BULLER BY-ELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22102, 4 November 1933, Page 12

BULLER BY-ELECTION

MR WEBB’S DETERMINATION * OPPOSED BY SECTIONAL FACTIONS. (Per United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, November 3. “I will fight on,” declared Mr P. C. Webb, the official Labour candidate in' the Duller by-election, in a telephone conversation with a representative of the Star from Westport this morning. Mr Webb was quite unperturbed by the ultimatum issued to the New Zealand Labour Party by the National Council of the United Mine Worker that unless he was replaced by a candidate acceptable to unionists, the Miners’ Council would run a candidate in opposition. “ They haven’t a leg to stand on, Mr Webb said. He admitted that meetings of miners at Millerton and Stockton had passed motions protesting against his candidature, but he was emphatic in declaring that such meetings were not by any means representative of the miners as a whole.

“ They are just the same little cliques that plagued the party during the lifetime of its late leader,” Mr Webb added.

According to a statement made on Thursday by Mr A. M'Lagan, secretary of the United Mine Workers of New Zealand, an ultimatum to the effect that either Mr P. C. Webb must withdraw or the miners in the Buffer electorate would choose a separate candidate of their own, has been sent to the New Zealand Labour Party. Mr M‘Lagan declared that the following telegram had been sent to Wellington;—“ The National Council of United Mine Workers of New Zealand protests against the selection of P. C. Webb as candidate for the mining constituency of Buffer and requests the Labour Party to replace him by a candidate acceptable to the unionists. Otherwise the miners’ council will recommend the miners to run a candidate in opposition.” , Mr M'Lagan’s statement also contained the results of meetings of various mining unions. Stockton and Millerton had unanimously endorsed the council’s recommendation to run a miners’ candidate, and Denniston, by a small majority, had decided to support Mr Webb. * Wallsend and Runanga, each by a two to one majority, resolved to support a special miners’ candidate. Two nominations, those of Mr J. Smeaton (Brunner) and Mr B. Davidson (Millerton) had been made. The decision would be made by a ballot of miners.