CAMPAIGN NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 111, 6 November 1908, Page 3

CAMPAIGN NOTES.

School teachers hcve a strong supporter in Mr. E. B. Williams, Opposition candidate for the Wellington Suburbs. "At present/ he said, "we have the sorry spectacle of tho Ministers and the Crown Law officers working overtime to placate a righteously indignant body of earnest men and women." The best education, he went on to say, was wanted for our children. How were we to get it without paying our teachers the best possible salaries ? Money spent in this direction would indeed be spent on reproductive works in the business sense. It was a great pity that there should have been such a misunderstanding as to salaries as existed a., the present time. Asked at Kilbirnie whether he would favour the esuiolishmcnt of a Stat« Bank, Sir. A. 11. Atkinson replied with an emphatic negative. Not even after tho machinery of Government had been re-adjusted on the lines which he had advocated would t\ie candidate favour 3uch ;: measure. To the further 4112stion whether tho Stats should not monopolise the ipsue of bank notes, Mr. Atkinson answered that under the control of the questioner tho arrangement might ■work all right, but that he would never dream of installing any ordinary politician at tho Government Printing Office with power to reel off bank notes at pleasure. Jt would be an easy job for the Government Printer, but the liquidation of the notes might not be .so easy or so pleasant. In reply to a question at Judgeford, Mr. Byron Brown said he was in accord with the I'anueia' Union platform in everything except giving the freehold to the L.I. P. tenants at the original valuation. It was not xhe sort of thing a private landlord would do, and he was quite sura that if the members who were advocating such a robbery of the people's estate were the landlords of the L.I.P. tenants' sections, they would not hand over tho freehold at the original value. No member (said Air. Brown) should do ■with tho people's money that which h« would not do with his own. (Applause) Som« misunderstanding has arisen over Mr. H. B. Williams, Opposition candidate for^ the Suburbs seat, inserting in his manifesto some time ago, the word "Liberal." A questioner at his Berhampore meeting last night apked, "Is it true you issued a manifesto that you would stand as a Government candidate?" The candidate answered "No," and explained, "I am .1 Liberal in the true sense, but not a Government Liberal." There was, he went on to say, nothing in his manifesto about his supporting the present Government. An Opposition candidate had just as much right as any other candidate to apply the term "Liberal" to himself. A speaker at Mr. H. G. Ell's meeting last night delivered a most effective twominute speech (telegraphs our Christchurch correspondent). "I am not a member of any political organisation," he aaid, "but I do study the politics of the country, and I have done so from th» time of the maritime strike, when I Was driven into a soup kitchen to get something to eat. In those days we worked at breaking stones, married men 3s 6d a day, single men 2s 6d. When I hear people stand on candle boxes and denounce Liberalism and the Liberal Government, I feel like going away and being ill. I have a family of boys and girls, and I know that the conditions are

infinitely better than they were fifteen or twenty years ago. What do the supporters ol" these candle box orators want ? We should remember what has been done in the past and stick to the man who has been proved. We want to stick to tire Liberal Government. It has fought the good fight." '" Unlike tho Government and their labelled voting machines, if I am elected to represent this constituency, I shall take my seat in the House fully recognising and appreciating that I am the political servant of the people, and therefore duty to the master must take precedence." — Mr. W. T. Young, Labour candidate for Wellington Suburbs, at Maranni. The appointment of Mr. A. Ft. Holmes to be. Returning Officer for the Wellington Licensing District is Gazetted. Mr. F. T. Moore spoke at Miramax last evening, Mr. March being in the chair. Th» candidate advocated tht> State banking scheme, and criticised thesystcm of trust in trading matters throughout tha Dominion. The remedy, he said, was to be found in a system of Government competition. The candidate was accorded a vote of thanks. The Government offices throughout the Dominion will close at noon on the day of the general elections. By an order in council Gazetted last night the poll will close at 7 p.m. in tho following electoral districts : — Auckland West, Auckland East, Auckland! Central, Avon, Chalmers, Christchurch North, Christchurch East, Christchurch South, Dunedin North, Dunedin Central, Dunedin South, Dunedin West, Eden, Grey, Grey Lynn, Hutt, Inyercargill, Lyttelton, Motueka, Napier, Nelson, Oamaru, Palmejcston, Parnell, Riccarton, Thames, Timaru, Waitaki, Waitemata, Wanganui, Wellington North, Wellington Central, Wellington. East, Wellington South, Wellington Suburbs. A well-attended meeting at Wallacevillc last night was addressed by Mr. R. W. Short, who spoke on the lines of his former speeches, and was given an attentive hearing. On the motion of Mr. J. Downing, seconded by Mr. F. Burrcll, a vote of thanks -was carried. Mr. E. lSiirrell presided. Mrs. Atkinson, speaking at a meeting in the New Century Hall yesterday, urged that every woman ought to consider roads and bridges a woman's question, because of the misery entailed on \Yomen in many of the backblocks by the lack of them. She gave some very touching instances of suffering published in The Post by Mr. R. Grigg, a backblocks settler, some, months ago, and urged the women to vote for the only candidate who put forward a policy that would eusure this question being properly dejilt with. "It is quite evident that the Government of the country as a democracy is for tho people by the people — under instructions by the Premier," states Mr. 11. W. Short, a candidate for the Hutt 6cat. He added lhat he came out to make a hard and clean fight, and he certainly deprecated the action of tho Premier in forwarding to a committee meeting of his (Mr. Short's) opponent, a communication congratulating him upon the immense amount of work he had done for the good of the country, etc. According to the Primo Ministe), Mr. Wilt'ord 'was tho people's friend, and no other candidate would be acceptable. "I say," continued Mr. Short, "such a position should not be tolerated. As Mr. Taft said, let the people judge. We want no wording from the Prime Minister as to who is acceptable to him. I think tho position is a wrong one — that electors should be dictated to and told most emphatically that this man bears the Government brand. I hope you will let the people see that you have more backbone than to be so dictated to." The names of Mr. K. W. Short's nominators for the Hutt seat were published last night. Yesterday afternoon Mr. T. M. Wilford was nominated by Chas. W. Brown, Waiwetu, R. J. Southgate, Petone, N. J. Benmngton, Silverstream, Alfred Coles, Petone, Anna Maria Wakelin, Petone, Chas. W. Howard, Epuni. Mr. W. T. Young, the Labour candidate for Wellington Suburbs, at Maranui, on the Hon. Mr. Millar's Dunedin speech : "Evidently the hon. gentleman is so excessively under the influence of some great delusion as to believe that we should treat as exceptional favours all legislative enactments of the Ministry, of which he is a unit; but I hold to the contrary — that the Ministry should be extremely grateful to the community for permitting them to occupy the exalted position of being able to place upon the statute-book of the country the political aims and aspirations of the people."

A sale of property having a frontage to Petone-avenue of 39 feet, by a depth of 110 feet 3 inches, was conducted by Messrs. Harcourt and Company in their auction rooms yesterday. The property went to Mrs. Lily Walsh for £500.