ELECTION HUMOUR

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1933, Page 9

ELECTION HUMOUR

CAMPAIGN AT LYTTELTON. CANDIDATE HECKLED. Christchurch, Aug. 29. Mr. F. W. Freeman, Coalition candidate, addressed a meeting in Opawa last evening, to the accompaniment of a running fire of interjections, most of them entirely good-humoured, and sufficiently apt to keep the audience in a simmer of merriment. Mr. Freeman, said the policy of the Government was the only policy to settle New Zealand’s troubles. A voice: All on No. 5 scheme! “Are you an elector?” asked Mr. Freeman of a persistent interjector. The interjector: Yes. Mr. Freeman: There are so many people following me round to my meetings. I seem to have an army of admirers. The interjector: I will have my laugh on election day. Mr. Freeman said the Government would carry the country safely ’ through the present difficult period. A voice (in broad Scots): I hae ma doots. Mr. Freeman was criticising the policy of the Labour party in refusing to assist in the formation of the Coalition when he was interrupted by cries of “That’s not your speech, that’s Gordon Coates. “We will get out of this depression very soon,” declared Mr. Freeman. “How many years?” inquired somebody. , . i Mr. Freeman: I never state things in so many years. I leave that to the judge. A voice: How many did he give you Idst time? “If,” added Mr. Freeman, "you want a candidate who can be depended upon to do his part—” A voice: Her part, you mean. After questions had been asked, the chairman moved a vote of thanks and confidence. There was an immediate uproar, and cries of “Out of order! That is not the chairman’s duty.” The chairman continued on his feet, though he was counted out. “You have got a dud chairman, somebody told Mr. Freeman. . “Will you sit down?” asked the chairman. The interjector: No. The chairman: Well, stand up then. The chairman declared his motion carried, amid cries of dissent, and the meeting terminated with cheers for Mrs. McCombs. „ , • _ At Woolston Mrs. McCombs was given a great reception, 400 people standing and cheering as she entered the hall. An overflow meeting was addressed m an adjoining room by the aid of a loudspeaker. Mrs. McCombs was presented with a bouquet, and, with one exception, was given a most attentive hearing, bhe was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence. . The Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands, will arrive in Christchurch on Thursday to deliver three addresses in the electorate in support of Mr. Freeman. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland, is expected to return at the end of the week, and two other members of the Labour Party, Messrs. F. Langstone (Waimarino) and P. Fraser (Wellington Central) are already here. Other speakers may come later, and the campaign is almost certain to develop into a very severe and strenuous fight