HOWLED DOWN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1312, 15 December 1911, Page 8

HOWLED DOWN.

PREMIER GETS NO HEARING. HOSTILE POPULACE. At half-past seven last evening a gathering of some fivo hundred people was watching Tun Dominion display board in Larnbton Quay, but it grew to twice as many thousands before the night was ~ over. At half-past eight fully ten thousand people wore reading and acclaiming the results as they were posted. 'i'enso expectancy was tho keynote of ■the concourse in tho early part of tho evening, but, as one Iteform triumph after another was announced, expectancy gave place to a high tide-of enthusiasm, that found vent in ringing chccrs. Tho figures announcing tho defeat of Mr. Hogg at Mastert-on were among the first to induce an outburst of cheers. Enthusiasm ran higher as it was scon that Mr. 801 l was lending in tho Suburbs, and Mr. Fisher in Wellington Central, a.ud a tremendous outburst of cheers aroso when it was announced that Dr. Newma,n was "in for East." The cheering was renewed when the final figures were posted ten minntes Inter. One round of cheers followed another as it was announced in turn that Jfr. Dickson had defeated Sir John Findicy at Parnell, that Mr. Bell was vic(eriiu. in tho Suburbs, and that Mr. Pi.", ;>N. npostlo of the now. evangel, had !;>!,. '.Imvn in Grey Lynn. Ten thou- ■ ■-' Miroats lifted triumphant cheers v.ln-ii ii became known that Mr. Fisher had won the Central seat. A very difi; s f r * r-ception greeted the news that Miliar had retained his scat in Dunol'ii Wist. Half-hearted ch«ers ■ were by a section of tho crowd, bnt Mi"' crrat majority remained silent. All ►.he ranli'lntes for the city and suburban ■*>nK except Mr. Moore, spoko during the evening from the platform in front of T;i}: Domtmcw hoarding, and-all who .spoke were given a good hearing, though one or I wo wore subjected to Ifostilo. inter jeoi ions. At 10.1.'i p.i.'i. a great part of the crowd departed in the."' direction of another hoaftling. where a mighty roar of cheers ami lioyiin? Miilil bo heard rising up.

Sir Joseph Ward was attempting to address the electors. The Baronet Faces the Crowd. A big crowd also obtained the news from .the .results board of the "New Zealand Times," and demonstrated their feelings, which were mostly against the Ward Government. Most of the local candidates spoke from the balcony, and the only olio who had any difficulty about getting a hearing was—strangely enough—Mr. Fisher, but he did not try very hard, and when the crowd saw him quietly dictating his speech to a reporter, they soon grew silont, and 6howed their friendlinoss to him. : The, event, of the evening was the appearance of Sir Joseph Ward to face the citizens. An announcement by megaphone seemed to almost double the size of the crowd, by the addition of a large contingent from The Dominion display. The Prime Minister appeared on the "Times" balcony at 10.22 p.m., accompanied by Lady Ward and Miss Eileen Ward. Mr. Gladstone Ward joined them later. The crowd, which must have numbered some 4000 people, made a tremendous uproar—cheering, booing, and shouting. It.was perfectly good-humoured, and it was difficult for somo time to say whether the noiso was mainly friendly or hostile. Sir Joseph Ward stood smiling and waring his hat; the ladies stood behind him, smiling and waving their handkerchiefs— and the crowd yelled,, shouted, cheered, and made such an uproar as has probably never before been made in the streets of /Wellington. After five, minutes, the supporters on the balcony raised "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and sang it lustily, but it was not taken up in the street' below. They repeated this form of encouragement several times. Larger ind larger sections of the crowd as time went on took part in one "count-out" after another, and the-uproar was - continuous. Hats and handkerchiefs were waved wildly. ,

He Stood for Thirty-eight Minutes. Sir Joseph Ward held bis place iwjil 11 o'clock, amd during all that time-33 minutes —he had no chance whatever of making himself heard Tho Prime Minister was "counted out by large portions of the people no fewer than eleven times. He still stcod smiling and waving. "Cheers for Mr. Massey" were threo separate times called for in the street, and loudly given. Cries' of: "Wo want Massey," and ,r Wo want Fisher" were also well taken up. They Hand Him a Megaphono. At a quarter to eleven Mr. Robert Fletcher appear&l beside tho Prime Minister, but tho crowd would not have iiim either. At 10.50 someone handed to Sir Joseph Ward a megaphone, but after viewing it, and handling it, he passed it along, evidently deciding that such things were not for him. At 11 o'clock he waved farewell to tho crowd, turned his back upon them, and re-entered the building. Eight minutes later ho camo back ovidentiy 'disposed to have another try to speak, and again Mr. Fletcher camo with him. About a quarter of the crowd had the meantime gone away, and the tram-cars wero moving through the Temaindcr and receiving full freights. ■ Nevertheless a still largo remnant of tho multitudo continued to roar cheers for Masscy, and cries of: "We want Massey" were called again and 'again. At 11.12 p.m. thoro was a thoroughly determined well-finished-olf count out, and one minuto later Sir. ■ Joseph Ward boat n fiual . rotreat through ono of the windows of tlie building. Tho' remarks which he made within doors to a gathering of supporters are reported under another heading. Cheers for the Reform Men. Attempts were made by Messrs. Herries, Herdman, and Buchanan, to pacify tho crowd sufficiently to cnablo Sir Joseph Ward to inako himself heard, but they could cffect nothing. As already stated, tho peoplo would not hear Sir Joseph Ward.

At midnight, when there was still a crowd of about 1000 pooplo on Lambton Quay, Messrs. W. Herries, A. L. Herdman, and W. C. Buchanan mounted the balcony outsido the "Times" Office, and were given a gonial welcome from tho crowd, which wero greatly exhilarated by tho change which had taken plaoc in tho political situation. Mr. Herries made a speech, of which little could to heard below, owing lo the rowdy olcmeut in the crowd and the passing trail,s, but when in conclusion he called for throo cheers for Mr. Masscy, Iho cheers wcto given with mighty enthusiasm. He was followed by Mr. A- L. Herdman,

who was given a great reception. ■ He referred to the great work which had been done that day by the people of New Zealand, and with Mr. Herries he hoped that they would very soon have Mr. Masscy for their Prime Minister. (Loud cheers). It had been a signal victoryone which they had been fighting for for years. In conclusion he called once more for three cheers for Mr. Massey, and tho cheers wero there all right. Then the little knot of Reformers thought to go homo by way of Lambton Quay. They were followed by a bodyguard of hundrods-a cheering crowd. AMONG HIS SUPPORTERS. THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH. Speaking to a gathering of supporters, after the crowd in. thp. street had refused him a hearing, Sir Joseph Ward said they had gone through a very strenuous fight. Tlie returns of the elections were not yet final, but ho was quite prepared to accept the ultimate judgment: of the people. He was not beaten yet, but lie recognised that the closeness of tho parties was such as would create a position of unrest for some time to come Some of the men who had gone down in tho fight were excellent men, whbo had done their best for the country as a whole, and for their districts, and had been true to the people. I he present judgment of the people, lie felt sure, would not be lasting, and lie thought that in twelve months or so they would have an opportunity of asking the people to reconsider their judgment on matters which had been placed before them—unfairly, in his opinion. When all the returns were to hand, ho would be in a position to judgo as to the course to be taken in this cpoch that had arisen, and ho would do tho right tiling. t Ho was not in tho least discouraged, and he thought that when the elections were finally completed he ?■?'! 1? " a >'° a majority in the House. In Wellington that day and throughout the country the most active persons in the election had been the Inrgo landed proprietors, who had pushed 10 or 50 motor cars into tLie city to work against poor men. Ihey wild have to consider whether that sort of thin* should bo treated as bribery under our electoral law or whether the polling places should bo multiplied and placed much closer together. One of the Labour representatives had over 1500 people to get to tho poll after 3.30 p.m., and many of them could not get there becauso he had not sufficient inotor-cars to compete with those against him. This had caused a good deal of soreness. He was very glad to find that Labour had asserted ifself. It would be a mistake not to recognise that Labour must be represented in Parliament. He had never had any other opinion, and had never been against Labour. He had always been oil the side of the workers and the farmers. There had been deliberate misrepresentation on that point. If it should turn out that the Ministry was defeated, he would be just as much a philosopher out of office as he was in power. He had no personal feeling about it, and wanted to see the country governed well and doing well. He was sorry that one of his colleagues had gone down. He was now going home to have a real good sound sleep. He wished to thank his friends and supporters and workers from end to end of the country. When one was not successful, tho proper thing lo do was to shake hands with the winners, and that was how he felt. He was in goftSf'humour, and in good form, and was not going to say die because the Government was uot yet beaten. The Prime Minister was heard with demonstrations of enthusiasm by the little gathering of supporters, who gave hearty cheers for him and others. THE PREMIER GOES HOME. A POLICE ESCORT. FURTHER DEMONSTRATIONS. At midnight Sir Joseph' Ward sot out for home. Dr. Izard had been making attempts (o speak from ..tho "Times" balcony for sotno time, but was "boohed" and shouted down by the crowd at every venture. The defeated candidate for Wellington North tried for half an hour to snatch a moment when tho crowd was quiet (o begin a speech, but without success. At I times he retired, and tho crowd lured i him forward again by deceptive shouts of "Wo want Arnold!" Then Dr. Izard would stop forward, remove his hat, and, seemingly, prepare to address the crowd. Another man who was on the balcony made. a valorous effort (o deliver a speech. No doubt ho made a speech, . but it was not delivered—the crowd took . care that it did not reach the peoplo it was intended for. As to whether or not I these wero attempts to attract the atten- ' tion of tho crowd one among tho street audiencc can only imagine. However, shortly afterwards the wellknowu figure of Mr. Herries appeared on the same stand, and while tho crowd ' cheered heartily, lustily, and lung, Kir ; Joseph Ward and party camo down Ktl- ' burim Avenue, en route for "Avania"' House. By the fimo Sir .10-eph filmed info I.ajubton Quay his presence was the object of considerable hooting. All tho way to Sydney Street he wa-, followed bv a noisy crowd, which hooted and chcoro<l I alternately. Thij cheats wsr® the jrodnct, |

chiefly, of a small section. which collected oloso on Hie heels of the hume-buuini Premier. i'ulieo const allies were fairly contpicuuaiK in the vicinity of the baronet, and several ol' them made repeated ctl'orts to keep members of the jmlilic oil' the lootway. When "Airania" was irached, the sates weie promptly clival offer the Premier, and there wero cries of "Silence! Silence! Give him a hearing!" These cries roso from those near the gate, and the general impression was that Kir Joseph intended to address the crowd. However, the hubbub continued, and after a while the word went round, "He's gone," Then the police lined up against tho Rate of "Awarna" could be counted—nino constables and the sub-inspector. There may have !)tsn morn. The crowd did not dally long . near ".Awarua" gateway, but even while it hesitated, some of tho police attempted to disperse it with "Come on, bovs! Come on!" On the way home a small section of vocalists ymg again and again that they would hang a certain politician (not Mr. Massey) on a sour apple tree.