Meeting In Wellington Town Hall.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11637, 15 August 1905, Page 6

Meeting In Wellington Town Hall.

• (From Our Parliamentary Special). ■' ' ' ' (By Telegraph.) :• . .'" - l . .. ' „ \ WELLINGTON, August .14.. To-night's meeting passed off with re- ' mark'abl-e.' decorum.. It had been known forsOmfe days" past that the meeting would be pacKed,'witli the Prohibition friends and ' sympathisers' of the "Ndw* Liberal Party, 8 „but it was rather. expected" that the" -rowdy element' would not be entirely eliminated,' .jand that, the proceedings would have their humourbus -and lively side. In this respect ■anticipations "wrt** 1 not realised,- for, as things turned out. a qiiieter political meet..ingi of siich magnitudp- has rarely bceu Jl^ld in Wellington. At the outset it was made clear that th^e pppfonents of the Party were ; 'conspicuous by their 'absence,, and when Mr Tayldr advanced to the footlights he .was 'acc&td'ed' an ovation lasting' some j;ime, and concluding with three ringing cheers'. 'When the enthusiasm had sub- ( sided,' a solitary individual in' tlie j. row ,#£. tbe. dress -circle rosq in his loneli lifess^ and balled for "Three cheers' fbr Dick Seddon." His appeal was received by the t huge- audience with icy coldness. A few weak, cheers broke tie stillness/ and the gathering settled /itself dbwn to acquiesce ,-in everything- that could be- said in condemnation •of the many alleged sins of the S-eddon Government. Ou the whole; no .doubt, the speakers, and particularly Mr Fisher, had reason to feel gratified at tjie cordiality of the assemblage. But on" cool reflection, one could not help think:'iiig that 'something was Jacking at times. The applause was not by any' means spon- . taneous";. it started slowly and took a little, time to gather 'strength, and throughout" the evening it was noticeable that the speakers, paused on several occasions for . the.- applause; which never came. Summed up, it is probably fair >to say that the meeting was not" quite a fair test of what the great- body of the. Wellington public really think of the events which have been .stimug the colony during th« last fortnight." ". ' • ■■