The Star. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1919. ON THE HUSTINGS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19800, 18 November 1919, Page 6

The Star. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1919. ON THE HUSTINGS.

The serious business of Carnival Week having been disposed of, and a record amount put through the total!sator, the public arc being invited to turn their attention to the country's affairs. Candidates are emerging from the semi-retirement which was forced on them, and arc displaying their political wares. Candidates for Lyttelton, Riccnrtou, Kaiapoi, Ashburton and Ellesmere addressed the electors, and presented the cases for the Liberal, Reform and Labour Parties. A speech which was refreshingly vigorous and straightforward was that given by Mr George Witty, who is engaged in a triangular contest with Reform and Labour nominees. Mr Witty is one of the most valuable members of the House, and is a staunch and consistent supporter of Liberal measures. While ho has supported progressive legislation in the interests of the masses, he has declined to truckle to the extremist sentiment which has obtained u measure of spurious popularity. His wholehearted condemnation of lawlessness, .disloyalty and “direct action” was forcibly expressed, and was in marked contrast to some of the stuff which is being handed out by men whose records during the war were anything but creditable. Mr Witty put forward a progressive and reasonable programme, and his past record shows that he will do good service, in realising it. His remarks on tho land question, coming from a. practical man, were both telling and timely. He pointed out that tho evil of aggregation still existed, and that the high price of land was causing a situation that was full of possibilities of disaster. The Labour case was stated in Lyttelton by Mr J. M’Combs, and it was stated, we must confess, with moderation. Mr M’Combs, however, has identified himself with tho Holland-Semple combination, and he cannot expect to escape the consequences of that association. Mr M’Combs, along with some other Labour candidates, professes great anxiety about the future of the soldiers, and claims that if proper provision had been made there would have been no necessity for conscription. This enthusiasm for the voluntary system is a trifle belated, and we cannot recall that any of Mr M’Corahs’s friends showed any activity as recruiting agents when the voluntary system was tried out. The Reform Party had three of its exponents on the hustings —the Hon W. Nosworthy, the Hon'R. Heaton Rhodes and Mr David Jones. Mr Jones endeavoured to perpetuate the fiction that Sir Joseph Ward is hand in glove with Messrs Holland and Semple, in spite of the fact that these extreme Labour representatives are being fought at the polls by Liberal nominees, while the Reformers are leaving them severely alone. Mr Nosworihy also touched on the subject, but he was silent as to the attitude the Reformers intend adopting. Being a Minister, and in Mr Massey’s confidence, he might have told his audience why tho Reformers declined to fight tho Labour candidates, though they are always “killing them with their mouths.” The Hon R. Heaton Rhodes, whoso fine personal qualities, joined to his service during the war, give him a strong claim on the sympathies of bis electorate, gave a characteristically moderate address. Tho trouble with Mr Rhodes is that he is allied with the wrong party; he would probably be happier as a Liberal, and we are sure that his constituents would be better pleased.