AFTER THE POLL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23498, 12 May 1938, Page 11

AFTER THE POLL

CANDIDATES’ SPEECHES LABOUR BACK TO FORMER STRENGTH “ THREE MEMBERS WILL CARRY THE BANNER ” The few hundred people who waited for the announcement of the final figures were very quiet when the returning officer (Mr R. A. Johnston) read out his lists. A number of candidates, successful and unsuccessful, thanked the electors for their votes and wished the new council, the Hospital Board and Harbour Board success. The crowd maintained its good behaviour until the absence of Mr Mark Silverstone became the subject for comment. Calls of “We want Mark! ” and an outburst when Mr J. W, Munro referred to “ our old friends the newspapers ” provided the brightest interludes of the function. One or two candidates had addressed the gathering before the returning officer made his appearance, but Mr D. C. Cameron, who topped the poll, was the first to follow him. He expressed his thanks briefly and said that he would do his best in the interests of the citizens. — (Applause.) Dr D. G. McMillan, M.P., thanked his supporters, congratulated the elected candidates and wished the new council success. “ 1 hope the change in the council will not militate against the welfare of the less fortunate members of the community,” he said among boo’s and “ Oh’s.” “ There are three of us left,” he added, “ and we will carry the Labour banner to the best of our ability.”

“We are back to where we were three years ago.” Mr J. W. Munro said. “ Labour has only three members on the council, but we will do what we have done in the past. If we have stumbled, we will rise again. Certainly we will give the new council a fair spin, and you must just wait and see how it gets on. I personally will do whatever I can to help it. There is one thing to which I would like to refer,” he concluded, “ —our old friends the newspapers.” (Cries of “ Cut it out ” and other similar comment interrupted him for a moment.) “ They ought to be glad about this. Well, we will give them three years, and then we will come again.” Mr M. Connelly said that the Labour Party was fighting for those who were downtrodden. “We can take defeat as well as we can take victories,” he said, “ and we will be on the mat ready to fight it out again in three years from now.”

“As one who has ‘ missed the bus,’ ” Mr D. Copland thanked those who had supported him. Mrs A. M. Herbert was the next to speak, and she emphasised that the time was coming when women would realise that they should have their own representatives on local bodies, Mrs McMillan, she added, would make a very useful member of the Hospital Board. Mr J. E. McManus was cheered when he was helped on to the platform. Labour had been beaten in Dunedin, he said, but it had had a win in Christchurch. “The people there found that the worst Labour council was better than the best Tory council,” he said. “ I am sure that you will bo voting Labour again in three years' time."

“It is evident that the people of Dunedin wanted a change,” said Mr P. Neilson. “ Well, they have got it, and at the end of this term we will find whether or not they are satisfied with *»

After Mr Bryan O'Donnell had assured the crowd that when beaten. Labour was still more determined to fight back. Mr P. G. Connolly said that ho was disappointed but not downhearted. “ I had thought that the powers of the press were on the wane,” ho said, “but apparently there arc still thousands of people in the city prepared to let the editors of the newspapers do their thinking for them. - Cries of "Can't you take it?" mingled with boos and a general uproar for a minute or two before he was able to add that Labour’s policy was the only useful one for the city. He called for three cheers for the successful candidates, and they were given with a will.

Mr R. Harrison was the next speaker, but even before he mounted the platform there were cries for Mr Silverstone. “Where’s Mark?” “We want Mark!" the crowd chanted, and again after Mrs Gertrude Brooks had thanked her supporters, " Where is Silverstone?" it wanted to know. There was no appearance of Mr Silverstone, and the crowd soon dispersed.