THE JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22568, 11 May 1935, Page 10

THE JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

TO THE EDITOR Sir,—As a visitor to your fair city I was greatly impressed by the outstanding speech delivered by Mr W. Downie. Stewart, M.P., on the occasion of the jubilee celebrations, and reported in your Tuesday's issue. I have now read all the best speeches delivered on the jubilee occasion throughout New Zealand. I venture to say that none reaches the high standard of that of Mr Downie Stewart. Mr Stewart is known throughout the Empire as a public man of outstanding ability. Even a well-known Labour leader of recent municipal honours paid Mr Stewart a very fine compliment last week when he stated in a letter to the press that Mr Downie Stewart is the only Mayor of outstanding ability and progressive ideab whom Dunedin has produced. Yet during the last few days I have learned that an agent of the Labour Party is busily encaged in conducting a house-to-house canvass in Mr Stewart's electorate in order to bring about, if possible, his overthrow at the next general election. Truly, working men and city folk have very short memories. Have they forgotten the exchange controversy, when Mr Downie Stewart resigned his portfolio of Minister of Finance and the comfortable salary it carried because he disagreed with the raising of the exchange rate —an act every city dweller and the working man in particular should remember with gratitude to him. It is the duty of every intelligent elector in Dunedin West who has any sense of gratitude, and desires ability and honesty in his political representative, to get busy at once and work for the return of Mr W. Downie Stewart.—l am, etc., Visitor. May 10. [We have omitted from the above letter a passage concerning Mr Stewart's opponent which relates to a matter that is mainly of professional interest. —Ed., O.D.T.]

Other Letters to the Editor appear on page 7.