TO THE EDITOR

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 96, 12 October 1938, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR

FANCY POLITICAL REPORTS Sir, —Perhaps everybody does not know that Air. Hultquist is generally accompanied on his tour of the district by a paid organiser and lady secretary wlia> >f ,prepaie for him reports oi* his own meetings which are sent ons&to the. Press. Sv »Such reports are deliberately misleading. Let me quote the following instances. . When reporting his meeting at the Waima Freezing Works the attendance was given as numbering S 3 whilst as a fact the number was only 38. As a matter of fact Mr?,. Hultquist’s meetings are in "many cases poorly attended- Take for.; Tolaga Bay, where the attendance at Air. Sullivan’s meeting was 240. Two nights lutetyat Air. Hultquist’s meeting (hrfrely halL-that number attended. On ''Saturday afternoon, when that same township was invaded by Hon. D. G. Sullivan, the attendance, according to a Government message to the Povertv Bay Herajd was 150. BAIGDNT. [We consider it on tK fair to point out that the reportstsupplied by both party correspondents accompanying Air. Hultquist and JVJ!r. Sullivan have been banded to all papers on both sides of «tl),e Bay of -Plenty and it appears t 0 the present complaints have been made to either the, Bay of Plenty or Gisborne ; papers'! As it would be impossible to report candidates’ meetings throughout the electorate, newspapers in tho*:Bay electorate have all been pleased to receive reports of such meetings, which have been published in all good faith as being fair reports. The writer of the above letter has apparently had to rely on word of mouth for his information,' and before judgment is passed the Labour candidate is entitled to state his side of the case. On arrival’in Opotiki this afternoon, Air. Hultquist , was challenged concerning the allegations. A telephone call was pljt- through to Air. Bignell. chairman of* the meeting, who stated that had counted- the numbed present from the .platform. Air. Bigbell gave* itn .emphatic assurance that 83 people were present at the meeting in question. I* com private information wo have received during the- course of the campaign, we canvystate that both candiclatesf have received, a very fair hearing and naturally attendances at rival meetings have not always been the same. We can state definitely that our correspondent is quite incorrect when ho says the stenographer accompanying Air- Hultquist is a paid organiser. The person is question has had nothing to do with organising. As far as payment for reporting services is concerned, we know nothing concerning either candidate’s reporter.—Fid. News.]

“A SMQKEi SCREEN”

Sir.—“ Thankful Worker” appears t tt have swallowed, 11 holy line and sinker. Lab&iir’s cleverly laid* bait that tlio “Old Gang’’ manufactured the slump and “ Crucified him,” as he picturesquely puts it. '1 hat slump was world-wide and the Iloiorm Government was no more responsible than the Labour Government is lor today’s prosperity. Doth came Irani world prices. Reform, lot us admit were the “old gang”. To be lair, then Labour is the “new gang”. Personally J. agree with those thousands of liberal minded New Zealanders that "o don’t want gangster government. That will be our reason for voting National on Saturday. “Thankful Worker” should- -keep, religion out of politics. He has himself—-not God—to thank for the Labour Party. I prefer to believe the Piety above is above paitisauship and inculpable for man s mistakes. lies’ZED.

THE COST OF LIVING Sir, —1 only have to- goi to my grocer to see how much the cost of living has. increased. Mr. Sullivan is correct in his statement that it is 30 to 40 per cent. Over a comprehensive commodity list- the rise is 33 per cent. The Auckland Hospital Board, by tender. had to pay 40 per cent. Mr. Hultquist on the other hand, naively says the cost has dropped—compared witli 19261; 'Why that particular year? NVhy nbtyl9l4, when the dairy-farmer got almost fli© same for his butterf.at -ok he isf getting to-day? G.* Washing(whoso . namesake would turn in -his -grave if lie Teamed of the doctrine .Of a list he says cost and costs :Cl/l/9i to-