WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 132, 21 February 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

MR. HOLLAND QUESTIONED

HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE

KING

AN EVASIVE ANSWER

At last night's meeting in the Kelburn Kiosk, the Labour-Socialist candidate, Mr. H. E. Holland, was asked by a member of his audience if it was true that he objected to tho singing of "God Save tho King;." Mr. Holland said that he did not object to people singing the National Anthem if they wanted, to. He would be strongly in favour of it being sung in some circumstances, since tho King needed to be saved from people who would ask such silly questions.

The elector who had put the question said . the answer was evasive. What was Mr. Holland's personal attitude?

"I have never sung in my life," said Mr. Holland. "I sing a note if I tried, • There is a great deal of hypocrisy about many of the references to the King. People who come along to me and shriek, 'You are a pro-German,' and then ask if 1 sing 'God Save the King,' seem to forget that the King is of German descent., I have nothing against the King because of that." Mr. Holland added that the coming when there would be no kings. Those who wore most vociferous now in shouting "God Save the King" were those -who put their hands deepest into the people's pockets in search of war profits. "Personally, I think the King is a fairly decent sort of person," he added. "But he does not c6me into this fight at all. I am perfectly satisfied that people should sing 'God Save the 'King,' because ho needs to be saved from the people who would ask such a question as that at a political meeting." Mr. Holland added that the attitude of the Labour Party .had been made perfectlv clear. He was enti'Jsd to ask why the man who put such » question was not-in the trenchcF helping to fight instead of talking about singing "God Save tho King." The questioner attempted a personal explanation, but was ruled out of order by the chairman, who said that the whole Subject was irrelevant to the question before the meeting.