RANGITIKEI SEAT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 609, 11 September 1909, Page 7

RANGITIKEI SEAT.

A VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN. SPEECHES AND CHANCES OF CANDIDATES. THE MINISTERIALISTS: WHO WILL , v;:v, : RETIRE? ' ' A GEiNTLEMAN WHO "SITS TIGHT ON" , A lUIL." ; • (By Telegraph—Special Eoportcr.) - •; . ■ Huntervillo, September 10. /During the course of a talk with the Dominion ' representtivo, at Hunteryille yesterday, Mr. Brooker, the returning officer, stated that tho, various deputy returning officers had all been appointed, and all the arrangements in connection with, tho taking of tho poll had been completed. Although thoro were 53 polling booths, the.same as at tho goneral election, and .numbers of them 'were/ in out-of-the-way places,' he did inot iiee anything to provent the. holding :of a second ballot if such were Jound to bo; necessary on . the appointed date, viz., soven ;days after tho first election. . Of courso; a., second ballot at such short notico in a siattered electorate like Eangitikei would involve considerable expense, as it would not be possible. to wait until the maiis brought-in the voting papers, which, wonld have to bo obtained from the. more out-of-the-way, places by special messengers! . He anticipated that the voting would be on a mu6h larger , scale, than at'tho last, general election, •owing to tho greater, number of candidates, and the large increase in number ' of tho voters.. During the seventeen, years that; he had resided in tha district no eleotion had occasioned, quite as much' interest as tKo'.forthcoming contest, and -compared with the last general election decidedly more'. interest was being shown. For\amoynt: of interest he thought the only other oleetiOn that had been hold in the district that could bo likened' to the, pending, battle ;wa's the .1902. contest,. when ' the ; late Mr. Kemington was first returned. ' i REFORM PARTY CONFIDENT.

■ INTERVIEW WITH ORGANISING . SECRETARY. : -; Interviewed at'Hunterville by The Dominion representative yesterday, -Mr. E: p. Martin,, organising'secretary, to the, Reform jartj-j. saidthat.heihad been over the principal portions of the electorate" both', 'before and after Mr. Hockly, and was very pleased-to notioe tho .pronounced: feeling; in favour of the Reform party; Th-ere was (he continued),naturally a diversity ,'of opinion aS to'whether the party's support should be' given to Mr., Hutchison or Mr. .Hockly, but .the former's retirement had 'nowvamiwibly . settled the/.question, and bore . out Mr. Massey's. testimony as to the unswerving loyalty of• Mr. 'Hutchison during the time !they sat in Parliament together. The'consolidated support .of the . party would naturally n<Sw;be concentrated' upon Mr. Hockly, who was an exceptionallj 1 able and popular Candidate, and was gaininga host of new friends and sup-; -porters -in '.every.-district: that ho , visited.' Despite the '.withdrawal of Mr. , Hutchison, .the supporters of Reforin recognised that: it would. not do 'to ..relax ill the very slightest degreo their efforts to secure,Mr.;Hopkly.'s return. As "on: former occasions'within, his.' experience, and j more particularly in, regard. to- the by-election •at Tuapeks, the Government had once more, selected as polling day dates, which'were least suitable to the farming community. For the first .ballot on-the 16th the Rangitikei R.C. wonld . be' holding their, meeting at Marton, and that, fixture was recognised as a very popular 'event .with, the farmers. -Then,"again,'.for' the second ballot, which, if necessary, 'would bo held on the 23rd, there was.'an equally popular race, meeting at Wanpinui. However, notwithstanding thesb disabilities, he looked forvritrd to the ultimate result with' every • conk" denco,' as -each- day ' brought nows : from tho back-block - districts of n most. •- encouraging nature. 1 v .Another/significant feature in- this election was . tho- fact th.at .all tho' candidates, . without exception, were pronounced freeholders, but any Government Candidate. miist . necessarily.be at a big disadvantage in expecting, sup: port -from.freehold.'.supportersi-wlibn- they, (the Government vcan'didatesV ..were supporting; ,' u. party who ifoutt'Wi.thhWd' th'e' fi'ebhdld''.tenui'6 | as long as it posSilSy' fioTild,-, Mils.t;; on ' the -other: hand, th3 s ßefem>partt-'.,wbuld ; tijidoubt-' "edlv grant it u?6K r flii r lrsJ "The party had also .every reason to expect a solid' 1 substantial support from, all , ships. on the Main Trunk line,: as .3tfr. r Hocßly had gfciod working .committees energetically as-; sisting'his candidature in .each' of .thorn. ... . . The Reform candidate, :Mr, Hohkly;'is'every-' where" meeting', with igrettt. success. ■• He is at present .: addressing 1 electors •,' in h backblocks townships." 'At Koeke, on Thursday night, his meeting.-was well attended, and he, had, an nt-' tentive - hearing.. This: .'n/Oming, (Friday).. lie' addressed'another, fino meeting at the Rongoiti School. In the; evening 'he: met at Tirirau : . kawa a goodlnumber^of,Settlers, who gave .him 'a! hearty/reception. 'Mr.; Hoekly/.goes: on to. Rnahui'.ti-morrow: (Saturday afternoon), and will: appear in the. evening at' Turangarere, .where'it is expected he will have, another large meeting.y-'

IMMIGRANT "TACKLES"' MR. ■MELDRUM; I "V. INTERESTING QUESTIONS. AND:. . ' v;-;,: ANSWERS. ./Despite Mr.'Meldrum's assurance that he is only at' viiHance, with tho .present Governmenton' the' question s of land; tenure, ;it -.is evident; that 'there .are dther' matters .of;.importance in regard t'o .whieh.he does 'not see eyo to eye) with 'it;;" His'i altefl.tio'n: ; waS' drawn'Vby. an. elector at 'Bast :Town :o'n Thursday, night to. the "Government's-immigration;;policy. iTho.jqups'; tioncr first asked the candidate if ho believed that immigrauts should be assisted; to como'out to'the Dominion. Mr. Meldrum, in roply, said; he'did not favour the expenditure of one penny in that direction. V:- .• .'. z; 1 !■ ■"The J.' A. • Millarj- it ydll. be remembered,"; recently' told : a" DOMIN'ION reporter that it' was proposed to: resume: the: assisted immigration scheme in. the l summer-months.' !, 'Tho elector; next. inquired whethel; , the can. didato/wai'opposed to assisted.passages:.being :provided for any class of worker;, :Mr.vMeldrum amplified his previous reply by ; stating .that if. workers choso to come out.hero at: their .own expense to; coiiipete. with' those already resident in . the .Dominion well and roti'd.;, Everything : should, be done, 'he .continued, to assist immigranls to \obkin. work upon: their arrival, but they should not bo encouraged .by assisted .passages to; take up: their residence here. . ;

Tho olcotor: Do you know that at the; present. timb;rosy aeoounls. of conditions in New Zealand are being. scattered broadcast, at Home, and. the people are being encouraged to make their homes here?

:;JXr.' ileldrum: X.rdid;,not know that that was ;s'6; :

•'■■ The elector: But I .'do, for .I was. myself in-' dueed to come out. i.- ' •Mr. Meldrnmi 'As far as I know, the Govorn-' mont is not .responsible for, the canvassing.' of which; you., mention.- ... The elector: Do you know that.anybody can easily ' get 'tho. dorieession in ' fare. by posing as a farMer or a farm"hand? , '-.v ' Mr. Meldrum: I do not.,

The elector:; Are. you aware.that large num. bers of people who. have come! out to New Zealand* on assisted passages have 'since left tho Dominion-rsome after; only a feiz'.weoks' residence hereto settle in. Australia? '..

' iMrjMeldrum t ,;I feel Sure that...they will .return to . New Zealand.. ' , '•.■

;,TheElector: I feel just as certain that/the'y won't—for a time, at any .rate. ' 'Mr'.,Meldrum: Well, I hope sor. : The olectori. lt is in my opinion imperative that , the Government should, without, delay see that: the Homo people are.told the true.p'osi-, tion of Now Zealand—that the' lies about, tho prosperity of the Dominion and, tho amount of work available are; contradicted. Will the oaudidate, if elected, vote against tho, proposal to continue tho immigration polioy? - The chairman evidently did not grasp tho difference between being opposed to and being willing to vote against a proposal. .'He 'ruled that tho candidate hod already answered this last question by a previous reply to-the effect that he (lid not favour tho expenditure of one iota on immigration. ' As a last word on the subject, 1 another elector remarked:' "Maybe the immigrants are being brought out so as to swell the population, and thus bring down tho public "debt per head." ;

THE MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES. ' WILL ANT OF THEM EETIRE ? : '■ It is rumoured that private negotiations aro in progrosa, or will take place shortly, by the Ministerialists, with; a view to the reduction of the number of candidates standing m their interests, ■ ~ , Questioned ,as to whether pressure would be successful in .his'case, iMr. Georgetti, replied emphatically in the negative, tile added that he would not have taken the field , had ho not felt convinced that ho had a very strong, back'"jir' Hornblow also averred that it was not his intention to eta*/' down. Asked why. it

was that ho had net contested tho seat again einco 1902 wheniMr. Kemington was elected for tho first time, Mr. Hornblow declared thnt tho reason was that ho had consented, at the instance of Mr. Seddon and Mr. Kamingtoij, not to bo a candidate whilst Mr. Kemington ■was in tho field, as it would split the Ministerial vote.

From all appearances, it would bo a difficult matter for tho Government party to pet either Mr. Moldruin or Mr. Smith to retire. Mr. Smith, it is stated, feels that as ho has already fought a hard battle for the seat without success he could not bo expeoted to remain out of the coutest on this the next occasion ho had of trying for the seat. On tho other hand, tho supporters of Mr. Meldrum claim that their man should all along havo been chosen as tho. Government nominee.- They, point to tho fact that ho has . never wavered in regard to his views, and for-that, ns. well, as other reasons, would make a better party man than Mr. Smith. . .

Owin£ to continued rumours in circulation that Mr. Smith had really been selected, as the Government nominee in. connection with tho election, Sir. Hornblow- communicated with the Attorney-General (Dr. Findlay) on the subject. It wilt be rememhercd that tho Government some time ago circularised the candidates standing ill' the Government interest. In order that, any misconception as to its. contents might be removed, an original copy of the letter was placed in the hands of TiieDominion, representative yesterday. It appears that it was worded as under:—

"Bear Sir,—As therp nre more Liberal , candidates than one announced for " tho ■ Kangitikei seat- fuUy . satisfactory to tho Government, it feels that tho choico should ; 1)0 left to the ckctors without-any dcclara- ' tion or preference;—(Signed), J. ■ Carroll, : . Aoting-Primo _ Minister." .'-■ To Mr. ,Hornblow's inquiry, Dr. Findlay has just replied from Botorna as.under:—. "Your • tele»rain readied, mo hero only ilast'night. Tho Acting-Premier's wire to ■ you correctly expressed tho position, when- [ it', stated, that, as there were more candi-. ■ dates than one equally satisfactory' to the ■ , Governmint, the selection- would be left entirely to the electors.. This attitude has . been: faithfully, preserved throughout, and-' I have ho doubt , will continue.—(Signed) J; G. Pinky." '

THE HARVEST- OF A DISASTROUS CROP.

A PRACTICAL FARMER'S VIEWS. • During the courso. of his addresses, Mr. Hoctly is emphasising tho fact that there are altogether-too few practical farmers in ■ the House. s - Hegoes : on. to..'say that ho considers 1 the time has arrived when the important constituency of: Rangitikei should ho represented by a farmer. Having been on the land; for the last' twenty-five years, ho could • -claim to havo a practical and intimate knowledge. of and aspirations of, the •farming community. As was also i.well known, he had always made a keen : study, of the various'legislative proposals which had' been made from tiino to/time. 1 . It-was his opinion that the in power of•'.-a ' nient' the four leading members' of which were possessed of such strong. Socialistic tendencies would; bo. a reil. menace to tho country.- He. .was always willing to give credit where credit was due, and he' wished to .raako it clear that the present Government had introduced ' a number of measures the main principles of which he approved. . Taking the whole tendency, of the .administration of' tho. party in , power,'it' was'plain,.however,'that it had been' most disastrous for tho 'country. "While wo an era of prosperity (ho continues) we were-too busy making money to'have time to look/ahead. - But-now wo are/nv'akencd by a', shook, and . the effeots of tho maladministration are. upon' us. Wo find tho population flocking to" tho towns, ■ becauso -there is not sufficient indubemeht for men to stick to the land. THoy. see tho ; Government/qtiito . out of sympathy/.quito-out"of touch with, tho' tillcra of the soil. . They see tho burdens of taxation being shifted in ever-increasing.■ proportions ,■ on! lo the', land. They see their, demands for ,a' tenuro-; which alone', will satisfy them' being ; constantly ignored, acd seeing-: these things they decide to' throw' in their lot with.! the. many. and . take' their' share of ' tho " harvest . whioh' is being'exacted from \ tho'few. ? We find : capital, the most sensitive things in the }ride world; frightened , and uneasy; We'havo wonderful- and inexhaustible ~ resources.' only •waiting .for capital to develop them. But the enterprise.- of the community is . crippled; there is 'no . confidence; and therefore : no expansion. 'We have: unemployment staring, at us in all ; 1 -directionsi and in, all callings.,.'-The country, is •rtWidiasstill'because'-thcro is .no';nieney, r -.ina' t entirely.ip.wing Ip.'itho.' faot w,o'Jjay<o. a' Sociilistic 'Government in '."office." 'Because;, remember this,, there. is plehty of money for investment" in Australia n 1 and. 41 .'per., cent., and in London .at from 24' to S per" cent; ;But if ■ you'flsk-.them for any/for/ New' Zealand;.you' , get a blank.'refusal; And . this'stato of affairs ,' .will. continue/ &sj long as the-Ward Governin. office.'-' ;Mr. .Hocltly's views J invariably find unqualified approval from the great majority of his hearers.

ADDRESS BY MR. HORNBLOW. ■'0j .THE LAND QUESTION... J ' ■, . Mr. Horhblow, the Liberal-Labour candidate,addressed his first 'meeting at Hunterville this, evening.. ' ' The hall "xtta well filled, and Mr. Canton o.coupied the.'chair.„ : , 'Mr.':■ Hornblow• .siiid ' hq ~Would support.. the Government,. butwould. not vote against his convictions.The only class. of 1111111 igrants who . should be.encouraged were those who pos-. ; sessedi some capital, and could help to develop tho resources of the country. .. Sir; Hornblow declared that he: favoured only moderate bor.' rowing .for • reproductive works,' and ; , would toiinsel economy in .every, direction'. (Applause.) lie wanted to seo the whole of . the) Ctown .lands'- thrown • open jinder the optional tenure, subieot to a limitation of drea, and provisions, witn reference .to residence and, improvements. .'lt > was his opinion :that Crown tenants should' havo .the .right to convert tho L.I.P. into tho freohold at tho original valuation , plus One .per cent. 'Sufficient- Native'.land .'should.', be; set aside' as'reserves for tho assistance 6f '..the. Natives, and the: other portions should be disposed of either to .the Government or to'private individuals, ' subject ■ to; the, same . provisions as' he proposed in connection with Crown' lands;, (Applause.) With regard.to the licensing .question, .he favoured .the taking. of a Dominion, vote, with a; bare ■ majority, and he alsobelieved in the famous Clause 9. (Dissent and applause.);, "Ho"was opposedi to the farming' oommuuity .being brought' under tho operation of the Arbitration Act;. Sir.. Hornblow spoke strongly.. against '; the- aggregation . of....large estates.. 'Another' matter referred to 'by'the candidate was ,the depression, whioh he thought was not likely-.to,,pass, away very speedily; The bottom had, he said, apparently fallen out of the frozen meat ihdustry, lii conclusion, lie declared that excessive .valuation was causing many Liberal'' supporters to. go over to; tho other side' of 'politics.' Ho "appealed to the workers to'support him. (Applause.) At tho conclusion of; tno address, there were no questions,- and, on the motion of Mr. Cole, the candidate -was accorded ,a. vote of thanks, ' ' .

MR. GEORGETTI'S POSITION

. ' : "SITTING TIGHT ON A RAIL," v After having -traversed the most difficult portion, of .the electorate, Mr. Georgetti,; who is-standing as ■ an ■ Independent Candidate, is now : addressing'meetings in .the vicinity of Huntervillo.': In all, Mr. Georgetti has already held 15 meetings. , . • Interviewed by : a''. Dominion reporter, he stated that ho was well satisfied with the receptions :whioh had been ; accorded him. Anion" ot tier-things he'mentioned that he had not been subjected ; tp ; one interruption in the course .of: his campaign'. He .considers that Mr.''Hockly. is certain' to; get into ; the second baliot, and'is also firmly of the belief that he ,(Mr. Georgetti) will get into the final contest ahead ,pf ;the;- remaining/candidates.;: It is his' opinion that, owing to the withdrawal of Mr. Hutchison, he will benefit at tho Wanganui' end of the constituency; "Where ho expects to score heavily, however, is at MangaweKa, Tailiape, and at Utiku.' At moro than one meeting it had been proposed, to give hiiii a vote of'confidence, as well'as thanks, but he told the electors that if he was elected, then ,when he came back for' re-election two years'henco ho providing he had carried out his-duties faithfully and well, ho would gain votes of confidence. ' Speaking ; at. Rata to-night, Mr. Georgetti made his position quito clear. He declared that his. principal reason for .'standing'-was that ho considered that there wore too many town members in Parliament, and that practical farmers were required to conipilo legislation for the benefit of country electorates. He olaimed that the independent stand was the most honourable. Ho would not say ono word in condemnation of cither the Government or the; Opposition, , unless ho could show good cause.' An independent candidate—a rail-sit. tor—that,' in : his opinion, ■ was what was I wanted. Ho had always tat tight on a rail, and he intended to continue to do so. If tho Goveminent introduced a measuro which ho thought would be in tho best interests of his electorate ho would support it. . Steps should bo taken to put down land monopoly in New Zealand.. If the land mere proporly classified and valued tho settlers would not be so anxious to sell out. Instead of surveying thousands of acres, the Government should survey : hundreds of thousands of'acres to satisfy tho demand.. All Crown tenants should have tlw

option of making their sections their own. He declared himself a staunch freeholder, providing the area was limited according to the producing qualities of tho land. Tho lockingup of tho Nntivo lands was retarding the progress of every town in tho North Island. Ho had never believed in the renowablo lease system, and never would. Counties' borrowing powers ought to Iks increased according to tho value of their securities. After leaving school every boy should go into, military training for a month every year for three or four years. Now Zealand's education system was the best in the world. He was in favour of tho Government borrowing all tho money they wanted. Tho Government was getting good returns for ovcry pound that had been borrowed. In conclusion Mr. Georgetti condemned tho immigration policy of tho Government. As ho had said at an earlier stage, ho was sitting tight oil a rail, and he would take .good caro that he (lid not get off on to either side. Mr. Georgetti was accorded a vofo of thanks. MR. SMITH AT HUNTERVILLE. OVERTURES FROM THE GOVERNMENT (By Telegraph-Special Reporter.) Huntcrvillu, September 10. There was a fairly largo attendant at Mr.' ! Smith's meeting at Hunterville on Thursday evening. Dr. Smith occupied the chair. Tho candidate devoted somo time to explaining liis position iu standing as a Government supporter. Ho stated that, although ho stood as aii Independent at th'e last election, his sympathies wore really with the Government, with tho exception of tho question of land tenure. Upon this occasion, ho continued, ho had been approached by the Government to stand in their interest. He had inforrhed them that he conld not see eye'to eye with them on tho land question,* but tho Government informed him that they "would accept him as . a Government candidate, although they were making no do-; finite-selection. touched on by Mr. Smith was the question of land tenure, lie emphatically declared his intention of being staunch to his freehold pledges, and' of agreeing to all Crowq tenants (including thoso occupying land under the Land for Settlements Act) being allowed tho option of tho freehold. Mr. Smith'made a strong point of tho fact that the Government, in accepting him as ono of their'candidates, showed .-.that they wcro propared to grant the freehold. Tho first 'steps by them in this direction were, ho stated, to bo' seen in -.the Settlors' Finance Bill,which allowed associations-to bo formed, am'ong6t tho settlers for the purpose of purchasing land, the payment in connection, with which : would be guaranteed by the .State. _ . Replying to a question, Mr. Smith said that lie'favoured tho imposition of a sufficiently high import duty on Oregon pine, ao that it > could not unduly compete with New Zealand timber, urging as a'reason, tho '■ necessity for keeping Now-Zealand mill, hands oraployed. ; ; ; ; -The candidate was next asked if he favoured a duty'on imported coal. To this question ho replied in the .affirmative.. ; Qnestioned ; as to whether he believed in tho 'aggregation of lavge estates/ Mr. Smith said that he'considorod that no man should be al* lowed to purchase Crown lands who already possessed 2000 acres'of sccond-class land, or G4O acres of: first-cLiss; land; ' , ..

C*n the motion of Mr. : H. Mllnnaway, th& candidate was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.

THANKS AND APPRECIATION. TELEGRAM TO iIR. G. HUTCHISON. TJnon ■ tho receipt of the notification of . the withdrawal of Mi. ; Hutchison - from tho contest, Mr Hockly's central committee forwarded the following telegram to him:— ■ "It ■ 13 tho , 1 unanimous wish ' of. Mr. Hock'y's central committee that I should ' express, to-you their sincere thanks, for. your loyal action in withdrawing'from the eontest, .and express their high appreciation ■ of your verv able .platform' criticism of '■ tho .maladministration of the . Government, . 1 which must materially strengthen . our. cause. Wo feel that your, action. must appeal to. all Opposition supporters in. the .. , adjoining 'eloctorilto of Wanganui. who, wo trust,. will mark- their ■. appreciation by ' : electing you as. their representative upon . tho first: occasion; , "J. X. MACGREGOR, ' . . "General Secretary, Central Committee." ;; ' In .an editorial tlio "Eangitikci 'Advocate" says:—Wo congratulate Mr. Geo. 'Hutchison on his withdrawal from the Rangitlkei contest. His action is in the interests- of the Opposition, and should benefit him in the.next contest for.Jhe Wanganui-soat. '■■ It would havo been rcgrettablo \hadv(,wo such strong men as Mr. Hockly i nnd u ,Mr v -Hutchison fought against ' oath I f'otherToii..the samo.sido, and we are glad tO' see. that ha'has. wisely. retired .in . Mr. Hookly's favour; '' There.' can. bo' no qiiestioA.that! tho latter -has been gaining"' day, ahd" winning support'., wherever ho; has, spoken. shall not no'surprised to ,find that" Ministers' 1 wiU now take' s'.eps .to reduce thi. numbor of candidates-on their side, butin' any case ..the result is a foregone conclusion, and Mr.'Hocklj;, will take.his soat in Parliament when it reassembles next month.. . ~ THE TV/O BALLOTS. Mr.. Hornblow .told : Tiie Dominion representative yesterday that ho -was well satisfied with tho results of his electioneering work;','lt all depended on- his meeting that night. If it were'successful hie chance-ought to bo excellent. Of course, lie was depending practically on: ; a block voto of. the workers, although he felt ho. had considerable influence amongst thoso small farmers who had risen from co-oporalive works.and become permanent settlers. There was no doubt in his mind but that Mr. Hockly wonld get into tho first ballot,; but it was impossible to tell whether Messrs. Sleldruni, Gcorgetti, or himself would bo ..the Government candidate to : reach-' final, contests. As it had been decided that the concentrated 'Ministerial. vote should go for the Government candidate who got into tho sccond .ballot; he was of opinion that Mr. Hockly'wouldJbo.-ultimately defeated. Ho did not, favour -Mr.,' Meldrum's chances, '■ because that gentleman. was'- a lawyer, find the general opinion was that' there were already too many lawyera iii the . House. Mr; Georgetti'would sccureva good deal,of support around,his own district,'but past experience had-shown" that the, Rangitilcei people had little faith. in Independent candidates.'; As regards'.Mr. Smith, Mr,- Hornblow did not' think, he. .-had much chance'owing, to his action-in running for the' Opposition pfeople • ' against . Mr. and now posing as iln out-and-out' Liberal

MR. HORNBLOW ON THE PRESS. ' , Mr. Homlilow,' Liberal-Labour , candidate, made reference at Hunterville last night to the articles which had appeared in the newspapers regarding tho campaign;. It was, ho, 6aid, .a matter for regret that • misrepresentation had not been unknown. Referring to The Dominion, lie declared that. ho never expected" to: find in that journal such fair reports of his meet-' ings and such honest criticism .as had been devoted to his .views'by that leading news-p&pe'r-in:Wellington. .He;added:."And I would like to say that -I' feel very' grateful to '.them for it." (Loud applause.)

: • \ JOTTINGS. . Although the principal polling booth will bo at Hunterville, £y far the heaviest polling will take place at Taihape,. tho commercial' centre of the-ltangitikei Electorate. Already four of tho. candidates, Messrs. Hockly, - Hutohison, Meldruin, and Hotnblow have spoken there. On the occasion'of each of the addresses there was a large-audienco;-and caqli of tho candidates was accorded a good hearing. Mr. Hornblow was • not questioned to any extent at tho close of i his meeting, hut Messrs. Hockly. and .Meldrum were called upon to answer a modorate number. of interrogatories. Mr. Hutchison, however,- was • inundated, with inquiries; to which .he ga7« replies -which Deemed to satisfy the questioners. . That tho Reform' candidates have mado a big impression at : Taihape is admitted - oa every hand. • As far' as oan be gathered, the leaders of neither party will interfere on behalf of their candidates, at the first election, unless the leaders of .the other party enter the arena; It is stated, however, in well-informed circles' that in the case '.of representatives of both parties being left in tho final ballot it is almost certain that I the successful candidates .will receive assistance.

It is understood that efforts are being made to secure, if possible, a special train from Taihap4 to llarton oil election day in connection with tho races at Mnrton. If no special can bo' arranged, numbers of electors who have made up.their minds to attend the races, will probably not get .an opportunity to record their votes. . •

. ( _____ Oil Sunday evening, at the Unitarian Pre# Church, Ingestre Street, Dr. Tudor Jones will deliver a memorial address on "The Life and Work.of tho lato Mrs. T. \V. Hislop." Every Saturday in future there will be published in theso columns, under the heading of "The Guinea Pocin," a short four-line vorse dn "Flag Brand Pickles," for which a ohequo of ono guinea will have been forwarded to the writer. Tho competition is a perfectly genuine one, and tho weekly prize, goes to tho writer of tho best verse. All that competitors are expected to do is to write a verse and dispatch it, together with an embossed metal cap from a Flag Brand pickle bottle, and full name and address, to Haywatd -Bros., Box GIJ, Welling-' ton,