NOTES AND JOTTINGS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 119, 16 November 1911, Page 3

NOTES AND JOTTINGS.

"I am confident of this, that if the people of New Zealand only realised what our (the Opposition) policy is in connection with labour matters, they would appreciate this fact that if wo were in power more money would be invested, industry would flourish, enterprise would be stimulated, and the condition of the labouring man would be improved. (Applause.)— Mr. Herdman at St. Paul's Schoolroom. Throughout Southland (cays the Southland Times) the coming Parliamentary elections are attracting attention that hus been unprecedented for the past quarter of a century. In the trains, the hotel bare and other public places where men do congregate, the elections are the one topic of conversation. Opinions are loudly advanced and are at all times adjusted according to the leanings of the individual who gives them voice. Hence it » very difficult to form any definite opinion; as to the ultimate result whe»» the public mind is tested through the medium of hearsay. One fact, however, is evident from these impromptu political debates ; the individual stands out and is summed up without mucti consideration being given to the party ho represents. Several candidates have exhorted electors at their meetings to vote not for the man but for the party ; but theee exhortations have to all appearances been without avail so far as the people referred to are concerned. Seldom is a candidate's political colour ! allowed to enter into the discussions. To the casual observer it would seem as .though the characteristics of individuals will be the determining factor in deciding the elections in Southland at any rate. After a candidate's personality, his views on such topical questions as the totalisator, the prohibition movement and the defence 6chemo enter moet frequently into the popular controversies. "There k more flapdoodle in the las* ■Budget than I have listened to for many years," stated Mr. W. T. Young last evening. "The Government stole one .of " our planks — pensions for widows. It | never occurred to Sir Joseph Ward until he i«ad it in the Labour Party's platform." A voice : He is a political opportunist. Mr. Young: They are all political opportunists — Tory and Liberal. The Government doesn't possess a single principle further than retaining office, and the same applies to the Massey crowd which I wouldn't touch with a forty foot pole, 'but I wouldn't touch the othere with a fifty foot pole. A voice : We're between the devil and the deep blue sea. The statistics of the Prime Minister's work for the week ending Saturday would be decidedly interesting if they could be obtained. Sir Joseph Ward put the position mildly at the" Bluff on Saturday when he said his official position required him to do "a little more work" than other people. From Monday to Saturday Sir Joseph must have travelled close on 600 miles, including the train journey from Christchurch, delivered nineteen speeches, including comparatively brief acknowledgments of receptions tend«red to him. wherever he wcnti jmi |£ojsfii well „on foy & &UI&S&

of a million woids. These are estimates, for there are no means of ascertaining precise figures. Probably, if the information could be obtained, it would be found that the number of hours of sleep which. the Prime Minister was able to obtain could bo stated in very diminutive figures. When Sir Joseph reached Bluff on Saturday no traces of the week's exertions were visible. In the language of the ring, he "came up smiling." _He received a welcome that would have" revived even a tired man, and he took the platform in the evening full of fighting "vim." — Southland Times. "Sir John Findlay one day condemns the totalisator, and then approves of il the next." — Mr. Herdman, at St. Paul's Schoolroom. "A racehorse can travel on the railways one way free of charge," declared Mr. W. T. Young last night, "sports clubs get concessions, but, to my mind, the first consideration must be for the sick. (Hear, hear.) When a deputation waited on the Hon. T. Mackenzie requesting cheap fares to Rotorua for eick people, all sorts of platitudes and obstacles were placed in the way. It is enough to make tho blood boil." Speaking at Christchurch on Monday evening Mr. L. M. Isitt said that he was as free as the air to condemn the Government? if he thought there was maladministration ; to oppose any legislation he believed to be retrogressive, to push on the' Government to more and moro progressive legislation if it seemed to be lagging behind. That was the position he had taken up. If he had his way he would reconstruct tho Cabinet to-morrow. He would remorselessly turn out some men, and would replace them with others. Yet, in the teeth of that fact, he had been told that he never tired of expressing wholesouled admiration for the Government. The fact was that his offence was that he was possessed of whole-souled loathing and contempt for the policy of the Opposition. That was hje position. (Applause.) His offence was that he had tried to bring into political life the ordinary principles of decency and honour and truth that obtained amongst men in the conduct of life's affairs. "Experience in Australia is that'political patronage is practically eliminated, and generally speaking, the people are satisfied," replied Mr. Herdman, in answer to a question re the establishment of a Civil' Service Board. Mr. James Allen is apparently a convert to the totalisator. In answer to a question at Lawrence he stated that he had once voted for its abolition, but that he would not do so again. It hardly required the Attorney-Gen-eral's ruthless analysis to prove to tho average elector that Mr. Maesey's demand for the acquisition of the freehold by the Crown lessee at . the original value is a most objectionable vote-catch-ing device, and that here, as everywhere else, the Opposition speaks for the big landowner and not for the small mail who is striving to get on the land. But what other means are there for the dis memberment of the large estates that we have so far failed to employ? The direct purchase of estates haw become too costly a process to carry on. The special modification of the Lands for Settlement Act, which Sir John Findlay described last night — the owner to accept Government . debentures for his land, and tho land to be sold by auction or tender — would get over 6ome of the difficulties, and, would provide a rational alternative for the now hopelessly discredited ballot. But 2 on the whole, we agree with the-Attorney.Gen-eral that by far the best prospect of breaking up the large estates and finding i-oom for the people lies in the direction of the Graduated Land Tax.— | Auckland Star. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. W. F. Massey, will address the electors of j Palmerston North in the OpeTa House ! there on Tuesday night, 21st inst. The Mayor of Palmerston will preside. J In a reference to the iron industry, the Minister for Mines (Hon fi. M'Kenzie) I stated at Foxhill (Nelson) last week that in Collingwood there was one of the largest iron deposits in the known world. The Government had got tired of waiting for private individuals to develop the iron deposits, and had given them notice that if they did not do something the Government would have to step in. The htm and 6teel industry, he said, would be of the greatest benefit to the Nelson district. In ten years there would be a town at Collingwood as big as Nelson. He wa6 looking forward tcv within eighteen months, establishing a State enterprise in connection with the iron industry. y "I am politically an optimist. The fit place for the pessimist is the cemetery." — Mr. Isitt at ChristchurchT Replying to questions at Dunedin last night (telegraphs our local correspondent), the Hon. J. x A. Millar declared for the three-fifths majority at licensing polls. Personally, he did not like titles,' and if offered one he would not accept it. (A voice : " That's why, we like you. 1 ') "It used to be said that the Labour Party was divided, but now I find that applies to the other parties. I have counted' fifteen distinct and separate platforms put forward by members of the Opposition — and still they come ["-? I Mr. M'Laren on party differences. "Wainui will some day become an industrial centre, and instead of having ■ houses scattered here and there, as at present, you will be a prosperous and thriving community." Such a picture was dTawn by Mr. R. W. Short at his meeting at Wainui last evening. The candidate went on to explain that io bring about such a desired result only one thing was needed — the deviation of the Wairarapa railway line through the v district. There was no question, he said, that the line would be diverted from the present costly route over the Rimutaka Range, but if the line was built through Wainui there would be immense possibilities before the Valley. Speaking 'a«l night. Mr. M'Laren said : "I always read the speeches of ] my opponent, Dr. Newman, because they are so entertaining. Take this last. He argues solemnly that it is not good for a party^to be too large; that the Government has too many members, and then ho proceeds to attack the Labour Party, which hitherto has consisted) of one single member in the House. Think of the humour of it. A party of many is too large and a party of one is too large. 'Tis the old, old j plea— 'only put me in.' "