Kissed By Mr Pounsford Says Miss M. B. Howard

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30288, 14 November 1963, Page 19

Kissed By Mr Pounsford Says Miss M. B. Howard

The Social Credit candidate for the Sydenham electorate, Mr J. E. Pounsford, in the last election campaign, had pi t his arms around her neck and kissed her, the Labour member for the electorate (Miss M. B. Howard) said last night. “What a Judas Iscariot kiss." she said. “He won’t be doing it this time. I will be ready for him.” Miss Howard, fronted by seven large vases of flowers on the stage, W’as addressing an audience of 114, in the Goddard Friendly Hall, Hastings street, Sydenham. More than half those present were women, most of them middleaged or elderly. Not Marrying She told her audience that all the flowers and decorations made it look as if she was about to get married. “About time you were,” said an interjector. Miss Howard replied: “Not at this time. I have dodged it to the bitter end.” Miss Howarad waved to her audience both at the beginning and end of her speech and lustily returned their three cheers at the end of the meeting as they filed out of the door. She began her campaign speech by holding up a clipping of yesterday’s issue of “The Press” containing the report of a campaign speech by Mr Pounsford. She then read the report to the audience. dissecting, or holding a verbal post-mortem on whatever points struck her fancy. A challenge was issued by Miss Howard to Mr Pounsford to produce one person whom she had pushed away from her doorstep. Mr Pounsford, she said, had said he was the only Sydenham candidate who lived in

the electorate. “I live one mile from the boundaries of the electorate,” said Miss Howard. "I am living in the home that is dear to me. I will die in it. My father built it when he came from Australia with three motherless girls, and I will never leave it.” "Hear, hear.” shouted an elderly woman with a hear-ing-aid in the second row. Miss Howard said that only 16 persons attended Mr Pounsford’s meeting, compared with 300 who attended one of hers at Otematata. So many people had confidence in her, that she had to get a lot of beer cartons from Bellamy's to store all their letters In. Miss Howard read extracts from letters praising her. One. from Morrinsville, said that nobody could be a better friend of old people and dumb animals than Miss Howard. Pensioner's Cheque Another letter from Auckland enclosed a cheque for £1 Is 6d. “I have been saving Is a week, to send this wee cheque to help you,” the letter, said. Miss Howard said the letter was from a pensioner. “Can you get a better testimonial than that?” asked Miss Howard of her audience. “The pensioner saved for all those weeks to send the cheque down to help our campaign. I sat down and nearly cried. “Does Mr Pounsford say I have to be ‘pushed around’ to get that? I’ll bet he’s never had a letter like that as long as he has lived. Does he ever get letters like that?” Miss Howard said that if Mr Pounsford told lies she would “chase him around the town.” Interjector: "Who is going to do the pushing. Mabel?” Miss Howard: “I will do the pushing.”