THE OPPOSITION AT PETONE.

Evening Post, Volume LI, Issue 105, 4 May 1896, Page 2

THE OPPOSITION AT PETONE.

The Promier's friends were olevor in organising his meeting before the presentation to the distriot mombor npon the following evening. Mr. Soddon bad a snooossful meeting, while Dr. Newman appears to have been greoted with enthusiasm, and, to the ordinary and non-partisan observer, honours wonld seem to bo eajy, and a sharply, contested elootion for Wellington Suburbs a oertalnty. At the meeting of Friday, though some heavy oratorioal artillery was brought into play, the speeches were not above the average, yet some points were bronght out that lend themselves to comment. Thus, Mr. Duthie attempted to show that the present Government is wholly responsible for the diminished rate of wages. The contention is no more tenable than the ridioulous assumption of the Premier that bis Government has oheapened money, and inoreosed

the value of the State stocks. But the junior member for the oity got npon solid ground when he came to denounce the antiquated, slow, and ntterly inadequate railway service that keeps Fetone and the whole of the Hutt Valley at a standstill as suburbs of the oity. A fast and frequent express service to Petone and the Hutt is one of the most urgent of local requirements, and of equal moment to both city and suburbs. At present, Mr. Duthie says, it is the slowest railway servioe in the world, ai.d we believe him. Sir Robert Stout, too, was there, and paid some deserved compliments to the guest of the evening '1 he point of his speech was that the issue to be fought ont at the general election wiw that of oorrnpt administration, and he appealed to his audience, as we do, not to allow any side issues to interfere with this. An for Dr. Newman, while he unqnes■fenably belongs to the party in Parliament that is properly styled Conservative, yet he has given his constituents and the country ample proofs of his Liberalism. But his greatest claim to-day npon the suffrages of the electors is because of the uncompromising stand he took against the infamous Banking legislation, that will yet destroy, if its polit'oal end does not sooner come, the Seddon Government. And let the publio remember that he did this after the leader of his party and Mr. Buchanan had subscribed to the report of the Joint Committee of the Houses, and co made possible the commission of the greatest act of publio wrong that ever defaoed the History of a British province. Of thatorime against the State Dr. Newman Baid on Friday evening :—" If ihe people oonld only see with a strong light into the reoent Banking legislation, all other nefarious transactions that bad taken place would fade into insignifioanoe." This we believe to be—we might almost say we know to beabsolutely trne; and Dr. Newman is one of the small knot of men in the present House who can be trusted to help drag the truth as to that iniquity into the- light of day, and for that reason alone any constituency in the country should be glad to return him to Parliament.