The Ways of Reform

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 286, 6 May 1914, Page 5

The Ways of Reform

TOLD BY MR ISITT. A 813 MEETING. A crowded house greeted Mr L. M. Isitt, M.P. for Christehurch North, and a member of the Liberal "Hying Squadron," who spoke in the Theatre Royal last night. Mr Isitt delivered an indictment of the ways of the "Befonn" Government, and his oratory was punctuated freely with liberal applause and spontaneous laughter. Mr ,T. Clarke, Deputy-Mayor, took the chair in the absence of the Mayor.

THE PIT THEY CAME FROM. At the outset Mr Isitt directed the attention of his hearers to the causes which led up to the advent of the "Reform Government. For some time had been seen the spectacle of one section of the House of Representatives and its supporters declaring that the. other was dishonest, bringing withal not a shallow of proof to back its statements. This was an outrage on the principles of British fair play. If one body of men made insinuations v that another body was guilty of bribery, corruption, and maladministration, they should at least back their contentions with proof. When he had "pitched into" that party, he had been accused of making use of vituperation. "Consider now, he said, "the pit from which the Reformers' emerged, and the weapon with which they obtained office. For twenty -ears they had been freezing with cold ahades of Opposition, and asd there was a real, good, solid reason why they should have remained there, because, no one can get away from the fact that New Zealand is essentially a democratic country, and the voters in fcho country for the "Reform party are not equal in number to those behind the Labour party and the Liberals together. You must Teeognisei this" said Mr Isitt, "and if you dont, Mr Massey does, or he would not have repealed the Second Ballot Act. -the people," he continued," had been dissatisfied with the Liberal Government because it was not progressive enough, but the Conservatives were dissatisfied because it was. too progressive. Consequently the Conservatives could never have attained power by attacking the progressive policy of the Liberals

THE WEAPON OF SLANDER. ' "Therefore, they .had'to forge a new weapon. They had to resort to slander. At his own by-election i!ic speaker had had it hurled at him that Sir Joseph Ward was taking commissions on all loans he raised, and was stuffing- the service of the country with Roman Catholics. That was mere contemptible bigotry. (Applause.) A CLEAN HOUSE. Now,' he had placed before Mr Geo. Fowlds and Mr liuddo (both men above suspicion) the charges levelled against Sir Joseph Ward, and they hud both ridiculed the idea that he was guilty of corruption. In fact, they had said that he had at times been almost weak, and in his anxiety to disprove charges ef stuffing the country with Roman Catholics had failed to appoint Catholics to positions they could have held with credit. He had sat in the House and heard the charges rung on bribery, corruption and maladministration till lie was heartily sick. It was still going on, and the Conservative papers were at the same old game. He .believed that the House was clean. He believed that the money was not coined that would bribe Mr William Massey. Mr T. E. Taylor, his keen opponent, had expreased confidence in Sir Joseph Ward. Wires might be pulled a little, he jocularly remarked, but there was no covVISIONARY REVELATIONS. Mr. Isitt then scathingly referred to the visionary revelations which the Reformers had promised. Their insinuations had been calculated not only to injure their opponents, but to lower the moral standing of the represcntatiyeß of the people of New Zealand.. If he.(the speaker)- had found one case of corruption among the ranks of the Liberate he would have made New Zealand ring with it in a fortnight But he could not, and neither could the Reformers, despite their vapid utterimgs regarding the pigeon holes. The Reform Party had been in power for two years, and had drawn a blank. (Applause.)

NO EXTRAVAGANCE. The Reformers had charged the Liberals with being a scatter-cash party, with borrowing recklessly, inercasing public expenditure, and with travelling all over the country, but it was the same old yarn. The Reformers had not reduced borrowing, public expenditure wag still increasing, and instead of remaining in the office and doing detail work as they said they would, they were travelling round the country just as much if not more than their predecessors did They said that they would reduce borrowing and taxation but taxation had increased by 3s or 4s a head. Instead of reducing public expenditure this was still mounting up. % The Reformers had inveighed against Liberal Ministers for "rushing round the country" and only just the other day he had seen a paragraph in the papers to the effect that Mr. Massey had covered 400 miles in three or four days. He believed in borrowing, but only,for productive expenditure. Without legitimate borrowing New Zealand could not progress, but the "Reformers" were against legitimate borrowing, THOSE SURPLUSES. When, Mr. Allen was in Opposition ho always charged the Liberals that their surpluses were fictitious and existed only on paper, and were regardless of the financial credit of the country. But when that wizard of finance of the Tory party got into power and had to raise his first loan, he quoted those surpluses in the prospectus, as an indication of the prosperity of' the country. « THE DOLE SYSTEM.

Mr Massey was always protesting against the system, of d'stributiag public money, describing it as injurious. In the Mackenzie regime, Hon. G. Russell convened a conference of representatives of local bodies, 70 per cent of which were Massey supporters. That convention formed another system of distributing public money, but when Mr Massey got into power, he merely referred to it in the budget. If he luid been burning to redress the wrongs, why did Ire not lift the

Russell bill and put it through the House? Ho hail heard Mr. Massey wax purple condemning tile dole system, yet he did the same thing! himself. THE PARTY OF PURITY.' Mr. Isitt then dealt with a few of the political scandals which came to light during "Reform's" first year of offioe. The Government had been foiled to set up committees of inquiries. lie mentioned the West port Harbor representation matter wh'rre a man had been appointed Government nominee who had several convictions against his name. Mr Fisher liad stated that if the charges were proved he would ask t a man to resign. If they were nqt' proved, the Government should have set up an inquiry on the actions, of the J.lYs and

the police constable at Wcstport, but (.»<■■ Government did neither. It merely justified Mr. Fisher. A FLIMSY STORY. The story offered by the man in question as to the conspiracy win too flimsy for anything. He said that when the policeman cam,' in he wan chastising a servant for insolence, and when he repcated tie "fearful language which the man used the policeman misunderstood him, and had charged him with indecent language. (Applause and laughter). ROYD GARLICK. In the Royd Garlic-k affair Mr, Allen had stated that he did not know that Mr Garliek, who was a member of the committee set up to inquire into the matter w physical training, was a candidate for the position of physical director. Yet in the enquiry which followed, Mi. Wilfard quoted a letter from Dr Hardwick Smith to Mr Allen to the effect that he had seen Mr Garlick and that "he was prepared to take the position for twelve months.'' Mr Allen, .remarked Mr. Isitt had said that his memory had failed him, but it could not surely have done so between the time he received that letter, and the date when the committee of appointment sat—sixteen days. THE CHEVIOT INCIDENT.

Mr. Isitt then dealt forcibly with tho Cheviot incident, the most serious indictment of all, and one which should be specially noted. There was, he pointed out, a general and' insistent demand for homestead sections. A man named Holman held some two or three hundred acres of the Cheviot estate, and abutting on it a limestone reserve of an area of about 7>/ s acres, held under Crown lease. The lease of this land was about to expire, and the members of the Land Board were of opinion that it should be ballotted for as a homestead seetion. Mr. Holman waited on the access and pointed out that the only ncess he had, to his large area was through the section whirh was wanted for a homestead. Tlu Board said that it did not wish to do anything arbitrary or unfair, and that a ballot was the most equitable solution." A man named Gibson was a nftmber of that Board. The Board next sent a recommendation to the Lands Department "REFORM" WIRE PULLING. "Now in the ihistory of that board," said Mr Isitt, "there has never been an instance in which the Lands Depart, ment has refused to carry out a recommendation of the board, but in this «ase, the department refused to listen to it." The reason given, continued Mr Isitt, was that the section was too small. Wire pulling was suspected, similar se> tions had previously been so dealt with, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands and two rangers had advised that :t was a suitable homestead site. Yet the Lands Department stated that the section would be put up for sale by auction, giving the best chance to the man with the., large purse. MR MASSEY'S ACTS.

It was then discovered that Mr Holman had written to Mr Massey, asking him to "do his best for him." Mr Massey did his best, and a very bad beat. The board had stood firm, and Mr Gibson, as a member, had, opposed the auction. His term of office expired. He was dropped altogether, and Mr Massey put in his place, a Mr Gee, the son-in-land of Mr Holman. the man who wanted the land!

THE SEQUEL. Mr Isitt then related a sequel to the events narrated, jfuat before leaving Christchurch, he had been asked if he know what happened regarding the Te Papa grazing block. He was. then told that just before Mr Gibson left the board, the leases of this block were al- ■ most expired. The board had decided that.it could, without hardship to the original holders, lessen the area of each holding and so put more men on the land. The law then was that if such a course were pursued, the land must, go-to ballot, or the original gettiers would lose their holdings. The law was then altered, and the board pushed the matter on, fixing the areas and boundaries under the new apportionment. The board behaved with such justice and consideration to the holders of the original sections that these men formed a deputation to the board to express their gratitude. Then the boajd, in consequence of information received from Wellington, was compelled to draft the new areas, and re-lease the block under the old conditions. Thus men were shut out from acquiring land. THE REASON. Of course, there would be no record of ' the transaction. Mr Massey knew too much for that. The facts were, however, that Mr Gee, who replaced Mr Gibson on the Board, went to Wellington, saw someone there, and some members of the board were "converted." "This," said Mr Isitt, "was done under the rule of the man who said, 'Settlement, more settlement, and still more settlement'!" (Laughter and applause.) He would be glad to receive an explanation from any "Reformer'? "as to why new holdings had thus been withhew from the people.

HAURAKI LEASES. Mr. Isitt dealt forcibly with the Haaraki leases. • When the Land Bill was before Parliament, Mr. Rhodes (the member for Thames) moved an amendment giving to the lessees of Crown Lands in the Bauraki Peninsula (which was in the Thames electorate) when acquiring freehold the right to all nrfoerals on the land, and the right to charge fees and royalties for them. This amendment very nearly went through, as it was not noticed at -first that Mr. Rhodes had 100* acres of land at Hauraki, and his son had another 1000 acres. Mr. Massey accepted the clause. It was iniquitous to give settlers on the Haura-ki Peninsula rights to minerals which might become a veritable El Dorado in time. Moreover, these conditions applied only to Hauraki lands. An area on the West Coast (represented by Mr. T. Y. Scddon) was not similarly treated, nor was another in Nelson (which Mr. Atmore represented). The "Reformers" had deliberately singled out for favors the men who "raltted" and joined their side. When the Liberals objected to this sort of legislation, especially in the face of the Southland leases, the Premier cut the clause out of the Bill, but he would have been quite willing to let tt 1 pass ho<l no objection been raised.

"This." said Mr Isitt, "was a monstrous departure from all that was fair and above board in New Zealand politics." Mr, Mas,sey, he continued, did not recognise the principle of "spoils to the victors." Oh, no. But it was pecuiair, nevertheless, that bis favors wcro reserved for the men who hnd "ratted" tn his side. Could anyone wonder that the "Reformers" were regarded with suspicion, especially when the freehold of the L.I.P. was given in tho Gheri.it hi nils, except where they wero in the electorate of Mr. Forbes, the Liberal Whip? NATIVE LANDS. Mr. Isitt turned his attention to native lands legislation, dealing with the two measures brought down by Air Henries, Minister for Native Lands—the

West Coast Settlements Reserves Act, and the Native Lands Amendment Act. The latter, lie said, contained two most vicious clauses, the iicst and most vicious being' that which took away native representation on the land hoard. Kven if the native representative had been a mere figurehead, it would have heen wrong to remove him, for there was a certain fitness of things which must be observed if thev were to avoid natives suspicion. The '.Maoris had not been So well treated as to remove ail fear of their suspicion. Then there was the clause which flinpowered native holder* of land to part with it for solid cash?

WEST COAST LEASES, Then ensued a slashing denunciation of the treatment of the natives over tho West Coast leases. He pointed out that at the time of the war the iratves had been promised that all those submitted to English rule, should receive back their confiscation lands, but for fifteen years they asked for them in vain, and in some eases died without them. Then, under Imperial pressure, a commission was set up, and 187,000 acres were returned to them, and then 30,000 more. These areas were rested in the Public Trustee, on trust for the natives for ever. Then, without consulting the Maori owners, the English tenants were offered the lease iu'perpetuity of the land. The holders of about 18,000 acres were not smart enough to take the offer, and that was their fault. Later on, they asked the Government to give them the perpetual lease and were refused. Thcv had made repeated complaints to the Public Trustee that the terms of their leases were too exacting, and a commission, whieh was later set up, showed that .the terms were constantly altered in favour of the tenants and without consulting the Maoris. The leases of those ISjOOO acres were then falling in, and the holders knew that the land would be put up for public competition—which they dreaded. The tenants had sub-let the land (which cost them 2s an acre) for anything up to £2 per acre. If it had gone to public oompetitin, the natives wiuld have had a chance to get fair values. The Maoris were responsible for improvements bv tenants up to £5 per acre, but not for eimpensation to sublessees, which incidentally shwed that Mr Massey's sympathies Were with the speculator and not with tho small farmer. The Maoris could not find the 010.000 required for compensation for improvements, and Mr Hemes, the "father if thoj natives," refused to lend it. He said "You are in a hole, and you will have to extend your leases at "an increased rent for 10 years. I will retain two-thirds of that rent to meet the compensation for improvements in the next ten years" (and there was now no limit set to the value of improvements which could be expected). When this was protested against, Mr Herries (who had advocated free titles for natives) refused to listen. If he had deliberately used his special knowledge to serve the ends of speculators in native land, he could have'devised no more cunning design. That was not a 'square deal." It was the duty cf the Government to warn the natives that if they sold their land, the money would be funded, so that they could not waste it. When the full significance of this legislation was known, many "Reformers" would turn against their party. SECOND BALLOT REPEAL.

The speaker proceeded to make a warm protest against the repeal of the ■Second Ballot Aet, and the return of the old inefficient system of election. H( admitted that the Second Ballot was a very clumsy and very imperfect way ol registering the will of the people. Both sides of the House were anxious for a repeal provided something better wa* put in its place. In the first Governor's speech after Mr Massey took office it was stated that the Act would be repealed and an improved system of registering majority opinion substituted. Despite this and other assurances in the same direction, the "Reform" Government had swept away the Second Ballot without providing any substitute. The reason for this was that Mr. Massey knew that he could not keep lis promise without breaking his political neck. He knew that he had not got th'c people at his back, and if he brought in legislation which would permit the majority to rule the "Reform" party would be snowed under the scores of thousands of votes. So this apostle of political purity, "Arikitaua," "the great chief." had' been guilty of a discreditable trick in order to retain office. The Government had forced the repeal through the House in order to secure minority rule and forward a scheme which included an attempt to create a split between Liberal and Labor. Mr Massey hoped that this plan would enable him to slip back into office on a minority vote. After describing the means employed by the Ministry in order to secure the repeal 01 tile Act, Mr lsitt said the Prime Minister had precipitated the political struggle in the midst of the -strike with the definite and contemptible purpose of making it appear that the Liberals were being guilty of a factious opposition—that they wanted to embarrass the Government and encourage the strikers. In proof of this intention on the part of the "Reform" party, Mr. Isitt referred to the letter which the. -organiser of that party had sent round the country urging Mr Massey's friends to hold meetings and pass resolutions blaming the Liberals for embarrassing the Government at a troubled period. These resolutions were to be presented as spontaneous expressions of public opinion. Mr Isitt said that he bad read this circular to Mr Massey in the House, and had the joy of watching the change in his (Mr Massey's) face as he read it. The loveliest sentence of the lot in the circular was that urging the secretaries of the various "Reform" organisations to "please treat this as strictly confidential." Mr Isitt said deliberately that this was one of the meanest and most contemptible attempts to engineer a slander at the expense of opponents. If anyone was prepared to contradict this assertion now was the time to do it. It was a detestable action, and one such as could only be committ(% by men who were utterly <-aivless of their own political honor. A voice: "Plenty of us are blushing for it now.

THE "

Air. Massoy could not s:iy thai the li'.g laud owners were not behind him. Who else had founded h:s oniy p. up and stay, thu Dominion newspaper? THE PUBLIC TRUST ORi'lUO. There wu», lit* said, no more deadly ■indictment, of the crooked ways of the "Reform" Government than the fact, surrounding the enquiry into the workings of the Public Trust Ollice. When the Liberal Government was in po.ww, the Trustee had a system for doing cheap legal work for the men doing business with the ollice. That was a good measure. Two years ago the Hon. H. !.). Bell headed a deputation from the various law societies declaring that it was wrong to give cheap law to the little man—in other words, to undersell the legal monopoly. There was then a change in the Government, and Mr Herd man, a prominent member of one of the law societies whom Air. liell (the re;: : leader of the Government) had represented, became head of the Public Trust Department, and he and Mr. Bell became the "bosses" of the Trustee. There then arose some discontent at the administration of the office, and a commission was appointed to enquire into it. One member of the commission was a lawyer and the other a big financier—both men diametrically opposed to the interest* of an office vjhich gave cheap law to the poor man. They brought down a report condemning the administration of the Public Trust. Office, because they said it was being run at a loss. They also said that the office had lost money oi> its legal department. Years before, u Liberal commission had reported unfavorably on the administration of the 01'lice, and the then Trustee had been railed upon to answer the charge. His answer would be found among the State papci'.-. After the "Reform" commission, however, Mr. Fitchett, the Public Trustee, gave a general report—his annual one--and Mr. Herdman suppressed it. Mr, Russell asked for it in the House, and Mr. Herdman said there was no report, when all the time he had it. Then the New Times published the report. He was'not going to defend the action of the person who gave this report to the newspaper, but neither could there be any defence for a Government which by suppressing information which the public was entitled to, put temptation in the way of a man who could supply that information. The report when published showed the reason for its suppression by the "Reformers;" The Trustee had shown in it that so far from showing a loss the legal department showed fees received at .Won!). The salaries amounted to £1543, and the profit for the year was £101(1. Yet Mr. Herdman had suppressed the report. Was that a "square deal"? Not only had the legal department of the office earned a profit, but the report showed that by the cheap law which the Liberal Government had inaugurated,£oo<Jo had been saved to the public in comparison with the legal fees usually charged. All this had been done for the small man. To show the hold whieh the law societies had on the Government, Mr. Isitt read an extract from the annual report of the Wellington Law Society for 1013, whieh showed that the Society had considered a Bill then about to he brought down, dealing with the Public Trust Office, and that "Mr. Treadwell had waited on the Minister in eharge of the Bill, and all the clauses which he had objected to on behalf of the profession had been eliminated." A Bill for the benefit of the people was introduced, and before it was considered by the representatives of the people the law societies had had clauses eliminated. Were those the pure politics which the "Reformers" advocated ? CIVIL SERVIOR COMMISSIONERS. Mr. Isitt then severely criticised, the appointment of the three Civil Service Commissioners. These men were so much above rule and authority that only their most flagrant offences could see the light ot day. What was the need for tiiem? Mr. Massey had said that de.sSite insinuation to the contrary, since le Commission not a dismissal had been necessary, and there were no over-filled departments. Was the service so immaculate as that? There could he no -stronger condemnation of the Commissioner'-' appointment than his own stalenient.

LABOR. In dealing with the labor question, ilr. Isitt sard that his sympathy *,vas entirely with Labor. It, was necessary in order 10 realise the. labor question to get right down to bed rock. He was afraid they were barking up the wrong tree, and might apply the. wrong r?medy. ft God were the source, of love Me would never have designed a social stair giving all the, wealth, delights and luxuries to the few, and all the toil, trouble, and poverty to the ninny, lie, wan determined to fight the monopolies an.! the privileged class and he. would persistently urge legislation to equalise matters, between the privileged few and the unprivileged mauy. He characterised the recent strike as the maddest and most foolish thing, that evr occurred. The. snare had been set in sight of the bird, and the city bird had hopped straight in. The whole thing appeared as if it had leea organised so. that Mr. .V.ass- v mi

settle the strike. The men fell in and simply justified the action of the Opposition. Addressing the workers, the speaker said he was in the House for the, purpose of helping their eau.se, aim endeavoring to promote the happiness of the. greatest number." He was their friend, and he earnestly urged them not to do such a thing again. They had "sown the wind and rcap?,<l the whirlwind." He ventured to say that if they put Mr. Massey back for another three years' term of office Labor matters would go from bad, to wo-se. What, he asked..had Mr. Jlasscy dene for 'the workers? .SMALL JIOLDIJvCS. This land was, one of the grnmlcsi on earth, a veritable gem that Ood had hidden in remoteness of lit" Pacific, and Ih.> the question was whether it was to ; be a land of slums' or :> lvovie for the brawniest breeds. Men talked as if the j one thing to be. desired was greatness of population and largeness of wealth, blithe wanted to see the land cut up into i small holdings from which jivn were ' drawing a fair measure of wealth. If I they wanted that to eventuate they j must beware of the. t'onservstive party.

T, THE LIBERAL PARTY.

! The S]i: aker put it to his audience that the Liberal party, with all their shorl('tiii.nji's, ii,nl achieved an enviablo record, ;ii':i placd .\ew Zealand in the forefront of progress, !l;> lemiuded his hearers of lli" many beneficent measures which hail been passed during their regime ICvcry measure for the good of the mas,>es had been opposed tooth and nail by Mr. Massey and His supporters, V vt they '.vere not going to repeal any of them. TiiMt was equivalent to a confession that they, were wrong in opposing those Pleasures. If the people believ.'d that Ihe trend of Liberal legislation during the last 25 years had bee,, for good I. hey might still be justified in believing tli.'it the Liberals had not reached perfection.

Mr. Massey would never bin!; up the large estates. All he'lt ad done •„ t' ;l t direction was to impose a tax 1 \ ;12 mi estates of £IOOOO improved -.a'liie! There was room in this voum; e, :!»trv for progressive legislation, adrtiwr. that if they wanted to S -'e nppm-tmiitien equalled they must not pin their faith 011 the Tory Government, but unite in turning out the Massey (lovcnniont. .>nd put the Liberals in piiw-r. '[-mid' .\"- plause). DEI'KXt E. When, answering a question, Mr. Isil.i said he was not an anti-dcfviieite. When other nations were armed to the. tee'ti, New Zealand must have some defence. But he wanted to see the expenditure, kept down. 'He wanted to see a democratic force, and not a military ">!•«•_ Tiie .si.liciit Mature.of the GoVcri'i- ;'!■ 'it's d laic: ]><.|i.-v was llm local navy. • !'■• only thing ih.u could justify our I'.'ien.;;! expenditure was that we vvetc •(>"(• to face with (:„. possibility of a struggle that would menace the existence of tlie'llrilish Empire. Mr. Alien liad said that the miisor was to police (.lie Pacific. If the British Navy was swept from the seas what would be thuse of the toy cruiser or .the live Dreadnoughts If there were a European war our lads if untrained would be like Miecu led to the slaughter. Mr. A. .T. Balfour, who- was a Conservative, had pointed ■■<■ that the struggle would be in Horn? vr.il, rs, and if that were 30 every patriotic New ileahinder should say that every pound we could spare should go to the Home fleet, and not to be fooled away 011 a second-class cruiser. If instead of fooling away money in this manner, we spent it on developing the country, breaking up big estates" and peopling New Zealand, with a strong moral, and self-reliant population living on the soil, tlmt would be the best "defence we could have. He did not believe there would be any war for at least 2.) years. At the present juncture it was a mad and crazy notion to have a New Zealand navy. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. Replying to questions, Mr. Isitt said: As to the expenditure of £27 for cigars and tobacco for the "specials," be- had only a hazy idea of what happened, but he understood that it was a matter of Customs duty. There was need for reform in tinrailway service, which wanted watching closely. If a Labor p'artv were to be ii] office for 25 years there' would not hav« a millenium. H 6 would support the party nearest to his own convictions. He would not turn down a party merely because they did not redress a grievance, or failed to give compensation for injuries, but while trying to remedy evil* ho would stick to his party though he 'was prepared to go further than the Liberals..

He favored abolishing the Minster's veto in relation to the decision-) of the ltoilway Appeal Hoard. Tin- veto was a perfect farce.

He was in favor of civil .servants having full civil .rights. He was not only in favor of only sober men being appointed Ministers, 'but lr urged the electors not to vote for anyone who' was not a sober man. He believed that compulsory trajniu" was a huge mistake. The Government had discouraged the volunteers instead el encouraging them, but if the Territorial system were abolished there w<

a worse, state of affairs than formerly. He advocated keeping down the expenses and democratising the force, also putting an end to the practice of importing expensive officers from KnghanJ. He would make every provision tree planting. If they would not work, dud them an alternative service such as •for conscientious objectoim, but would then they should be subject to detention. On t!ie motion of Mr F. C. J. IVII'inger, a hearty vote of thanks was w.eorded to Mr Isitt for his address. ru~

jgfither with an expression of eonfidemc i in Sir Joseph Ward as the leader of the ! Liberal party, three hearty ch'ee * ucfing given for Sir Joseph. A vote of thanks to the chair was carried by acclamation.