WELLINGTON CENTRAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1310, 13 December 1911, Page 7

WELLINGTON CENTRAL.

MR. FISHER FULL OF FIGHT. ■'. GBEAT MEETING IN THE DRUIDS"; HALL. Mr. Fisher had a characteristic meet ing last night. That Ls to say, tho building—the Druids' Hall—was crowded io ' tho utmost capacity, the audience eager and enthusiastic, and the candidate full of fight and full of good humour. Jlo was received with tumultuous applause and cheers, and had a splendid hearing. "Ladies and gcntlcinicn," said thecon-.. didalo, when the opening ovation had subsided, "yon are going to hear next Thursday night of the decease of tho Ward Government, ond I have been asked lo sav what I think will bo tho result of that.' Ho went on to sny that he thought , thcro would bo only room in tho near future for two parlies in this country— a Liberal party and a Labour parly. The former would consist of tho Reform parly, plus the freehold section of tho present Government following, while -the-, leasehold section of the "present Govern-" inent following would join the Labour party. Tho first thing to bo done, however, was to turn out the Ward Government. His opponent, Mr. Fletcher, was pledged to sunport the Ward Government, and ho (Mr. Fisher) was pledged to help put it out. (Loudapplause.) Mr.' Fletcher had stated repeatedly that he had never been defeated iu any electoral contest. That was incorrect, because Mr. Fletcher was defeated tho first lima he stood for the Harbour Board, and if anybody knew thai fact, surely Mr Fletcher did. That showed that Mr.' iletchcr was the kind of man who would stand up as Mr. Fletcher did the previous night, and read what he <aid was a statement from Hansard, showing thatMr. Massey had advocated working men' being paid only .'is a day. Did Mr. lie chcr read it at the meeting from the book ?

A voice; No. Ho read it from a niece of paper. Mr. Fisher: The man who will read what is put into his hands 011 a sheet of paper, and Mate it as a truth is Hid sort of (.lovernment parrot the country wants to get rid of. A voice: He gave the page and number to an inquirer. Mr. Fisher: And there would not be Halt a dozen of the audience who would take the trouble to look it up. The candidate went on to show (on the linos of the refutation published in yesterday's Dohiniox) that Mr. Massev's point was that ho objected to men being brought to Auckland from the south to compete against the local unemployed, and that he did not wish to bring wages down, either then or now. Mr. Fislicr also said that Mr. Fletcher had not given [ho date.. It was 1595. He had to go back 1G years to find it, aaid then he gave it wrong. A Government must be in a precarious position when it had to try to keep its place, not by truths about what it had done, but by mis-statements about its opponents. In order to mako his position in connection with the Reform party perfectlv clear, Mr. Fisher read telegrams which had passed between himself and Mr. Massey. His own telegram to the Leader of the Reform party was as follows:— .Am I not justified in saying publicly that I givo you conditional support for the purposo of ousting the Ward Government? Mr. Massey had telegraphed' in replj as follows:— Certainly. Understanding was that we should work together to oust a bad Government. Mr. Fisher added that he quoted Mr. Massey'6 telegram because he had been asked what ho would do if the Reform Government brought down a . freehold policy. ' Ho was not going to. bo forced into the position of votin" for the sale, of a single acre of Crown land jn this country. He was prepared to throw down, this or any Government that did not make for Radical reform. Mr. George Price, speaking as a supporter of Mr. Young in the first ballot, strongly advised all workers to vote for Mr. Fisher. He moved:— "That this meeting accords Mr. Fisher a von- heartv rote of thanks for his address,* and that wo express the hope that the electors will place him at the head of the poll in the second ballot. _ Thi-i was seconded by a man in the. audience, who mentioned that he was a wharf worker. loud applause and spontaneous cheers foMowd these speeches. The motion was carried with a roar of acclamation. -Noes" w?r« called for, and a ley worn ci'ven. The meeting ended with further roaring cheers for Mr. Fisher.

Dr. Newman replied that he had spoken in favour of it, and had supported it. , The questioner retorted that that was untrue, and ho would prove it by Hansard. Dr. Newman (after examining a written extract handed up) «xplained his position. The Bill, when first introduced, had been badly drafted and -.badly worded: He spoke against ono:or two clauses, but, when it came to tho third reading, his vote had been cast in favour of tho Bill. Only recently ho had been looking up Hansard, and was surprised to faun how raifch he had said in favour of tho measure. , ... _ Tho meeting closed with cheers for Dr. Newman, and counter..' cheers for his opponent. ME. M'LAIiEN'S -MEETINGS. Mr. D. M'Laren addressed three largo meetings last night, the first being in the Skating liintc, Kilbirnie, then in the Now Century Hall, and later he spoko outside the Newtown Library. The candidate held that throughout the campaign he had fought clean in the interest of the mass of the people. It was.quite too absurd for' Dr. Newman to argue as if it was wicked for a Labour man to take Liberal votes, since he was after the Government support himself. As an indication of the need for drastic action ou the land question, he pointed out that 48 persons in Marlborough owned 1.280,9*4 acres of land. The Opposition's policy would not cure this evil ot. land'monopoly, as their purpose was that of selling the Crown lands, the land for (settlement lands, and even the national endowment lands, under certain conditions. This meant wholesale land traf-. licking, and gambling was not settlement. On the licorising question, his. partv, whilst supporting the bare majority, wonld take any reasonable advance. Personally he held that greater attention should bo given to the social needs of the people, as a means ot inducing tho practice of temperance on the • port of tho people. Mr. M'Laren dealt with a question of industrial law at somo length:' , , , 'ii. All' three meetings concluded a vote of thanks and confidence, and cheers for' the Labour candidate add party.