NOISY RECEPTION

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 127, 25 November 1935, Page 12

NOISY RECEPTION

OPEN-AIR MEETING

GOVERNMENT CANDIDATES

FUN IN THE SQUARE

Contending against an almost conuous flow of interjection and hostile mment, which varied in volume ac- j n rding to- the nature of the speakers' cas narks, the four National Govern- f ro :nt candidates for the Wellington wa its told a large-crowd in Post Office cc€ uare just after noon today what a tij 2y thought about the Labour Party's int licy in general and the remarks of i'l r. J.~ W. Munro, the Labour candi- Gte for Dunedin North, in particular, ten le crowd numbered some hundreds, da; d it included a predominating I ibour element, which made itself mc ard early. The heckling was for the we 3st part good-natured, and it was his am that many of those responsible qu r it were merely.out to have a little th; n. Two loud-speakers were em- po! oyed to amplify the candidates' to marks, but even these were at tunes w; lothered in waves of rowdy dissent mi the candidates touched on some de irticularly provocative point. toi A very noisy section clustered round hu c lorry from which the speeches were fr( ade, and they made it difficult for : le t speakers to proceed. White- w< ;lmeted policemen were posted di: nong the crowd, and three of them di; ere in position alongside the plat- nij rm. "of With the exception of Mr. W. J. to !ason-(Central), the candidates read ad leir speeches, but it was only possible as i hear portions of them. The delivery ex as all right, but the reception was icther thing, in spite of the unoubted efficiency of the loud-speakers, id at times there was a suggestion th E the time-payment principle in the co ay the speeches were put across — °i: ie so-much-down-and-the-rest-when- an ou-can-manage-it sort of thing. th However, each of the three main or peakers went right through with it, re nd said all they had planned to say. hi Ir. H. F. Toogood (South) was the sp rst speaker, and he seemed to enjoy to ;. Indeed, he appeared to -like it so ai luch that after Mr. O. C. Mazengarb as East) and Mr. C. A. L.' Treadwell North) had said their little piece, he tl ame forward to the microphone and ai ad a second innings. After that Mr. p< dason, who acted as chairman, came H orward and exhorted the crowd to le se their votes and then thanked pi hem "for the attentive hearing" they h; lad accorded the candidates. -\v The speeches were for the most part g long orthodox lines, and they were tt 11 very much similar in character —a v lis'section of the Labour Party's elec- b ion proposals. n "Take your hat off," suggested a b tickler for etiquette -when Mr. Mason a tame forward to introduce the first S( peaker, Mr." Toogood. And then began ~ he contest—Messrs. Toogood, Mazen;arb, Treadwell, and Mason versus [■he Rest. . " INDWIDL'ALISM OR SOCIALISM. ti Mi. Toogood commenced his t: speech by stressing the seriousness of ;he election. "It is your power today is citizens ," he said. "To vote the right way," chimed in = i chorus. Mr. Toogood said that some facts J iiad been told the electors from the Post Office Square,> and some of the facts had been exaggerated. (Hear, \ hear.) The issue was individualism or 1 Socialism. There could be no .argu- . ment about that. * ■ } Voices: You're right—Capital and • Labour. "The Socialist Labour Party says that » private enterprise will be swept away," j declared Mr. Toogood, amidst uproar. "It cannot be swept away except by ' force." ("Rats!") s Further denunciation of Socialism ' brought forth the advice of "Go back ' to school," and more reference to the '• use of force was strongly resented by 1 a portion of the crowd. "The Socialist ' Labour Party has a plan: I will tell you \ all about it," said Mr. Toogood. "We know all about it." he was told. ' ' Labour, said the candidate, had a planned economy. "We are going to monetise our own wealth," he was informed. PLAN HIDDEN. Mr. Toogood contended that the object of the plan had been hidden by political trickery. It had never been explained to the people, not because it could not be explained, but because they would not explain it. ;j"The smoke screen has now lifted," he*said. (Derisive laughter.) "The plan stands revealed. It is based entirely on the experience of other countries, where Socialism- " "You are wrong," replied the crowd. Mr. Toogood said that it meant taking away private rights and private property. The plan, said the candidate, could only be put into operation by force. Mr. Savage said that the plan was complete except for the colour of the bank-notes. " 'The Post' says 'No'," replied one of the audience. Mr. Toogood said that.Mr. McKeen had gone a bit further, and had said that they would have the courage to wave the big stick. (Hear, hear.) "This is the real dinkum stuff you are getting," said the candidate, "and you are getting it in time." HAT OFF TO COMMUNISTS. Mr. Toogood declared that the Communists were the only Socialists who had the courage of their convictions, and he took his hat off to them. His reference to the nationalisation of the ' banks was responsible for lusty cheering. "You're well out," he was informed. The candidate's last remark, that he had finished his speech, was his most popular. LABOUR POLICY. Mr. Mazengarb said that of recent years the attitude of the Labour Party | had been to attract to its support busii ness and professional people and others j of moderate means. ■ Voice: They are thinking for themselves. Another: We don't want any lawyers. Mx-. Mazengarb: The Labour Party says nothing about Hislop, and for once I I am in agreement with them. The choice is between National and Labour Parties. Coming to the question of guaranteed prices Mr. Mazengarb ran the gauntlet of constant heckling, most of which welded itself into a volume of confused noise. Mr. Mazengarb said that Labour was to finance its plan of inflation of currency. But it did not use the term inflation. It used the innocuous title of "Slate control of credit and currency." He mentioned Labour's promise to issue £2,000,000 in bank-notes to complete the Napier-Gisborne railway. Voice: Why shouldn't they? Another: Why did you start it, anyway? Mr. Mazengarb said the line was abandoned by the Government as economically unsound, and hawked to no purpose on the English money market. MR.' MUNRO'S REMARKS. "Now, like a (lash." he continued, "we have Mr. Munro's declaration in Dunedin." Roars of protest, among which such