POLITICAL ADDRESSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9368, 27 November 1893, Page 6

POLITICAL ADDRESSES.

MR. BUTTON AT ST. GEORGE'S HALL.

. Mr. C. E. Button addressed a largely attended meeting of the electors of the » City of Auckland on Saturday evening in St. George's Hall. Mr. English presided. ! Mr. Button, who was well received, had a quiet, considerate, and sympathetic i hearing. He dealt at length with the I leading questions of general politics, his remarks being frequently warmly applauded. [ In a trenchant and telling manner ho ex- ; posed the baseless character of the leaflet issued by the Liberal Association, making i certain insinuations with regard to his connection with the Batik of Mew Zealand and tho .East Coast Laud Settlement i Company," as a member of the firm , of Messrs, Whitaker and Russell. He absolutely disproved the assertions, showing that he had never been a member of the firm of Messrs. Whitaker and Russell, having bought Sir Frederick Whitaker out; and said that the Bank of New Zealand had now nothing whatever to do with the East Coast Land Settlement Company. His scathing remarks upon the contemptible methods adopted by the Liberal Association were enthusiastically applauded, and groans were given for that body. At the conclusion of hi? address, Mr. Button answered a number of questions in a satisfactory manner. Mr. S. C. Brown, Mayor of Newton, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Button, and of confidence in him as a representative. He stated that at the present time the character of candidates was given great prominence. This was as it should be. In Mr. Button they had a man of unblemished character, great ability, and Parliamentary experience. Mr. Riggs in seconding the motion said that he had known Mr. Button for many years, and during that time he had never heard anything to his discredit, privately, politically, or commercially. The motion was carried almost unanimously. MR. J. M. SHERA AT PONSOXBY HALL. On Saturday evening, at Ponsonby Hall, Mr. J. M. Shera addrossed a crowded meeting of electors, Dr. Beale presiding. Mr. Shera announced that on Monday evening he would reply to the criticism, or rather attack, of the editor of our evening contemporary. He then went on to deal with the question of charitable aid. It was, he said, the opinion of several leaders of thought, that local bodies should be relieve! of the burden of charitable aid. He was of opinion that the best scheme that had been suggested, was an endowment that should be administered by commissioners, the endowment being the waste lands of the colony to the extent of 500,000 acres. In connection with an old age pension scheme, he said incidentally that men who had done good work were, when they grew old, cast aside. Even so"was it sometimes politically, for they found men speaking and working against that veteran statesman Sir George Grey. He hoped on Tuesday next no working man would strike out the name of their old friend. Mr. Shera then referred to the fact that the Temperance party were advising their people to vote upon an issue which the leader of the movement, Sir Robert Stout, admitted could not be solved probably for a century, and that the Temperance ticket urged voting irrespective of all other considerations, although members were only elected for three years. As an i instance : There was a freetrader and a i protectionist upon the same ticket. He did not know whether the fact that they had placed on their ticket labour between capital meant that labour was to be squeezed out. (Laughter.) Mr. Shera next dealt with what he described as the new political power the brewers were seeking to obtain,and said he had been credibly informed that two of the brewers had made a round of the public houses, instructing the occupants to vote in a certain direction, saying if they did not they would vote for the dissolution of their own houses and for placing their children in poverty and their wives in slavery. It was for them (the licensed victuallers) to remember that if they voted for him (Mr. Shera) it would be in favour of having the fetters which bound their houses struck off. He called upon the people to say, Dot only in the interests of the publicans, but in the interests of the general public, that tied house; l must cease. He declared that if elected he would adhere to the Liberal Government. The electors must avoid sending to Wellington timeserving jelly-fish. A vote of thanks for past services and confidence for the future was proposed by Mr. Bennett, seconded by Mr. Hutchinson, and supported by Mr. Thomas, was passed. MR. TUDEHOPE AT ST. SEPULCHRE'S SCHOOL-ROOM. Mr. Tudehope, the Labour candidate for a seat in the Assembly, as one of the representatives of Auckland City, addressed a meeting of electors at St. Sepulchre's school-room on Saturday night. Mr. Clark was voted to the chair. The candidate was received with applause. He dealt with the land question, speaking strongly in favour of the perpetual leasehold, and in favour of the direct veto, as being simply the rule of ' the majority. He spoke also on the subject of the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, and was in favour of the Government having a voice in the control of the railways. He was strongly in favour of the abolition of the Upper House. He supi ported the early-closing movement. He referred to other important questions dealt with in his previous addresses, and in answer to questions he said he would join the other Labour members. He was in favour of a measure to stop the curtailment of the dinner hour. A vote of confidence, proposed by Mr. Fraser, seconded by Mr. Regan, and supported by Mr. Hadfield, was j carried unanimously, and after a vote of \ thanks to the chair, the meeting terminated with hearty cheers for the candidate. MR. W. S. ALLEN AT NEWMARKET. Mr. W. Shepherd Allen addressed a crowded audience at the Newmarket Hall, on Saturday night. Mr. William Hogg i occupied the chair, and in a few appropriate remarks, introduced Mr. Allen. Mr. i Allen, in his opening remark?, refuted all the charges made against him by some of his detractors, and gave great satisfaction < to the audience. Mr. Allen considered that the honorarium ought not to be more than i £140 per annum. He did not come out as i a party man, but considered that the ) Ministry ought to be elected by ballot by ( the members of the House of Representa- 1 lives. Instead of as now, the Ministry > being the masters of the situation, the mem- ; bers of the House would be their masters, i (Applause.) He believed that the railway j' ought to be made from Auckland toTaranaki. ( He believed that the North Island ha<i not - had -its share of public moneys, and the Co- i vernment ought to grant a large sum of i money for the making of roads in the North. He trusted that Auckland would send good men to Parliament, who would see that justice was done to this city. He considered that. Auckland had been treated very badly in I the postal communication with Europe. He would, if returned, endeavour to divide all the large centres into smaller electorates, no electorate to send more than one candidate. (Applause.) The Financial State- J mentsougnttobesimplified,sothatallclaßses , could understand them. He denounced , the totalisator and betting on the racecourse. From a reliable source, he had been [ told that men were encouraging children to bet, thereby taking advantage of their ' own superior knowledge, and he would make it criminal for anyone to i bet with a child under 15 years of age. ! Referring to the liquor trade, Mr. Allen j ! considered that the sum of £2,000,000 per I ' annum was far more than ought to bo spent j in that way. He advised parents to en- i , deavour to place their sons upon the lam!, i [ He Mas an advocate for providing proper accommodation for the comfort and safely , of the colliers and seamen. Mr. Allen ' spoke for some time upon the labour ques- 1 tion, and was repeatedly applauded. A , very large number of questions were pub j and satisfactorily answered. A vote of , confidence was proposed and carried. An j amendment of thanks to Mr. Allen, and of ( confidence in Mr. Lawry, upon being put, ] was lost by a large majority. Cheers and ( counter cheers were given for the two eandi- J dates. j SIR M. O'RORK.E AT ONEHUNGA. i Sir Maurice O'Rorke, one of the candi- < dates for Manukau, addressed a large and i influential meeting of electors at the Good J

Templars' Hall, Onehunga, on Saturday > night (the Public Hall nob being available as it was occupied by the horticultural show). Numbers were unable to obtain admission, but the proceedings throughout were of an enthusiastic character. Mr. Robert Hall presided, and at the close after several questions had been answered a unanimous vote vote of thanks and confidence was accorded to the candidate. MR. COATES AT HUNTLY. [FROM OCR OWN CORRKSPONOKNT.] Hun'tly, Saturday. Mr. Isaac Coates addressed a large meeting here last night, Mr. W. Tattley in the chair. Mr. Coates thanked tho ladies present for their attendance, and complimented them generally upon the possession of their newly-acquired electoral rights, the attainment of which was, he thought, almost wholly due to the exertion of Sir J. Hall. Though perhaps personally unknown to many of them, he (the speaker) claimed to bo one of themselves, having resided in VVaikato for over 20 years, and his position was such that his interests and theirs were identical. Of one thing he could assure them, and it was that during those years he had bought and consumed a very large quantity of our coal. (Cheers.) The first subject when he would touch upon was that of taxation. He thought the land aud income ■ tax should have a fair trial, but was opposed to the continuance of the graduated tax imposed on large estates. This he showed did not seem just, and by way of illustration mentioned the case of many a large swamp reclamation undertaken in Waikato. These estates had practically no value until large sums had been expended upon them in drainage works, the carrying out of which benefited all classes in the community, and none more so than workingmen ; yet in many instances tho present value did not equal the amount expanded in improvement, owners consequently having had no return for outlay. He wa» in favour of the present secular system of education, and would oppose any tampering with the Act in tho direction of denominational grant?, and religious instruction, but, if a course of religious teaching, acceptable to all parties were adopted, he should heartily support its introduction into tho public schools. The Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act, he regarded as a Legislative advancement on former Acts, and he endorsed the measure. Prohibition obtained under it, would certainly rank as a more popular achievement, than when secured by a bare majority. Prohibited districts are notorious for the amount of drunkenness seen in them, the only deducible reason for which was the bad quality of liquor dispensed by the sly grog-sellers, who abound in such districts. The present Government had boasted that they had purchased more land during their term of office than any of their predecessors, bub ho asserted that much of it is positively worthless, and quoted figures as to price and area in support of his contention. He thought that the price paid for much purchased in the King Country far too high, when by the exercise of tact, and under a more judicious system of purchasing native lands, it could have been obtained at lower price and of better quality. Had the money expended on the purchase of the Cheviot esiate been used to acquire land of good quality in tho North Island, the colony would have distinctly gained by it, whereas, in his opinion the vendor of that estate had decidedly tire best of the bargain. He did not approve of the co-opera-tive system of carrying out public works, as by it he considered that £11300 was paid for every £750 worth of work done, and he thought that a monopoly had been established under it in different places, which excluded any outsider from getting employment under it. Mr. Coates next referred to the question of land settlement, and stated that he would support the taking up of small holdings, but would make good land a sine qua non in the business. He thought that the best system ef land tenure was freehold, perpetual and 999 years' leases being detrimental to both the individual and the State, and in his opinion owners of property might well regard the present outlook of political affairs with feelings of alarm and consternation. He was in favour of reappointing the Railway Commissioners for another five years, bub regarded tho railway freights for long distances as altogether too high. In many cases he would like to eeo them reduced 50 per cent. It would promote settlement and thus increase revenue from other sources. He thought that the Legislative Council should be an elective body, and approved of a reduction in their number to, say, one-half the number of the Lower House. He hod long come to tho conclusion that party Government was a failure, and instead of members voting only for their party should vote for their constituents, and the country's good. He considered the present Government insincere in many respects, and denounced their having increased the honorarium, and while he regarded the payment of £70 each to their twelve nominees to the Council, as a " Liberal" proceeding thought their liberality confined to use use of other people's money. He objected to the introduction of personal | matters in a contest of this kind, but he must refer to a report circulated, with tho object of damaging his candidature, which was that he bud a distinct predilection for low wages. He indignantly denied the imputation. He had been too long a working man himself, which in itself would preclude the idea of his entertaining auy such doctrine as that of low wages, and he attributed his own success to the fact that he had at all times acted fairly towards those employed by him, many of whom were settled in the district round him. He adverted in strong terms to the rejection of Mr. Tudehope in Auckland by the Liberal Association, and expressed a hope that he (Mr. Tudehope) would be elected, and if the same good fortune attended him. he would at all. times further the just claims of what lire termed working men. Though he was without Parliamentary experience, still ho had been identified with the local affairs of Waikato for many years, in fact, was one of themselves, and in conclusion he asked, that if they regarded him as being worthy of support, to record it at the ballot-box on Tuesday next. Questions were then invited, and fairly rained in upon the candidate, in answer to which he stated, inter aim, that he favoured the inspection of private schools by the inspectors of the public schools ; would not legalise sweeps ; knew nothing of the No. 5 shovel; would support the Betterment Bill, if elected ; was not in favour of a compulsory Saturday half-holiday ; was not run in the interests of any land or moneyed institution ; had to defray his own election expenses ; disagreed with the Truck Act. Mr. Coates had to submit to a rigorous crossexamination on the co-operative business, and prices paid him for contract work on railway construction in the King Country. The meeting was orderly and well-con-ducted,and at its conclusion a vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Coates, who, in reply, thanked the audience for the fair and impartial hearing he had obtained.

On Saturday last, a pleasant party, contesting of the members of the Hera of the Sea, Star of Newton, and Ark of Eden Lodges, 1.0. G.T., left town in a. four-horse brake to pay an official visit and entertain their brethren of the Mystic Tic Lodge, Papakura. About two hours and a-ha If drive brought the party to their destination, where they were heartily welcomed by I heir Tempalr brethren, who escorted them to the hall, where a sumptuous repast was spread. The hall having been cleared, tho more intellectual portion of the programme was gone through, as follows : —Opening =<ong and chorus, "The Robber's Retreat,'' Brother Prior song, "The Picture Turned to tho Wall," Brother Muggleton ; recitation, "The Lifeboat," Sister J. Minchr.m ; song, "Playmates," Brother Stark ; address, Mr. F. W. Greenwood; song, "The Song that Reached My Heart;" Brother Bailey; song, "Gently Does the Trick," Brother Watson ; song, " Dear Little Shamrock," Sister Mincham, sen. ; song, "The Absentminded Man," Brother Baldry ; recitation, " The Three Preachers," Brother Potter ; song, "The Fisherman and his Child," Brother Prior; song, "The Soldier's Tear," Sister Marson; duet, "All's Well," Brothers Prior and Muggleton. Brother Courtman presided, and was supported by Brothers Potter and Constable, C.T.'s of the Star of Newton and Ark of Eden respectively. At the close of the meeting hearty cheers were given for the visitors, who all reached town gome hours later, having enjoyed a pleasant outing. Tho ('cm of the Sea Lodge supply the programme at the Franklin Road Band of [ope this evening.

PROFESSOR ALDIS AND THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE COUNCIL. ■■ - ♦ A STATEMENT OF FACTS. In the year ISS3, Sir F. 1). Bell, the then Agent-General for New Zealand, urged me to accept the chair of mathematics in the Auckland University College. Naturally, before deciding on the serious step of giving up a definite appointment, and all chance of promotion in England, the question of the probable permanence of the position offered had to be considered. "At least live years" was mentioned in the agreement proposed. This term, I was told, was meant to secure absolute permanence for that period, even in case the new college should for any reason prove a failure. No idea was conveyed that a notion was prevalent in Auckland, such as that expressed by members of the College Council recently, that it was a good thing to bring Professors out for a term of three or five years, and then to send them adrift and import fresh ones. My own clear understanding was, that as in similar cases in England, the appointment might be looked upon as practically for life. An assurance was also given that, in expressing my i views on social questions, I should be " free as air." In May of the present year (1893), there being a short college vacation, I was not in town for some days. On the afternoon of Thursday, the 18th, my wife opened the New Zealand Herald of the previous day, and there read that the University College Council, at their meeting on the Monday before, had decided to give me six months' notice of dismissal, and to send to England for a successor at a much lower salary. This was the first intimation which reached me that such a thing was even in contemplation. At tho same instant there was put into my hands a letter from the registrar of the college, which, if properly directed, should have arrived two days earlier, re- i questing mo to meet tho chairman on what, by that time, had become the day before yestorday. In view of this extraordinary treatment, and of one or two hints in tho paragraph in the Herald, which showed that former conversations with the chairman had not been treated fairly, I wrote to request that any communication which tho chairman might have to make, might be in writing. To this request, no reply was vouchsafed.

The mail for England left on Saturday, May 20. Tho HERALD announced that a successor, at a lower salary*, was to be sent for at once, and the services of the AgentGeneral to be invoked for this purpose. Tho Council having done their best to ruin my professional reputation, mado ib necessary to publish the facts in self-defence. I wrote therefore to one or two friends in England, asking them when the advertisement for a successor appeared to put these facts before tho educational world. On Friday, the 19th, no message of regret for the decision or of indignation at the insult offered me having reached me from any single member of the Council, I drew up a statement of the facts as far as it was possible to know them, in face of the concealment resulting from the exclusion of reporters from the meetings of Council on the motion of the chairman. That statement, published in the Herald of May 22, has never been refuted,

During the ten years of my occupancy of the Chair every evidence has been given by those most interested, and most capable of judging, that my work was both satisfactory and successful. Up to tho year IS9O there was a gradual increase in the number of students and a steady improvement in the quality of their work. In that year, in consequence of resolutions passed by the Council, large changes wore made in the arrangement of hours of lecture. Soon afterwards the number of students in the mathematical department fell off considerably, and in 1892 and again in 1893, certain lectures could not be given because no students applied to attend them. In the former year one student did apply for more than the minimum looked on as sufficient for the Pass degree, and to him I gave, without fee, at a time convenient to himself, all tho extra tuition he required. SirG. M. O'Rorke has repeatedly asserted since May that, if I had wished, the students could have been compelled to attend more lectures, on pain of losing their degrees. All persons who will take the trouble to understand the regulations of the College and the University, will recognise that this is nob true. A student oan keep the terms of three years, and so fulfil all the College requirements for a degree, without ever attending a mathematical lecture. Either Sir Maurice knew this, and yet stated the contrary; or he did not know it, and yet posed as an authority to lead the Council astray. Besides the inevitable omission of lectures already described, some lectures in higher mathematics were transferred to different hours from those mentioned in the official time-table. The Calendar, issued by the authority of the Council, contains the following clause relating to mathematics. " The hours for lectures for students in higher years will probably require to be fixed with reference to tho other subjects they are taking up." It was not therefore thought necessary in 1892 to report these changes formally to" the Council, that body never having expressed any wish for such information.

After the long vacation commenced last year, I felt ib a duty to report to the Council that a groom, nob in the employment of the College, and over whom consequently the College had no control, was in full occupation of the College stables. A week afterwards (November 22) the Registrar wrote to inform me that Sir Maurice O'Rorke had granted permission for this occupation to his son. It seemed to me a dangerous usurpation of public property for private purposes. The matter was mentioned to a member of the Council who, LJpelieve, put a stop to the encroachment. A fortnight later, a committee of Council, of which Sir Maurice O'Rorke was chairman, sent a formal enquiry In regard to the changes of hours of lecture mentioned above. The committee allowed, in a second letter, that no injury had been done to anyone, and no complaint made, bub expressed their opinion that the Council should have been told of the changes. This was the first time that such a desire had been made known on behalf of the Council.

At the beginning of the session of the present year, in March, similar changes to those of last year had to be made, and wore at once reported to tho Council. After nearly one-third of tho session had elapsed, the Council, on the motion of the chairman, decided to appoint a committee to consider these alterations. On Tuesday morning, May 2, at half-past ten a.m., a letter was brought to me from the Registrar asking mo to meet this committee ab noon, immediately after my next lecture was over. After explaining to the committee the facts related above, and also that the nominal hours of lecture by no means covered the whole work actually done in, or for, the College, I left, a little before one p.m., with no idea that any charge was to be brought against me before the Council, or that my explanation was not considered satisfactory. I told tho committee that though the lectures seemed to me sufficient for the actual students, I was quite prepared to attend more hours, or more day.«, if the Council wished. It appears that reports have been circulated that I have refused to conform to the wishes of the Council, which is quite contrary to tho fact. My anxiety to meet what I believed to be their wishes, by altering the system of lectures existing previous to 1890, resulted in a considerable diminution of the number of mathematical students. On the 15th of May the Council met to consider the report of the committee. No hint was; I believe, given previously to tho Council of the serious nature of the report to be proposed. Carried in a committee of four by Sir Maurice O'Rorke's casting rote, ib was adopted in Council by the same process. As before stated, the decision of tho Council became known to rne through the newspapers. In June the Council sent a formal notification of the resolution of May, and for the first time I was permitted to see the report of the committee on which the resolution was alleged to be based. This report must have been drawn up from memory, as no minutes whatever were taken of the proceedings of the committee meeting of May 3. It considerably misrepresented what I had said, bub, even so, failed bo justify such a serious stop as that of the dismissal of a Professor by a body responsible to the public. I therefore asked for a written statement) of the reasons on which tho dismissal was based. To this

request no reply has been granted, the chairman remarking, when my letter was received, that it was an unusual course for an official to ask for a reason for that which the Council had a perfect right to do. In July, getting no reply. from the Council, I appealed to the Official Visitor of the College, the Minister of Education, to institute an inquiry into all the circumstances. To this application no definite answer has as yet been given, though the Minister refused to allow the Council the use of the services of the Agent-General in the selection of my successor, services which have, according to Sir Maurice O'Rorke, never been refused to any College or High School before. At each successive meeting of the Council since May Sir G. M. O'Korke and at leasb one other member of the Council, Dr. Mackellar, have spared no pains to blacken nay reputation by assertions entirely unproved. These, for the most part, 1 have left uunoticed, hoping that an impartial inquiry would be made, either by the Visitor or by Parliament, into all the circumstances of the case. One or two of the chairman's statements 1 may be allowed to notice now. ' The chairman in July claimed credit for leniency towards me in that he had kept the resolution back for five months. lb is a curious coincidence that my report about his son's polo ponies was made six months before the resolution of May 15, and also that the latter resolution was allowed to be published just too late to offer any hindrance to Sir Maurice O'Horke's re-election as a member of the College Council on May 17. At the meeting of the Council on June 19, the chairman stated that he had meant to treat me as he had treated Dr. Posnett, to give me the option of resigning instead of dismissal. He stated that Dr. Posnetb was " sent away" because of a quarrel with myself. This was the first announcement of the fact) that Dr. Posnett was "sent away." At the time it was announced that he had resigned, nob being satisfied with the conditions of the appointment. This disclosure on the part of Sir Maurice, after virtually promising silence, shows how much reliance is to be placed on him. To induce a resignation, and then, Dr. Posnett having departed, to publish the fact that it was forced, is an act that requires no comment. But, in any case, it was not owing to a quarrel with myself that Dr. Posnetb either resigned or was dismissed. The first open symptom of discomfort with his surroundings appeared in a complaint made through the Professorial Board to the Council that Dr. Kidd, the Registrar, had on a certain day intruded upon him while engaged in lecturing, and insisted on stopping the lecture while ho pub certain questions to ; each member of the class. When this complaint was submitted to the Council Dr. Kidd was present, with every opportunity of putting his side of the question, white the complainant had none ; and so the matter was declared to be " trivial." There were other circumstances connected with Dr. Posnett's leaving into which it is not needful to enter. The difficulties had their origin chiefly in the alterations of hours of lectures, consequent on the resolutions of the Council in 1890, already alluded to. My share in them simply arose from tho fact Unit, as chairman of the Professorial Board that year, it fell to me to conduct the corespondenco, and arrange hours of meeting. In the report of the committee, on which the resolution dismissing me was said to bo based, is the following passage:—"The committee has been given bo understand that there has been of late a great lowering of the salaries of gentlemen engaged in teaching in schools and colleges in England, and that it is certain that a competent teacher of mathematics could be obtained for this College at a salary of £400 per annum with fees. This saving of £300 per annum will enable the College to balance its expenditure by its income." In September when, to use the words of the Herald, the Council had "furbished up" some other reasons for getting rid of me, the plea of economy was entirely forgotten, and they decided that " the commercial arrangements " should continue as before.

The Council of tho University College, a body responsible to the public, have treated mo in a manner absolutely unheard of in any English University, have dismissed me on grounds which they refuse to state, and now, flinging economy to the winds, they are indulging in the large expense of importing another Professor eimply, as far as appears, to please themselves. W. Steadman Alois. November 21, 1893.