MR. RUSSELL HECKLED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17336, 6 December 1919, Page 12

MR. RUSSELL HECKLED.

LIVELY NIGHT AT LINWOOD. WORK DURING EPIDEMIC. DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAXES A meeting addressed by the Hon. G. W. Russell, Opposition candidate and sitting member for Avon, this week, was full of lively interludes. " The Linwood Schoolroom was a place of draughts and humour when Mr. Russell addressed an audience which extended into the murkiness of the porch, while faces peered in at the winI dows," says a Christchurch paper. I " Stories have been sent round the back doors of the people," stated Mr. Russell, " that I am the man responsible for the terrible epidemic which swept over this country. If any man comes forward," he declared, ** any man who knows anything about it, and brings his views before tjie people of Avon, then I am here to meet him! I don't care if he is a doctor, a journalist, or a candidate; this is straight from the shoulder!" The candidate then went on to say that the visitation was a pandemic, attributed in some quarters to the war. " Never," he stated, " has such an anxious month passed through" my life before, and—" A voice from the murk of the porch: Because you are responsible! Mr. Russell: It* is a fair thing that yoa come inside. A Voice: He is not game ~~ Mr. Russell: Can anyone say how the disease got to the Chatham Islands ? A Voice : By airplane ! Mr. Russell then went on to deal in deta;l with the cases on the Niagara, the utilisation of the quarantine stations for German internees, and the successful wi pine-out of the disease in four weeks. The disease lasted for six months in Australia, and the authorities there appealed to New Zealand for information as to how the Dominion fought the disease, i A person in the doorway: Don't yon . think the doctors there are any good; J Mr. Russell: Go and take your hat off! I The Interjector: I'd l ; ke to see you stand here in the draught with your hat off! A Voice: He'd get the flu! The Duty on Beer. > Mr. Russell then went on to refer to the National Debt, and concluded by stat- ; ing that one of the things Sir Joseph j Ward did was to raise the duty on beer. A husky voice : No wonder we can't 1 get none ! "■* Mr. Russell: Some people are getting too much. Before the war the duty was 3d, and now it is about 6d. Not a copper of extra duty had been placed on the necessities of life, except tea. A voice : What about sugar ? Mr. Russell : Oh ! You know nothing at all about it ! Don't talk to me about that sort of thing ! There are direct and indirect taxation. When you put a gallon of beer down your throat and go to a public meeting to make things lively, you don't realise that you are putting 6d coffers of the country. That is 1 indirect taxation. (Laughter and Bah ! Bah After quoting figures to show how the income tax returns had increased, Mr. Russell reiterated the statement that the Government had put no tax on necessaries, except 3d on tea. A voice : They got their "cobbers" to do it.

Two members of the audience became lost in a heated argument at this juncture, and the chairman appealed to them. Turning to one of them, a grimy individual, he said, "Stop that, will you?" The grimy one : It's not me; it's him (pointing). The chairman : You are the worst offender, he interjected only once or twice. The grimy one : All right, I'll "have a go" later. A little later Mr. Russell said, "I am informed that the gentleman who has recently come into the contest is not sup--1 ported by Mr. Massey of the Reform Party. A Vo>'ce : The pubs runJiim ! Mr. Russell: There are three partiesLiberal, and Labour—— A Section : Three cheers for Labour. Mr. Russell: That is hollow and weak. A Voice: Same as you will be after the election. "Infernal Bosh." Mr. Russell then dealt with the socialisation of production, distribution, and exchange proposed fay the Labour Party. "Has any man," asked the candidate, I shown how the money is to be provided in order that the whole of the lands in New Zealand can be nationalised?""^ ' A « C€ : McCombs will answer that. Mr. Russell : D ; rectly that is done yon won't own your own homes A Voice : You're 6elfish ! «. Mr ?, u8 : . Ah J Hrd a t™«ne like that I d boil it! (Uproar.) He then went on to say that the Government of Holland, Semple and Co. would tell the people what jobs they had to do. A Voice : You are talking rot! # . Mr. Russell: I am just reducing this infernal bosh to something you can understand ! Every shop will be closedonly newspapers and breweries will be left alone! How do you like it, how do you Brit-sh people who have inherited the blood of your Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and I English fathers like it? They would even , tell you, these Labour people, about your ! coffins—this wild cat, wild-eved, Stainyside Socialistic policy 1 (Uproar.) Is that the . crowd you will put in Parl-ament? Talk , about a bull in a China shop—it's nothing Labour and the War. There was a great deal of disturbance at this stage, remarks of all kinds beinn hurled at the speaker. Mr. Russell: I thought I'd get yon going? You are like marionettes! I pull 1 the strings and you dance, howl and I squeal [ What did Labour do for the war? A member, of the audience: I am a follower* of the Labour Party and I lost two brothers. , Mr. Russell (sympathetically approaching I the mterjector): You are one of the party % but I am dealing with the leaders. I challenge anyone to name one Labour candidate in Christchurch who helped in the v prosecution of the war, " Bah! Bah" came from a man near the door. Mr. Russell : You have been filled with ' beer to come here and interrupt this meeting ! ! The chairman then appealed to a persistent objector to "be quiet." The interjector : He's asking for it. Mr. Russell: Look here, if you come here on Saturday night I'll come and listen, and won't interrupt. This is my show! ~ An auditor : Is it not a fact that the Labour members did something for pensions. Mr. Russell : I know all about that gag! I have behind me the returned sold-ers of Avon, and you will find that out at the election. The Labour Partymust be judged on its nart in the war. A voice: One thin;?! Mr. Russell : It is everything ! I stand in the interests of the party opposed to "go-slow" and revolutionary tactics, and against direct action. When the election numbers go up, I hope to have the honour of again representing Avon. Voices: Out! Out yon go ! After a number of questions had been answered the chairman declared a vote of thanks and confidence carried.