ASTONISHING ELECTIONEERING SPEECH IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1361, 18 February 1865, Page 3

ASTONISHING ELECTIONEERING SPEECH IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

The Sydney Herald gives the following report of the speech of a candidate for the district of Ashfield, in the electorate of Canterbury (New South Wales):— When the proceedings commenced there were about twenty persons on the hustings, and the audience did not exceed forty. Subsequently there were about one hundred and fifty persons present. Mr. Rider, on coming forward, was greeted with ironical cheers, hooting, and laughter. He. said he wished to explain his sole motive for coming before the electors as a candidate. He would not detain them long; he had not brought a cartload of documents with him to read, while they were being "embroiled "in the sun. (Laughter and jocular interruptions.) His sole motive for coming forward was simply this—he had been a resident in the electorate for five and twenty years, and seeing no other candidates but Mr. Lucas andMr.Raper, he had thought it his duty to offer to represent the district in Parliament. (Hooting and laughter.) You may hoot as mnch as you like; I ask nothing from you. (Interruption.) I have no doubt there are a great many here who are determined to oppose me; but, them, they are not able. " Keep your temper," " Go on Rider," and similar exclamations.) Now, when you have done hissing and hooting I will goon; I have more friends than enemies among you. (Laughter, hooting and other interruptions.) i Will you stop that noise ? How am Itogo on while you keep up this hooting ? (" Well, don't swear," "Go on Rider.") What do I care for any j of you, you? [A person in the crowd called on the Returning Officer to "take the man away."] Do allow me to goon; I won't keep you five minutes. (" Stick to them, Rider.") Oh, I'll stick to them like grim Death. [The hooting, ironical cheering, and other interruptions here became so incessant that the candidate was wholly unable to proceed, and the Returning Officer came forward and requested ,silence,3 Wilt you hear me one .five minutes ? I hnvenot come here with cartloads of statistics, but ljhave come to represent to you the actual condition of the country, and to tell you the mode of alleviating the distress that exists. (Renewed interruption.) It is a ' I'■ " strange thing that I should be so interrupted when I've got so many friends. Will you allow me to speak ? Those who are in favour of hearing me hold up your right hands. [A number of hands were held up, amidst much merriment.} Rider for Canterbury 1 Rider and Lyons for ever! (Laughter and noisy vociferations.) Will you keep quiet? I will not detain you long. Act as gentlemen if you are gentlemen; act as blackguards if you are blackguards; (Shouts of laughter.) I look upon you all as my friends. You would not be here unless you were my supporters. You . have listened to all the other candidates: why not listen to me ? (" Go on," " Proceed," and less complimentary outcries.) I have already told you that my sole motive in comiug forward was that the constituency might be properly represented. When I saw no one else but Mr. Lucas and Mr. Raper coming forward, I thought as a local man,'having property in the district, it would be right for me to look after my own interests and the welfare of the district also. It is your welfare, and not mine, that I seek. Cowper for ever. Free trade for ever! Frfee lands, free educations, free ■ ———

("Free every thing." Laughter and renewed interruption.) lam sorry you applaud me so much; youi.make me quite proud.—The Returning Officer was. heard, during the boisterous applause that followed,.earnestly inquiring of Mr. Rider "whether

he was going on ? " Mr. Rider, with considerable emphasis, declared that he was. He was not half done yet. He was fully prepared to go through all the topics he had noted down in the memorandum he held in his hand. This [announcement was received with redoubled noise and laughter, intensified by the following question addressed to the excited candidate: " Will, you pay me that £5 that you owe me? "] Mr. Rider: Yes, I will pay it to you, if I owe it to you, but I don't. I did not come here to spit my venom on you; but if you urge me to do so, I will. : I will indeed- you. (Roars of laughter.) But I expected this; I defy yon. I defy any of you to say, that I ever refused to pay what I may honestly owe. (Indescribable confusion, which continued more or less throughout the rest of Mr. Rider's address.) A voice in the crowd: "(Oh, you will go in as a matter of course.") Mr. Rider: Yes, I will go in !— you! I will go in, and at the head of the poll, too,- you;——stjaU not ■prevent it. (Contemptuous observations and general uproar.) ~ GentlenMpj IjwilLnot elucidate my principles— (Continued interruption and loud laughter. A voice below at length was heard angrily declaring that the candidate should be "settled " when he came down from the hustings, but the precise nature of the settlement could not be ascertained.) Mr. Rider, after several ineffectual attempts to make himself audible, was then heard loudly to exclaim, when you have done making all this noise I shall go on. . In the meantime, gentlemen, I shall have a smoke until you finish—Gentlemen, are you disposed to be quiet now ? Will you hear ,me? (Cries of "No no," "Yes, yes," yells and ironical cheering—followed by the question as before: " Will you, Mr. Rider, pay me that £5?") Pay you £5? I will pay it to you if I owe it to you. Let me see you after this business is over, and if I owe you that sum you shall have it. Don't interrupt me just now in my speech. (General tumult, in ! which Jthe candidate's voice was for a while utterly lost.) Gentlemen, listen to me for a moment, only a moment. (A brief lull in the disturbance.) All who are in favour of my continuing my speech, hold 'up your hands. (Shouts of laughter—some demonstrations of the kind apparently taking place.) Thank you, gentlemen, thank you. I will now proI ceed. I told you that I did not come before you to- | day with a cartload of papers. "We have had that j before.") I have come here to elucidate my I political principles, and you must and shall hear : them. lam against bushranging; and bushranging is the greatest curse of the country. Gentlemen, ! will you hear me or will you not ? (" Yes; yes," No, no," and continued uproar.) I never saw such/ a disorderly mob in my life. (Roars of laughter.) If you have any favourites, let me know who they are, and I will resign in their favour, but I won't be put down. I promise you I will. Do I mean to go to the poll ? Most certainly I do. I will go to the poll,— you—you—have driven me to it. (Great shouting and merriment.) I am for free trade and free ports, and I consider that Robertson's Land Bill is rubbish. (Hooting.) Don't interrupt me now or I'll jump upon you! (Roars of laughter, mingled with cries of indignation.) If you are gentlemen remain, if you are blackguard, go away. (Renewed uproars and cries of " Pull him down out of that.") The Returning Officer here interfered, and apparently remonstrated upon the candidate's style of address, for Mr. Rider explained that it was " only some few blackguards who had come there to annoy him." He then proceeded. You refused to hear me. ("No, no," and yells, accompanied by the imitation of the lowing of cattle and the bleating of lambs.) You are a calf, and lam a cow. Don't "baa" me : I am not Raper, the carcase butcher. (Howling.) Gentlemen, you mistake me—you mistake me for somebody else. lam not Raper, and lam not Coyer. (Another interference on the part of the Returning officer; more gesticulating and self-vindication on the part of the candidate, another irregular show of hands as to whether Rider " should go on or shut up." (A voice from the people: "Rider, you are making a fool of yourself; go behind.") Mr. Rider made a most emphatic gesture of dissent. (Mr. C. Simmoads : Do you consider, Mr. Rider, that your conduct for the last quarter of an hour has been such as shows you to be a fit and proper person to represent Canterbury ?) Yes, I do, but that must ;be proved on the day of the poll. (Disturbance.) (A Voice: "Do you know Mr. Goodsell ?") Ido not. You are confounding me with somebody else. lam I Tertius Rider ; I am not the Rider you take me to ' be. (Increased confusion and great complaints I about the waste of the public time.) It appears | that lam encroaching on the time of the public ? (" No no." " Yes, yes.") In that case, I will be brief.' lam for free trade; for free ports ; for an 1 extension of railways, and every other kind of road, j lam for free education universally all over the colony. However, as the day is dawning—(laughter)—l will not further detain you. If you have any question to ask me, I shall be very happy to answer it. (Cries of "Go on," " that will do," and '«good bye," &c.) Am I for universal sufferage, gentlemen ? Yes, I am. (Cheers and uproarious merriment.) Give me three cheers, gentlemen, and I will go. (The cheers thus modestly asked for, were cordially given, and in response to them the candidate bowed low and retired.)