WELLINGTON SOUTH

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 116, 13 November 1919, Page 3

WELLINGTON SOUTH

MR. SEMPLE AT NEWTOWN

The Labour candidate for Wellington South, Mr. R. Semple, addressed the electors at the Star Theatre, Newtovvn, last night. Mr. A. Black presided over the meeting, which was obviously friendly. ■ Mr. Semple, as was the case at BrookI lyn on Tuesday night, gave a full account of his stewardship. The people of New Zealand, he said, were waiting for a real forward policy—a policy that would give the homeless homes, the jobl less jobs, and the widows and orphans security of tenure. A candidate's policy was all that mattered, not what his religion happened to be. The man who dragged his church into the political arena had no respect for his church. j (Applause.) Referring to his own personal work during the time he had been a member, he claimed that he had done all that was humanly possible for those who had elected him. Mr. Semple again dealt with the fights put up by the Labour Party in the House of Representatives upon different subjects. The story of Colonel Mitchell, that Labour had let the soldiers down, was a falsehood; the pages of Hansard would show, that it had been.the Labour Party in 1914 which had forced the Government to increase its original proposal of 25s a week as the maximum pension for a totally disabled soldier, and the records of last session would show that Labour had wanted the gratuity increased to 4s a day. He, personally, had been the enemy of conscription—(loud applause)—but the enemy of the soldier, never . After the candidate had answered questions, he was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence unanimously, amidst enthusiasm.