THE ELECTIONS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 22, Issue 92, 28 November 1911, Page 4

THE ELECTIONS.

MR WIFFBN AT HAVELOCK There was a large attendance at Mr A. Wiffen’s meeting at the Town Hall cm Saturday, over which Mr W. H. Smith presided. The candidate was applauded op rising • to speak, and prefaced his speech by stating that in order to fulfil his promise to again speak at Havelock he had come all the way from the Jordan. Referring to. the statement in the Guardian that Mr McCallum was the Government candidate, he said this was not correct. Mr McCal--1 lum was neither the Government candidate nor had he the Government brand. He regarded Mr Duncan as a man full of uprightness and honour, and whether he or Mr Duncan was beaten they would still be good personal friends. At Blenheim Mr Duncan was scarcely fair in his criticism of the public debt. It was true that the debt was £81,000,000, but Mr Duncan omitted to state that 86 per cent, of that amount was interest-earning. Why, if the country sold the railways alone the payment would suffice to wipe off half the debt. The talk of wasteful extravagance in pdrainstration was all bunkum. >

As to the political colour of the. candidates, Mr Duncan could be classed more as an Oppositionist than as a Liberal. There was another candidate, who said he was the Government candidate, and the Liberal candidate. Hei defied Mr McCallum to produce any statement 'or effort he had mode during the past 20 years in support of Liberalism or of the working classes. Yet he states that he is the man, and “alone I did it.” That day |Mr McCal-' lum had told him that. he thought he could ** put down ” Mr Duncaii and the , speaker combined. Well, election day would tell how true thatpredictioh would be. . '

Dealing , with the land question, he said'vthat land monopoly was she greatest curse any country could put up with, and if it was possible to do it he would break, up that monopoly in New Zealand. > In Marlborough land settlement was , absolutely stagnant. We had fewer people to the square mile than any other part of the country, yet there are many thousands of acres held by three or four men. If he was elected he would see that the Government official who recommended that Hillersden, Bankhonse, and Lansdowno be not acquired was brought back, with as many Members Of Parliament as possible, to review his decision!There were 15 miles of frontage to these estates, and they would carry hundreds of prosperous settlers. ' : /v; Some time ago a block of 150 ’ acres in the Wairau Valley, as a stock reserve, was. put up to auction. Several small settlers were anxious to secure this, but who got it V Why, poor Mi James Bell, who had only 200,000 acres. ' Mr Reader; I’lldenythatthathappened within the past ten years. Mr Witfen ; It happened, all right. If I am wrong I will apologise, but I know lam right. If that is the law of 1j ; land iit is rotten. . • Mr Reader: That is not the law of the land. , - ■■ ■

Continuing,' Mr WifEen said he was not making a charge against the Land Board, but if.he was elected he would try and alter this sort of i thing. ' He advocated that the Land Boards should not asK an applicant for land how much money he had. They should ask how little he had. Wealthy, men could come here and go into a ballot, and oust the poor men. The system was absolutely rotten. The object of the land settlement scheme should be to help the men who. had no money, and. not pass them out because they had not enough. The system was driving the sons and daughters of Marlborough settlers away from home to seek for land. Any man who had money enough to buy the freehold should not be allowed to go into the ballot. The leasehold, was the only tenure for a poor man, and he advocated that the Government should put men on the land,’ fall the bush, and grass it. A working man could then finance his holding, whether he had £5 or ss. Every £1 spent in this way in the beginning would be worth £3 spent later on. Dealing with the subject of Trusts, he condemned the system under which butter was sold at Is 6d per pound in New Zealand, ah the same time that thousands of boxes of butter were shipped Home to England and retailed at less than Is per pound. The Sugar Trust was anotherthat should be throttled; they made only £285,000 profit last year, and declared a dividend of 10 per cent. And a 2s 6d bonus.) And after this they put up the price of sugar £3 or £4 per ton. The Government should step in and stop these people fattening on the public. He sympathised with ''the working men. He had been an employer of labour here and at Home, and he challenged anyone to say that any man be had employed bad not been fairly treated. He would do bis best to better the condition of labour. On the licensing question he believed that the question should be put to the people of the country, and let them say "Yea "or “ Nay." No one could say that a three-fifths majority was a democratic proposition, and be did not support that. In reply to questions, Mr Wiffen said that in the event of him being on the bottom of the poll (which be said was almost an impossibility) he would not vote against the Liberal candidate on a second ballot, There was too much delay and dilly-dallying in the settlement of bush land after the mills had been through it. He was not a racing man, but be would not be a party to interfere with other people’s sports. He did not see why the " big huge ’’ of the racing world should dictate to the small districts as to whether they should have a totalisator or not. He was not able attend a certain meeting of the Blenheim Borough Council in connection with the employees’ demand for better pay and shorter hours because he was about 60 miles from Blenheim. He would urge his labour friends to vote for the Liberal Party; when a better Government came into power be would support it, but there .was no better Government in sight. He could not blame the Labour Unions for withdrawing their support from the Government ; if they thought they were strong enough to get their own candidates in they bad a right to put them there. He was not in favour of conscription, but , would give it a trial. He was in favour of a universal half-holiday on Saturday, The increased cost of living was probably due to the operation of Trusts. He would never support the proposal to give l.i.p. tenants the freehold at the original value; this was one of the most unfair bribes ever offered in the country; it was true that the right to sell the goodwill was practically the same as getting the freehold. He would be in favour of putting to a referendum the question of Bible-reading in schools. He

considered that the Catholics had not been treated fairly in the matter of educating their children, md would advocate State-aid for then- schools. Mr E. H. Smith moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded Mr Wiffen for his address. Seconded by Mr F. Gorrie. An amendment that a vote of thanks be accorded Mr Wiffen, coupled with a vote of no-confidence in the Government, was not seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously, amidst great applause.

THE WAIRAU EBECTION. Mr MoCallum is advertised to speak at Havelock next Saturday evening, at a quarter past 8; Ur. A, WiSen has a happy knack of getting .on good terms with his audience at the outset of bis addresses, and at: Havelock on Saturday night, though obviously he was far from well, his prompt and effective replies to inteijectors gained for him a splendid bearing. Roars of laughter were created at his reply to ' one interjection. Somepne in the audience had previously questioned a statement made by the speaker, and n few moments later be interrupted the discourse with the exclamation : " Wrong again!’ ” Mr Widen disposed of the interruption. by retorting like a dash: “Oh, well, I’ll .be all right next Thursday week I ’’ Mr Widen gained many friennds in Havelock on Saturday night by his tactfulness in dealing with a most delicate question—one that should never have been asked. This was:>?? What do you think of Mr Huucan’s change of front from Independent Liberal to Independent Opposition ? ” The candidate fenced with the question in an endeavour to show. the questioner how inappropriate, it was. . hut the latter persisted and asked : “ Don’t yon think Mr Dancan has changed!)!* . political opinions ? ” There were three outlets from this—two of them incriminating; the third leading to vietory, and Mr Widen, with the insight of the bora diplomatist, chose this; " I’m not worrying about the other candidates. I know where I stand. Wise men change their opinions sometimes—tools never ! ’’ This brought down the house.”

The Labour Department supply‘the follow- - ing about th* day of the General ElectionSection 115 of the 'Electoral Act provides .that the day of election shall be a public holiday after midday. and when r such dfcy is other than that appointed as a weekly halt-holiday under the Shops; and' Offices Act the provisions of that Aotsballbe deemed to apply to election day. In lieu of-the ddy so appointed. With respect to. factories, the position is somewhat; different; It shall not be necessary for factories to close during the working hours on polling day*, but the oocnpier of a faotory shall afford to his! employees an Opportunity to record his or her vote, and no deduction shall be made from the wages of the employee, providing that sneb time does not exceed one working hour. Every occupier of a factory who commits a breach of this Act ; is liable to a penalty of £5 for each and every employee. The wish is father to the thought. A northern contemporary, needless to say with strong Opposition leanings, forecasts a complete upset for the Liberal Government at the approaching elections. Even, the seats of Ministers are extremely “ wobbley,’* according to this tipster, and it gives only two members of the present Cabinet hope for certain victory. This is what it says;— " Recent events have shdwn that feeling is divided against the Prime Minister' in his own electorate, and be cannot. be regarded as holding'a safe seat. He must at least fight a second ballot. In Dunedin the Hon. |. A. Millar is fighting, desperately] and it is clearly recognised that his old support is dropping away from him. It is generally conceded that the Hon. D. Buddo will be defeated lor Kaiapoi. He only defeated Mr Moot at last election by 77, and' on this occasion the Minister is proving no match for hie opponent. The Hon. T. McKenzie oan only hope to win the Egmont seat with the help of the Opnnake railway, but he is finding it very bard to live down his own political record. Sir John Findlay's chances ol winning Parnell are by no means bright, and they will not be improved when Mr Massey gets into the electorate. The only Ministers who may be said to have really safe eeats ate Sir Jambs Carroll at Gisborne and the Hon, K. McKenzie at Motueka.”