REFORM CANDIDATE FOR OROUA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2729, 6 May 1924, Page 2

REFORM CANDIDATE FOR OROUA.

MR GORDON ELIOTT SELECTED.

At a meeting of Reform supporters, bold at Feilding Inst week, to select ii candidate to represent the party at the next General Election, four names wort; submitted and the voting was very close. The final decision lay between Mr Hugh MeTnlyre and Mr Eliott. The latter gentleman was selected arid the other three pledged themselves to support .Mi- Eliott in the event of his being called upon to defend the seat for the Government.

Tin;re whs some talk in Feilding about Ihe decision during the weekend, and yesterday a “Times” representative received the following copy of a letter addressed to Mr T. Pagan, secretary to the Oroua Reform Committee, by Mr Hugh McIntyre.— “Dear Sir, —In confirming my conversation with you, I beg to put on record mv protest against the peculiar methods employed in the selection of the Reform candidate for the Oroua electorate for the next election.

“When T was approached hy the officials of the committee, it wasstated that the selection would be made by a committee, the. whole personnel of which was read over to me. f agreed to abide by the decision of the members of that committee. However, I was astounded to learn after the meeting on Friday evening. May 2, at which the selection was made, that a number of additional members bad been added to the committee, some as iate as that evening. As this obviously violated the original conditions laid down, and afforded opportunity for political manipulation, and i.~ api to lend to underground engineering (~ say nothing of hole-and-corner methods, against which, and loaded dice, the Reform Party has so.strenuously set its face in the past, 1 hove, iii those c-ironmstanees. no alternative but to state that I am not in any way bound by a decision contravening both the letter and spirit of agreement, and hold myself free as to the future to take such steps as the best interests of the Reform -Party warrant, i and. should I see fit to do, so, to appeal tor approval to the wider constituency of the electors at large,— Yours faithfully, HUGH Mc^NTYRE.”