THE PREMIER AND MR. A. R. ATKINSON

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 50

THE PREMIER AND MR. A. R. ATKINSON

j Mr A. R. Atkinson, M.H.R. for Wel- | lington, under date 17th January, writes , as follows: —Yesterday morning 1 at- | tended, by invitation, a meeting of the ! committee which was making arrangei meats for the public demonstration in ! the Theatre Royal to-day, and was asked to move the resolution to be submitted, j On ascertaining that it was not of a • -‘fire-eating” or irritating character, I j acceded with pleasure to the request. 1 At a subsequent stage in the meeting, when the question of other speakers was under discussion, I volunteered to stand down from the place allotted me, and take any other position the committee might like if it would lighten their task of arranging the order. It was explained to me iu reply that the question I was not a personal one, but that I had ' been selected for the honour “ex officro,” i as the senior member for the city avail- : able. The committee was unanimous, both in its original request to me and in declining to accept my suggestion , to re-open the matter. Among the . speakers to be invited was the Premier, ! and a sub-committee was appointed to pay him and other speakers the same courtesy that had been extended to myself, viz., that of seeing the proposed resolution before it was finaly settled. In the afternoon the committee met again, and the sub-committee reported that they had interviewed the Premier, who expressed himself in substantial accord with the resolution as submitted, but strongly disapproved of an M.H.R. j being asked to move the resolution. He | considered that such a step would give ' the matter a political colour, which would | be a great mistake; it was a citizens’ , meeting, and it should be in their hands alone. It was pointed out to him that I was a citizen of ton years’ standing, as well as a politician; but the Premier was obdurate. No politician should either move or second the resolution; and ho suggested tho chairman of the Chamber of Commerce or of the Harbour Board as a fit and proper person for the position. He felt so strongly upon tho point that he must absolutely declino to attend the meeting if an M.H.R. were retained as mover of the resolution. 1 The sub-committee having presented their .report, I was called upon to plead, and my reply was that though in the morning I had volunteered my readiness to give up tho honourable position the committee had allotted me, I could mako no such offer now. I had been willing to put myself entirely in the

hands of the citizens of Wellington through their committee, but whatever the decision of the committee might now be, I felt it to be incompatible with my respect for my constituency or myself to accept dictation from an outside source, from one whose expression of opinion to the citizens of Wellington on their management of their own meeting was in the strictest sense of the term a sheer impertinence. I should therefore speak in the place the committee had originally allotted me, .or not speak at all; and if their decision necessitated the latter alternative, I should feel obliged to publish the reasons for my failure to attend the meeting. In order, however, that no note of discord should mar the meeting in any way, I should withhold the publication till after the meeting. After full discussion, the committee ultimately decided to rescind their previous invitation to me, and to adopt the programme which lias since been published. Three members of the committee voted for this motion, the four others (including myself) declining to vote. I requested that they should put on record that their only reason for the change was the refusal of the Premier to attend the meeting if the original programme was adhered to, but this suggestion was not acted on. At the same time, I wish to emphasise that they treated me personally with the utmost courtesy, and I am satisfied that their one aim was to ensure a successful meeting. A sufficient proof of the good feeling on both sides is afforded by their kindness in closing the proceedings with a vote of thanks to me for my attitude in the matter.