PROSPECTS IN SOUTHLAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 107, 2 November 1908, Page 2

PROSPECTS IN SOUTHLAND.

NEW CANDIDATES. . (By Teleghath.— Special to The Post.] •INVERCARGILL, This Day. The main features of the campaign in j Southland during the week have been the visits of the Pre-nier and the Hon. R. M'Nab. The Premier spoke unexpectedly at Bluff on Saturday night, but it was thero that he made the principal speech and was most cordially received. Tlie W niton meeting, be it understood, i was not by any means unfriendly — hostility to Sir Joseph doesn't happen in Southland — but it was not demonstrative or enthusiastic. The principal theme of all the speeches was Opposition criticism of Government measures and doings, and the answer to that criticism was on each occasion much on the same lines THE FARMERS' UNION. The most noticeable aspect of Mr. M'Nab's Woodlands speech on Thursday night was his attitude towards the Farmers' Union. It was a perfectly polite but obvious attitude of unconcern. The Minister accepted the fact of the Union's Hostility, and made no effort at conciliation. He told of his .association with the land laws and the dairy regulations. He said that those things were good and to those premises he stood firm. He mentioned that the Farmers' Union said this and that, and then he became sarcastic, and laughed at the Farmers' Union — made "small" of it anyway. MR. M'NAB'S OPPONENT. Reference was mads in last week's notes to the probability of Mr. Anderson, of the Gore Ensign, taking the field against the Minister of Lands, and the pressman's candidature has since been announced. 'Mr. Anderson is described as a "solid" man. He has been through the newspaper mill from the composing room to the editorial chair, and m the process he has acquired merit after the manner of his kind. He has not yet got fairly under way, and it will be better to wait for him to explain just where he stands in the matter of political ideas than to put him in any particular category just yet. What is important is that he is opposing the Minister, that a strong committee has been formed to see him through, and that there is reason to believe that his supporters at the poll will not be merely a ridiculous minority. It is not, of course, suggested that there is going to be anything phenomenal about the nature of the contest, but some of the gossip at Gore races was certainly noteworthy. It was freely stated there that many Government supporters would vote against the Minister on individual grounds, and that Mr. Anderson would give him "a go " for it. Also, it is said that round about Wyndham district the pressman will find considerable support. How much all the gossip is really worth it is hard to say. For this seat also nnother candidate has been announced, Mr. G. S. Fleming, owner of land at the Auckland Islands, and a figure more or less conspicuous in Southland. THE INVERCAKGILL SEAT. The rumour as to the opposition to Mr Hanan, for the Jnveraugiil seat, has developed into something more definite, and an announcement is expected to-day. I understand that Mr. A. A. Paape has been asked to stand, and will stand if satisfactory preliminaries can be arranged. Mr. Paape is notable chiefly as a secretary of divers associations. He runs carnivals with remarkable success, and .his dh'ection of Invercargill's first Hospital Saturday collections was a notable achievement. He is secietary of numerous sports bodies, unions, etc., and is a particularly capable organiser. He favoured Prohibition once, but his experience of Invercargill has made him change his views, and probably it will be the anti-No-license party that will baclc him. Mr. Paape will probably remain out of Parliament. In the other electorates there have been no developments worthy of note. '