THE NATIONAL PARTY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 29 June 1939, Page 2

THE NATIONAL PARTY

RICHMOND RRANCn ANNUAL MEETING The annual meeting of the Richmond branch of the National Party was held on Monday evening, there being a good attendance. Appreciative references were made to the excellent work that had been clone by the chairman (Mr E. W. Win) and the secretary (Mr P. S Haycock). The branch was fortunate in again securing their services for the ensuing year. In his annual report, the secretary referred to the highly successful function tendered to Mr J. R. Kerr on the eve of his departure on holiday for England, and paid a tribute to the work of the ladies on whom most of the organising fell. This function, he stated, was probably one of the most successful of its kind ever held in Richmond, and was an indication of Mr Kerr's popularity in the electorate.

Mr A. G. Russell later addressed the meeting, dwelling on the ideals and aspirations of the National Party. He stressed the importance of adhering to the principles followed by our pioneers and later settlers in building New Zealand into a prosperous nation. Hard work and thrift were chiefly responsible for the rapid progress New Zealand made in her first fifty years of settlement, and for the steady progress since then. To-day, these principles were being ridiculed. At no time in ils history had New Zealand been in such a humiliating position as it found itself to-day.