NOTES OF THE BAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2012, 20 March 1914, Page 6

NOTES OF THE BAY.

_ f Ta-E member for Wellington South is to adctress,. his constifcitonts this evening, and it will be intoesting to note what he has to say respecting his attitude towards the ftsd Federation's Social Democratic fraternity. Mr. HiKbMAitstt's position has always been a little nuzzling. ; Bvcryone knows, of course, that u» js op•poscd to the Reform Party, but it is By nd means so ekar how much of him is 'Labour and how mu-eh Liberal. Perhaps _he will take his constituents fully into his confidence on this p.oint. _ And while he is at it, fee might go a little further and explain where ne stiirtds as between the two rival Labour parties—the "lied Feds" and the so-called IJiiito-d hour Party. In thepasi he has been associated, rather closely with Mn. M'Laben's party; is be still heart and soul with Me. M'Lar&n and opposed to the "Bed Feds"? Is ho supporting M-K. M'LarßN against Mfti Holland for the Mayoralty; Mr, HiKDHATtSH makes some pr<!*ensi cms to outspekenness, and tins evening he will have an opportunity to dear the aft as to his exact position. '

The local Wardist journal.has beeii put in quite a flutter by the somewhat contemptuons treatment accorded one of itg "scntci" articles by the h'tiii'kr'n tkiy IhraJd. It seems that tho sheep-owners of Hawks's■: Bay have draded to combine t# pro-. ; tat their intewstiy, and to light the Labour Party at the ballot-box. This l apparently threw the Wardist jotn>mil ii!l(t a slate of gi'eat oKeitoiiient, U was really horn tying, no diMd.it, that tiw* sheep-farmers svhordd dare to combine.. Labour .organisations might lie formed ml lib., they could not possibly be formed for any other than' a worthy ptirpiisc. But these wretched sheep-farmers, how dare they presume to copy the methods of townspeople 1 la a citcula* dvsttttßfc-

Lug this question of organisation, the secretary of the Sheep-Farmers' Association is stated to have said:

The recent elections linvo shown what the Labour P&rtV in New South Wates bus accomplished in this disttcl'ion, and Unless similar oTgnnteftlioft is carried put by tile employers kt New Zea.ia.wd they will find, when it is too livto,. that the Labour Party here has attained its end through the'ballot-box instead of by strike.

To most people this refcrcaos _to organising with a view to fighting through the Ballot-box will seem a perfectly innocent and legitimate proposal. Not so, however, to the WanHst "journal, which' attempts to surround it with fill sorts of dark but delightfully vague possibilities. The whole thing, of course, is tiro most transparent humbug—a silly season false alarm. A portion of the circular, particularly stressed by the scare-making journal,.is a paragraph which urges the farming community to combine to resist aggression in the way of increased land tax, preposterous awards, and strikes. So far as we dan gather from the amusing mock heroics of the journal quoted, it regards the proposed organising of the farming community with a view to protecting its *wt> interests as a most unheard of and most reprehensible thing. All other classes apparently can -combine for mutual protection, but the moment the farmer—and especially the siwep-farmc;—shows signs of awakening to the necessity of placing himself in a position to defend his interests against aggression, we have this outcry from the mouthpiece of Wnrdism. The farming community will no doubt profit by the evidence which the incident affords of the advantages which are likely to accrue to it from being properly organised, That the reasonable .and pro-per step which has just been taken in Hawke's Bay should have produced such a ludicrous outburst from tire quarter mentioned best- assurranco possible- that it is likely to serve an, effective purpose, and therefore should be proceeded with ; heartodly, Kb one. nowadays objects to lafeeur iHiion'isiii, whether for poti■tidal or industrial purposes, and no aire with any sense- of justice, or fair play would attempt the -foolish task of preventing the farming commune it.y from combining in the same way.

The behaviour of the audience which assembled at the Town Hail last evening.- to listen to a political adtlrcss by the mentor for Kcteon will perhaps serve a useful purpose in affording that gentleman a lesson,/ in maimers. Fresh as he was from the. Prime Mij?istob's. meeting in 'Nelson., where his unsuccessful a-'fc-tatpt to attack the Government created such a scene of disorder, he must surely have felt the contrast -between the eou.r'tcsy extended to him ly his political opponents tee atirf his own .conduct towards the Bead »l the Government, when Mr, Masses visited his electorate. Mb. At.m-ore rscieived & fair hearing, tlii-onghaii't- Ms address, despite the fact that It was nothing, more, than the stack speech ■wliieh' lie has heen • delivering for months post wherever opportunity offered, Almost f-reiln beginning to end it was the same dd string of bitter diatribes against the Government a.nd all in nns way coaiieoted with it. The same old abusive epithets and insolent-personalities. The member for Nelsiaii. ivas piicc-4or scribed in Parliament. ,1$ "the aetci drop" of the Opposition.. Time lias shown that this was,not A Ve.r-y 'apt definition j there 'is more gall than acidity, in his speeches.., Shfir-n of its a-ljusc and personalities, the specie!) was aw empty thing. Why the,"Liberal party should choose, so obviously superficial a speaker to aefdrete a Wellington audience i§ difßeulfc to Uwdorstend, but tiie explanation may perhaps be found in the faei that the only card which the Opposition have to play at the present time is abuse.