Mr. Chairman!

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 242, 13 October 1938, Page 10

Mr. Chairman!

“Do you know the average birth rate per married couple in New Zealand?” asked a questioner of Mr. E. B. Gordon, National candidate for Rangitikei, at Bulls. Mr. Gordon: I can’t say I do, off hand. The questioner: It is one and a half child. (Laughter.) Mr. Gordon: Then the National Party is encouraging you to increase it to three. A voice from the back of the hall to the questioner: There’s your life’s job, Bill. (More Laughter.) “Buch of Carrots.” The guaranteed price was a bunch of carrots held out to the farmers, as the social security scheme was the bunch of carrots held out to the workers to send the present party back to power, said Mr. S. G. Smith I (National candidate for New Ply- ■ mouth) at Tongaporutu. They were being asked to turn to Socialism to- | day, for though some members of the Labour Party were weakly denying it, the definite objective of the Labour Governmment was Socialism. The Dairy Farmer’s Lot. “The dairy farmer is entitled to as high a standard of living as any section of the community,” said Mr. E. B. Gordon, National candidate for Rangitikei, at Bulls. A sarcastic voice: What, when he only works 60 hours a week? Never. (Laughter.) “You Take Them.” It arose out of a criticism by Mr. A. S. Bailey on our railways. Mr. Bailey is National candidate for Roskill, and he was speaking at Mount Roskill. | “Now,” said the speaker. “You take these railways. They—” Interjector, laughing: No, oh, no, you take them. We don't want them. And then everyone laughted.

Touch of Dictatorship. "In the background there is a force,” said the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates at Auckland, after criticising the regimentation of Labour Party members. “Listen to Mr. Savage at Dunedin. He said ‘I know who the reactionaries are. I understand them quite well. You leave the reactionaries to me. You return me to office on Saturday week and I’ll deal with them.'

“Who are the reactionaries? They are the people who are prepared to stand four-square and face the future, but Mr. Savage says ‘You must march. I'll deal with the reactionaries. Does that sound like a New Zealand politician talking? No. There’s a touch of the dictatorship. There you have it.” (Applause.)

“Danger Ahead.” A questioner at Mr. E. B. Gordon’s meeting at Bulls on Tuesday night prefaced a question by creating a suppositional case. Suppose, the questioner said, that the labourer wanted his high wages and shorter hours and objected to the one being reduced and the other increased, and the farmer, on the other hand, objected to paying more for his butter boxes, for his transport and costs generally, and the price of butter and cheese fell to what it was in the slump. “My question to you, Mr. Gordon, is, what will the National Party do then?” the questioner asked. A woman's voice: Mr. Gordon can see danger ahead. Mr. Gordon: Yes, there would be danger ahead. If we find that the price of our overseas exports are falling and it is impossible to carry on, then we will go to the country. We will leave wages and costs to the Arbitration Court, but if we find that we cannot carry on, we will go to the people and tell them the facts. On the average of past years we will not be taking a great risk, but if there is danger ahead we will go to the country and take the people into our confidence. (Applause.) The Australian Adjective. In the heat of the moment, the chairman at an election meeting on Saturday night came very near making a disastrous slip, says a Dunedin exchange. He was appealing to an interjector to give the candidate a fair hearing, when a man at the rear of the hall called out to the interjector to sit down. Thinking that the remark was aimed at him, the chairman retorted with some vigour, “I’ll sit down when I b—er . . . when I like,” and there was a roar of laughter from the audience, who realised that the great Australian adjective had nearly slipped out. Vacancy Predicted

When speaking at Hanmer last week, Mr. G. W. Forbes was asked regarding his attitude to the commercial broadcasting stations. Mr. Forbes said he thought it hardly worth while to keep them going. In any case there would have to be an overhaul. There was one gentleman to whom they would have to say good-bye. He had no time for any man who abused his position and the high standing of the public service. (Applause).

Attack on Newspapers “We want people to think for themselves," said Mr. C. L. Carr, Labour candidate for Timaru, “and the broadcasting service is helping them to do it. I cannot understand the policy of the newspapers. If they are not committing suicide then I don’t know who is. One would think that they would know better for when people listen in over the air to the speeches in Parliament and then read the garbled reports in the papers, is it any wonder they lose faith in the papers? One would think that the people who run the papers would say, 'lt is up to us to be fair or people will not have any faith in the papers.’ “At the last election,” Mr. Carr added, "in spite of the way the papers bamboozled, misled and bulldosed, the people voted against the advice of practically every paper in the Dominion and put Labour in. Yet they still persist in not being impartial and in distorting the truth.” Fights His On Battles

“Didn't Mr. Coates go to Mr. Semple with tears in his eyes asking him to take over the Gisborne line?” asked a member of the audience at Mr. Hamilton’s meeting at Colac Bay on Saturday morning. “There are no crocodile tears in Mi. Coates’ eyes,” Mr. Hamilton told the inquirer. “If

anybody can fight his own battles, Mr. Coates can.” Not Mentioned “The other night I got home in time to hear the last few sentences of my friend “Jacky” Lee's turgid oratory in Taihape,” declared Mr. A. E. Robinson, Independent candidate for Eden. “Mr. Lee was getting a great hearing and I was surprised to catch a Scriptural quotation about the ‘many mansions in the Father’s house.’ He was applying this to the ‘many mansions’ which Labour was building for all classes in New Zealand. "I was sorry I was not there to ask Mr. Lee whether the reference to the many mansions in the Bible contained any mention of 30 bob a week!” Applause, Then and Now. When Mr. J. Park, National candirate for Onehunga, speaking at Royal Oak, referred to a speech made by Mr. Savage in the Wellington Town Hall before the 1935 election a section ol the audience applauded. Mr. Park: I agree with you. I have clapped Mr. Savage myself, but it is another thing to applaud what he says. In 1935 he stated that further taxation was out of the question. Now clap that. This drew applause from supporters of both parties. Mr. Park: Very well. Mr. Savage said on the same occasion: "Adjustment does not mean increase, whicn has already been carried too far.’’ The worker who worked seven weeks for the State before he earned anything for himself now has to work 14 weeks. After the candidate had answered a number of questions a man at the back of the hall called for "three cheers for our new member who will take over on October 15.” The cheers were given forthwith, and the cnairman accepted them in lieu of a vote of thanks and confidence.