POLITICAL NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXII, Issue 847, 4 December 1905, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES.

MP, ROLLESTOX'S CAMPAIGN. . Mr Rolleston addressed a, large meeting of electors "at the Seadpwn splioolroom on Saturday evening, ilr S. Cain being in the chair. In the courseof. his .address, he made clear what were the issues between parties at the coming election, and elaborated the reforms whicli the Opposition party Ayere pledged to in the event of their being returned to power. He also replied to the various points in. the sjjeech oi .the Minister of..Public. Works,, delivered iri the same.;schoolroom.. At the conclusion of address a vote of thanks.'and confidence was moved 1 by- Miss.:' :i seconded by Mr Kennedy. Mi- Barry movedthat the .meeting-Iconfine., itself, to a,ivoteiof thacks only. Mr-■ Rolleston said, ihe jtasj J quite filling itp accept ...this, but the meeting insisted, on a divisiont being. taken.. 0 As a, results:fpur hands . only 'were- held" up -in fayour of a vote of thanks only, while; nearly every, hand in the went up in favour of. a vote of-thanks'.and confidence, which the chairman accordingly declared carried amidst much, applause -and enthusiasm.., Mr Rolleston'then proceeded to. the Washdyke School, where there was agate a;large attendance. Mr B. °pcV: cupieci the chair, and at tlie conclusion of the address a.vote of/thanks and confidence, was earned s of Mr Stevens, seconded by ; Mr Meikle: There was a good deal of enthusiasm shown, at the conclusion of this meeting, the "audience &W}Pg jtUree cheers ior the candidate,? and th ; "with' 7 a' number of bouquets and'flowerk i '''. •;'■'.. ;'!;'"''•'■;.''.' '>■-.;-' : ' :

On evemhg;;;at tie ppper-' Waitohi School Mr Jeffries, ; : addre : <;6ed : * large audience Baxter presided. : The. excellent account of the Opposition" cause and concluded amidst lbi(i.d'. 4pphiu«e, ijje"ceivisig a, shower of the ladie*' present. ,};eply>ftQ. : auestionsi. viae candidate stated "lie:'liiici': no /op>DHsn ! to s offer on the voucher incident. He considered it more in, keeping-with- - the-.times-,- to ,-reduee the duty on sugar instead of tobacco. On Mr B. C. Williams motion, seconded by Mr Million; 1 ; the/ "meeting" aqqo'rded the speaker a hearty vote of thanks. At 9.15 on; ,-*>,iday"£\*enlin| Mr Jeffries addressed a packed' audience ab the Opihi, receiving a most encouraging reception. At the conclusion of ariWiadress or over an hour .and; a/ half the' candidate answered, questions and was Recorded 'a, unanimous vote .of thanks on thy motion' of Mr F. O. -Matthews, who' 'added "that & goock- deal was to; be :gaped from, hearing .the other side of politics. .. Sir. C. Shickiugs seconded the motion,, and it was; carried unanimously. At Skipton- School on Saturday afternoon! at 4 o'clock.Mr Jeffries addressed the elec-' tors and met with a cordial reception, several ladies being in attendance. Mr W. Dixon presided and at the conclusion of an address of over an hour, the candidate was voted an enthusiastic, vote of thanks o>i the motion of Mr W. Hervey w seconded by Mr Arthur Dixon'. '• \\- ;."- ~; r. .

At Pleasant••Point pnrSaturckry night. Mr Jeffries addressed one ; of.tlie largest political gatherings vever assembled/ m; that.'township. Mr Gebrge\Ctozie^ ; \ occupied : the chair. The candidate dwelt on the subjects of defence; party system,;' Customs taxation, and the character' of previous Parliaments, concluding a'' speech; by enumerating: the! reform planks 6t" the' Opposition platform. During'his address he-referred to the period of Sir Harry' Atkinson's' administration and the 3s 6d a day "gag," quoting the Premier (Mr Seddon) at that time and his attitude to-day. The cry perpetrated by the Government following was the empty one of "no good can come out of the Opposition/' and measures; given, the' doloiij t bf : fcbnsemtj ve-: 6qvernmeh,tsr; .^e/.concluded, one ; osshe;/in<>sb spirited "addEesseVYvef given at tie" Point, with a Btrbrfg landers in the cause v pritt government, resuming' applause, after replying the purport of which has. already Mr H. J. McKeown moyeil; that thi,<< ; meet? mg accord the speaker a : ihesiity vote" «sf; thanks for his address :and confidence in him as a fit person to represent Geraldfne in 1 arluunent. Mr M. Maze seconded the motion amidst applause. On calling for an amendment Mr Barr, seconded Mr Agnew, proposed (amid cries of one of thanks only. The amendment on being put, had three hands up, and the motion by overwhelming was carried by cheers and" applause. A vote of' thanks to the chair concluding .-. M>'en. l id meeting. J ' ""•'" Mr W. S. Marsliu de'ivered a wvoml , dress to the electors of Waitaki in the St" Andrews S.-hool on Saturdav ni-hi T1,,;,..'. wa.< a ~„„.] iittend-nrre. nu\' I'll. re.;cive<l with evident marks of a Ppi ,,!.:,-

tioir. Dealing with the statement of the Premier, regarding Mr Mill's drawing Hit£7o on account of his Mapourika trip, that Ministers were entitled to 30s per dav during the time they were absent from Wellington, under an Act passed bv the Atkinson Government, he said it was onlv half the truth. What the Atkinson Government did was to reduce the amount from 42s per day to'3os, and fix a maximum sum to be used for this purpose at £IOOO a year, which the Seddon Government had increased to £1500.. .The Seddon Government was responsible for their., not having a free breakfast table to-day, as it opposed the abolition or reduction of the duty on sugar, the only article on the ordinarv breakfast table charged with duty. It'wis Mr Massey who moved to place fencing wire on the free list, as would be. found in " Hansard.'" vol. 90, page* 501. the following Ministers voting against it—Seddon, Ward, Cadman, Thompson. McKenzie, Reeves and Carroll. Yet Mr Seddon asked electors to believe his. statement that the Govercment had taken the duty off for the benefit of the farmer. Major Steward had certainly moved at an earlier stage of the Customs Bill to strike the 10s per ton duty off fencing wire, but the effect of his motion was to place wire under the heading of " goods not otherwise enumerated." which actuallv increased the duty. Mr Maslin pointed* out other statements made by the Premier which required to be taken with a little more than a grain of Bait, The chair was "filled by Mr Kennedy, and a hearty vote of thanks closed a very successful meeting.