WELLINGTON CENTRAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1304, 6 December 1911, Page 8

WELLINGTON CENTRAL.

MR. FISTTfiR AT TRIO TOWN HAT,

THREE THOUSAND PRESENT,

Further evidence was given last .night of the growth of (he sentiment for lieform, and of the personal and political popularity of Mr. l\ M. 1). Fisher, Opposition candidate for Wellington Central, by the presence in the Town Hall of some 3000 people, to hear him speak. Mr. Kisher spoke first, of politics, nnd then of "The Wobbler" ami,- politics. Ihero wero a few interjectors, but. only a few, and they perturbed the audience " swat deal moro than they perturbed Air. I'ishcr. The temper of tho meeting was of enthusiastic cordiality fowards the speaker. As at previous meetings of his campaign, Mr. Fisher dispensed with a chairman.

What is the Issue? Mr. Fisher was received with a long sustained burst of cheering. "What is tho issue before tho people at the present t me? he asked. "You are asked to declare for one of two parties-the one tho Government party, headed by the Prime Minister, and the other tho Reform ft* J", .headed by Mr, .Massey..-. I ho™ that it will not be long before wo can call him the Honourable Mr." Masscv" A PEla«se) Some said, he continued, that Mr Massey had not sufficient ability ever to become Prime Minister. :. (Voices: Kot, and "Rubbish."). He agreed thif fourW , - h p ( ?- rr - fS onf n y n T as an Independnf i,n>V, i s , the - re S"lt of his observations i ,l lc , a , ders . "ml both parties, he had come to tho conclusion that the party Sn fh i ConscrT «tive party, and «nat had they done? They had n>rln™, claries, but'they had comn enc/d • t ™ T n r Tl gir / arr y A *in»n lad been the first to suffer by the reduction" If the Reform party got into power, one ! h J ng3 w "eh-ther-would do uould be to take away from the Government tho power of dispensing patronage, of their principal lines of patronage was that they were the only ceople who had the power to mukjo some people HonouraWe who had not been known as • Honouraoio" before. Also, they were the only people who had power to male* anyone a K.C.M.G. They were the only people who had access to the Kin? Ho was_ quite sura that since His Majesty received the "Roddy Nugget" the Kin? knew the Hon. R. M'Kenzie quite well.

Reforms to Come. Whab wits thei Opposition going ki offer? They would promise decent expenditure of all the money borrowed, and they would do away with thp squandering of which the Liberals had been guilty. The Opposition would not spend money in tho interests- of the party, but in the interests of the country. The Public Service would bo put under the control of a board, which would promote by merit and by merit only. They would also give tho people a Public Tenders Board, which would deal with all tenders for public works. The Opposition would also give a settlement of the Native land question in this country, and although hp recognised the geniality and far-reaching ability of two men at the head of the Department, he knew there would never be a settlement of the Native land question while two men at the head of the Department were Natives. The Reform party would make every item of public expenditure accessible to members of Parliament.

"The Wobbler." Mr. Fisher proceeded to deal with "The Wobbler." ' Then it was' for the first time in the meeting that there was any sustained interruption. It came from ono or, at most, two' people, and in the end the chief objector was persuaded to leave. Mr. Fisher told of what he considered the beginning of his quarrel with the "Evening Post." He' said it was what had been known as ths Woodward Street transaction, of which the hero was T. Kennedy Macdonald. Sinco ho liad unearthed that the "-Evening Post" had been his bitterest enemy. The tactics of the newspaper he criticised severely, and he applied to it a heap of nasty "terms. Mr. Fisher appeared to enjoy his selfimposed task of rebuking tho "high 'and mighty journalistic swashbuckler," and the audiencq cheered him , freely. Generally he said that because of the newspaper's inconsistencies, it could seriously pose as a leader of public opinion. In conclusion, Mr. Fisher ventured to prophesy that' Thursday was going to be an eventful day in the political history of tho country, and the Ward Government

stood a very fair chance of being put out. (Deafening applause.) He asked electors, however, to run no risks, and not to

think for an instant that a vote could be wasted. (Applause.) Mr. Fisher answered a budget of questions, most of which were trivial, and some of which were frivolous.

A voto of thanks and confidenco was proposed, and then seconded in a scor? of places. It was carried with hearty acclamation and three cheers for Mr. Fisher. Last of all, Mr. Fisher called for three cheers for Mr. Massey, and the cheers were given lustily.

ADDKESSBS BY MB. YOUNG. Mr. W. T. Young, Labour candidate for Wellington Central, addressed two large meetings of electors, in tho. open air, last night. Iu each case, he outlined tho platform of the Labour party, and emphasised the fact that whereas Liberal and Opposition candidates had put forward personal platforms and not the platforms of their parties, he, like all other Labour men, was definitely pledged to a clear platform, which had been expounded to the electors. Men returned on account of personal platforms could not hope to givu them effect for thn reason that the planks would come into conflict with the platform of their party.. In thn case of tho Labour partyno such difficulty existed. When a sufficient number of Labour men to constitute a majority had been returned to Parliament, the Labour platform would be carried into effect. Mr. Young referred to tho construction of tho Midland railway, and pointed.out that a very large sum of money was being expended in connection with Lhis undertaking. Ho contended that the work itself would never pay interest on tho cnpital invested, and it appeared to him that the only thing that would be accomplished by the expenditure made and contemplated would be to enhance land values along'the route, nnd the value of property generally. In his opinion it would have paid the country better had 'Pieton been linked up with Christehui'ch by a railway service, thus (•onlining the ferry service to the journey between I'icton and Wellington.

At each meeting Mr. Young was unanimously accorded a vote of thanks and confidence.