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Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 15, 27 March 1929, Page 6

Bay of Islands By-Elcclion To the Electors Ladies and Gentleman, —We 1 are fast approaching the eve of the above election with the attendant results that both sides are becoming keen, sanguine and enthusiastic s » much so that each day brings iorth lresh aspects, and pro\iding they are all clean attacks tluy are welcomed by all shades of political opinions and each ol the schools of thought are providing their quota to the great scramble for the seat. To this r.o one c in take exception but methods arc now being adopted by one side that savours of the lowest typ- of piopagandism that any party could be guilty of descending to, and as my name is brought into the lime light and, by imputation my political honour involved I take this opportunity of exposing this picture in the earliest possible stage of the development and ask you to judge for yourselves. The following letter intimates the- intention oi the Bell committee : Kaitaia I2th March 1929, Mr R Wrathall Mangonui Dear Sir, When one enters into the political arena all sorts of unlooked for situations arise—it is worse than law. I have a matter before me upon which I must come to a decision very shortly. Before doing sol think however that 1 should let you know the position. Before last election Colonel Bell received an anonymous letter suggesting that you would come out as a vote splitting candidate il your expenses were arranged for by the Reform Party and that you would stand as a Lib-Lab. Candidate, it is possible that you have no knowledge of this letter. It has been suggested to me that I should publish the letter. You will know that statements have been made that Colonel Bell is arranging for another candidate to stand to split the votes. It would be a fitting answer to publish the letter with a foot note that it was not replied to. In fairness to yourself I am advising you of the position, and before 1 publish the letter I can show it to you if you would care to see it. Yours faithfully J B Reynolds For the Committee It will be noticed that though t le letter is dated 12th it was not posted until the 15th and reached me on the night of the 16th Saturday. However I rang Mr Reynolds and advised him that I would like very much to see this notorious anonymous letter and arranged to call at his office on Wednesday in Kaitaia, which 1 did. After reading the notable letter, I said that I would certainly like him to publish it and asked him to do so in last weeks issue to give me an opportunity of dealing with it before the election. Mr Reynolds said you don’t mind my publishing it ? I replied that it was my desire that it should be published and at once. To this Mr Reynolds said that he would publish it at the right time, so I concluded that for electioneering purposes, publication might be held over until the dying hour of the campaign and too late for effective refutation, so 1 then asked if I might take a copy. Mr Reynolds objected to (his as I expected he would but in the meantime I had the letter before me and in snatches was committing the text and contents to memory so far as l was able without the purpose

being observed and I will endeavour to compile the contents in letter form for the electors’ information. Col. Bell M.P., Wellington— Captain Rushworth appears to be gaining ground here, and I would suggest that you arrange lor Dick Wrathall to come out as a votesplitter, he would stand as a Lib.Lab. Candidate, if Reform paid his expenses. He was overheard to say that he would sooner vote for Beil than Rushworth, and that lie would come out himself as a Liberal Labour Candidate, if he had £too to fight the election. Now surely this could be arranged and if vou agree to my suggestion wire him to meet you in Auckland re grants, and the matter could then be fixed up.

[This is the purport of the letter supposed to have been received from one of Col Bell’s supporters prior to last election, and while he was still in Wellington.] Now I thought that I might be able to recognise the handwriting but it was so beautifully disguised that it confirmed ray earlier opinion that the letter was a by-elec-tion concoction, written to cover up any trace of an endeavour to bring out a vote-splitting candidate, with a hope that its publication would entirely remove any such suspicion, disregarding the effect it might have upon persons involved in such an intrigue and the stigma that would fall upon them in their after life and career. No. 1 Now in dissecting this famous letter, let one just point out that Mr Reynolds suggests publishing the letter with a footnote that it was not replied to. How could it be replied to when it bore neither address nor signature. So much for the footnote. No. 2 The letter suggests that Col Bell wire me to meet him in Auckland re gran's. Now if I or any other honourable Councillor received such a vague wire from the member, our traditions in public life are to uphold the dignity of the chair and naturally the County Chairman (whose prerogative it is) would be informed and the whole of the proposed mysterious arrangement would missfire. No 3. The x reputation of the Reform Party was surely involved and it is therefore hard to understand how one of its supporters could so lack intelligence and honour that he would recommend such a step. We have not yet forgotten those actions of intrigue in Wellington between the rise of the McKenzie Liberal Government in February and its downfall in July 1912, when the late WlJs McDonald and Mr Atmore denounced the actions of certain prominent members of a particular party and so exposed the facts of a certain happening that we hoped that such a recurrence would never again creep in to the political life of New Zealand. I look upon the whole thing as a very clumsy attempt on the part of a band of propagandists to help along one individual at the expense of others and I would here like to refer them to Gladstone’s reply to Watspn’s attack on his supposed fatal step when he crossed the floor of the House. Now in conclusion let me here state that I leel very much Concerned about the. whole matter and summing ud the chain of circumstantial evidence that surrounds the position I can but say that the attempt to check the success of Captain Rushworth and the hope to stigmatise my future public career can only be judged as the actions of some person or persons who ambushing himself or themselves are firing shots in

the dark and at random that he or they are not brave enough to face in the open political battlefield. I have had 33 years of public fife in the Bay of Islands Electorate during which lime I have fought many a political battle and I challenge any man to point to one unclean or dishonest act that I have been guilty of perpetrating and to think that by the insinuation and innuendo as contained in that notorious annonymous letter that atter those long years of consistency as a Liberal that I would in the last lap of my political career sell my political convictions which I am proud of, for a trip round the Electorate on Reform gold is certainly too much to expect intelligence to tolerate. Ladies and Gentlemen, I look upon the whole thing as a clumsy attempt to damage either Captain Rushworth and myself or to benefit some other individual and if these are the tactics that are being adopted in other parts of the Electorate then the sooner the by-election is over and a spring cleaning is undertaken the better it will be for the BaV of Islands Electorate. I am, Yours Etc, R. T. WRATHALL. Mangonui, March 25th 1929.