THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12472, 1 October 1902, Page 6

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

MR CHISHOLM'S PRELIMINARY ■ MEETING. A meeting of the supporters of Mr R. Chisholm, one of the candidates at the forthcoming parliamentary election, was held in the Oddfellows' Hall, Rattray street, lass e fening.' There were about 100 ladies and gentlemen present,' and Mr James Brown occupied the chair. Mr Chisholm, in the course of a brief address, said he had no apology to offer for coming- forward to contest the election, having occupied a number of public positions and always taken a fair part—in some cases a prominent part—in the affairs of the City, which would enable them to judge of his qualifications to perform the duties appertaining to a member of Parliament. Ho had occupied the position of city councillor, and had for 17 months been m the Mayoral chair, and •that was as lively a time as 3)uncdin had ever experienced. If past- services wore, to count for anything, ho thought h was reasonable for him to expect that he should receive a very fair measure of •support at the general election. Since lie had' announced himself as a candidate the promises he had received had made him very sanguine in his expectations. Promises had emanated from every section of the community—from workers and employers he had received encouragement and promises of support. The railway servants had nominated him as one of the candidates, and the Workers' Political platform and the Saddlers' Union had almost unanimously agreed that lie was the most fit and proper person to represent them. The Liberal Federation had also been good enough to nominate him ai> one of their candidates. He wished to say that he was a true Liberal—politically. He was not a Liberal because the Right Hon. :Mr Seddon or Sir Joseph Ward were, or because the present Ministry was one of Liberal administration, but because he believed true Liberalism meant true progress. It would be out of place for him to then enter into detail, but he would like to say a. word or two oil the finances of the colony. They Deed have no doubt about the financial condition of the co'lony, and he only wished that every man and every firm was in a like condition to the colony at the present time. They had a debt of £52,000,000, but they anust measure the burden by. the ability of the person, to carry is. ' When a business man wanted to know Ins position he did not look only at his liabilities—he looked to see what his assets were, and if his assets were far more than ins liabilities they might depend upon it that man was not in a very bad position. While the jeolony had this debt it had in private wealth alone £230,000,000. Its inuebteuness at the present time amounted to £65 I& per head for every man, woman, and child, and the wealth meant £291 for overy.man, woman, and child of the population. Ho thought everyone would a<ccept the position of taking £291 with an indebtedness of £65 12s. The matter of a r-.urpi.us must be taken with certain restrictions, and they had to see that ordinary revenue covered ordinary expenditure. Supp;raiug a man. started the year with £500, and at the end of the year had £250, it was a balance certainly, but not a surplus. If ;.-. Government or a corporation had their expenditure exceeding their ordinary revenue the sooner they pulled themselves together the bettor for themselves and everybody eise. Under the appropriation the Government- had iakon £500,000 for works, and ia criticising the Financial Statement this ijiust be taken 'into consideration. Mr Oiushoim also referred to the matter of bringing labour down from Auckland for the tramways, and deprecated such a thing. He also expressed the opinion that a great many tilings imported would have been very much better made in Dunedin. If made !ooa.lly move money would be distributed locally. ' He thought the Acting-Premier ?i'>.tde a great mistake wheu he sent to America for the railway carriages. He knew tbAt thoy coot less money, but if made here the money circulated would have comoensatcd for any extra pout. On the motion of Mr J. W*en, seconded by Mr William Reid, it was resolved that the meeting considered Mr Chisholm a fit and proper person to represent those present in Parliament, and that the meeting constituted itself s committee to secure hie raiurn. A secretary was then electee, stiia the ward committees formed, 'the following gentlemen being appointed chairmen of the various committees:—Mr W. Reid, High Ward; Mr Carotin, South Ward; Mr Ritchie, Bell Ward; and Mr Butler, ijsit-h Ward. Mr J. J. Ramsay announces ms intention of opening the campaign in Taieri by addressing the electors of Mosgiel on Monday, October 13. Both -the Olutha papers sfcaue thai' Mr John M'Neil, chairman of the Clut.hu County Council, will contest the Clufclia seat at the general election. It.Ls generally understood (says the Jsew Zealand Times) that the Opposition "'ticket" for 'Wellington City at the forthcoming parliamentary olfactions will be Messrs Atkinson, Duth'.e, and Aitken. That TU-SSICURA has attained the highest position throughout the colony as an absolutely infallible remedy for all THROAT and LUNG TROUBLES ia beyond question, and that reputation is daily increasing. Not only will it relieve a cold or cough, but it serves a moie important purpose in arresting the development of serious disease.