WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 137, 27 February 1918, Page 8

WELLINGTON NORTH BY-ELECTION

'- " LUKE AND LOYALTY "

MONSTER MEETING IN TOWN HALL

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT LEADERS SPEAK

VIGOROUS. FIGHTING ADDRESSES

ISSUES OF THE CONTEST

..'Tho Prime' Minister (Right Hon. W. -F. Massey) and tho Minister of Finance (Sir Joseph Ward) addressed a meoting of electors in the Town Hall lasf night." The hall was filled soon after 7.30 o'clock, and the chairman .'(Mr.J. Hutcheson) took tho chair at 7.45 p:m. Mr. J. P. Luke, C.M.G., 'National Government candidate, the Hon. D. H. Guthrio and several members of Parliament were among those .m. the platform. The .speakers were subjected to a great' deal of interruption', by a Labour,,section of the audience.

lie meeting opened with the singing of "God Save the King."

Mr. Hutckeson said the meeting was not precisely that of a political candidate. .It was intended to give the lead- , ers of the .National Government an opportunity to state their opinion as to .the relation of the by-election to the National Government. .Personally be •supported Mr. Luke because Mr. Luke Btood for the National Government; he stood for the National Government be--cause- it stood for national and Imperial solidarity.- The' National Government stood for New' Zealand, and New. Zealand stood for tho Empire. ' "I stand for the implacable proposition of this war .because I am an anti-militarist," said Mr. Hutebeson. "I stand . for the crushing—(loud boohs and uproar)— for the crushing of German autocracy W(mterruption)—because I am a 'pacifist." There was prolonged interruption at this stage, and tho chairMian was counted .out uproariously. '•"These are the friends of Harry Holland, who appeals for fair play," said Mr. Hutcheson. "There was no howling lot of wolves.at Mr. Holland's meeting here last night." (Cheers for Mr. Holland and prolonged interruption.)

MR. MASSEY SPEAKS,

& WORD WITH THE NOISY ONES.

The Prime Minister was received with loud cheers which quite overwhelmed a hostile demonstration. Mr. Massev thanked the big audience for-the. hearty reception given to Sir Joseph' Ward, Mr. Luke, and himselt, jbut his.thanks were drownednin noise. ■•"Lot.me say a word," said Mr Mas"tey, "to those who want to disturb this meeting. There is no section of the peopie of Wellington : .who are afraid of what I am going to say to ■them' to-night, andl am not afraid to speak to them. It is a very bad indication when you people coino to a meetiug like this and make a cowardly endeavour to interrupt the meeting. I never saw a man who was worth his salt who would do anything of the sort." The meeting was held because an election .of. more than usual interest was going on. At this point Dr. Thicker iame-up {to the stage ..and presented a : .paper to the chairman. There was uproar at -this:3tage. , ■.■•■■ Mr. Masscy was at length allowed to f- o on. "Don't make any mistake,' e said. "I am going to say what I •want-to say if I have to stay here until to-morrow night. There is only u-flaiidful, a paltry, contemptible, cow- • sadly handful, which is trying to make a: noise." •" More noise followed; and the chairman requested a constable to take the name, of an offender. This seemed to taSe an inconsiderable time, and there was an .interruption. . Mr." Mtossey said ho proposed "to deal with the policy of the National Government, which was to enable New Zealand to carry on the war, and to keep the country prosperous. This had 'been done. There was no country thnt (had done better than New Zealand, and no country in the Empire that was more= prosperous. Instead of being -vilified as they had'been by a. lot of 'tQwardly. individuals, they should be - given credit for what they had done. • "One of the things the Government 'Jiad'had to do was to introduce the 'Military' Service Bill, and the main ■clauses of the Bill bad been agreed to ■%. a thumping majority. Canada had followed New Zealand's example, but •Jv T ew Zealand had followed the example *'f the most democratic country in the ■world, "the"United States, the examplo of Abraham Lincoln at the time of the ■iCivil iWar. ..-.-...

There was-some more noise,.and the ,'rhairman ordered a constable to tako •the name of.an interrupter. A-voice: He's a returned soldier. "; .Mr. Massey: If: any man conducts .;-liimself,-.like'.'a. blackguard here, the "chairman : is-: quite''justified in having .Tiis name...taken or /in having him put *ut. -. . Cetting the Money. •:.Tlie New: Zealand Government had liad to ask for money to carry on the 'groat war-effort, continued Mr. Massey, but the Government got it at once from "a loyal Parliament and a loyal ■people—money at the rate of two millions a month. He believed that after the war also the Government would be able to raise tho money in its own country.-" The Imperial Government had taken all our nroducc, paying for it approximately 30 millions a year, find'the Government spent about this sum in carrying on the war. New Zealand would spend more if it were necessary' in' order to u.o through with the | • war.'. - Some .tallied .of the shortRgo- '■•'. of-■". money . vjn this country, "but "there was; more money in:litis.country in proportion t" population than in'any part of the Empire. They had all hoped that the war would he; over in this year 1013, but he stood :is one of a luiee majority in this country to say that they were prennred to carry on until 1928 rather than submit ' to an Incomplete peace, because they knew that if there should h« an .incomplete peace Germany would nt the first opportunity lie •>('• the throat of Britain. AVhat would happen to New Zealand in such a case? They iiad rc;>d what the . German professor sny'.had said about Australia. Could thoy suppose, that N"w Zealand would lie any better treated ? A Sharp Sotort. The war had not been brought home •to New Zealand as to other countries, except by tho fact that 100,000 of the pick of our population had been called from their ordinary occupations.

A voice: By whom? Mr. Massey: "By the Empire. And if that uian who said 'By whom ?' had his way not a solitary soul would go. I know those people—the culd-footed ■brigade!" (Applause.) But, he went on, the Government would not «o hack on the men at the front. Some of the men had como hade. A voice: And you give them 255. a, week. , Mr. Massey: "Twenty-five shillings a week is moro thnn that man was over worth." Some there wore,- he said, who would not como back; they had

paid the supreme sacrifice, hitL in a fiood cause. A voice: Rot. Mr. Massey: Somebody said "'Hot" when I said "n good cause." That man is a traitor, u miserable, wretched traitor, who ought to he in Germany. (Applause.) . Jf the Government gave way to the demands that wero mado by Iho iv 1 etched pacifists, the revolutionary Socialists, 'who suggested pencu now, the Government would not le worthy of their country, not worthy of the raco to which, .they belonged, and no better than cravens. Put the. Government was not going to do it. No Taxes on the Poor. By way of carrying on the war the Government had had to increase taxation, but there had hardly been any complaint from those paying the taxes. There was hardly a country in the Empire where the man of small means was treated so lightly as in this country. The income tax exemption in this country was £300 si year. In England tho worker paid income tax on everything over £130 a year; his wages were lower, and tho cost of living four times as high as in New Zealand. The only tax the worker was called upon to pay was 3d. a pound on tea, which most people were quite willing to pay. The Government, • (o compensate for the high cost of living, had increased the wages of Civil Servants from 5 to 10 per cent., and lie was glad to say that this example had been followed. In no other country in the world had the increase in the cost of living been so low as in New Zealand. Many, of the foodstuffs required for this country had to he imported, and the prices of them could not ho regulated here. A Troublesome M.P. Mr. Massev had a- word to say here to Dr. Thacker, who was in tho middle of a noisv colony in the body of the hall. "I' want to say this to br. Thacker, who has been interrupting and disturbing this meeting m a most unseemly manner," said Mr. Massey. "He ouoiit to remember that he is a gentleman bv Act of Parliament, and act accordingly. I hope I have tan. enough, because I am not going to put up with any of his nonsense here. (Applause.) (Dr. Thacker was never named again in the course of the meeting.) The Cost of Living. Mr. Massev, resuming, said that in England and in Canada the cost of production of goods other than goods required in this country had gone up enormously. Also there was the greatest difficulty in persuading the Governments of these countries to export the goods to New Zealand. All the Government could do was to prevent exploitation. It was not possible to get goods at pre-war rates. As to goods locally, produced, the policy of the Government was to allow traders to have goods at export values. Any reputable traders could get meat or butter from cold stores at export values.. Owing to reports of the export of bacon and frozen pork to America the Government had prohibited the export of bacon and pork, and a price had been fixed beyond which bacon could not be sold in New Zealand. In New Zealand sugar was cheaper than any other country in the world. As compared with the price charged in the country in which there was the next lowest price, New Zealand people were being saved £350,000 a year on sugar!

Lately the Government had had to buy wheat in Australia. There were stocks of wheat in Australia owned by tbe Imperial Government, and the Imperial Government agreed to sell some of this wheat to. New Zealand, subject to the consent.of the Australian Government. That consent, was refused, and New Zeabfnd had- to pay.-about 9d. a bushel more to the Australian Government for a million bushels in consequence. Tlie New Zealand wheatgrower over a. period ot vpars did not make money. He was in danger alwavs of dumping from Australia, and the policy of the Government in the future would have' to be to protect the wheatgrower with the same Customs duties as were in force in Australia, not for the purpose of raising the local price, but for the purpose of encouraging local production. After the V/ar. He had no fears about the ability, of this country to bear tho burdens of the war. Our resources were enormous, our population was industrious and enterprising, and ha believed that New Zealand would be to tho Southern Hemisphere what Britain had been in tlie North. Provision had been made for the employment of 15,000 men on their return to New Zealand after the war. If they were here now they could be employed to-morrow. It must not be imagined that demobilisation wouldi>take so long as some people expected, but the troops would not leave Europe until Germany had been beaten to her knees. Pensions. Our pensions scale was the most generous iu the Empire, which meant that it was tho best-In the world. The pensioner who was not totally incapacitated was encouraged to equip himself to earn money. If. a man was unablo to return to ids own trade provision was. made for this man to learn' another trade. The man still kept his pension, and the Government made tip the difference between the wage received and the minimum wage for the trade, not including the pension. Provision-was made for men to attend technical classes, and already' 100 returned soldiers were attending these classes. There had been some criticism lately on the Financial Assistance Board. It was possible that there was room for improvement, but as soon as this was proved the. improvement would he made. If there was a weak point in the Pensions Act there were no two men in Parliament mor." anxious to put it right than tho Finance' Minister and himself. (Applause.) He snoko also of the excellent work being done by the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department. Out of the 15,000 men who had come hack, only 1155 were out of employment, and the. bulk of these were men recently returned who were taking a holiday before going hack tn .work. Soldiers on Land. Other returned soldiers wished to go on tho land. A voice: And you're, not putting them there, (Noise.) The chairman ordered a constable to remove the lnanj'nnd he was removed, but the occurrence caused uproar. The chairman said: "I. must have order. That man has disturbed every iuwling I hiive been present at."

Air. Massey said it was not truo that the Government put no soldiers on the land. The Government had put over 600 soldiers on land, 112 of them without a shilling of capital, and 178 with less than £100 each. At this stage Jlr. Massey was mncb interrupted hy noise., "counting-out,"' and so on. The man who had neon put out was a returned soldier, so it wu> said, who had already been warned, and the noisy element in the crowd made this the occasion for creating n disturbance. Mr. Massey said that he believed most of the soldier settlers were dnint; well for themselves, and would do well. After the war there, would be an industrial war, and there were in the country numbers of men prepared to makn money by any means, men who were prepared to allow the Germans to como in here as before the war. Those men would have to learn that the interest'" of the State must come before those of their bank-hooks, and tho Oerniniih would not be allowed to. como in. The

war had brought the Empire together as it never had been previously. Tho traditions and memories of the war, the bond of blood between the Empirenations, had brought the different parts closer together than anything else could possibly have done. Straight Talk. Tho issue had been confused in tho election. In 1915, alter last, election, when the Reform I'avty was returned with such a small majority that it could not carry on the war ell'ort, the two party leaders, Sir Joseph Ward and he, had agreed to unite to carry on. Since then there had been some by-o)eotions.

A voice: Tho Maoris wouldn't havo your man.

Mr. .Massey: The Maoris are good loyal men. It doesn't matter who was returned, but it does matter when you put up a man who is a traitor to his country. (Applause.) This time. the Government has boon challenged. 1 know what the result will be, and you know it. A man has been put up who calls himself a Labour representative. . . . L say that the men who are coming forward protending to represent .Labour in this country are not true. representatives of Labour. The workers as a class aro loyal and brave, and they have proved their loyalty on many hardtought fields. They would have none of these other men who are coming along—these pacifists, these revolutionary Socialists. . . . You have

a mnn put up in Wellington North who has never lifted a linger since the war began for any patriotic purpose. He has never taken part in any patriotic, movement. You see what has happened in Russia. Follow this man and others like him, and in a very short time this country and tho British Empire will be in the position that Russia is iu to-day. (Applause.) You would have the Empire smashed and Germany triumphant if you follow the lead of such a man. I know there is a chance —it may be only a 50 to 1 chance, or a '20 to 1 chance—of his being elected, but let me say this, that . this man should happen to be elected it will be because of the vote-splitting that has been going on. Those, who are associated with him will havs . u. take the responsibility, but unfortunately the country will have to take the consequences. The Loyal Man. "Tho right to take part in the government ot the country even as an elector is a valuable privilege. Wo have put up a man whose loyalty has been proved, whose' loyalty has boon tested as by fire. I am referring to the Mayori of this city—(applause)—and there is no man in New Zealand who has done more partiotic work than Mr. Luke. There is no woman in New Zealand who has done half the patriotic work than his helpmate, Mrs. Luke, has done. (Applause.). lie is our candidate, the candidate of the National Government, and he is a man who will help the National Government to do the task it has taken upon itself. On the other. hand you have a candidate who, if ho had his way, and if his tactics were adopted, would smash and humiliate the-Empire, and put hack the clock of civilisation for a thousand years. On Thursday you will bo called upon to record your votes. Voto for the loyal man. Vote for Luke and loyalty and turn the others down." (Applause.) SIR JOSEPH WARD. A PLEA FOR UNITY. Sir Joseph Ward, who was'received with applause, said one of the most valuable assets the community, couldaim to preserve was freedom of speech. It was tho greatest bulwark tho poor .man.had, and., if citizens made ; up their niin'ds not to listen to those opposed to them, they were doing themselves serious injury. He had come to declare his own position, and what be thought the loyal Liberals of Wellington North should do. He did not believo that the Liberals of Wellington North wanted to be | a party, to breaking the agreement on which the National Government was based. Ho himself would not bo a party to any breach of the agreement, and tho Liberals., in Parliament and out of it. could break the agreement only by being disloyal to their leader and to their party. Ho had been told that ho had been accused of bringing out an Independent Liberal candidate in order to split votes. A suggestion of that kind was an absolute fabrication. Ho was not directly or indirectly responsible for the appearance of an Independent Liberal candidate, and he asked the members of tho Liberal Party to remoinber its lino traditions, vj stand to the contract made, and to support Mr. Luke at the present election. (Applause.) There would be plenty of time after the war to havo the party fights in the ordinary way. In the meantime there were national interests to be preserved. At the end of the present financial year New Zealand would have spent £36,000,000 on the war, and people who lealised the stupendous- nature of that liability knew ] that the situation demanded the active and disinterested co-operation of every section of the community. The people of Now Zealand could not 'afford.' to. fight over matters of party at the present'time.' They did not know when tho end of • the war was coming, and neither did the Government.- There must be no disunion and no waste of enpriij.- ! There was in Wellington, the heart of the Dominion,, a great concentration of Civil Servants.' The National Government during the last two years had paid to the public servants every penny of increase due to them. The incre- ; ments had.amounted to £500,000 in the i-period, and nearly £1,000,000 had been ' paid in the form of war bonus. Tho i payments wero increasing steadily, yet ! an* 'attempt had been made to turn i tlie public servants against a GovernI mont that bad watched their interests ! well. ! The V/ar Conference. fief erring to the forthcoming. mootLing -of the War Council, Sir Joseph ' Ward said that ho. and Mr. Massey wero not particular -whether they went tn London this year or not. But in tlie interests of New Zealand the people of this country ought to bo represented there. No section of the community was more directly concerned in the' questions to be discuss-jd by the War Council than the workers. (Interruption.) Such issues as coloured and indentured labour and the future of Imperial trade had to be discussed at the War Council, said Sir Jos-eph. Reasonable people could not contend that at such" a time New Zealand should not be represented at_the Empire's council chamber. Was New Zealand to be unrepresented when the fate of Samoa was being settled? If the House of Representatives decided to send someone else, he end Mr. Massey would not complajn; hut somebody must go, There had been questions about a general election. He would say straight out that he was against a general election while the nation was at war. (Interruption.) Ho objected because A voice: "You would go out." Sir Joseph Ward: "1 don't care twopence if 1 go out or not. 1 have been returned all my life for one electorate, and you have never been able to got into a rat-hole." (Laughter.) About Misrepresentation. .Many misrepresentation's were being made He had seen a circular stating that ho and Mr. Massey had been frightful gonnandisers while in England The document contained a menu of the Pit/. Hotel. Well,- he and Mr,

Massey had never dined there. They had stayed at the place where-the menu contained a notice limiting each diner to Hot. of meat, half a slife of bread, and one lump of sugar. (Laughtor and uproar.) Misrepresentation of that kind did not do much harm. Put charges of a more serious kind had been made in connection with the Union Company, it was said the Government had paid enormous sums for tho charter of vessels that should havo been purchased. Tlie fact was that of the vessels chartered from tlie Union Company there was not 0110 lhat could be used effectively after the war for deep-sea traffic. The company had paid the wages of crews on all vessels except the two hospital ships, and it bad paid £600,000 to the Treasury in taxation in the war period. Voices: "Out of the war profits.'.' Sir Joseph Ward: "If some companies had not been iu a position to pay heavy taxation we would probably !i;;ve had to put the taxation on Customs." The Government might have purchased-steamers if it had known that tho war was going on for three years and a hall. Bui old steamers would have been no use. from the point of view of post-war trade. Only vessels of 10,000 and 12,000 tons would meet tho needs of the Dominion tin:i>. 'the cost of purchasing the Union Company's Sleet at the. present war prices .vou'ld be over £16,000,000.' The Government and the Soitiiers. . He had felt ashamed of the use that some people had attempted to make of the soldiers for political purposes. Every party and every responsible Minister wanted to do the. best for the soldiers, and the National Government had a good record of actual achievements, lc had made every effort to provide generously for the soldieis, both here and at the front, and there was nothing more discreditable than that attempts to make political capital out of the soldiers by words intended to increase tho strain on anxious* hearts, and raise doubts in the muids of the people whose, men were fighting bravely. Decent people could not suggest ending the war before a proper and safe peace had been secured. The whole country must know from its reading of the newspapers that the btress of war had reached.its most. severe point at the present time. The German Menace, The Germans were taking full advantage of the upheaval in Russia, and were bidding boldly for world dominion. They said openly they could hold out longer than England. The people who talked lightly of breaking tho National Government ourdit to realise, they were creating just the feeling of unrest that the enemy hoped to see in the British countries. The National Government had been formed for war purposes by two. contending political parties. It had kept clear of conlon-. tious party matters during the war. A voice: What about conscription? Sir Joseph Ward: "I was opposed to conscription before Hie war. So was Mr. Lloyd George. So was Mr. Asquith. , S<) was Mr. Ben Tillett. I want to get rid of conscription, and the only way to do it is for the British Empire and its Allies to knock Germany out. (Loud applause.) Then we could compel Germany to stop conscription, But if we do not heat Germany, do you imagine wo can abandon conscription while Germany is arming and preparing for another struggle a few years hence." .In conclusion, Sir Joseph Ward said he would make a last appeal to Mr. Brandon and Mr. Poison" to realise' that there should be a straight-out issue between the National Government and those wlio were trying io wreck" it. He did not agree .with.Mr..Luke politically, hut he ask-!,ed;,,tiit;/Liberals,,-to'stand behind the [National Government' candidate as : a matter-of war. policy. ' MR. LUKE SPEAKS. Mr.- J. P. Luke, in the course of a brief speech, said that-two days after the outbreak of war the people of Wellington had pledged themselves to perform their part uusnrinkiugly in the winning of the- day. To support the National Government at the present juncture was to stand by that pledge. (Interruption.). Every man and every woman should play the game. He did not think the people responsible for silly and cowardly interruptions that night were playing the game. Mr. Luke was proceeding to refer to the soldiers when intorruptiou was caused by Dr. Thacker risitig in the body of the hall. Mr. Luke' said that he had welcomed many returned soldiers in that hall, but they had a politician there that night who was not worthy of the welcome of the city. Ho would have been sorry to see a Wellington man descend to the tactics that had been used by Dr. Thacker that night.- (Prolonged applause.) In conclusion, Mr. Luko asked the electors to help the Government to carry on to victory. The chairman moved a hearty vote of thanks to the Prime Minister and Sir Joseph Ward, and declared this carried by acclamation amid loud ap- ! plause, ■ 'J iio proceedings closed with the National Ahtliem.

OTHER MEETINGS

MR. BRANDON'S CAMPAICN,

Air, .J. iiaruit-Shaw occupied the chair at Mi'. A. (le U. Brandon's meeting, -iißlit m;t!ie ALeuiouist bciioolrooiu, Aluiesworth Street, iast evening. Alv. iiriuidon reiterated the reason ui his. standing lor Wellington iNonii as bning a protest against the introduction into »\e« Zealand ol slie political machine. They had the niacliino in action here, witii llie political iieads bringing the electors the candidate— uiie from outside lbs district. "Bo loyal to the party" was their cry. }±o was loyal to tiie party; not only that, be was loyal to the principles of tho party, and Air. Massey, he maintained, had departed from those principles. His first object was to win the war. If the war ended iit an inconclusive peace, h would mean in time that the Empire would be under the domination of the Germans. It was the fable of the bundle of sticks all over again. Together they were strong, apart and when disunited by parly strife and faction they would be oaten up piecemeal, and the British Empire would crumble into dust. Ho subordinated all opinions and principles to tho ono thing—to win the war. Keviewing his attitudo in respect to the frce-placo pupils Mr. Brandon said if he were a member of the Board of Governors ho did not think that -at such a time, in order to tickle the electors, he would call an emergency meeting to secure extra accommodation with the school chock-a-block, and at a time when owners of houses in the vicinity of the college were asking three or four times tho rent obtained before the war. There, was no justification in spending £813,000 or £100,000 on secondary education in the Dominion at tho present time. That money was wanted for tho winning of the war. (Applause) Tt was now for the electors to determine whether the constituency of Wellington North was to lake an intelligent part, in the Oovernmenl or be the puppet of a political machine. It was for them to say whether they would support tho nominee of a party—a stranger within their gates—or choose for themselves. Ho hoped Ibey would exercise the lati tor prerogative. lie hoped that during the campaign he had been of assist-; ance to the electors in elucidating the present, position of affairs and in emphasirins the necessity of maintaining

a National Government for the work for which it- was formed—to win the war.

The meeting closed with a voto of thanks to the chairman. MR. HOLLAND'S MEETING. Mr. H. Holland, the Labour-Social-ist candidate, spoke in the Masonic U'aJ-l, lSoulcolt Street, last evening. Mr. P. J. O'Regan presided and wished tho candidate every success. Mr. Holland, he said, was the best man lor the position, and iu kuowlcdgo of affairs oi the day he quite outdistanced the other candidates.

Mr. Holland did not make a long address. He referred to an attack on himself in which it was said that soldiers had died to enable him to carry ou his campaign. The, answer to that- : was that if was the Labour section here that was standing for decent conditions for the soldiers. Hundreds of our soldiers had been shot down on Gallipoli because of a gamble undertaken in pursuance of a bargain with Tsardom, and meanwhile the. National Government had been playing into the. hands of the profiteers at home. Whoever a returned soldier voted for, he would need medical attention mentally if ho voted for the National Government candidate. However, the tumult and the shouting would soon be over. With the rising of the sun over the eastern hills on Thursday morning the time for action would have arrived, and everyone present should make himself or herself a recruiting sergeant in tho army of Labour. The fight was not between Mr. Luke and himself, or Mr. Brandon and himself, but between Labour, which stood fur all that was historically best in British freedom, and the.forces that stood for all that was historically worst in Prussianism. One of the organs opposed to him had lipid Mr. Hyndman,' the English Labourite, up to him as an example to be followed, and Mr. Hyndman stood for the deposition of King George and the repudiation of the public, debt. Mr. Holland asked the audience to see that their votes were cast for Labour, for freedom,.and not for despotism. There were no questions, and ' Mr. Holland was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and. confidence. MR, POLSON'S MEETING. Mr. Poison's meeting, at which Mr. O. Y. Gnulter presided, was sparsely attended, hut there was a g-md sprinkling of ladies present. Mr. Poison's speech was ou the lines of those previously made, its forte being an appeal to tli3 soldiers, who is promised all sorts of good things if Mr. Poison is elected He also referred at some length to the Publi.; Service. . Tlie candidate was given a vote of thanks for his address.

"I WONDER!"

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—-As I listeued to Mr. Holland last night 1 remembered that one of my sons left with the Fourth Australians. In over three years he ha's had two leaves of ten days each—three weeks in over three years. This because the "objectors" in Australia have failed to send reinforcements. And I feel that I would rather hear that ho had been blown into oblivion than hear his name bandied about political platforms than of one who had resisted by every means in his power the suggestion that he should fight in defence of his mother, his sisters, and the country of his birth. That Mr. Holland should glory in being the champion of Mr. Garth Ballantyne and others of his kidney struck me as quite incredible.'

My other'son "lay '''for' 27 'hours in a' shell-hole, paralysed.: One .of?those who carried him' out was a mail who always shore in my shed. And I wondered whether that shearer on bis return would be likely or well advised to apply to Mr. Holland or Dr. Thacker for assistance, as long as I arid my boy have a crust. I wonder. Let Mr. Holland look after the Garth Ballantynes, and welcome. He-and Dr. Thacker will not bo asked to help that shearer. —I am, SHEEPFARMER. RETURNED SOLDIERS AND MR. POLSON. (To the' Editor.) Sir,—We the undersigned returned soldiers, who are members of the Returned Soldiers' Association, wish to point out that the letter published in your columns over the signature of Mr. Douglas Seymour, by no means represents the political views of the greater majority of the returned soldiers, and was written at the behest of a small minority, who alone were consulted in its composition. We ourselves are quite satisfied to he represented in Parliament by Mr. Poison, and fully intend to support him at this election. .

(Signed). J. M. Shorer, John Langloy, H'. Daw'son, J. M'G'rackon, G. H. Hogg, A. F. Johnson; M. L. Meakin, Ij. Crawford-Watson, D.C.M., J. H. Mitehin'soii, T. Ellenby, T. L. Median, fi; J. Groy,-J. Le Tracy, Chas. E. Raymond,T. Bradley, P. J.Seconi, A. G Clapham, ■E: -It. Dawe, 0. Smith, W-.'Watt,' J.- Muggeridge, S. O'Brien, B "Mackenzie, E.'S. Stephens, E..-H. S Rountree, Thos. 11, Callmgham, W. U Greenslade, J. Coyle, Percy Moet, C, 11 Mu'ndv, A.'E: Auckram, A. L. Browne, F.''R, Murphy, Geo. Pudnoy, 'A, E. England. ' ' ' [As the above document reached us tho whole of the signatures were in the sain'e handwriting.]

(To the Editor.) Sir—Mr. Pulson has stated lhat he was .'"informed by members of the committee of the Returned Soldiers. Association that • practically the whole of the members were individually supporting, his candidature." , This committee emphatically domes that any member of tho committee.oi this association made any such statement. Ml members were present or accounted for at a. special committee meeting held to-day io consider this matter and this committee represejuintr the association, which has 1/00 members, deprecates the attempts being made to exploit the. undoubted good, will'of the public-towards the men who have fought. It has been stated on' many occasions that the B.S.A. is a non-poli-tical body, and has its own methods for protecting returned .soldiers' interests. -The association is quite capable of. looking after its'own members, and anarniiteo's redress foi any returned soldier, who.-has suffered injustice. With, this final declaration, tho association feels sure that the matter can now bo left in tho hands of the public—l am, etc.. 1 JAS. 1). HARPER, Chairman. Wellington Returned Soldiers" Assn. February '20, 1013.

Mr. A. de ( B. Brandon will address the electors 'at Kelbiiru Kiosk at 8 o'clock to-night. Mr. 11. lU. Holland advertises n list of his linal meetings for to-day and tonight. In a page colour advertisement appearing in this issue a final appeal is made on behalf of tho National Government candidate, Mr. Luke. A political .skit .on last night's meeting at the Town Hall, "published by arrangement,-" -advises electors to voto for Mr. Brandon. Mr. Bnmupn's claims are also advocated ill an advertisement on'page ?.. ;i .