HERE AND THERE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1292, 22 November 1911, Page 8

HERE AND THERE.

CAMPAIGN POINTS AND PRESS COMMENTS. A number of notices by returning oflicers regarding tho general election and licensing'polls, and giving tho polling places in various ..electorates, will bo found in our advertising columns. Mr. Massoy at Palmorston To-night. As ifc is expected tbat tho attendance it Mr. Ifassey's meeting, in tho Opera House at Palnicrston North-, to-night, will bo very large, seating accommodation for SOO will bo arranged 6n the stage, and no one-under 21 years of age will be admitted. The Mayor of Palmerston will preside.' " ' A Question That Was Answered. Mr. R. Fletcher perhaps did not expect such a ready answer to a rhetorical question'which ho asked of his audience fast night. He had just said that hedid -not suggest that the Government was the best possible; "but," ho asked, "do you think you are going to improve things by putting in the Opposition?" There wore perhaps a dozon people who shouted "Yes" with conviction. Then tho faithful shouted "No," and cried them down. Can he Prove it? Mr. R. B. Eos?, having made n statement about "machine-mado speeches," the Danncvirko "News" calls upon him to Jirovo it: "Ho wishes tho public to beiovo that twelve Opposition candidates aro delivering exactly similar speeches in different parts of tho country. Will bo say who these men aro? Will ho name. tho newspapers in which these twelve similar speeches have appeared? Mr. Row will shortly be delivering a public address iu Woodville, and we challenge him to prove' his statement. We aro prepared to cut down his figures by half and (jiv.e him tho opportunity to produce six similar renorts of Opposition speeches delivered by different candidates. Mr. Ross knows perfectly well that by making an assertion of this kind he is easting-an aspersion on tho three Reform candidates wlio aro contesting his own and the two neighbouring electorates. Does' Mr. Ross daro to affirm that Messrs. Campbell, Hunter, and Escott aro delivering machine-mado speeches ■ Tho Reform candidates for Hawke's Bay, Waipawa, and T'nhiataa are honourable gentlemen who havo proved upon the public platform that they aro able to do their own political thinking, and they are quite eapablo of holding their own against Mr. Ross or any other candidato that the Government cares to put up against them. Mr. Ross, however, has a pimple before him. Will he produce one single, machine-mado speech which ho is prepared to prove has Ixwn concei'ted in Wellington? Will he name one single newspaper in which the report of a machine-made speech has been published?"

Strikes and Labour Parties. I "There have been more strikes in Australia since tho Labour party camo into power than thero havo over boen before in all tirM history of Australia and New Zealand."—Mr. E, Fletcher, at tho Druids' Hall. "Machinc-mado" "We havo been hearing a good deal lately," says tho "Clutha Leader," "about .mehino-made speeches, turned out in VolUngton for Opposition candidates. '•■ere used to bo a timo when pages of so-written, speeches wero turned out ■ Liberal candidates, some of whom ..'e a very poor shov of reading them, 1 we do not suppose the practice has ■l abandoned. Indeed, there is every '[•nee that the system has been por'.;l. We notice that the Prime Minisin his Winton sneech, unearthed ;i 'Hansard' some divisions that took ■» about 16 years ago designed to show ' .■■■ Mr. Mnssey, Mr. Alien, and others tne Opposition had voted a certain :...iber of times for, and a much larger ...iibcr of times against,, the Land Set.neiir. Old, Age Pensions, and other . isions. . . . We do not know who- '..■!• this return was machine prepared, ,w>r do wo suppose tho I'riuie Minister

was indebted to, say, Mr. Mcldrnm. the Government candidate at Huntcrvillc, for Uio particulars. It is an interesting fact.Jiowover, that Mr. Mcldrum quoted figures the samo as the Priiuo .Minister, regarding Jlr. Allen and Air. Jlassoy, nnd quoted them-somo - days-befc.To the Prime Minister used them." An Alliance Terminated. "Twentv-oiio years' ago, utter the great maritime'striko of'lSSO," said Mr. W. 1. Young (Labour candidate tor the < ciitra scat) last evening, "when the Libera party was returned to power by the mil of Labour, some kind of alliance was formed between the two parties, bo i:ir as I can see, the alliance only went the leugth of securing the votes of the workers at election times. Afterwards they and their interests were soon, iorgotten. Aow wo are out to establish our .own political identity." Political Pull. . Jlr. Masscy..mentioned at F.ketahuna that a man in his district, without tho authority of the local body, -went past the Minister for Public AVorks to tho Prime Minister, and got- the meney ho wanted placed upon the Estimates. The impropriety of this method of procedure is obvious enough (says the laranafci Herald"), but it is no greater than in an incident which the .Ministerial candldalo for Taranaki related at Bell Block on AVcdnesday night. , ; A deputation representing the Taranaki Petroleum Company, Jlr. Bellringer said, wished to -interview tho Prime Minister, but Jlr. Okey the member for the district,-was-unable to obtain on interview for them. Mr. Berry, however, "succeeded in obtaining an interview "on his own," and Jlr. Bellringer also managed to get a privato interview with tho Minister for Jlines. If this is ono of'the methods adopted by the present Government to obtain political pull, it is ' improper. ■ The inference to be drawn from Mr. Bcllringer's remarks is that if Jlr. Okey hod been a Government supporter tho interview ho was refused would havo been granted readily enough. At anyratc it is very significant that Mr. Berry, who is president, we believe, of. tho Liberal organisation hero, was able to succeed where Jlr. Okey failed, and that Jlr. Bellringer, tho Liberal candidate, "managed to get a private interview" with the Minister for Jlines.' And Mr. Okev, bo it noted, is a fellow director in tho Petroleum Company with Jlr. Berry and Jlr. Bellringer, and thorofors as much interested as .they in- the matter to be brought to tho Minister's notice. If Jlinisters can only be approached by peoplo of the right political colour it wiil bo realised how great an advantage place and power give to tho reigning party at election tiniest AVhen a Ministerial candidate comes forward and says that his opponent failed to obtain an interview for a deputation with the Prime Jlinister. and that ono of the deputation—a strong Government supporter—succeeded "on his own," it is quite time that the. people put in a Government, whose members would not arrogate to themselves the right to say whom they will and whom they will not. see on publio business. This (the "Herald" concludes) is only one instance of.many which go to show that (he Government has been too long in power.

Mr. Fletcher and the Opposition. Mr. Fletcher still maintains, in spite of Mr. Massey's denial, that he was asked to, stand for Parliament as a candidate for. Wellington Central in the Opposition interest, and in his speech last night he referred again to the matter. He stated that he had not received Mr. Massey's letter, denying that any person had ever been authorised to treat with him on behalf of the Opposition party with a view to his possiblo candidature. in the Opposition interest until fourteen days after he had made his speech. This he regarded as a significant circumstance; "arid," he added, "I can only conclude Mr.- Massey was very unwilling to write that letter at all 1 have four letters hero from reputablo citizens, and I could havo had tour dozen if I had liked." Then ho proceeded to read the letters. Thev were from Messrs. J. J. M'Grath, D. J. Nathan, J. N. Grant, and A. Bannister. They all wrote that they had been present on occasions when Mr. Martin, Opposition organiser, asked Mr. Fletcher to stand as an Opposition candidate, and that Mr. Fletcher had refused. : ' "Liboral" and Labour, Mr. D. Golder, president of the Hawko's Bay Trades Council, has received the following letter from the sccretaiy of the Wellington Trades Council:—"Dear sirBy instructions from the above council I forward you the following resolution passed at last night's meeting: 'That it is desirable, that tho workers of Napier do their utmost to secure the return and rally round the pledged Labour candidates at the forthcoming general election.' "' The letter then goes' on to say: "In connection with tho above resolution I may inform you that it has come to our knowledge that tho secretary of your council is acting as secretary of the committee of ono of the Liberal candidates. We very much regret that he has seen fit to take this position, as vce know for a fact that there arc capablo men willing and anxious to come out straight in the interests of Labour and we trust that there will lie no further defections from tho ranks, arid that your council wilt at least run ono candidate and loyally support- him. Trusting that you will act on this suggestion and wishing you every success." - ' -

Not a Soft Thing. "Why don't you address more political meetings? You should not tako it for granted that this election is a soft thing" —was a written question nskpd of Mr. R. Fletcher last night. Tho candidato replied that ho supposed ho could conduct his campaign as he pleased, and, anyhow, he did not think much pood canio of meetings. Tho people knew his opinions already well, enough. A Question of Assets. Many references have been made lately to a curious schedule of assets appearing in the Budget, and which was evidently compiled in haste by' Sir Joseph Ward for tho purpose of making the public debt look small by comparison. The table alleges that the State has assets valued at .£93,318,575. Mr. Ensor and others have pointed out that tho Prime Minister has deliberately written up tho value of tho Bank of New. Zealand shares, in which .£300,000 was invested, to .£2,000,000, being a. very liberal estimate of their value, and also that by some weird process the ■£7,939,700 advanced to settlors and workers is now made to represent an asset of .£20,000,000 to tho State, although if tho securities were realised to-morrow tho Government could not recover a sixpence more than it advanced, plus its interest.— "Evening News." The Wesfland Excitement. Tho Wnstland campaign, where Mr. T. Seddon is again opposed by Mr. H. L. Michel, is still lively as ever. A correspondent writes in tho Dunfidin "Times": "Tho energy of tho candidates in wooing the electors is only surpassed by the bitterness imparted into tho .conflict fcv their supporters. Wagering is going on in an unprecedented manner, whilst in scores of cases failure to coni vines by talk or 'money up' has been followed bv 'a scrap.' Everywhere tho inflamed stato of public opinion is apparent. One who has just been through the electorate says: 'God help Westland. The breaking-point lias already been reached. What will happen by polling day?'"

Tho Back-blocks Settler. Interest in the contest for f.hft Waimarino scat is getting very keen m tho various townships on the Mam trunk lino i=nvs tho Wanganui 'Chronicle ). Mr. Hocklv had a very successful meeting at Oh'-iknno, delivering a stirring address which was frequently applauded. In the course of his speech, Mr. Hockly <*verelv rebuked Mr. Smith for his gross misrepresentation of the speaker's views on the Government Guaranteed Advances Act and the repeal of the I/oan tf/ Local Bodies Act. Mr, Ilockly stated that ho wanted to sec part two of tho bitter Act reinstated on the Statute Book in the interests of the poorer and more reeent-lv-formed local bodies, so ';hat slritfgling settlers in tho hack-blocks could raise the money for their roads and bridges at .£3 10s. per ,£IOO, instead of ,U 17s. Cd. per .£IOO, as at present. Ho saw no reason why tlio two Acts should not run side by side, end said that Sir ,T. Ward's refusal to allow this to bo ilono was onlv one more nroof of the carelessness anil utter neglect of tho back-cuiia-try settler, which was so characteristic of'his whole administration.

The Masterton Seal. Jlr. A. 11. Herbert, Opposition candidal for I lie Jfastcrlon seal, has had a good reception in all pnrts of the clootorale. His platform ability has miulo a good impression, strong committees have been formed in all parts of the electorate, and are working except ionally well, particularly so in Jfnstcrton, whero a very largo Ladies' ('niinniMce is doing systematic work. The friends id' the rantlida'.e are very confident of success. Mr. Herbert finishes the second round of the electorate this week, and expressed himself as very pleased with tho marked progress between his first and second visits, and confident thai the result will be in his favour. Changed His Mind. Speaking in the Garrison .Hall. Dunrdin, Jlr-'H. D. Bedford, who is opposing the Hon. .1. A. Millar, said that up to 190."—tho last year in which .Mr. Millar was a private member—ho uttered warnings against borrowing, and against tho pace nt which wo were going. But he. had now become a Jlinister, and the Jlinistrv had borrowed more per year than ahv Jlinistry that had held office, within the past quarter of a century. It hurl borrowed JBJ- millions in flvo years, including Gh millions last year, while it took tho laic Jlr. Seddon some thirteen years to borrow 23 millions. Jlr. Jlilla.r the Jlinister said this borrowing was right, but Jlr. Jlillar the private member said that to borrow oven much less was vcrv wrong. There was complete proof, then, out of the month of Jlr. Jlillar himself, that we are borrowing excessively. The Oyster-Gramaphono Government. "No more backbone than an oyster and no moro principle than a gramaphone." —Jlr. Massey on tho AVard Government. Merit or Influence? A questioner at Hastings asked Jlr. H. M. Campbell: Are you in favour of applicants for State billets being appointed on their merits or by the influence of Jlinisters, because Mr. A. L. D. Eraser told us somo evenings ago that a. good many children in Hawke's Bay owed their start in life to him? Jlr. Campbell said ho would see that every applicant got a fair deal, but tho appointments would havo to be made on merit. (Applause.) A Challenge Accepted. Speaking at Jlosstown last Friday, Jlr. G. A r . Pearco said: that Jlr. Hogan-had issued a challenge that if anyone could prove that he had ever voted for party before principle ho would retire from tho contest. Jlr. Pearco said he would accept tho challenge, and quoted from Hansard to show that on the matter of the Hine charges of last year Jlr. Hogau had voted with the Government for. tho exclusion of the press from tho committee's inquiries. The Government, however, was defeated by 39 to 31 on this motion. The press was a public safeguard, and by voting for its exclusion Jlr. Hogau had voted against tho interests of tho pnblic, and principle. . Mr. Pcarce charged Mr. Hogan with being only a faint echo of tho.Government all the time, and with having voted for Star Chamber methods. Ho would Tiko to hear Mr, Hogan explain his action in this matter, and it be acted up to his challongo ho would retire, but Mr. Tearco did not expect ho would.

A Lesson in Sincerity. ..Tho' absolute and undeniable success which attended Mr. Campbell, at his meeting nt Hastings exceeded the extreme anticipations of.h'.s most ardent supporters (savs the "Tribune"). It was so thorougli that it removed all doubt as to what the result of the elections will he. By his earnestness, and by, the way ho expressed his honest convictions he carried his Inrge audience with him. Tho lesson he has taught us is that sincerity in a candidate is a surer vote-catcher than pie-crust promises, brag, bluster, or personal attack. When it is remembered that a few weeks ago Mr. Campbell came before tho public a raw recruit in the political campaign, the progress ho has raado in platform work is remarkable, and his success in this direction justifies the expectation that when ho represents Hawke s Bay he will quickly make a name for himself and win respect for his district. Writs Issued: Rolls Closed. Tho writs for tho general election on December 7 woro issued yesterday and tho rolls were closed last evening at 6 p.m. Nominations of candidates will bo received until noon on November 27. Hitherto nominations have been received until 5 p.m. on tho final day, but as the law now stands they must be in the hands of returning officers by noon.