GENERAL ELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16242, 27 November 1914, Page 8

GENERAL ELECTION

MR J. E. JENKINSON AT CLINTON

ORIGINAL VIEWS ON EDUCATION.

Mr J. E. Jenkinson, candidate for tho Clutha seat at tho forthcoming elections, in the Liberal intorests, addressed a fairly large audience in tho Town Hall at Clinton on Tuesday night. Mr J. C. .Borthwick presided. Mr Jenkinson, who started his address shortly before 9 o'clock, and continues! till after 11 o'clock, was accorded a good hearing, and was frequently applauded.

In introducing the speaker the Chairman said that ho had been for 21 years a member of the Legislative Council, and now sought the suffrages of the eleetons of Clutha for election to the House of Representatives.

Mr Jenkinson, who as greeted with applause, said that many of the newspapers of the country and a"large number of the candidates who were sneaking, were brin..'ul of condemnation of the Reform Party. It was only necessary to consider the records of the two parties—that of tho Liberals from 1891 to 1911, and that of the Reform Party for its two years in office. The Reform Government had , broken every pledge it had made before it came into office. He would not refer at length to the measures for the benefit of the people passed by the Liberals. Let, the audience consider the Old Ago Pensions Act, for instance. He would not deny that tho Liberal Party had made mistakes, and had not a times gone fast enough, and perhaps the slight set-back cf the last two years would do it good. The Liberals had had a reverse, and those who had opposed them in 1911 had given them their lesson, arfd it was now time that they were put .back again,, for ho Reform Party had not proved progressive enough for even the of the electors.

The Government had struggled into office, and had promised to bring about a reduction of borrowing, to reduce the expenditure, and practice economy, to bring about compulsory insurance against sickness and unemployment, to reduce the taxation, and to revise the tariff. They had been going to promise the freehold, and the speaker had a cony of a speech by Mr Massey in 1911, in which the freehold was promised, and also the limitation of areas. But the Government had not limited tho areas, and had actually gone so far in the Natiyo Land Act as substantially to increase it. A limitation of areas had previously boen provided, but the Government got this cut by a Bill in 1912, and made no attempt to provide any measure for limitation of area in connection with private lands. The speaker thought that iand tenure should be provided under a deferred payment system. The man on the land should be enabled gradually to acquire the freehold, since the man with the freehold had a tendency, to keep the land for himself and those coming after him. If he were given an undisputed title to it, it created in him a sentimental feeling of interest in it which would not otherwise exist. But under the system of acquiring the freehold in operation, the interest on the money borrowed was higher than the rent the tenant v.-as formerly paying for the land. Men who had been getting tho land at 3j per cent, found, on buying it, that it cost them 4j, 5. or 6 per cent, in interest on borrowed money. If we established tho deferred pay-* ment system we_ would do something to bring about a movement whereby those who got the freehold gradually would, when they got it. make on it homes for themselves and their children. He was in favour of the freehold that would give to a man his homo without fear of the mortgage foreclosing. If the deferred payment system could not be popularised let provision be made for a lease for 25 years, with the right at. any time to pay off, the Land Board to be allowed to renew the lease at any period. The present limitation should be lowered, and brought down to 400 acres of first class land, 1000 acres of second class and 3000 acres of third class land.

One of the planks of the Labour Party' 3 programme was land nationalisation. But what was the use of the land to the State? It was of no value at all. It was tho rroduce from the land that wasjof value to the State, and they would strive to get tho greatest amount of produce from the land. Good tenures should be given, and every incentive to the holder to increase production. Every department of the State should be used for this purpose, for eventually tho State benefited.

The Government, he would repeat, had not fulfilled its pledges. Some of them it would have been disastrous to have fulfilled. The Government had promised to reduce borrowing. But in a country like New Zealand, whose development had to be provided for, and in which there were ;,mnlo assets and securities, we should go on borrowing., and borrow largely. Everyone must see that borrowed money must be used to develop the country, and it was madness for the Reform Party to say flat it would attempt to stop borrowing or taper it off. The expenses of the country and of its Government were heaping up, and the Reform Party must have known that it had to rro on .borrowing. There might, indeed, be a worse term than " ignorance" to apply to the reason of their former utterances on this subject. He was not in favour of reducing borrowing, but favoured borrowing sanely and judiciously. The trouble in the past had been, with both Governments, that a great deal of the money had been wasted through political wires having been pulled, and votes given to districts where they were not necessary, simply because the Government had wanted the assistance of the member for that district in some tight hole into which it had got. The public would have to see in the future that money was spent judiciously and so as to tend to the benefit and prosperity of the country. It was proposed to spend money on a "freak" on the other side of the Clutha River which was not required—he alluded to the Balclutha-Tuapeka Mouth railway, whioh was a scandalous suggestion.—(Applause.) It was selfish of th'e Clutha people to ask to have a railway made up the side of a river like the Clutha, where water freight would serve excellently. The people who advocated it would be sorry if-it were carried out. It would bo a bad thing for Balclutha, because the railway would pass by that town on the other side of "the river. Three or four bridges would be required .across the Clutha. Water traffic was cheap, and when there were so many other works that required doing this one should not be undertaken. One of the finest suggestions the speaker had ever heard had been made before the Imperial Commission in New Zealand a coupfe of years ago by the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand, and it applied to some of the works on which New Zealand was spending money. The suggestion was that, when money was wanted to carry out work in the dominion connected with Imperial:sm. the Imperial Government be asked to guraatee a loan. The speaker objected to the nonsensical cry of Ministers, who said: " Look how high the credit of New Zealand is! Look how we can get loans at a cheap rate!" They tried to delude the public into the belief that because a particular Government was in power, or because a strike had been settled, the moneylenders at Homo were willing to bring down the price of money. But the moneylenders in London turned over hundreds of millions, and the fact that in New Zealand there was a Reform, or a Liberal, or any other sort of Government in power, or that any trouble over a strike had been dealt with, did not affect the London money market in the slightest degree. The cry that fiincc the Reform Government had been in power, and the finances had been put on a sound basis the cost of money was cheaper, was too tall a story. It was said that it was necessary to raise a war tax. and that it was difficult to decide how it should be raised. He thought it would have been better if the war tax had been struck at once, but he did not consider himself an expert in finance at all. During the last few weeks the funds obtained from the contributions invited were not obtained on an equality basis from the people in New Zealand. Many of those who were wealthy did not contribute their quota to the funds.—(Applause.) Therefore, from an equality point of view, a war tax would have been better. There was no doubt that the war tax, when imposed, would be struck on income and on land, and the ooint was, on what income would taxation "start? He thought that U should start at a low amount. Judging from the way in which the lowly-paid men had acted during the past few weeks, he thought that 'the man With the low incomes were just as willing to eive as much as they could as the men with larger incomes. Revision of the tariff had been promised, and it was a oledge that should have been kept, and might have been kept easily. The duties on the necessaries of life should have been attended to long ago. If the Reform Government had had svmpathy with the working people it could have acted in such a way ae to reduce the-duties on the necessaries of life. But it was of no use attemptin"- to reduce the customs tariff unless wp went further, and dealt with monopolies, and any Government that in future took the question of taxation into consideration must also consider mononolir* th»t controlled the prces of foodstuffs, for instance, since' the .war broke out the price of sugar had increased, though the cost of production had not gone up at a", or. at any rate, had gone up only very little. But the Colonial Sugar Company, in Auckland,

had control of the sugar trade in the dominion, and had put the price of sugar up considerably. The Price of Food Commission had riot dealt with the price of sugar at all. The commission had made the biggest bungle it could possibly have made. If the Government had dealt firmly with the mutter there would have been no detriment to the working class at (ill. The spoaker dealt at some length with his views on the. subject of education. We were, he said, told that our education system was free, secular, compulsory, and national. It was not free, for it cost 26e a head every year. If was certainly not. compulsory, for there was a large number of Ixiy.s and girls who did not go to iiohooi. It wan not secular, it was only non-sectarian. If was not, national, because in Otago there was a different system from those obtaining further north. Lastly, it wa,i not educational. In tho primary iwhools at present there was a syllabus so crammed with "tomfoolery" that the children had little time to be taught the essentials of education.—(Applause.) The ''three K's" were almost forgotten. If the records of the inspectors were read it would be seen that there were reports to tho effect that in many of (he schools writing was scarcely taught, reading hardly ever hoard, and arithmetic in many cases in a bad state indeed. The time of. the teachers was taken up with "jim-jams," such as Nature-study, drawing flowers, plasticine work, etc. To crown all, a short time ago another subject called physical culture was added to' the svllabu6. The speaker was as loud in his admiration of well-set-up men and women ae anyone else, but ho was not euro that some of the scholars attending the oountry schools were in want of physical culture.—(Laughter.) Some discrimination should bo exercised Perhaps in tho town some sort, of physical training was necessary. But it was added as a, part of tho syllabus, and the time employed in it was taken from that which should bo applied to the teaching of other subjects. To some extent it took the place of tho play time that the children had, and it interferes generally with the work of the schools. Proficiency certificates now carried" children to the secondary schools. But he was afraid that this provision had a different effect from what was expected. For it had the result of coaxing a number of parents into tho belief that their children, having passed the Sixth Standard and gained the proficiency certificate, were fit to go in for higher education. The result was that they sent them into the technical and secondary schools, and in many cases two years of a child s life were wasted. Ho thought that there was an attempt, not to give too much education to a child, but to over-educate it in many respects. Children wore allowed to go to the higher schools and get a smattering of learning—they did not get educated—which unfitted them for tho woric they were destined to do after they loft school. Whether it was necessary for boys and girls to go to a secondary school was open to debate. But it would not be a question for argument if the children had boen educated at the primary school, ana more time had boon given actually to educating them. He was afraid that the time of the children at the primary schools was wasted to a largo extent. Tho education system could be improved. He would make it free from the primary school to the university, and abolish all fees entirely. Ihe fees paid only about half of the cost of tuition. The fees collected ■ amounted to about £11.000 or £12,000, and that was a small item compared with the total cost of education. Let them bo abolished and the poor man's child given an advantage equal to that of the rich man's. Let some consideration be given to the reduction of the enormous cost of technical education. Dozens of technical schools had been established in. the dominion, and after having been through many of these schools, tho speaker's opinion was "that thore was a great deal of waste of timo and money. There were two systems of technical education—one aiming at turning out the designer, and the other aiming at turning out tho skilled workman. But in his opinion we were trying to turn out the designer and the skilled workman from the same establishment, and not getting the results. He believed that money could be saved that would counterbalance the loss from the abolition of the fees. As for country schools, there had boen too much laxity regarding the teachers of these. Many of these schools were in the hands of young men or women,, almost totally inexperienced, without very high credentials, and, in fact, almost apprentices, and the children were handicapped, and had to rely on almost any education they could get. A teacher in the country should be a man of very high atj tainments, and should be qualified to givo as high a grade of teaching as was given to children In the town. Some central body should bo appointed to deal with teachers' appointments, to fix the syllabus, and to fix uniform text-books for tho whole dominion. This central bodv should take in hand the framing of tho Estimates. Ho did not know what steps had been taken recently in Wellington, as ho was speaking of tiie conditions as they existed a few months ago, and a central body such ae he suggested might have been appointed. Speaking of superannuation, Mr Jenkinson said that four years ago the consolidated revenue had subscribed £45,000 to the fund. Three years ago it contributed £90,000, two years ago also £90,000, and last year £115,000. He was not complaining, for otherwise a great part of this money might have had to be expended in charitable aid or compassionate grants, so it was not an entire ioss. But as to the _£115,000, there were men who were more entitled to it than the public servants. Those in outside employment, subject to broken time and unemployment, were not participating in any form of superannuation, and if the dominion could subscribe this sum to holster up the fund for public servants it would have to vio as much, if not more, for those outside the service who, from their conditions of employment, were mere entitled to it. This could' be done at very little cost to the State through the- National Provident b'und, and money would be saved in charitable aid. "Veirs ago the speaker had tried to have the amount of a man's superannuation on retirement from the public service limited to £300 a year. This had now been done, but it did not apply to those who retired before the limitation was fixed. Certain ot these drew from £300 to £750 a year, and the taxpayers were finding some of this money. This matter should be dealt with. The contribution should be put on a proper basis. The lowly-paid men should aot pay much into the fund, and the highly-paid men should pay very much more than them. Also thcrj were men in the Government employ receiving small wages, and if they could borrow money at a fair rate of interest just at the time they wanted it it might do much good ne therelore proposed that participants in tho Superannuation Fund should bo allowed to borrow from' it on tiie security of their positions, and repay their loans in instilments. Mr Jenkinson dealt with the policies ,of the Libe-ul and of the Reform Party on th) question of defence. Sir Joseph Ward, he said, was against a local navy. But it was dilficult to imagine, wnat Mr Massey's policy was. It was extremely indefinite. It seemed to advocate that some increase should be made to the Imperial Navy. The speaker was against a loca'i navy, tor tiie cuss was above what the dominion could consider. It vvao diliicult to see what the Government d:d suggest. Let the audience consider the cost of the Australian Navy, and.ttie tremendous seaboard New Zealand had. It was certain that af large number of ships would have to be procured, and to talk oi going into such a scheme with only a million people in the country was to talk 25 years before our time. \V'e must rely en the Imperial Navy, increase the subsidy, and make arrangements for the shores of New Zealand to be adequately protected. Iftiever ho, got a chance he would vote for the reduction of the Territorial ago from 25 to 21, or even 18.—(Applause.) The present period —up to 25 years—was too long. Alter men had reached the age at whxh service terminated they could bo given full encouragement to join volunteer* corps and stay in them. A Voice: Would you increase the baby bonus'.'—(Laughter.)

In conclusion, Mr Jenkinson said that he had heard of no agreement between the. .Liberal iuk! Labour Thirties. Personally, he was appearing as a Liberal candidate for tho ideals of the Liberals were more to his liking than those of the Reform Party. There was little of the present Government's legislation that he had not been able to support though he certainly thought that the civil service should have been kept within parliamentary, though without political, control. He condemned the present Government's administration entirely, ana considered that it had shown itself utterly ircapable in many departments. He would support the Liberal i'arty, but it would be a matter of measures, not men.

At the conclusion a vote of thanks ana confidence was carried.

BRUCE. Mr C. R. Smith addressed a good meeting at 'Wailiola on Tuesday evening. Mr A. Diekeon, farmer, occupied the chair. Mr Smith spoke for upwards of two hours, and was heartily applauded throughout his speech. A number of questions were answered. A vote of thanks and confidence was proposed by Mr VV. J. Fallowfiold, and seconded by Mr Albert Andrews. A motion of thanke for his address—confidence to be reserved for the ballot box—was lost on a show of hands, only three voting for it. and the motion of thanks and confidence was carried araidet loud applause and cheering.

THE PRIME MINISTER

SPEECH AT LOWER HTJTT. CHEERED TO THE ECHO. (FaOU OUB OWN COBBEaPONDKNT.I WELLINGTON, November 26. The Right Hon. Mr Massey entered the stronghold of the enemy at Lower Hutt. hist night. It it. the seat that Mr VV.ltorci has held for .30 many years, and, it the .size of ihe audience and the cnthusi ism with wl.Lli M.' Ma;.soy was gect.-d arel anj ind.cat.Oii u, me .nnd (it events, ....

.r-aniucl rtlie Reform candidal.') has a chance of winning. The chairman said that so far as iie could remember it vva»i the first oeei.sion on which a Prime Minister luid addressed a political meeting at the .Butt. Though it wa.s a wet, blustering night the large nail was 'illcd to overflowing. People occupii d every inch of standing room, and others could not gain admittance.

On entering the hall -Mr Massey was greeted with quite a storm of cheering, which was repeated when he row to speak. At the outset he dealt with defence, and the audience cheered references to the Australian Navy and the destruction of the Emdcn by the Sydney.

The Prime Minister went on to make out a ■ most damaging' indictment against the Liberals' finance, and showed the improvement that had been made by tho Reform Government. As to the present prosperity of tho dominion, he mentioned the fact that tlij deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank last month had exceeded the -withdrawals by £152,604, while for the last 10 months the excess was no less than £1,100,562. — (Cheers.)

As the meeting proceeded some interruptions began to come from the " Red Feds " and Liberals, but their efforts were drowned with loud cheering from the great majority of the audjence. "1 see," said Mr Massey, " that four-lifths of this largo meeting belong to me." —(Enthusiastic cheering.) He was talking at the time aoout t.w Opposition gag that tho Government had increased taxation. ''I challenge," added Mr Massey, " the other fifth—the noisy fifth—to point to one single item on which we have increased the Customs taxation." —(Cheers.) '''there is silence," he said, amid renewed cheers.

Mr Massey dealt with the many reforms and concessions in the interests of the people. About half-way through tho speech someone called for "throe cheers for Joey," and these were given, mingled with some hooting. Countcr-cneero in far greater volume were then enthusiastically given for Mr Massey. Mr Massey dealt trenchantly with various misrepresentations in regard to the actions and r.dministrations of the Government and ox himself, whi-'h, he said, Mr Wilford was making, his remarks being frequently applauded and cheered. Mr Massey dealt fully and effectively with tho ostrich farm question, and produced a plan from thj Survey Department showing that the farm did not in any way benefit by the Wiuku line, as it had had a frontage for years to the Main Trunk line. Mr Massey gave tha whole history of the transaction, which shewed that the transaction was in everyway clean and above- board, the line having been surveyed and authorised 15 years before he came into Parliament. Moreover, he and hi 3 friends had taken up iand that was practically worthless, and had spent 3 large sum in improving it and in endeavouring to maintain ah industry that was in danger ot going out of existence. Up to the present he bad not got a copper out of his investment . In a scathing condemnation of the New Zealand Times he challenged that journal, instead of using innuendoes and insinuations, to come out with a definite statement, and he would give ;t an opportunity of substantiating the statement in the Supremo Court if it cost him his last shilling. Mr Massey's statement was received with loud and prolonged cheering. Mr Massey spoke for over two hours, and at the close of his speech there was again prolonged cheers and a remarkable scene of enthusiasm.

(Pee United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, November 26. In referring to the ostrich farm, Mr Massey said:—'" I want to clear up this matter of the ostrich farm." A Voice: "About time you did." Mr Masscy: " And I have for the opportunity of doing so in Wellington." Mr Masscy said the line was surveyed and practically agreed to years before ho became the member for the district A great deal of energy had then been put into the construction of the main trunk lines, and quite rightly. The people of the district had been given promises by various Ministers. The Hon. R. M'Kenz'e and Sir William Hall-Jones had both gone to the district, and had approved of the line, and he (Mr Massey) had no doubt that it would pay. Now, about the ostrich farm. A gentleman of tho Auckland district, who had joined the great majority, who had left a will stating that his property must bo put into cash. The outcome of the negotations over the estate was the establishment of this ostrich farm, into which he had -out £1000. The company which had been formed had paid £17,500 for tho property, and had come to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to improve it. For this purpose it had borrowed first £10.000, and then a smaller sum. The property had never paid any of them, including himself, a cent. He hoped that some dav thev would get their money back, but it 'was "being inferred that he was using the people's money to build a railway to benefit himself. As a matter of fact the property touched on the present main line. If they had travelled to Auckland they had probably seen the ostriches—there wero 500 of them—at Pukekoho. That was where the property touched the main lineMr Masscy then quoted from a newspaper report which said that at one of his meetings Mr Glass had repudiated his own paper—'the New Zealand Times. He would not touch it. Mr Masey then produced a plan of the district.' The new line, he said, did not run through the farm, as had been stated time and again. In Auckland," said Mr Massey, " whore I am known, the people laugh at this. I don't profess to be better than anybody else, but my constituents know that I am a straight man." —(Applause.) "Ho would not have left his constituents as ho had done, assured of a 1500 majority at their hands, if he had any charge to answer. I want the New Zealand Times to come out in the open.— (" Hear, hear.") It has been inferring and casting about the impression that I have been using the money of the State to build this railway for my own benefit. To say such a thing, or to infer it either, is a falsehood. I challenge the New Zealand Times to come out into the open, and say that I have used the people's money for by own personal gain, and I will know what to do. I am juot watching and waiting. If the New Zealand Times says that, then I will take the matter to the Supreme Court, and fight it, if it cost me the last shilling that I own.—(Applause -from the front seats.) I know the mudslinger who writes these articles. I know he won't apologise, but I've taken the opportunity of telling tho people the facts of the case."

THE GISBORNE SEAT.

(Pee United Association.) GISBORNE. November 26. Messrs H. do Lautour and George Smith have been nominated. The latter, a iocal pawnbroker, is standing as a prohibitionist. NOTES FROM WELLINGTON. (From Oub Own iJohUta.-oMjuw.) WELLINGTON, November 26. Somebody told Mr Herdman at his public meeting last night that the public servants were "up against" him now. The Minister retorted that he did not care who was " up against" him, but that he was quite certain the Public Service Act had given the public a better civil service and the civil servants infinitely better conditions than they had ever had before. Moreover, their pay was better than, it had ever been, and they had a Board of Appeal, which they had never had before. In answering a question later in the evening the Minister said it was absolutely false to say that he was in favour of withholding the statutory increases from public servants on account of the war.

Further evidence of the compact entered into between the Liberals and other factions of the Opposition wa6 given last evening. Mr J. M'Kenzie (chairman at Mr M'Lare.n's meeting in the new Century Hull) said that "a working understanding had been arrived at to allow the Progressive nominee to have a clear run against the Government candidate." There is very ccnpral regret here at the retirement of Mr Davey. Ho was greatly respected by everyone about the Parliament and by many friends he had made m Wellington. ITe was absolutely straight and honest, and was always fair in his criticisms. On no occasion, whatever the provocation, did bo indulge in hitting below the belt. Even his political enemies had a real liking for him. and will be sorry not to see him in his accustomed place next session. In losing him Christchurch is losing its best member.

Mr TurnbullV entry into the Wellington North contest has puzzled a good mnny people, including the Labour Party, seeing that it upset the understanding between the Liberals and Labour. It is now suggested that Mr Turnbull was brought out to enable the Lender of the Opposition to use the Expeditionary Forco vote.

DUNEDIN WEST. Mr \V. Downie Stewart addressed a largo meeting of electors in the Wukari Drill Hall lust evening. Mr R, Mciuiea occupied tho chair, and, in introducing tho candidate, referred to ins many services to the city and his recent occupancy of tho mayoral chair. Mr Stewart dealt in an interesting (aid forceful manner with leading political questions. He referred especially to the question of the shortage in wheat and flour, and emphasised the wise action of the Government in making large importations of wheat in order to force local holders,to bring their .stocks into the market. He pointed out that in Australia the onlv result of attempts to commandeer wheat had been to (•heck the supply, and thai ninny mills in all the Australian States had closed down. So far New Zealand had fared much better than the Australian .States, owing to the action of the Government,'and comparatively little unemployment had manifested itself here compared to the widespread iinemp'oymcnt in Australia. The candidate's explanation of this and other topics met with repeated applause, and at the conclusion of his address a vote of thanks and confidence, proposed by Mr R. T. Stewart, and seconded by Mr C. Gilray, was carried unanimously.

Mr*.J. T. Johnson addressed a large and appreciative audience in the Albany .Street School Hall last night, Mr S. S. Myers presided, nnd introduced the candidate in very complimentary terms. Mr Johnson snoke on the different political topics of tho day. his remarks evoking frequent rounds of applause. Several questions were answered, and, at the conclusion.' a vote of thanks and confidence wa.s carried unanimously with cheers. The motion was proposed bv Mr J. D. Smith, and seconded by Mr J. Prcndergast. DUNEDIN SOUTH. Mr Bcwley authorises the Liberal organiser for Dunedin to state that he has withdrawn his candidature for Dunedin South, in order to avoid the possibility of the success of the Reform candidate.

CHALMERS. A large and enthusiastic meeting of Mr Dickson's Otokia Committee was held on Saturday night. Encouraging reports were handed in, and the committee has left no stone unturned to further the interests of the Reform candidate. Mr W. D. Mason addressed a large meeting' of electors at Fairfield on Tuesday night. Mr James Ross presided. The candidate was frequently applauded, and at the conclusion of his address wqs accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence on the motion of Mr P. Riley, seconded by Mr T. M'Cloy. Mr Mason addressed a large meeting of ladies in tho Foresters' Hall. Port Chalmers, yesterday afternoon. In the evening he spoke at Sawyers' Bay. Mr Binnie presided. At the conclusion of his address a vote of thanks ajid _ confi- • dence was unanimously carried amid enthusiasm. At the meeting of the Political Labour Representation Committee, held in the Tradeg Hall last evening, a discussion .took nlace on the intrusion of an unofficial Labour candidate in the Chalmers electorate, and it was resolved that this committee recommend Mr Mason to the favourable consideration of the workers, and trusts that they will return him to Parliament. OTAGO CENTRAL. Mr R. Scott, the Government candidate, held highly successful meeting's at Roxburgh on Tuesday night last, and at Alexandra on the following evening. At Roxburgh, where 'the Mayor presided, a vote of thanks and confidence was seconded by Mr Jolm Bennetts, who was one of Mr Scott's opponents in the Liberal interest at the general election three years ago. The Mayor (Mr E. Marslin) presided at tho meeting in Alexandra, where a vote. -of thanks and confidence was carried on tho motion of Mr E. M'Donald, seconded by Mr Coulson. Mr Bodkin returned to Alexandra yesterday, and expressed himself ae highly satisfied with lue southern tour. He has had large meetings all through from Coal Creek to Kelso. WAITAKI. Mr N Francis has been nominated for' tho Waitaki seat in tho House of Representatives, signatures to' tho nomination papers being as follow:— H. E. M!Gowan, William Gardiner, Jeannie Little, George M'Donald, James B Taylor, John Slahoney, Joseph Ross Mitchell, C. Adame, 11. J Mumford, M. J. Crowe.

Mr Anstey was nominated for the_ seat last Tuesday, his nominators being William Lindsay (farmer), Hannaton; W. J. Wills, Waimate; Michael Fogarty, Hannaton; Helen Pollock, Waimate; and R. W. Hutt.

WANGANUI. <Per United Press Association.)

WANGANUI, November 26. Mr Fred Pirani (Government candidate for Wanganui) addressed the electors tonight, the Opera House being filled to overflowing. Mr Pirani, who said the Government had put up a fine record in the face of great difficulties, had an exoelfent meeting, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, confidence not being asked for. MEETINGS TO-DAY. Albany Street School Hall—Mr G. M. Thomson. Phillips's Memorial Hall, Woodhaugh.— Mr A. Walker. Russell Street Hall.—Mr J. T. Johnson. St. Alban's Hall, Kaikorai.—Mr W. Downie Sltewart. Presbyterian Church Hall, Caversham.—Mr C. E. Statham. Oddfellows' Hall, Kensington.—Mr J. W.

Munro. Oddfellows' Hall, Forbury Corner.—Mr T,

K. Sidey. Coronation Hall, St. Kilda.—Mr T. H.

Dalton. Lower Harbour and Deborah Bay.—Mr W. D. Mason. St. Leonards and Sawyers' Bay.—Mr G.

S. Thomson. Waipori, Wainori Falls, and Wetherstones,

Hon. J. Allen. Waitati.—Mr J. A. Macpherson. Evansdale.—Mr E. P. Lee. Wedderbnrn and Oturebua.—Mr R. Scott. Moa Creek—Mr W. A. Bodkin.