduce the wages of workers in every calling without giving the workers the opportunity of being heard It waa only by the opposition of' the •Labour group that the Government modified its proposals and ® cjause was added requiring the Court to heiar evidenoe on the question. The legislation on the face of it looked fair and reasonable, but in reality was downwright plunder of the workers. For when the reductions started based on the fall in the cost of living the wages were then 25 per cent, below what the coat of living was. Had the two started all square the proposal would have been a reasonable one; as it was it involved a direct plunder of the workers. The party which he represented would, if it got into power, repeal the new legislation as it stood now. He certainly would be no partv to the plundering of the workers, which had gone on for the last three to five years. On that legislation the members of the Liberal Party voted with Mr Massey. and the only opposition came from the Labour Party. . The legislar tion which he referred to represented a loss of 21 to 3 million sterling to the workers in the secondary industries alone. Counting the meat workers and others, the total loss in purchasing power to tha workers would! be at least six millions sterling annually. While the workers were so treated, by Customs taxation and reduced wages, the wealthy people in 1921 and 1922 had received land-tax' and incometax concessions amounting to a million and a-lialf sterling .a year. The remissions / and rebates operated largely for the benefit of the for to _ the imall' taxpayer the remission was worth little ana was inoro than balanced by the increase in Customs duties., lt was the same with tlie land-tax; the; remissions favoured the big men. In order .to make those concessions to the rich tax-payer and the rich land-owner, the people generally had to provide additional Customs taxation ana also. had to endure, a reduction in wages, While such a position was ,br6ughfc about by the Tory Government, social evils crying for remedy were ignored. The claim of the Goverment was that the sulary cuts of public servants were .imperative on.account of the bad financial position, yet on March 31st, 1922, the .Public Accounts showed that thero was available in the ordinary revenue account, a sum of £7,500,000, of which £4,800,000 WB3 in cash. There was no 1 ground for the claim that tho financial conditions of the country demanded the outs. Nor was there any value in the further claim that the cconomip position of the country made the cuts necessary, for the export figures iho wed that the country was m a good economic position, \ the. value lor the past year being .much greater. than that for . any one year in the pre-war period. Land inflation and the large importations of 1920 had certainly affected the economic condition, of the for the time being, but despite ;the aUeged depression many ppople, especially the. insurance companies, had; mide enormous profits. The net result of the last Parliament was to damage materially the interests of the workers of the Dominion,-and it would have been bettor for tno people if that Pai Uunien* had never been hold. Mr'Sullivan'referred to some features of _ the' Labour Party's programme. He Said Party did not stand, as it was alleged they did, for the introduction of Soviet rule in this country. • • , In conclusion, he said that he was up against a very effective propaganda, and not only hod his political views been assailed, but his personal character and reputation had been attacked. Me had in the past three years done hi 3 duty faultlessly by the people of Avon and would do the same, if elected, dur- ; ing the next three years. ■ j iteplying to. questions, Mr Sullivan . said he would not, only do his best to maintain the present expenditure on ; [education, but wouid advocate an increased expenditure as far as the public finances allowed- He did not stand for the abolition of t the Arbitration Court. Regarding the shipping trouble he was not going to say'anytning or do anything to daniagd th© interwts of tfi© workers, or any section thereof, of this country. He jfas not. personally acquainted with the facts of the dispute and had not been consulted on the matter. Ho. would not support tZie Prime Minister in pledging the country tetany course of action,, such' as the offer of help in the Near East crisis, unless Parliament itself was first consult- : ed. There was no idea of disloyalty in j that attitude, and the view he took was j identical with that taken by Mr Mas- j sey and others in 1909 when Sir Joseph Ward made the'offer of a Dreadnought! £o the . Imperial Government. Sir | Joseph Ward had offered a ship,without consulting Parliament, and -Mr Massey had offered the manhood of the country on-the same terms. A motion endowing. Mr Sullivan's candidature and assuring him of help and confidence was carried unanimously. . . ■ Mrs A. E. Herbert addressed a meeting of ladies in' the Richmond Methodist schoolroom yesterday, Mrs E. W. Bartlett presiding over a good attendance. Mrs Cowper moved a vote,of thanks and 'confidence, • which was carried unanimously. In the Leyden street Hall last evening the Hoi. G.*W. Russell addressed a

crowded meeting of electors. Ho traversed his opening speech. He received a vote of thanks and confidence, and the meeting pledged itself to assist his candidature. Hie Hon. G. W. Russell addressed a large meeting of friends and supporters in the candidate's committee room on tho New Brighton Pier on Tuesday evening. At the conclusion of his addresj Mr A. G. Munns moved a vote of thanks and confidence, which was carried unanimously. Subsequently a strong committee was set up to canvas the district, of which Mr A. G. Muuin was appointed chairman for Central New Brighton.

KAIAPOI. A£B D. JONES AT SAJJGIOSA. j Mr D. Jones, M.l\ for Kaiapoi. and j Reform candidate for that electorate j at the coming election, opeued his | campaign by addressing a largely at- j tended meeting in the lvangiora lu- j stitute Hall last evening. Mr C. I. Jennings, in the absence of tho Mayor, Mr "W. A. Banks, presided, and said that Mr Jones had proved a very capable parliamentarian. (Applause.) lie had won tho respect of all those he Tepresentod. Mr Jones, who was given a good reception, said that the interests of the electorate had not suffered because he happed to livo just outsdic tho electorate. All thrue candidates happened to live just outside the electorate. During his term in Parliament he had always dono his best in the interests of his constituent.3, and I of the Dominion as a whole. He had been taken to task by a certain Christchurch newspaper, which said that he could not bo chairman of the Meat Board and attend to his parliamentary duties at the same time. On the contrary his work as chairman of the Board had not interfered with his. duties as a member, and he had gained much valuable experience which had Stood him in good stead in the House. Ho thought that his business and farming exporienco had been of bonefit to the Dominion. What was wanted in Parliament was good business men, who thoroughly understood the subjects with which they came in contact. After having beeu in the House for three years, ho had become more convinced than ever that New Zoaland was drifting to tho stage of having two parties only. The old lAberal Party hnd practically disappeared. Messrs McCallum, "Witty, Poland, Craigie, Hanan, Statham, and Vigor Brown had left it, and Mr Isittwas a Liberal conditionally. Those 1 men, the built of the old . party, had leit. Mr Wilford. The old Liberal Party had gone out of existence. The groat bone of contention in the old days between the two parties was the land question, and when: that was settled, so was the old Liberal Party. The whole of the* present Liberals could walk over to the Reform aide without sinking a single political principle. Tho two parties had merged. Again, members_of the Liberal Party sometimes voted Reform, sometimes Labour, and sometimes were hopelessly split and afraid to vote at all. No- party could live like that. Tho real issue before the country, therefore, was whether the Revolutionary Socialists or the present Government were going to rule. Socialism, he considered, was the most destructive system in the world, and the people of New Zealand who followed the Socialists wore undoubtedly going the wrong way. In giving his reasons for supporting the Government, Mr Jones said that Mr Massey was entirely a man of the masses. I.t had been said that tnc Government was for the rich man, for vested interests. That was entirely untrue. Sir. Arthur Guinness, a Liberal, had referred to the Government as the Reformed Liberal Party. Sir. Joltfj Findla v had said the same thine, and tho "New Zealand Times" had saidthe samo-tbihg many, a-time, .Even the ' (Thristchnrch Liberal organ had said tint Mr Massey was "a political giant, and that was a big admission from that journal. Mr Massey-, - he thought, was a man whoso strength the people. did not •'yet, realise.- He had h-qld his own amongst! the statesmen of the world., Th© present Government, Mr Jones continued. was the best "Government the workers had ever had. After twenty years of Liberalism, the railway men received 8s 6<J per day; after ton years ■of' Reform administration they received 14s 4d, arid shorter hours. The police in ? 1911 .were getting 8s 6d;. in 1921 they were getting 10s 3d, now less the, cut; The average salary in tho Public Seirvico had risen from £IBB per year to £234 since the Reform Party came into power ; ■the school teachers' avorago had risen -from £l6O to £285. .. Mt 'Massey had -found .the ~\vholo Civil Service underpaid , and discontented,; antf ho had improved ib in every respect. Going.outside the Civil Service, wages in all establishments of New Zealand had . risen from millions in 1911 to 14J millions' in 1921. The average wage of the worKer had ihoreased 100 per cent. The cost of living had increased certainly, but riot to the extent that the fiofnres he hadq ited had increased, and the figures, issued by the Statistician last week showed that the cost of living now . was the lowest it had been for four and st half years. As far as housing was concerned, in the three years enaed March last, 10,110 houses had been built by the Government or with Government money. Six and a half millions had been spent in that direction, which showed that tho Government was anxious to have all the people well housed as possible. Could not c Government like that be trusted? Hours in hotels and restaurants had been reduced from 62 !•> 48. with a weekly lioliday; thn&o of -women nnr! boys in, woollen mills had been reduced frdm 48 hours to 45. AU those concessions had bten niven in an exceedingly trying and difficult time. Surely snch figures were an answer to those who said that the Government aired nothing for the under-dog. . It- had been said by his opponents that Mr Massey had voted against eld age pensions. Mr Massey had done so i<i favour of contributory pensions, and sv recent statement from the Treasury was to the effect that the country would probably have to go back to 'contributory pensions. Pensions, Mr

Jones continued, had risen as the of living rose, and thoro was now los a week, where there used to be lus, and women could get pensions now ut 60 years of age instead oi' at Go. Again, the people forgot, that the same pnrty wiiicn had obtained tho onc-man-one-vote *j\>tem, had aboliohed tho du*i vote. The lata &ir Charles Boweu was largely responsible for the education ss-stere; the Hon. E. C. J. Stevens h;;<l instituted the Public Trust Office. Tho Government had been called the friend of tha big man, the landed interests. Tho Government had by taxation done more to make the big holder cut up his land than any other Party had ever dreamt of. In lyi'i, the owner of £60,000 of unimproved Ir-nd, and capital value £UX),U)O._ showing a profit of 10 per i«nt., paid £054 in land-tax, with no income-tax. His land and income-tax in 1921 was £8793, white the farmer with a property worth £6OOO utpital vaJue and a mortgage, i»f £4OOO or. uinusI.roved value was last year relieved of land-tax altogether. That assisted over 10,000 small msh, so tliat it could hardly bo said that the Government thought only oi the it.rii on top. Tho portiat effect of th it Tv.is seen in the 0 million acres that had been subdivided under tho present Government, and the increased production of butter from 533,000 boxes in 1819 to 3,000.000 last year, and probably 25,000,000 this year. A hold development poliev. with the encouragement of local industry and hydro-electric power was shown in tho increased outputs in all establishments from £24.000,000 in the l,"i years prior to Mr ilaesey to £50,000,000 in i 0 years under him. Througk heavy taxation during tho war they had amimulatcd over 21J millions of a surplus. Soldiers' repatriation and land setlement cost ovcr~29 millions, s< that those who remained at home> paid tho cost and the State still held the assets. The Government intended to seo tho soldier through. The soldier discharged as fit and now found !iis health impaired through the after effects of war ncrvioe was an urgent matter that must reoeivo oarly consideration. Mr Jonos quoted figures to' i;how what the Government had done and was doing for tho returned soldiers, in contrast to the treatment meted out to them after tho South African war. Tho Government, he continued, certainly had mado mistakes, but everyone would do that in such a huge transaction. Of 0050 men settled there had been only 542 forfeitures; of an annual rent of £415,000, only £28,841 hail i e«it lost in six years, while tho arrears, though considerable, would bo materially reduced with increasing pricce for primary products. Thoso who were decrying tlu result of tho soldier settlement. policy wero doing go purely for party purposes and the soldiw w..a lifting used as a party football. Had tli3 slump not come, the whole soldier system would havo gone alon.se smoothly, without any trouble. Considering the difficult times, the policy in regard to the soldier had been n tremendous success. Turning to fmanco, Mr Jono» said that there had been big increase in public expenditure. As chairman of tho Public Accounts Committee, he knew the great efforts that had boan made to keep the expenditure down, but tho enormous cost of materials and fcho roturn of many thousands of civil servants to take up old-positions already filled meant an overstaffed service and the readjustments hid to be gradual to avoid undue hardships. The Governrnent could havo kept down exfD_ na - ture by standing still, and ceasing its various extensions and public works, but by doing so it would havo brought abou,t the worst period of unemployment and depression over experienced. It had adopted the course of going right on, and it mid by doing so done the right thing. Taking the Consolidated Fund expenditure, tho; reductions made were given -tis £5,190,419. Such heavy de-. creases enabled the Government to reduce taxation, and reductions cmounting to £9*29,000 per annum were announced last session. Taxation pm head in 1920-21 was £l7 4s 4d; in 1?21.22 it was £l2 14a 7d. The Government, also, had materially assisted to keep dojvri the cost of living., Itssugar .contracts had saved |, the, Dcrainiou £4,292,C00. The new Customs tariff was developing industries and creating employment; while tho tariff agreement with Australia was of considerable valu# , to both manufacturer and farmer. : Tho Government who could handle a big; problem like tbnfc in such tiiudf surely to ba trusted. The protection* given to the irta reflected in the area, estimated to be 90WU this ye.ii'. The Government was doing; everything pc&3ible to reduce the rates of interest; and tho £2,000,000 paid into the. Advances Department for v tho 1 reduction of mortgeges would be 'of great assistanoe to the shall farmer and others. That office, when reorganised, should become the Land Bank of Now Zealnnd. Oottcei-ning the Meat Producers' Board, Mr Jone3 ebid that it had -been of inestimable value to the farmers of the Dominion'.' Tho reforms instituted and the big sayings effect* ed were so widely reoocnised■. by -the produoers tlsat they could be ielied oh to support the Government at ballot, box. - As far as shipping was eohunder the Meat Control' Act they controlled'the freights. Butter and. cheese could eaailjr join in, ctnd'if they could not get satisfactory fineight oontractsj they could charter or • par>» chase shjps with thto cargo absolutely guaranteed, and' those who controlled! the outwapd freighta would soon control the inward frights. Th*> absolute control of the freights lutd resulted in • -saving of £575,000 in meat alone on a> recent contract. > In; conclusion, Mr Jones paid a high tribute . to • Mr Mas&ey's .ability and integrity. Tfie problems ofpeace, he appeared to be more difflculo tlvm the problems of war, and it wasunthinkiWe to oxchango Mr Massey for, Mr. Holland, for that was tho choice.

At the conclusion: of-liis address, Mr Jones, who was accorded a very patient and attentive hearing, answered a nun* ber of questions. , Mr .T. U. s*traehan. moved c. vote of thanks to Mr- Jones, mid ako moved, amidst aoplituee, that -tbe meeting con- , '•videred Mr Jones u fit and proper per3oii to represent tho electorate. The motion was carried with loud applause^.

A very largo and enthtdiaotio body ftf ! *cfo£s rttended at the Institue Hall, Ow.t, ta liesr tho address given by Mr •Tones, M.P., the Reform candidate.'for Kaiapoi electorate at the coming electron. Mr G. Cowans vras voted to. the cliair. In introducing Mr J one*, the

chairman eulogised tho work done in the past three years, and the many benefits the d.strict had enjoyed ns_th« roault therefrom. Mr Jones received an ovat:on on rising to give his address and was accorded a most satisfactory and patient hearing, there being very few interjections or interruptions. Ino time for questions after the address was given was f Jly taken advantage of. Mr Jones answering one and all promptly and fully, the applause showing how very satisfactory the answers were. A hearty voto of thanks for tho very able and interesting address, also a vote or confidence in Mr Jonea at representative for the district was carried by acclamation. After the meeting a large number of electors stayed behind tn meet Sir Jones personally, and to offer him congratulations and continued confidence. A 6trong committee was then formed to look after Mr Jones s interest on polling day. Mr G. Cowans, who was elected chairman of the committee, was asked to call a meetins of tho willing helpers at an early date. , - , Mr D. Buddo addressed the electors at Marshlands on Tuesday evening. There was a good attendance, Mr Pil; kington presiding. On the motion or "lr A. B. Smith, a hearty rote of thanks and confidence in Mr Buddo was carried unanimously. Mr. R. D. Martin addressed a meeting of the electors at the Methodist schoolroom, Shirley, last evening. Mr P. S. Sharp presided. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the candidate. ELLESMERE. MR J". C. PEEE AT SOUTHBEIDGE. At Southbridge last evening Mr J. C. Free, who is standing against Sir Heaton Rhodes for the Ellesmere constituency in the Liberal-Labour commenced hia election campaign. There was a good attendance'of electors, Mr P. Dclargey, chairman of the Southbridge Town Board, presiding. Mr Free stated that although perhaps his entry into the field was a trifle late, he believed in making his campaign brief, but to the point. With regard to tho question of where his party stood as far a» the Reform Party were concerned, he resented very much Mr Massey's allegation of Liberal disloyalty. To prove Mr Massey's accusation a fallacy, he instanced Sir Joseph Ward's presentation of the New Zealand to tne Mother Country. Mr Massey had accused Liberalism of fraternising with the "Red Feds," but, the speaker stated, Mr Massey was tho first one to associate with that party. Of course there were extremists in all parties; there were even extremists in the liberal Party. Ho deprecated the differences between the liberal and the Labour Parties. He stated that gradually, as Labour was stripped of its extremism, it would return to Liberalism. The Government Party, he said, had changed Its name from "Conservative" to "Reform." He supposed it was because they intended to reform, but he failed to see where this change had come about, lie land-tax and Government expenditure had increased very considerand -this did not tend towards 1 reform. Those of the electors who were on the land knew of the Government's re-valuation in boom times, but the value of this land had ?one back, and what was required was an immediate re-valuation of land. Then 'again- was- the method of pur l chase of land for soldier settlers. This, to a degree, was responsible for the rise in the price of land. It was only loglcal and fair to aay that some of the soldier settlements purchased contained good land, but, again, some were composed oj! very poor quality )*nß, arid the men had left their holdings. He wotold rather see'a re-valu-atjon of land for soldiers than the ' to spend £2,000,000 on ad?: vabees to'settlers being gone on with,- / When everything was booming, theie projects were qmte within bounds, but whe# considered in the light of the / prices ht "whidh the soldiers had taken . up vtljeir- holdings theV- were unfair. Theepeaker baa not heard muoh of '< the losses on the railways ia the . statements of the Government candidates; Jt appeared that the Minister ludbpen-unable to make his pepartftent- jiay, ana (handed the onus to do so 1 , overt? a Bailway Board. It was ihe ? duty, Mr IWe he\d, bf the Minisley to mike the' railways pay,andnot control to a board. Bjl s|hif the...men brought. : stick as the ata'ffi. ■ ;knew - where • the recur- # occurring, arid a con- / wuMnceTof these oscials would serve lomw. These officials, 0 Bkiform Government, "were I .AmSmP "wd fapfe'.f and it *** Spipjtot tbf Qepaxtmeat did not | I' the present atrika, Mr mwv&x. riarpst always , affected io could afford it least, rto s«e thefp strikes, «§Bciept he ulatheGovernmeat was ed> they should spend nidation. He thought a-ofmoaer. 1 f Only re-" 00 had been spent to ppl'oyetlj and yet there /''■pnw.iw vpgtfip.' 'He rrwt, ' howof the old volunteer held, iris a better ''system, favour of win* ia* the aviation "i quite "• thd other branches. t J beneficial iX the in*ee*»it#to4 yrere WpepdipiM for cadet r sl> on fhsfSleat and he'*wciuW like to know, he it coat to run the Meat JjtoL ' Bo did not thinkit was praofQrthe Government to interfere affairs. If the Meat Pool they .not * got rid of l-"" =■ b««£V The Gov- '* '<< - was merely forming cx- ' boards, v " which could M'.TOy- well without. He oonto % State j. J, altogether in farour I'\ departure. Hl» r faeliove4 he had a State Bank at last election, >: slump bad ehoira Km the ISl^i n B L BQhe,n ®' iHe n ot «WPPOrt * State Bank, c -w "Me'speaker said he io the < t> Mr.' Maasey the T Bethought Mr IPree said he 1} SP.SSKf never of the 4 * p ,*w'oot a fayour of c after "Wo'clodc. •Hfconfch he 1 f" 'iW'pW aacl< a hk3IH>U ; : il6n .W8« iiievitable. Hbwerer, Wcould Erich ■fe stated

11l the event of a no-confidence moiion he would not vote in favour of Reform. He would vote with his party, and he felt sure that they would not rely on securing their power through the services of the Labour extremists. He also stated that ho was in favour of a fair increase iu totaliaator permits. On the motion of Mr Twiss, a hearty and unanimous vote of thanks was passed to the soeaikcr. YYAITAKI. MR BITCHENER AT WAIMATE. There was an attendance of about seventy persons at the Olympia Hall> Waimate, on Tuesday evening, when Mr J. Bitchener, M.P., Reform candidate for the Waitaki seat, addressed ; the electors. Tho Mayor (Mr FNash) presided. i Mr Bitchener said that he was prouder to belong to the Reform Party than ( he was three years ago; he had found j out what a sterling lot of men the ■ Party were, and what a -fine man its leader was. So far as ho iwnew everything done by the Government uatl been done tor tue weuaie 01 tne country and' tue peopie as a wnoie. ihat lmsiaKcs hau ueeu lnaue no one wouid aeuy, nut tney jiua been quite uiijnieniiunui. xne Aumswr ana tue Government were imbued witn tne spirit or neiping those peopie ot the juomuiioa who Helped themselves. Personany, he couid not see at present any ouiocandmg man in tho Dominion as a leader ot men except -Ur .uaasey. There was no Prime Minister wjio had had such a hard row to hoe as Air Massey. tie beiieved the Government had been right in their cftort to win the war at' all costs. Itelerring to the Liberal Party, he spoke of the Joss it had sustained with the departure from the sphere of politics of bir Joseph Ward; and later the late Hon. \Y, D. S. Mac Donald. After Mr Mac Donald, there were quite as many aspirants to leadership as members of the Party. Mr did not appear to tho speaker to possess lhu qualities of leadership. The Lahiur Party, he went on to say, had challenged the Liberal Party as to who were his Majesty's Opposition; and the Speaker had counted heads, and declared the Liberals to still have that honour. Since then the Labour Party had appeared quite satisfied on their own benches, fie spoke of the growth of the Liberal-Labour Party; and said that the Liberals were go;ng to the polls under this name. Ho quoted Mr Holland's remarks to tho effect that there should be no fusion of tho Liberal and Labour Parties unless Mr Holland dictated the policy; and claiming to be the lineal descendants to the party .pi Ballanco and Seddon. No greater slui could be cast on their memory, for Seddon was a staunch Imperialist, und the Labour Party had never yet said a word in defence of the flag or the country. Touching on taxation, Mr Bitchener quoted from the remarks of a Labour member, given "On January 26t'h, to the effect that the farmers of this country, having saved up large sums of money during the war, were able to stand any amount of taxation yet. No country, stated Mr Bitchener, could stand extremely hea.vy taxation; and New Zear land was taxed to its utmost capacity. Many people hod not been able to take advantage of the 10 per cent, rebate allowed on their tax if it were paid within a certain time. The death duties V® l !® heavy; and with these and other taxes, practically £2,000,000 was uncollected at the present time. No. country could get along under a too heavy taxation ; the farmer paid money in taxation that he might have, used for other purposes; and he thought this state of affairs very largely to blame for wuch of the unemployment at present/ Many of the men on the; land were not wealthy, but niany people deemed to think that they could stand anything in the shape of taxation. The Government had reduoed the Land and income Tax, by practically £1,000.000, about 10,000 people, . mostly small farmers* being Benefited by it; and w®re helping many "people by allowing an exemption: on mortgages. The GovI in the closing hours of the session, had gone a long way to assist the small farmers of the Dominion by improving tho.facilities available under the State Advances Act. He felt store that the two millions would soon be taken up; and,an inroad be made on the three millions. In 1918-19 there hadboen a surplus of exports over: imports of . between £5,000,000 and £6,000,000, which was quite a good income for the country. In 1920-21, however, the imports totalled £67,478,000, While i the exports were only something over i £48,000,000. : That meant that more money had been seat out of the country than had come into it; there was a deficiency of About £19,000,000. To his mind, that was practically the cause of the great financial etreaa and strain experienced of late; although he thought it yrauld hare been oil right but for the fact that immediately after;,: down came the prices of produce, Referring to the Civil Service,. Mr Bitchener said that until lately, «the law of the country did pot give any means of getting rid of inefficient. Civil servants. Last year, the Government put through a Bill enabling this to be done ; and many of the departments th*t had grown enormously during prosperous times were out down. The Government had 'retrenched to the ettent of five or six mjlliona or more; and dispensed jvith many men and women, a number of whom had' always been inefficient hut were not put off because the law did not allow of it. Hie Government deserved wery encouragement for placing such a measure on the Statute Book on the we, as it'were, of an election. I%e Government had men charged with needless expenditure, but be ventured to say that there was* not a Minister who would not gladly do what he, could without impairing efficiency, to cut down expenditure. Referring to the Meat Control) Board, Mr Bitchener said he. honestly believed the statement by Mr Massey -that the Board had saved the country' millions ,of money. - It was a Board that would - do its very beet to look after the meat trade of the' country. He thought if the Board regulated the shipping of meat, sending it to the proper place, etc,, their supervision was wortn all they were paid for it. The outlook for lamh, he was told in Wellington the other day, was excellent, they were now able to get the: latest .new* of the market, and he believed the stores, in London were empty just now.. It is all very: well to say that the Argentine, .were competitors, hut so long as we' kept up the standard, he did not think we had : anything to feiir. That there should be some measure of •»lf-beln with regard to housing was 1 contended :hy Mr Bitchener. ft was not the Government's duty to find ' houses for all' and sundry; although all should he done by means of providing; cheap money, to enable every man to live in: his own house. A Government housing scheme did not commend itself to him: he did not think the workers should be foroed to live in Hitie townships apart from the rest of the community, for all' were on much the same footing in New Zealand, and the -worker should not.be ostracised. In the matter of immigration, he was a believer in the nomination system. If they could get the right class of immigrant to come and take up the unoccupiedland of, this Dominion,, it would add to the prosperity ,of the country as a whole. . The, present Minister of Edu<i cation had done more for the benefit of the children and the satisfactory staffing of the schoob thab anyone. There was a question being aSked candidates regarding the curtailment of the edu* j catio& votej but he would not answer j it, because if it could be Bhown to him

that economy could be effected without impairing efficiency, be would vote for that step, for the amount of money spent on education in New Zealand was enormous. Speaking of proportional representation, which he said was a plank in the platform of the liberal and Labour Parties, Mr Btchener outlined a scheme proposed by Mr -Yeitch, whereby the South laland was divided into two electorates. That, he stated, would do away with the country quota at present enjoyed in the Dominion; and the seats could only be | contested by wealthy men or wealthy ! organisations. They would not know in Waitaki where to look for their representative. It would be futile for a man to think of addressing an electorate of that aize; no one would know him. The electorate, as it stood at present, was really too large; and j there could not ba said to be any coin- : munity of interest between, say, South j Canterbury and Central The ' 'first-past-the-post,' : system, he was j aware, had its disadvantages; but he | could not see that proportional repre-.j sen tat ion would be any improvement. Referring to pensions, he said the system had grown enormously in the last few years, now tbey were overt.so mi. lion sterling. Tho .Government would soon have to call a halt or make a revis'on to put it on a better footvig. I Mr Bitchener, in conclusion, said he had sufficient confidence in the wisdom of the people to return the Government to office on December 7th. As he had said before, it was not so much a question aa to whether lie should be elected to represent Waitaki. but aa to whom should he .appointed Prime Minister of New Zealand. They would all. agree that at a time like the present, the best heads of the country were required to carry the country through; and it was not good no!icy to swap horees iu inidatreain. He had not referred to his opponent, whom. he had known ail his life, and was a good fellow; but he would say that they differed in politics.; his opponent was on the wrong track. A vote of thanks was accorded tho candidate for his address. CHRISTCHURCH SOUTH. Mr It. M. Thomson, Humanist candidate for Christchurch South, .will address the electors at the Addington School on Monday next, at 7.3U p.m. A well-attended nieeting o£ friends and supporters of Mr H. C. Lhtip wns, held last evening in „St. Michael's schoolroom, Mr "YV. J. Edwards presiding. Mr Lane outlined his views and Lhe meeting resolved itself into a committee to support his candidature. CHRISTCHURCH EAST. j Mr H. T. Armstrong addressed a meeting of about 200 electors of Christchurch East outside the Foresters' Hall last evening. Mr A. O'Brien presided. At the conclusion of his address' Mr Armstrong was accorded a vote of thanks and Confidence. Dr. Thacker, M.P., addressed a largo meeting of electors at the Lawson street Hall, Sydenham, last night. The candidate was accorded by acclamation a voto of thanks and confidence. HURUNTJI. 1 Sir G. "XV. Forbes addressed a very well attended meeting of electors at the Amuri Drill Hall, Culverdenj on Tuesday night. He dealt with the main points of the Liberal policy, and at the conclusion of his remarks was accorded 0* vote of thanks. TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS.; Sir B. Heaton Rhodes—Lyndhurst Hallj 8 p.m. Mr. David Jones —Kaiapoi Hall, 8 p.m. , . Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. Loach-" Joyland Theatre, New Brighton, 8 "■p.m. . Mr G. Vf. Forbes—Hanmer Springs Hall, 8 p.m. Mr S. Andrew—Scargill Hall, 8 p.m. Mr W. R. Devereux—corner Wilson's road and St. Martin's road, 7.30 p.m. " _ . The Hon. 6. W. Eussell, North Linwood School, 8 p.m. 1 ' Mr H. C. Lane—Somerfleld School; 8 p.m. , Mr G. Witty—Papanui Church Schoolroom, 8 p,m. Mr R.M. Thomson—Art Gallery, 7.30 p.m. (friends and supporters), Mr J. A. McCullough—Memorial Hall, I Darfield, 8 p.tn. Mr H. M. Jones—Theatre Royal, Ashburton, 8 p.m. Mr H. S. S. Kyle—lslington Hall. Mr J. C. Free—-Killinchy School, 8' p.m. ■ ' Mr R. Macartney—Teddington Public School, 8 p.m. ; Mr E. J. Howard—Addington School, 8 p.m. | Mrs A. E. Herbert—Richmond Methodist Schoolroom, 8 p.m. This Afternoon. Tho ReV. J. E. Archer—Methodist Schoolroom, Edgeware road, 3 p.m. (women*s meeting). Mr E. H. Andrews—4 School road, corner Trafalgar street, 3 p.m. (fadies' meeting). ! CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED. V- .. Is the subjoined N list of candidates at the general election R. signifies Reform; 1.R., Independent Reform; Lib., Liberal; I. Lib., Independent Liberal; Lib.-Lab., Liberal Labour; Lab., Labour; Ind., Independent; and C.P., Country Party. The members of the 1919-22 Parliament are marked with an asterisk:— NORTH ISLAND SEATS. Bay of Islands, •Reed, V. H. . . . R. Bell, Allen . , . I. Lib. SBadbolt, E. F. . . * Lab. . Marsdeu. . Jones, "W. . R. Murdoch, A."J. * Lib.-Lab. Meredith, F. * » .1. Kaipara. •Coates, Hon.. J. G. . R. Hornblow, R. E. . Lib.-Lab. Waltemata. •Harris, A. . . R. Burbnsh, F. H. . Lib.-Lab. Way, R. F. . . . Lab^ . Eden. ■ I •Parr, Hon. C. J. . R. Morton. F. 8. . Lib.-Lab. Mason, H. G. R. • . Lab. Auckland East. 'Mackenzie, Clutha « . R. Lw, J. A. . , • Lab. , Anckland Central, •Pany, W. E. . Lab. Glover, A, JS. .. » I. Lib. Auckland West. 'Savage, M. J. . . Lab. Farrell, J. . . . R. Grey Lynn. •Bartram, F, N. . . « Lab. Holdsworth, W. J. • I.R. BoakilL •Potter, V. H. . . . R. Skelton, A. Hall ■. » Lib. Melville, Miss E. • , I.R. Furtell, J. a ■ • Lab.

ParnelL •Dickson, J. S. . . J{. Wren, S. M. . . . R. Mcßrine. O. Lab. j Xotoo, William . . Lib. Manukau, •Lang, Sir F. W. . . R. Jordan, W. J. ... Lab. Adnams, D I. Franklin. •Massey, Right Hon. W. F. R. Rea, J. . . Lib .-Lab. Raglan. • 'Bollard, R. _F. . . R. Thompson, W\ A. . Lib.-Lab. Lye, S. C. . • . Lib.-Lab. Thames. •Rhodes, T. W. . R. Allan, W. -A. . . Lib.-Lab. Ross, A. .... 1. Ohiuemuri. •Poland, H. . . Lib.-Lab. Donaldson, D. . Lib.-1.-rb. Allen, Colonel. S. S. . R. Colbeck, Captain F. . C.P. Taurar.fja. •Herries, Sir William . . It. Johnstone. L. . . Lib. Hamilton. *Youiig, J. A. . . R. Lafferty, C. . . . . 1. Richards, A. S. . Lab. Waikato. Lye, F. • . . Lib. Johnson, J. T. .- . . R. Kotorua. *Hockly, F. F. . . . R. Clinkard, C'. F. . . Lib.-Lab. Bay of Plenty. •Williams, A. S. R. Waitomo. "Jennings W. T. . , Lib. ltolleston, J. C. . . . R. 'Gisbornc. "Lysnar, W. D. . . . it.. Wildish, G. . . Lib.-Lab, Brindle, T. ... Lab. Hawke's Bay. Russell, Sir Andrew . , R, McKay, Gilbert . . ' Lib. Chapman, C. H. . Lab. Napier. •Brown, J. Vigor . . R. Jull, A. E. ... Ind. Mason, J. . . . . K. M'llvride, L. . . Lab. Mulvanah, E. . . Ind. Lab. Waipawa, . •Hunter, Sir George . . R. Langridpe, J. J. . Lib.-Lab. Pahiatua. •McNicol, A. . .. ■. * R. Ransome, A. E. . . Lib-Lab. Masterton. •Sykes, G. R. . . „ R. Evans, F. C. . » Lab. Holms, A. C. . . . Ind. Wairarapa. •M'Leod, A. D. . . . R. Card, J. W. . . Lib.-Lab. Stratford. •Masters, R. . . Lib-Lab. Hine, J. B. ... . R. Taranaki. •Smith, S. G. . . » Ind. Bellringer, C. E. . . R. Egmont. V *Hawken, O. . . . H-. Anbury, D. L. A. . Lib.-Lab. s Patea. •Dixon, E. . . » R. Pearce, G. V. . . R. Corrigan, J. R. .-' . . Lib. Wanganui •Veitch, W. A. . , Ind. Ross, J. . . . . Lab. Coull, J. . . . . K. Pope, J. B. ! . . , Lib. Waimarino. • *Smith, R. W. . . . , Lib. M'Lean, D. D. . . . R. Langstone, F. . . . Lab. - Goldfinch, G. . , . Lib.-Lab. . , Oroua. •Guthrie, Hon. D. H. . . R. Cobbe, R. . . . Lib.-Lab. Manawatu. Linklater, J. . . . R. Whibley, F. B. . . . Lab. Murdoch, W. . . Lib. Flyger, H. T. . . Lib.-Lab. ' Rangitikei. •Glenn, W. S. . . . R. Burnett, C. H. . . Ind. / Brady, F. F. . . . Lab. Palmerston.. •Nash. J. A. . . i. R. Christensen . . . Lab. Hodgens, J. . Lab. Otakl. •Field, W. H. . ' « • R. McClure, G. H. . Lib-Lab. Hutt.' •Wilford, T. M. . v Lib. Bennett, H. u. . « 11, Pritchard, D. K. . . ', Lab. Wellington North. •Luke, Sir John . . R. Young, J. . . Lib.-Lab. Combs, H. E. . Lab; Wellington Central. ' 'Fraeer, P. ~.. • _ . Lab. Bennett, W. H. . R. - Sievwright, A. B. . Lib.-Lab. Wellington East. Forsyth, T. . . . R. McVicar, Mrs A. . Ind. MoDonald, T. W. . . . Ind. Monteith, A. L. . . Lab. Wellington South. ♦Mitchell, G. . T n d. , McKeen, R. . . . Lab. Wellington Suburbs. •Wright, R. A. . . R. Croskery, A. W. . H Lab. SOUTH ISLAND SEATS. Nelson. •Atmore, H. . . . Lib. Gilbert, A.' . . . R. Motueka. •Hudson, R. P. . R. Patterson, R. . . Lib.-Lab. Buller. •Holland, H. E. . » Lab. Menzies, J. . . ' . Ind. Westland. " *Seddon, T. E. Y. . * Lib. Steer, J. . , , R. O'Brien, J. .»■ „ • Lab. Walxau. •McCallum,' R. » k lab. Girling, W. J. . . " B R. Hurunui. •Forbea, G. W. . B Lib. Andrew, S. . . ■ R. Kaiapoi, •Jones,- D. . . . R. Buddo, Hon. D. . . Lib. Martin, R. D. . . Ind.J^b, Christchurch North •Isitt, L. M. . . Lib. Archer, Rev. J. K. . , Lab. Andrews, E. H. . . : IJEt. Christchuich East. •Thacker, H. T. J. . « Lib. Devereux, W. "R. .. „ R. Armstrong, H. T, ■ a Lib.

Christchurch South. •Howwd, E./J. . , . . Lab. Lane, H. O. . . R. Ell, H. G. . ; Ind -Lib. Thomson, R. M. . Humanist Biccarton. •Witty. G. . . . Lib. Kyle, H. S. S. . R. McCullougb, J. A. . . Lab. Avon. •Sullivan. D; G. . „ Lab. Loncli, A. E. . R. Herbert, Mrs A. E. . Ind. Russell, Hon. G. W. . . Lib. Lyttelton. •AlcCombs, J. . . Lab. Macartney, R. R. Ellesmere •Rhodes, Sir 31. Heaton R. Free, J. C. . . Lib.-Lab. Ashburton. worthy, Hon. W. . R. Jones, H, M. . . . Lib. Cooke, F. R. . . Lab. Wright, G. . . Lib.-Lab. Timaru. Rolleston, F. J. . . R Vinnell, P. C. . . . Lab. Temuka. •Burnett, T. I>. R. Langford, T. H. . Lib.-Lab! Needham, P. R. . . Ind. Waitaki. Paul, W. J. ... Lab. •Bitchener, J. . . R. Oamaru. *Le<:, Hon. E. P. . . K. Macpherson, J. A. . Lib.-Lab. Dunedin North. •Munro. J. W. . . . Lab. Clark, J. J. R, Dunedin West. •Stewart, Hon. W. Downie . R. Moss, C. M. . . Lab. Dunedin Central. •Stathnm, C. E. . Lib.-Lab. Gilchrist. J. . . . Lab. Maslin, W. S. . Ind. Lib.-Lab. Dunedin South. •Sidev, T. K. . . Lib. MacMjtnus, J. E. , , Lab. Chalmers. •Dickson, J. M. . . R. Stephens, J. . . . Lab. Clutha. 'Malcolm, A. S. . « » R. •Edie, J. . . . . L. Wakatlpu. •Horn, J. . . . . Lib. Ritchie. J. ... R. Shortland, F. W. . . Ind. Mataura. •Anderson, Hon G. J. . . B. McDougall, D. . . L'l^.-Lab. Wallace. •Hamilton, A. . . . R. Thomson, J. C. . . I. Lib. InvercargllL *Hanan, Hon. J. A. . . Lib. Farrnnt, H. J. . . Lab. Armstead, J. . ) . . R, Awarua. •Hamilton, J. R. . , . R. Do la Perrelle, P. . . Lib. Mclntyre, N. . » » , Ind, MAORI REPRESENTATIVES. Southern Maori. •TTru, H. W. . . . R. / McDonald, P. . . . R. Barrett, W. D. . « Ind. Northern Maori •Henare, T. . . . R. .'Brown, N. . . Lib-Lab. Tuoro, A. R. . . . ! Ind. Eastern Maori. •Ngata, Hon. A. T. . . Liß. Taranaki Te Ua . . . I.K. Western Maori. •Pomare, Sir Maui . . B, Ratana, H. T. . Ind. Mawhete, Rangi . . I. Lab.