FUN AT OPAWA.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 853, 29 August 1933, Page 4

FUN AT OPAWA.

Mr Freeman Meets Many Interjections. “ ARMY OF ADMIRERS" Mr F. W. Freeman, the Coalition candidate, addressed a meeting in Opawa last evening to the accompaniment of a running fire of interjection, most of it entirely good-humoured and sufficiently apt to keep the audience in -an almost continuous simmer of merriment. The address was on lines similar to those of Mr Freeman's earlier meetings. He declared that the policy of the Government was the only policy to settle our troubles. A voice: All on the No. 5 scheme. Mr Freeman: The Government has shown an example to the rest of the community.

A voice: Oh, ain’t it a corker! “ Are you an elector,” asked Mr Freeman of the 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 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’s.” “ We will get out of this depression very soon,” declared Mr Freeman. “ How many years?” inquired somebody. Mr Freeman: I never state things in so j-ears; I leave that to the judge. A voice: How many did he give you last time? Things That Count. Later Mr Freeman quoted the trade returns, remarking that figures were the only things that counted with some people. A voice: They will count with Mrs M’Combs. The candidate dealt in some detail with the social services and quoted the cost of them) ” That money, ” he said, “ has been ” A voice: Wasted. I don't know how you can stand there and say such things. Mr Freeman dealt with the tunnel road and called attention to the fine residential opportunities presented by Diamond Harbour. A voice: Are you talking of Rotorua or Hanmer? “ A place without road communication,” said Mr Freeman, “ stagnated.” A voice: You wait till you get to Lyttelton; you will see whether the} 7 are stagnant or not. “ I am about to finish now,” announced Mr Freeman. “ Oh, no,” said a voice in feigned protest, “keep going; we like you.” “ I am a New Zealander,” he told them. “ That’s not ’ your fault,” came the inevitable voice. “ I am not a Russian, anyhow,” said the candidate. “ Well,” was the rejoinder, “ you're rushing rounfl all over the place.” “ If,” added Mr Freeman, “ you want a candidate who can be depended upon to carry out his part ” A voice: Her part, you mean. Motion Declared Carried. After a number of questions had been asked the chairman (Mr E. G. Rawnsley) moved a vote of thanks and confidence. • There was immediate uproar and cries of “Out of order! 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 tip then. The chairman declared the motion carried amid cries of dissent, and the meeting terminated with cheers for Mrs M'Combs.