WAIAPU EIECTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1618, 4 December 1905, Page 3

WAIAPU EIECTION.

MR CLAYTON AT PATUrAHL an excellent RECEPTION,

HALL DECORATED WITH

flowers.

Palatabi has been regarded as the oook pll of Waiapu during this eleo'.ornl cam paigD, and whether that designation i deserved or olhetwiae, we must soy it ha; at any rate established records whioh wi! he bard lo beat for many yoars to como ( a ididates for Parliamentary honors, whatever be their politics, oan always tAjpend on roooiving at Patutahi that ■'‘eShrtesy and attention which a. community imbuod with a British spirit of fair play, and which takas a keon iotorest . fn politios, will always aaoord a candidate. Mr Clayton’s meeting at Patutibt on Saturday was undoubtedly tho largo3t - u meeting of any description over hold there. Quito four hundred poople woro present. Tbo young people of Patutahi of both sexes are to bo oomptimentod on tbo artisi'o deooration of tho ball by the aid of flags, ferns, palms, and flowers, transform ing it into an exquisitely pleasing picture, whioh will long linger in the memories of those present. Mr Clayton’s entry was the signal for loud and prolonged oheers,

and his address wa3 |listened ta with the deepest attention and frequently punctuated by applause. , Mr W. K. Chambers presided, and briefly introduced the can lidato. Mr Clayton, on coming forward, was acoorded a most enthusiastic reoeptioo. He made aa able speeeb, in the oourse of wbieh he severely oritioised the Govern* men! policy. In oponiog, he doalt at some length with his opponent on the Op* position side (Mr Wall), pointing out that he (Mr- Oiaytoo) was not only therecognised local candidate, but had also the support of Mr Ma3sey. He was pleased to see so many ladies presoot that evening. He had not Mr Carroll’s oourago to address an assemblage of ladies atone, being rather of a bashful disposition; Still, in time, he thought he might bceorna hardened enough to follow tho example set by Mr Carroll. (Laughter.) Continuing, Mr Clayton disputed Mr Carroll's figures in regard to the area of Native lands lying in an unproductive state. The Native Ministor had contradicted him in the matter, but had not succeeded in convincing the electors. (Applause.) Mr Carroll appeared lo be quibbling on the question of boundaries, and talked about the unoccupied lands north of tho Waiapu, and down to the Gisborne river, a river which really 4 did nos exiaft* and which was only mentioned to give a loophole to explain matters away afterwards. Instead of there being 200,000 acres of native land unoccupied in tbo Poverty 'Bay district, there were, by the latest official figures, 978,632 aores, 41,429 of whiofeTwere at present before the Counoil. The monorable gentleman’s statements in ■ this matter were absolutely wild and in* accurate, although there was no doubt. -afe he would try ant explain it away. In regard to She Ea-it Coast Trust Board ,-lr Carroll had not attimpted to disprove -is statements. Deal ng with the Rotokare Doma'n, Mr Carcoll had tried to draw a red herring aoross the soent by arguiDg on the question of compensation. This was really not the question he was contending, but nevertheless he would deal with that. Under the Aot the Minister was allowed to settle the amount of compensation on the basis that it must not exoeed double the aotual oosts of improvements. In one ouse the Minister had settled the compensation at £2B, £lB 8s of whioh had just bren paid by the tenant as rent. In another ease the petition set before the com* , mittae that he had let a contract of 184 , acres of bushfolling, and tbo contractors i werb suing him, but no compensation was ] allowed , him for that. No compensation , was allowed to the settlers for having , broken up their homes and for at | least a season’s loss of time. When they i had, to go to Hawera and Wellington to gibe evidence they were not allowed their j expenses, whioh oertainly ought to have , . been indaded In. the compensation. The i 1 real basis of bis (Mr Clayton’s) arguments , was not,.however, the question of compqn- t nation, but the fact that every British ] subjeot, however poor and no matter how 1 humble his oiroumslanees, should have ( the right to appeal to a court of justice if s tl'ha thought that he had been wronged and ] had a grievance to redress. (Applause.) | . Under this infamous Act this right was , denied to those three poor settlers, and ; they were not allowed to appeal to any , court of law. They practically had to . aooept the oompensation offored them. , When one .gentleman interjected “Were i they given the right to appeal ? ” Mr , Carroll replied “ What did they want to be j given the right to appeal for ? " Speaking : of district votes, Mr Clayton said that Mr ; Carroll stated that tho average for eight , years had been £10,549. He did not tell thafit 1 that the average for the first four yeaira of the eight had been £13,279, whilstjfor the lan four years it had only, been £5165; nor did he explain why there had been such a falling off. What did this indicate ? It indicated that the old horse was getting tired, and was sitting baok in the breeohiog. Ho contended that Mr Carroll had sigaaily failed to point out one single instance in which he (Mr Clayton) had misrepresented him, whereas the speech made by the Native Minister was bristling with misrepresentations. As one instance Mr Carroll had stated that ' the Opposition had undertaken not to repeal ony act passed by the pio3ent administration, but one of the fundamental principles of their platform,was the repeal of the Publio Revenues Aot. JMany other misrepresentations made by Mr Carroll - were mentioned by the candidate. On . resuming bia seal Mr Oalyton was loudly cheered.. * , . ■ ; A number of questions having been answered, Mr Andrew Tuohy proposed a vote of thanks to the candidate. This was seoonded by Mr Matthew Hall, and oairiei amidst muoh cheering, Mr . Clayton . suitably responding. At the cooolusion of bis address those present were requested at the invitation of bis Patalfchi supporters to remain and spend a sooial evening with Mr Clay; >o. A thoroughly enj .yeble evening was s[- ot with sieging, and music, wiu-.og up with a moat enjoyable sit-down supper, j which reflected tha greatest credit on tbo ladies who undertook this moat iuaportajut -part of the evening's entertainment. Shortly before twelve o’clock Mr Clayton, in a few well chosen words, thanked his hosts for the honor they had dona him. "i The singing of Auld Lang Syne and the National anthem brought to a close a redloiter day in the bistory of Patutahi.

MR CARROLL. Mr Carroll has boon having very sneoeesfol meetings in the oouotry. At ho addressed a very largo most ingi and was aooorded a vote of thaoka and oonfidenoe, on the motion of Mr F, J. Jjysnar. Mr Carroll addresses a meeting of lad’es In HU Majesty's Theatre at 3 this afternoon, and to-nigbji ho will spoak at MaDgapapa. __ MR DARTON AT KARAKA. ""’Mr G. E. Hatton addressed the elee'.ors at To Karaka on Saturday evening, Mr Cbut» Brown presiding. The meeting was fK V ory large one. The address was on 1 emnilar lints to previous speeches, with o ■ stroDg olaim to havo the preference elausi inserted on the Statutes, and to romovi , the p esent long delay in hearing breaohe

of Arbitration awards. He advocated a polioy of closet settlement of land, and said the present representative had not •- done what he might have for the email ' farmers. He again severely criticised the East Coast Native Trust Board in outting np the trust lands into suoh large areas ’ He placed the blame on the member, oc whose advioe, he eaid, tbo members of tlr . Board were selected. The epoaker m• u tained that nothing had boen dono tt .... wards settling the eno mous aress o Native land. The no-license question wa a'ao dealt with. The district, bo ea : d, hai .' ■’been grossly negleoted by our member ii ; 'j ! |be way of obtaining Government grants being small in proportion to the amoun • ’ ' reoeived by other electorates. He allogo that the sudden increase in tbo nurnbe ■ gf mm, on the railway works wbb oni l an elsotJonosrlDg dodge, and eaid durin fe

the whole of tho psst 12 montha *!? B J?qqq County Counoil had only received *iwu and tho Waiapu County Council Ho undo a very strong appeal to tho electors to sink sontimen*, and assist themselves. It wa* I ,ho 1 ' not too late to return to Par Ham-. proaentativa who would oousidoctho in tercets o! tho working noon, instead of one who only considered tho interests ot tho largo landholder. , . . The address was listened to throughout with markod atlontion, tho speaker rooeiv- ' ing many hearty rounds of applause. After several questions had boon asked and satisfactorily answered, Mr It. Garble proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Darton- This was seconded by Mr Pitcher, and carried unaniously, onsets being given ns tho speaker left tho hall.