Enthusiastic Meeting Of National Party

Chronicle (Levin), 25 March 1949, Page 4

Enthusiastic Meeting Of National Party

One of the largest and most enthusiastic meetings seen in Levin i for some time was the annual meeting of 'the Levin branch of the National Party, held on Wednesday night, when the St. Mary's Hall was filled to capacity with almost 150 supporters of the party. Keen interest was taken in the discussions of important issues to be de-

eided at the elections in November. The retiring chairman, Mr. I. Park, extended a warm welcome to those present, commenting on the pieasing attendance. He extended a special welcome to the member 1 for the district, Mr. J. J. Maher, to the electorate organiser, Mr. W. Day, and to the electorate chairman, Mr. A. D. Moss, of SilverS tf6 3/1X1. After a short discussion of the work to be carried out during the year, emphasismg the importance of everyone "'pulling their weight"; at election time, Mr. Park read thei committee's reoort on the past year's work. The maintenance of ah enthusiastic membership was the first point he raised. As was usual between elections, the mem-. bersnip of the 'branch had dropped after the last, but was now beginning to rise again. Commenting on the help given to the branch by the women's and junior organisations, he said that they had been

of great assistance to the function-i ing of the party. - ,m , conciusion, the committee desired to express its appreciation of the work done by the secretary, Mr. G. Fiebig. Without his drive, very little of the work accomplish-1 ed during the year would have been done and his close attention to detail had saved the committee much .routine work. Coming Election Campaign Mr. Park tiien called on Mr. Day to address the meeting on the schedule of work to be carried out during the coming year. "This is the year we have all been waiting' for because it is the year we have been awaiting to win the country," began Mr. Day'. "It is a truism that the most optimistic peop'e in the party today are those who have been coming in contact with the general public — Labour supporters included — in their work on the purging of the rolis." Mr. Day then gave a general outline of how the various branches would help in the coming elections. He paid tribute to the retiring chairman and secretary for their assistance to him since the previous election year. _ ,

At the conciusion of Mr. uay s address, Mr. Park called for any comments on the report and balance sheet. General Matters A great many individuals expected people to call on ,them and enroll them as members of the \party, said Professor F. P. Wilson. Many people did not to do a street-to-street collection, however, and he suggested that as an alternative methovi of raising the membership, the branch should post to all supporters and potential supporters a reminder to bring their subscriptions for ward. This suggestion was forwarded to the incoming committee with the recommendation that it be adopted. Mr. D. P. Todd emphasised the importance of attending to sick votes, remarking that Mr. Maher could well have lost his seat had it not been for the sick and absentee votes at the last election. In reply, Mr. Park paid tribute to Mr. Todd for the work he and Miss H. E. Bowen had done at the last election in this regard. He entirely agreed with Mr. Todd, and urged all present to make sure that the necessary advice was given to the electorate secretary, Mr. R:- G. Romans, before election day. - Mr. A. D. Moss was then called upon to speak and he briefly outlined the National Party organisation throughout the country. In conciusion, he said: "I vio want you to ensure that you have- the best men to carry out your official duties this year- H we don't win this election, then I hesitate to say when we will win any election." He 1 stressed the importance of selecting activt and enthusiastic members for official duties. I Officers Elected J The following are the officers

elected for the ensuing year:— - Ohairman: Mr. B. J. Antcliff; vicechairman: Mr. R. Denton, together with one- women member to be elected; secretary: Mr. J. E. Fullarton; treasurer: Miss G. Rowley; ■general committee: Messrs. E. G. Hewitt, I. Park, D. P. Todd, H. Tilyard, P. A. Peterson, A. S. Denholm, J. Rankin, A. Shaw, F. P. Wfison, A. Forster, J. W. Allen, J.'M. Wright, H. J. Jones, P. Stewart, G. Flutey, E. R. Gawler, W. Copping, J. B. Grey, M. O'Connor, F. Best and A. Bryant and Mesdames M. Drysdale, F. I. Baldick, J. Doyle and J. W. Clarke; and Miss H. E. Bowen.