NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 338, 27 October 1908, Page 9

NEWS AND NOTES.

»A>ibiDATES 'AND ' THEIR SPEECHES. • A 'tolling aiffiilo was employed by Mr. Edward NeWman .in a speech at Marton last week.. Ho looked upon tho Dominion, lo said,, much As a farmer with a farm leavily: burdened with. debt. Such, a fan mer ihight ' either'.,deride on <1 policy of rigid; economy, .or ..'he might decide on a policy of rapid and. full dovolopment of tho .unimproved portion of his property. If he -spent his • borrowed money in clearing bush,, and othitwiso directly increasing the productiveness of his land, ho would do well. If ho-spent it on a largo house and orna'montal plantations, .etc., he would probably fail..; And this is what tho Government wero doing to a. largo extent. Was this a record to -bo .'jirfiud of, after 17 years of marvellously- high prices and prosperity, with a free hand,-a largo amount, of borrowed money and jjraotically 110 oppositioii in Parliament. Tfi/siliot-Huntors. his. specch hi Christclmrch last weok Mr. ; - C.'M.'. pray said that a great deal of the' timo of members >vas takon lip.with cori'esi>ondenfco. Tho main thom'o of correspondence was "billets,..billets, billets." fie bolievcd.tlisit there were 80,000 applications for/Government billets sent into tho hands ofyinembers. every yearl W'.iftrs Sccfind Ballots aro Expected, , A prominent member of the Liberal party ivho' lias recently had exceptional opportunities of judging tho feeling •in almost every district in the Dominion, .-.considers that, a second: ballot will very probably bo required in-.tho ...following electoral districtsWaitemata,,' Auckland Central, Parnell, HaWke's Bay, Pahiatua, laranaki; Egmont, Wanganui,- Oroua, iVlasterton, Wellington Suburbs, Wellington North* Wellington East, Hurunui, Aspburton, and 1 'I'uapeka.—"Ashburton M-jil,". ;...' More Scionoo Wanted.

Although Mr. R. 13. Williams, who is announced to open his campaign .on Wednesflay .13 Opposition candidate for'the Suburbs, is rather .iato in tiie field, ho may be' relied upon to give a good account of himself, as he as ah attractive speaker and personally popular. 'Ho was for several years Mayor of Onslow. '.'ln a printed'address which he issued just before his departure'a few nlohtlis ago 2S a • VlS ''' erlca i Mr. Williams stated.:— ' i3_not'out of place to say liero that I am a_ Liberal. I believo ill advancement and iSOUild progress. It appears to me- more actual scicnce might bo applied to government than has hitherto' been tho custom. This bofrefer would have to be tentative, becauso edncation and evolution must do their work before, the politician can move. I believo that wrongs-should be righted irrespective of ■class-or creed. T believe the views of all men;deserve respect.- There is really only one interest, and that'is tho welfare of .the people as a whole, and 'this is best served by seoingjhat; the intlividual is justly done by. Individual - rights and equities should,' therelore, bo and guarded when they are not of the nature of monopolies, because (thereby, personal 'effort may reap its just reward,- and the industrious are encouraged to, labour" ' •-

Tteroby Hangs a Talo. /In moving a vote of thanks and confidenco a warm-hearted supporter itf ono of the Candidates ; for the Hawko's Bay seat recently sam, at a meeting not a hundred miles from V aipawa, that he hoped, that that progressive town would have the honour, not "only i Member- of. Parliament, hut future/time of providing tho Minister, of the country. . The remark was not at.all unusual., Tho same thing has been said of other candidates.: Sometimes j' l ® Q? n didatbs have, been bold enough to say it themselves. On this occasion', however, the candidate .had an opponent who did him the honour .of attending his meeting. He heard ■the remarkand .thereby tongs tho : tale.. Candidate Ng.,., 2--telegraphed .-to,« Sir Josephi v\ard that Ins position was endangered by the -'ambitious hopes of the supporters, hr - Sir Josephi +i - - 1 ? telegraphed ■ back tnat. lie. considered himself immune from do* thrcnement. The two opponents-met. No. ?' Te J. n had done. ,Jto. 1 said tie did not believe him.. No. 2 copy.,of tho, telegram ho had sent/ No 1 saifl that was bluffy No. 2 asked what; kit the. other would mako that ho could not produco the Primo Minister's reply.' In . a rash moment N0.,1 said a new snit of clothes. -No.r 2 flourished the t-olegram. ;> < The Freehold. _ "Tho Government has gono back on-'the freehold;. said Mr. L. It. Phillipps, s 'the Opposition candidate for tho Waitomata 'seat speaking at Devonport. "For a Govcrnhient supporter to support the freehold now would lx> .just,vlilvo confirmed Mohammedan- to ls . a Christian." The audience the simile as an apt one.' The Speaker's Chair, .- n Mr. James Korr at Paroa last week ren° GrCy ,"® tar -") thatjjit was S te Mould say a few words about Mr. but ho would'never be found sav"j'S™ 1 ", 40 hls detriment. Mr Guinness ■thev W1 % P nd successful career, as thej had elected him year after, year, and ho had, been Speaker of'the Housed,W sevtnni. S +r 1011 St i 8 contended u'L not a £ ( , tlic constituency-lie represented,, as he could not'conduct Ins duties as speaker and take part, in the' Abates at the- same time. Many - important subjects came .up in the House in which ho' B could' not take .a, part, and often either Mr.,!}. M'Kenzie or some other member had to : ?sk a ciuescoliinLif 8 T| half , bccauso I,e could not do co himself, ihen lie was comnollfed to acJfcT' tlle Goverifliient choso to gne him. • therefore, ho couM not r. ake Ins voice heard in Parliament. He (Mr ■korr) .said that the district wj? practical! v their t0 P ° Siti ° n heJd b * Mistaken Identity. A correspondent writes putting certiin questions relating to. debt-colleetiifg S " IVnlKf S \, ' lcllt , a candidate for the' f T «o"'<iuestions evidently.; are forwarded under ,al misapprehenw *V. he ~ den- t ,fcy of M& Wright, mWnght who is contesting the seat 11 in ?," os . lon 13 , M ';- A - Wrigh't, a niembeivof o. j lrm °f Wright and CVrman, printers and has no. connection withohny debt-coilect-mg nrm or with any firm ofnthat nature.^ A Government l( ., "AYhat is the remuneratibn paid fo a Governinenc Whip?'' asked ail iliquisitlve elector at Mr, Kidd's meeting. was the ™&es laconic rospon'.fe'■ aro' the dutios ;. asked the elecßTr, colitihuing his quest j for; information.. Would take Ri o ,i,| 0 "<?k ? I ci ' pl:un - i replied Mr. liidd, b.it 1 may say flmt the work sometimo3 j takes 18 hours ;a .day, sometimes 16hours, and sometimes a'lrths time with no opportunity for rest." !.i The Leads,- of the Op^sltlon. Mr.'W. F. Massey, Eoa'ci6r'of the Oifnosition, left Onehunga bj"lhf Rarawa on Innlay,; on" route to Wdlin'gton. Mr. Jluseoy was: seen oft by Mr,' l/° V/. Lang, M p anu a number of frie'n3s?' Ho expects to retunvto Auckland in eight daj/s' time. Meibors' Sslarfcs. - !K ' wtpH na f ka iI , : ; Field, M.P., •i-atGd that he did .consider £3CO nor ® receiiponso membeis and should a.jjj-flposal be brought for- , ni . a <-F^ r '"crease thq; honorarium to £400 lie would, support lti-.V fipsntithrlfts jp jPr^rity. Hep supposed* all, would 'admit that the betldon-and Ward-.Governments had been tortunaSs in ooa-.Tfspect. ... They had been favoured with exception illv good times 1 rices of tho staple-, products—wool, ilax, Krai^j-biUter^^^^-until" quite recently had high quotation!;.

In addition largo sums of borrowed money had annually been put in circulation. What could they expect after a period of such extraordinary prosperity? What would tho ordinary prudent business man liavo dons after such good times? lie would probably liavo reduced his debt and so scoured his position. And from a Stato they would expect' either substantial reduction in dobt or decrease in taxation.—Mr. Edward Newman at Marton. Wako Up, Hawka's Bay. "During tho past tlireo years," writes a correspondent, "a good many Southerners liavo settled in Hawke's. Bay, and at tho recent show a common subjcct of remark among them was tho extraordinary position of matters political. Tho Hawke's Bay scat oxt-ends from Taupo to Waipawa, or a hundred miles. 'i'iioro are six candidates in tho field. Two of them liavo not yet spoken. Four liavo spoken onco—a sort of preliminary—in Hastings, and 0110 of them twice. Thero are now only twenty weekdays before the elections. Any number of electors liavo never seen any one of tho candidates, and how electors are to liavo a chanco of the views of candidates, comparing them and arriving at anything like an intelligent decision, it is beyond the Southern intelligenco to understand. In Napier ill'. Vigor Brown says it would be against his views oil etiquette to speak before Mr. A. L. I). Eraser. Tho latter is in no hurry. A couplo of spocchc3 will suiiico him. In Waipawa Mr. G. Hall, jrlio knows as much of farming as the avorage farmer does of bookselling, is to liavo no opposition, if. _wo except .Mr. lsitt. Tho averago stranger could spend some days here without realising that a general election is imminent. The whole tiling has a dolco far nicnt-o air about it, eminently typical of a. community where hardly anybody answers a letter. It is only fair to add that in whoever may bo clcctod the olectors will find a member exactly representing a condition of lethargy and apathy which has no parallel in any other part of New Zealand. And in a general sense people usually got what they deserve." "Not Without Significance." Commenting on tho sad lapse of Mr. C. M. Gray-from independence, the "Lyttelton Times" does its best to hold Up its candidate's tottering popularity. "Ho has," says this journal, "supported tho, Government on tho whole very consistently, and wo do not suppose that his present announcement will lesson his popularity in tho constituency, but it is not without significance." Mr. Gray wishes it wore, if 6no is to judge from public opinion in Christchurch just now.

Against Legislative Hurry. Mr. D. M'Laren, tho Wellington East Labour candidate, has a scliome for the prevention of legislative hurry. He suggested last night that all Bills which tho Government intends to ho fully 'advertised beforehand, in the same way as local Bills. At present, measures wore put through Parliament late at night and late in the session, and the people' did not realise what was done until it was all over. Confidence or No-Confitlsnce. Mr. W. H. Hawkins, tin Independent candidate for the Pahiatua seat, recently hold n meeting at Ballanco, and at the conclusion of his address a vote of thanks Was moved. One member of the audience, however, moved as an amendment, "That this meeting refuses to accord Mr. Hawkins any support whatever." The chairman declined to accept the amendment on tho ground that it Was a direot negative, stating by way of explanation that lie thought he ought not to accept a motion- either for a vote of confidence .or no-confidencc, as a vote of that kind should be secret. Nine Bounusts! r. . • It would appear that the address delivered at Ohakuno by Mr. Jennings, M.P., last.week was in at least one respect very liko a colicort given by a popular -diva. "During the evening," says the Taihape paper, "Mr. Jennings was'presented with nine bouquets." It is not, stated whether, the grateful member acknowledged.' tho"greengrocery by giving encores. faience. • , s In the course of his romarks on defence at Christclnirch East on Thursday, Mr. Boxshall, tho Opposition candidate, described tho objects of the Legion of. Frontiersmen, a body of men -who had seen active scrvico, and who wero prepared to offer, their services free of all costs to tho State in cases of national emergency. . Tho New Zealand Council of Defonce had the distinction of having twico refused to allow "•tho establishment of a branch of tho Legion in the Dominion, a refusal the reason of which, was hard to understand. The city, ho remarked, did not Want soda water politicians. It wanted solid men, not those who sizzled round merely at election time. The Hutt Seat. With reference to a paragraph in yesterday's Dominion referring to Mr. M. W. Welch, candidate for the Hutt electorate, as an "Independent," Mr. Welch has informed our Hutt and Petoiie correspondent that ho was coming forward as a straightout Oppositionist. His opening address will probably be delivered at Upper Hutt on Thursday night.

Jottings. ' Mr. F. W. Frankland will address the Mauawatu electors at Taikorea to-morrow and at Awahuri on Friday. Mr. Colvin declared at Cape Foulwind last week that ho was against uniform school books because ho contended that under such a system children would bo bought up like parrots. In connection with the Wellington Central election, Mrs. Hislop invites the lady olectors to meet her at Godber's Rooms at three o'clock this afternoon. , .' "I was never ashamed to - soli sausages," exclaimcd Mr. Colvin in a speech last week. Wo (Buller "Miner") liavo never heard it asserted or even hinted that Mr. Colvin was ashamed of his trade or business. Mr. D. M'Laren's next advertised meeting will be hold to-morrow night in the Victoria Hall, Adelaide Road. Ho will address a meeting of ladies in the Mew Century Hall atthrco o'clock on the following afternoon. Mr. C. H. Izard, M.l\, invites the electors', of Wellington North to meet him at Sydney Street Schoolroom to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock. Mr. J. W. Braithwaito addressed a large meeting of Jolmsonvillo residents yesterdayevening, Mr. T. Bawler occupying the chair. The address was mainly on the lines pursued in previous addresses, with the exception that the candidate favoured the removal of the restrictions placed on Civil Servants in regard to taking an activc part in politics. Tho meeting concluded with a vote of thanks and confidence. . ' . .Mr. R. B. Williams, the Opposition candidate for the Suburbs electorate, will address the olectors of Wadestown oil Thursday at 8 p.m. Mrs. Fisher will be present at a ladies' meeting which will be held in St. Peter's schoolroom at 3 o'clock to-day, in furtherance of the candidature of Mr. F. M. 13. Fisher for AVclliligton Central. Mr. Fisher will speak at Willis Street school to-morrow night. TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS. Following is a list of public meetings to bo addressed by candidates this evening:— Wellington Central.—lion. T. W. Hislop, Druids' Hall, 3 o'clbck. ■ Wellington North. —Mr. A. L. Herdman, Sydney Street Schoolroom, 8 o'clock. Wellington Fast. —Mr. W. M'Lcnn, Victoria Hall, Adelaide Road, 8 o'clock. Wellington Suburbs.—Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald, Hall, Kilbirnie, 8 o'clock. Wellington Suburbs.—Mr. J. AV. Braithwaito, Parochial Hall, Knrori, 8 o'clock. Wellington Suburbs.—Mr, J. P. Luke, tho Hall, Ngahauranga, 8 o'clock. , Wellington Suburbs.—Mr. W. T. Young, Parish Ilall, Jolmsoiiville, 8 o'clock. Hutt. —Mr. T. M. Wilford, Oddfellows' Hall, Petonc, 8 o'clock. Otaki.—Air. liyron Jirown, Century Hall, Levin, 8 o'clock. Otaki.—Mr. W. H. Field, tho Institute, Ohau, 8 o'clock. . Wellington South.—Mr. W. 11. P. Barber, Fullford'3 Hall, Brooklyn, 8 o'clock.