THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 7

THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS.

ATTITUDE OP LABOUR. STATEMENT BY MR. MASSEY. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.} Auckland, May 22. Denials having boon made in certain quarters of the statement that Labour support would be given to the Reform party at the noxt general elections, an official statement, made by Mr. W. F. Massey, M.P., Leader of the Opposition, to a "Herald" representative on Saturday, is interesting.

"As I havo stated before," said Mr. Massey, "I havo had no official communication from the Trades and Labour Council, or any other labour organisation, in connection with the matter, but I have a number of personal friends in tho different centres who are prominent in tho councils of Labour, and who have informed me that, while the yare anxious to got their own members elected to Parliament, if it conjcs to a question between the Government and tho Opposition, or, as somo of them put it, between Massoy and Ward, they will support Massey every time."

The term of office of the Hon. Mahuta, as a member of the Legislative Council, has expired, but it is understood that no reappointment has been made. The Hon. Dr. Findlay (Minister for Justioe) has agreed to deliver his postponed ' address on the Native Land question, at Whangarei, on Friday evening. Some strong arguments against Government interference in tramway nutters were used by Mr. J. O'Shoa, solicitor to tho Wellington City Council, before the Tramways Commission in Dunedin. Mr. O'Shea referred to tho Tramways Amendment Bill 011, which a committee took evidence last year. "In tho opinion of all tramway people in Now Zealand who thoroughly considered it," he said, "that Bill was not only an invasion of the rights and liberties of municipal bodies and companies running trams in New Zealand, but it was introducing Government interference of a most unparalleled and dangerous character. You have been through the whole of Now Zealand from the tramway point of view, and you have seen tho differences in the systems, the various methods of each set of engineers—all very able men— the diverse methods in principles and details they have adopted and applied in ordor to provide an efficient system for each district. If Government inspection and Government interference aro going to bo sot up by legislation that will efficiently deal with these systems tho Government will absolutely have to find a man or men who will havo tho same detailed and perfect knowledge of each branch of tramway engineering as is shown by at least three menjn each centre that wo havo so far visited—and each of tlicse men is in his own way an expert of a different class, of a different naturo and of different powers from every other expert which you have met If the Government is going to have one man to do the lot, well, he is going to be a genius. And if it is going to get enough men to specialise, to have, a set of officials doing nothing but training thoso men, well, then, it has got monoy to burn, and I have never known of a Government yet that has had monoy to bnrn."

clerks, and choristers. The chapel procession moved down the nave, the choir chanting the opening sentences of the service.