POLITICAL PILOTS

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 5 June 1914, Page 5

POLITICAL PILOTS

Pretty Hot Stuff

The whole country is beginning to see into the depth of the vilhany (says the Hastings Bulletin ") by which the Massey Party secured the downfall of Sir Joseph Ward last election and got into power on the vote of only one-third of the electors, and have made up their minds that Massey is never going to have the chance to fool them any more. —Shoo !

Sir Joseph at Work

In the evening of Tuesday next at Kawakawa the local Liberal League will entertain Sir Joseph Ward and the conference delegates at a dinner. As Sir Joseph Ward is booked to speak at Oamaru a few days later, he will leave for the South on Thursday morning. Lady Ward will accompany Sir Joseph on his visit to the North.

The Toy Navy

" It's all nonsense to say that we have pledged the country to a toy navy," remarked the Minister of Defence to a Masterton pressman on Saturday. "We have merely decided to expend our subsidy, or a portion of it, in training our own men for the Navy. When this proposal was submitted to Parliament, there was practically no opposition. Before we do anything further, Parliament will be consulted."

Millar Politically Doomed

Any doubt as to the Hon. J. A. Millar's retirement from active political life is settled by the following extract from a letter received from him by a Dunedin pressman. The ex-Minister for Railways. says : " I am sorry to leave the old place, where my boyhood days were spent and life friendships formed, but fate has decreed it, so I must accept. I know by little things that occur now and then that I could not stand the strain of an election contest, so have decided to nurse J whatever health is left to me." i i Mot Wanted ' i A certain politician, joking at J his repeated unsuccessful at- j tempts to get into office, said: | "I shall soon be in the position | of a certain tramp, who was pass- | ing through a certain town where j a ball was being held. He walked ! up the steps of the hotel where j it was being held, and was ■ promptly kicked to the bottom I by the do.or-keepers. He again j walked to the top and was again j kicked down. Several times this j occurred. At last the man, pick- ! ing himself up after a particularly i hurried exit, murmured : ' I know i what it is ; they can't deceive me; j these people don't want me at j the ball.' " i Bay of Islands Talk j In anticipation of Sir Joseph ! Ward's mission to the Bay district next week, one -who thinks he knows says: " This visit of the Liberal Leader is the formal opening of a campaign that will be carried on steadily until the seat is regained by the Liberal Party in December. Oh, there is not the slightest doubt but that we will regain the seat. Everything is in our favour, but we are not going to leave anything to chance for all that. Look at the position. .For years the seat has been a Liberal one, and the present member was elected by a Liberal vote. That vote will go j practically solid to the Liberal nominee. Then last election a section of the Labour vote was given to the, Massey candidate. He won't get that this election. The whole of the Labour vote will be cast on the Liberal side, or ! possibly I should say, against the I Government. This feeling is j specially strong amongst, the j miners and gum diggers. That \ will give us a majority if only j one Government man goes to the poll, and gets the full strength of the Massey party to support him. If two go —well, it will make our victory the more certain. But I we are going to leave nothing to \ chance. We will have a working i organisation that will cover the ! whole electorate, and every \ Liberal vote that can be polled ! will be polled. Yes, we are on ] our mettle this time, A victory won't satisfy us. We want a bigmajority, and we are going to get; it, too." Raglan's Reform Candidate At a full meeting of the delegattf* or the .Raglan branch ui the Political ■Reform League held at Nguruawaliia on Saturday, Mi R. F. Bollard, the sitting member was miaiuirnirsly chosen as the Reform candidate for Raglan at the coming election.