POLITICAL MACHINATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16052, 20 April 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

POLITICAL MACHINATIONS.

Sir,—tSo '' Liberal" considers 1 have been hit very hard. Well, if so, the blow has not been hard enough to wind inc. Evidently "Liberal" is one of those so prejudiced against the Maeeey Government that it is useless to. argue tne point witti him. tie still contends that Mr Massey cLd not have a majority at the ballot box. He persists in counting all electorates where Mr Massey did not put up a candidate as not being in has favour; and "Liberal" professes to be toe only one capable of sticking to the truth. What do we find? In two of the electorates counted by " Liberal" as antagonistic to the Massey Government at the ballot box there have sjicu been by-elections. I refer to Grey and Lyttelton. At Grey the Reform candidate headed tne poll at tne tiiist ballot, and, it the cry of sectarianism had not been raised, would have headed it at the second also. At Lyttelton the Reform candidate, although deteated in the second ballot, as at Grey, polled within, I think, 200 or 500 of the successful candidate, who waa not a Liberal, but a Labour man. Another electorate nearer at hand which was not contested by the Reform Party last election, is consequently, according to Liberal," classiliod as being against Mr Massey. I refer to Dunedin tiouth, where, if a Reform candidate had stood, there is no doubt he would now be an M.P. Because your correspondent persists in ignoring these facts, and maintains that tne Massey Government % not a clean Government, that is not to say that he voices the opinion of even a tenth of the electors. If lam any judge, his opinions would be endorsed by a tenth. As regards the five members ho mentioned in his first letter as political turncoats, three of them were Independent Liberals, and in any case were not elected to support a Mackenzie Administration. In conclusion, I am quite prepared to back the chances of Messrs Reed, Coates, Rhodes, and Clark , against those of Messrs Atmore, Payne and Robertson at next election.—l am, etc., Trite Liberal. April 17. -