WELLINGTON CENTRAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 309, 24 September 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON CENTRAL

MR. MACK ENTERS THE LISTS A FIGHT AGAINST ODDS ROWDY MEETING IN ARO STREET Mr. M. J. Mack opened his campaign for the Wellington Central election'last night. Pie had taken thoAro Street Mission Hall with tho intention of making a speech there, and ho was permitted to say some few words, but various men in tho audience did rather more talking than Mr. Mack. It was ono of the most disorderly meetings that have ever been held in 'Wellington Central, and those who have taken part in other contests in luis electorate know that there have l:een other meetings there which have been more than a little noisy. The little hall was packed to the doors. A party of the supporters of Mr. Frasor. established themselves in tho gallery, and there were others'of their friends at other points. Mr. J. H. Watt had an unenviable task as chairman. i Mr. Watt asked the audience to show loyalty by singing the National Anthem. About two-thirds of the people stood and some of them sang, but tho remainder-kept their seats, among them the party in the gallery. One member of this party interrupted the singing of "God Save the King" with some words of another verse, "God Save the People." sung in a tuneless and very loud voice. Others mocked the singing of the Anthem in other ways. When Mr. Mnck rose to speak the same people who had interrupted the singing of the National Anthem shouted "Three cheers for United Labour," and forthwith gave three defiant cheers.

Every Man's Right. Mr. Mack retaliated by quoting from a piece of the writings of a man who, he said, was the idol of die Labour movement, Mr. Robert Semple. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Semple, said Mr. Mack, had once written a book, and in that .book he had .made use of the statement that it was the. inherent right of every freeborn British subject to express his opinions and views, and the opinions and views of the people ho represented, on aH burning, important public questions. Mr. Mack said that, in accordance with tliis excellent precept, lie claimed the right to express his views, whether they were agreeable to his hearers or not, on those public questions with which ho wished to deal. (Much noiso.) "First of all." he said, "I want to say something about consistency. (Laughter and jeers.) The platform of the Labour Party stands for full civil and political rights for everybody, and it stands further than that for equal opportunity for all. It stands also for. proportional representation, which means that every minority, however small, has the right to be heard." ' , There was such a babel of noise at this time that the chairman .intervened. 'He said: "I take it that you are all Britishers. Well, then, give us British fair nlay." A voice: You look like a Hun, anyhow. v ' The chairman: T have seen a good many better-looking Huns than you. Presently the noise abated and Mr. Mack, who was not at all perturbed by alt this clamour, went on with his speech at the point.where he had left it. He said that he would insist en his full political rights, and he would allow to no man the right to deny him his right to stand as a candidate for Parliament.

Mr. Mack and "Organised Labour." Someone shouted: "What do you stand for?" and the answor came back in a chorus, "Massey." After this little gust had blown by, Mr. Mack was permitted to say that there was nothing in his platform which against the interests of organised Labour. And he would challenge any man to find in his record any evidence of anything that he had done which was against the interests of organisedLabour. Shouts: "Nineteen-tbirteen." (It transpired afterwards that this had refereneo to a certain conference of the Labour bodies of the Dominion, which ended in the capture of the movement by Mr. Semple and jiis friends and the formation of the United Federation of Labour. From that conference the A.S.R.S. delegates withdrew.) , A member of the audience rose to his feet and shouted repeatedly; ' Mr. Chairman," but the chairman wonld not call upon him. Then the man went on without permission: "I am going to take up that challenge right now. I am going to challenge you on your action in 1913." ~,,,. , , , The scene was highly disorderly by this time. Tho chairman tried to get back a semblance of order, and tried to induce the interrupter to sit down, telling him that this was not the time or place for him to make speeches. But the man persisted, declaring that he was going to show the audience that Mr. Mack had been "a Labour traitor from the beginning. ' Mr. Mack: I am prepared to say this. You do not approve of something that I did in 1913—1 don't know what it was. All that happened at that time was that the executive of the body of which I am the paid servant decided to withdraw from the Unity Congress. And we sent along a cheque for live pounds towards the expenses of the congress. Disorder. The interrupter tried to read from a pamphlet a passage which, he said, would contradict the statement'of Mr. Mack.' Some of the friends of Mr. Mack made a noise with their feet, to show that they did not wish to hear more from this interrupter. One elderly man sitting nearby flicked the book out of the interrupter's hand, whereupon the latter retaliated by hitting him on tho side of tho head with his clenched fist. A. younger man of burly build camo along to quell the interrupter, who justified his action by saying that the man had hit him. It appeared at this time that there was going to.be a nasty disturbance, but Mr. Mack quieted tho. proccedingsagain by saying that he had not the faintost objection to hearing what the interrupter wisiied to say. There was a policeman in tho crush at tlie back of the hall all this while, but he made no move to take any action. The challenger then read his two charges. They were statements with but little bearing on the point raised, and they did not support serious charges.' In any case they were completely repudiated by Mr. Mack.

His Right to be a Candidate, In the face of continued intemiption Jlr. Mack declared that lie would not be bludgeoned by any men inside or outside of the IJ nil way Service into withdrawing from tlio _coiitnst. tie made his point with which ho had begun—that in spite of what a section of Labour said on the matter be would insist on the exercise of his full oiv ; l and political rights, and one of his rights as n rf'r/.c" v:.".s te rland as a candidate for I'miiiiment. Then he was able to say a word sibnut "ronsistcney." It was now being said that ho had no right to stand as a Labour candidate, but it was a fact that at the last election in Wellington Central the Labour candidate was withdrawn in favour of the Liberal candidate. And now it was being said that there was no

alliance bcWeen Labour and the Lib[ernlsl How was that for consistency? "Mow did I come into this contest?" said Mr. Mack, in reply to a questioner. "I was requested by two bodies to como out as a candidate." Voices: Who were they? Mr. Mack: I absolutely decline to name them. Tho next tiling was that a number of Labour mon, representing a section of the Labour niovomcnt, came to me and! asked mo to stand. A voico: Who asked you? Mr. Mnck: I am not going to tell you who they were. I am not going to toll you—any more than you tell the public hew many voted for Mr. Fraser. And your own constitution was violated in that yon did not confine your election to the electorate. A voice: That is a deliberate false statement. On "indepedence." Mr. Mack referred to a statement made at one of the meetings of the official Labour candidate—that _ there was no room for independents in the Labour movement, that independence meant absence of control. It appeared that this meant that every Labour candidate must be subservient to the party executive, must bo bound and gagged, without freedom to vote or to express a single opinion. Someone asked whether it was a fact that Mr. Mack had stood-for Parnell under the auspices of the 'Labour Party. Mr. Mack said that he did not. Mr. C'anham: That's a lie. I was present'at the meeting when you approached the Auckland branch of the Labour Party. Mr. Mack: "I never approached tho Auckland branch of the Labour Party in my life." He said, moreover, that the Labour Party had not contributed a. farthing to the cost of that election battle, and only once had the chair been taken at one of his meetings by a member of tho Labour Party. Various accusers shouted that Mr. Mack was a representative of the Protestant Political Association and the Orange lodges. Mr. Mack said that lie was not a member of the Protestant Political Association, nor a member of any Orange lodge. In reply to 6ti)l another accuser he said that he was not a member of the Prohibition Party. It was about this stage that Mr. Mack said that it seemed to be the wish of the meeting that he should answer questions' first, instead' of at the end, as was the usual practice. So he' asked for questions instead of attempting to go on with his own speech. In reply to a number of such questions as "What are yoii getting out of it?" Mr. Mack endeavoured to show that he stood to make nothing, but 'rather to lose a good deal if he were elected to Parliament. Someone' asked him whether he did not get a guinea a day while he was acting as a member of a military service board. Mr. Mack said that lie did get a guinea a dav. "And." he went on, "would you like to know wh«,t I did with it? I paid it into my organisation funds.' That is principle," my dear follow."

Th 3 Challenge. After a lot more noise Mr. Mack declared: "I am throwing a challenge now in this contest to organised Labour to see whether the workers are standing for.the extremist section A voice: Why don't you say Red Feds? Mr. Mack: No, I am not going to sny Red Feds, because' there are among the Red Feds many able, decent and honest fellows. But there are some who say these things—"Russia is tho brightest star in the European firmament to-day. And if'the revolution in Russia goes down in a sea of bloocL whose fault will it be ? The rest of tlib quotation was drowned in the general hubbub, but tho effect of it was that tho Allies would be to blame. I don't stand for that, my dear fellow." This was a quotation from the "Worker," and the topic became printing and newspapers. A man said that the A.S.R.S. did not give the printing of the "Railway Review" to the "Worker" but to the "Tory Wright," This gave Mr. Mack an opportunity to tell a little story. ' He said that at one period tho A.S.R.S. had given the printing of the "Review' to the "Worker," and had paid to the "Worker" a thousand pounds for it, and tho "Worker' had sublet it to The Dominion 1 The Tramwaymen. Are you in favour of the tramwaymen getting Is. Ad: an hour? was another question. Mr. Alack: Will you give me a fair hearing while 1 answer that question? Let everybody be quiet. for a minute while J tell you the history of the ti'amwaymen. When the tramwaymen first brought their dispute before the board—of which I am a member —I went before the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Labour, and I told the Ministers that these men ■ were being scandalously underpaid.. I fought for these men. and put up arguments for tTicni which they could not put up for themselves, because they had hot the information. I am prepared to stand up for tho tramwaymen now. Tho present position is due to tho apatliy and inaction of the Government by reason of the fact that two months ago I told them this trouble was coming, and urged them to set up a Royal Commission to inquire into tho working conditions of tramwaymen. What is moro, I have seen a letter today from the secretary of the. Tramway Federation in which there is a request that I should be onesof the assessors in the dispute. ■ Drink Traffic Another question: Why are you not in favour of State control of the ; liquor, traffic? . Mr. Mack: "Because it does not matter whether it is the State or Tim Dohcrty that sells liquor, it makes a man drunk. The liquor traffic, is no good to the working man." Going on speak on, the proposal to pay compensation to the liquor trade, he said that his personal opinion was that the trade should not have a farthing, but it would be better business to pay the trade four and a half millions than to allow it to remain in existence. At intervals in the general noise Mr. Mack tried to say a few words .about education. He declared for better schools, and better pay for teaches. Ho spoke also about the land question, pointing to the enormous increases that had taken place in the values of land, and suggesting that the land should be more heavily taxed. One of the most persistent of the interrupters said: "That's only playing with the. question. Why not take the land, like the Bolsheviks did ?" A questioner hnrked back to the matter of the 1913 Unity Conference. He asked whether it was not a fact that the railway delegates had left the congress because rf tho strike clause. Mr. Mack replied that the railway delegates had lpft because the proamble which was being put. into the constitution was the preamble, of the }.'<\M\ The strike question had never been reached' at that time. Demand for Withdrawal, A man asked whether Mr. Mack would withdraw from the contest in view of the demand made by the railwfiymeu that ho should do so. Mr; Mack said that not one per cent, of llio railwaymen had asked him to withdraw yet. Another questioner came with this one: If before election day CO per cent, of tho railwaymen ask you to withdraw, will you do it? Mr. Mack: If between this and election day 993 per cent, of the railwaymen tell me to withdraw, I am not going to do it. (Applause and hoots.)

I am not going to be bludgeoned by anybody. There was a dreadful noise going on continuously at this time, and it was out of the 'qu estion for the speaker to go on. The chairman declared that the section of the. meeting that had caused all the trouble was made up of "a lot of cowards"—"a lot of arrant cowards." One of the principal interrupters asked the chairman to accept a resolution of thanks and no confidence, but this the chairman refused to do. He would not accept any motion about the candidate until he had had a hearing. Ho said that Mr. Maok declined to go any further, and that the meeting was closed. . The people left the hall quietly. Mr. Mack had put up a good fight against unequal odds, and ho seemed at the end no whit the worse for the encounter. At no time m the proceedings had he seemed to be perturbed or at a. loss. He was not allowed to make a Bpeoch.

SIX CANDIDATES NOMINATED Six candidates have been nominated for Wellington Central, the only one of the prospective candidates who m the end did not go on with the project being Mr. Fitzgerald.. The candidates nominated and their nominators are' as follow :— Harry Atmore. • Nominators: John M'Donald Robertson, Ghussnee Street, dyer; Forenco Hazel Winifred Sanders, Gliuznee Street, spinster. Peter Fraser. Nominators: Solomon Gordon, Hopper Street, picture framer; Henry Wesley Richards, Taranaki Street, carrier; Ernest Edward Canham,. Abel Smith Street, waterside worker. Lindsay John Fredrick Gnrmson Nominators: Beatrice Byrne, College Street, married woman; Dons Taylor, College Street, married woman; John Francis Barry, Knigge Avenue, clerk; Helena Mary Barry, Knigge Avenue, spinster. William Thomas Hildreth. _ Nominators: A. L. Wilson, 12 Watson Street, auctioneer; John weed, 172 Cuba Street, tea importer; Andrew Williams, • jun., Vivian Street, clerk; Kathleen . Clements. Lorne Street, widow; William Wolland, Tory Street, 'butcher; Levi Pearce, Vivian Street, carrier; Annie Pouting,.Vivian Street, married woman. William Joseph Mack. . Nominators: George Cameron Stewart, Taranaki Street, storeman; Louis Allen, Broadway Terrace, grocer; David Duncan, Sidev Street, seaman: James William Macilquham, Boston Terrace, miner; James William Cocksedge, Lynn Road, master tailor; John Henry Coulter, Epuni Street, stoker; Gwendoline Mary Enrnshaw, Watson Street, housewife; Daisy Isabel Pethenck, Vivian Street, domestic duties. Cyril William Tanner. Nominators: Herbert Ernest AirtJi, Aro Street bootmaker; Stanley b. Boock, Aro Street, news agent; Augusta Amelia Hunt, Boston Terrace, widow.

Mr. M. J. Mack, the Independent Labour candidate, will speak to-night at St. Peter's Schoolroom. Mr. W. T. Hildreth, the National Government nominee will address the electors at St. Peter's Schoolroom on Friday evening. Mr. P. Fraser, tho Labour candidate for Wellington Central, advertises a list of meetings to be held this week. Mr. Fraser will speak at the corner of Aro Street and Mortimer Terrace tonight. Mr. Atmore will deliver his opening address at 8 o'clock to-night in the Willis Street Public School. By '& typographical error in the candidates advertisement in Saturday's issue of Tub Dominion the main headings of his address (as announced) were somewhat distorted. ' He will speak this evening on. "The necessity for a general election, the cost of living, the land question—taxation and reaggrogation, reservists and their dependants, repatriation of soldiers, State control, eduoation," etc.