POLITICAL.

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2320, 26 March 1914, Page 1

POLITICAL.

AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN: A LIVELY~MEETING. BY ELECTRIC TELEGEAFH COPYRIGHT. PEB PRESS ABBOUIATION. Masterton, March 25. The Hon. F r M. B: Fisher ad* dressed an overflowing meeting in the Town Hall to-night, hundreds being unable to gain admission. The Mayor presided. The meeting was the most lively ever held in Masterton, a small body of mon persistently counting. the Minister, out and creating uproar. Mr Fisher stuck to his guns, and delivered a speech of an hour and a half, during which he exjilained the work performed by the Government and dealt with the speech previously given by Mr Wilford, M.P. At the conclusion of his speech a motion of thanks was proposed with appreciation of the manner in which the affairs of the country are being conducted. This was carried amidst vociferous cheering, mixed with groans.

SIR JOSEPH WARD. I Auckand, March 25. j What lie described as one of the largegt audiences he had addressed in the Dominion met Sir Joseph ' Ward in the Town Hall to-night and accorded him an attentive hearing. While the Leader of the Opposition replied at length to recent Ministerial utterances he suggested nc policy measures, saying he. would be, at this state, an "infernal ass" to give the Reformers his policy measures 'to steal. ] He said that influential newspapers are passing into the hands of wealthy landholders and the press is not as fair as it used to be. He condemned the local navy policy as too expensive. The local navy was already ' costing Australia £10,000,000 per annum, and Australia wanted ..New Zealand to help hey to bear the burden. Internal defence was costing New Zealand already half a million yearly and, with the cost of naval-defence, the total came to £800,000. It would be a million next year and a million and a half after that. He 6aid that he coulfl have settled the strike in two days, and alleged that the Government had been anything but impartial in handling the strike situation. Government, which had promised a decrease in borrowing and taxation, had already borowed twelve millions and had incerased the annual taxation by £309,600.