"DONE MY DUTY"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 December 1931, Page 5

"DONE MY DUTY"

MR. CLINKARD BRIGHT MOMENTS IN LASTMEETING OF COALITION CANDIDATE LABOUR PARTY CRITICISED - There were a number of bright moments at the final meeing of Mr. C. H. Clinkard, official Coalition candidate, last evening. There were a number of vacant seats in the Grand Theatre whe-n the meetihg commenced, but these had nearly all been fijled up before the proceedings ciosed The candidate was in good fightyig trim and dealt vigorouslv With recent

statements made by the Leader o'f the LabQur , party, Mr. H. Holland. Mr. Clinkard also retraced a nupiber of points raised at his first* pieeting in Rotorua and enlarged upon a number of matters raised during the campaign." ' . _ Mr. W. Galbraith was chairman of the meeting. Remarking that Seddon had said "trust the people" but that he- believed, in circumstances like* the present, in enlightening the people' as well, Mr. Clinkard stressed th'e parlous condition of the" country's finances and tho vital necessity for a strong and stable Government to "attempt the task of rehabilitation. Made no Promises Making . promises had been the ; curse of New Zealand politics, the ; candidate cohtended, but he- was gla'd ; to he able to say tbat' he bad 'made j no promises, with th'e exception of ; one, to have a road mude to the , Salvation Army citadel at Putaruru. Mr Clinkard went on-to say that !he had been successful in carryihg " out ;his promise. When a voice enqu'ired whether- he was a Salvationist', the :audidate said he was not, but only a man trying to do his duty. "That is my attitude" said Mr. Clinkard. "If yon decide that I am not to represent you, I will go down knowing that I haye done my duty to the best of my ability" (applause). * The candidate was proceeding to state that we had exhausted our crfed'ts during the war years and asked his audience as a simile, to imagine a man with £50 in the bank. This roused someone in the gallery who enauired in an expectant voice, who had £50 in the bank. The candidate assured him that he hadn't. Go Somewhere Else Criticising the Labour proposal 'to raise a £25,000,000 internal loan, Mr. Clinkard said that already every "mari woman and child in New Zealand owed £225, whereupon a voice assured him that no one would get that much out of him. "I am going on to something e-lse eow" announced the candidate, when this interruption had subsided., An Aggrieved Voice: What time do you start your policy? Mr. Clinkard: If my friend ove-r there does not realise that I have been giving him policy all the tfme, he had better go somewhere else. The candidate read a telegram from Mr. C.> D. Dean, of Maungatautari, stating that at a meeting held in the hall at that place, after a general dis-

eussion upon vote splittmg m the slectorate, it had been decided to upfiiold the pact made between the Unit3d and Reform Parties. The candidate appeared to have a little difficulty in deciphering the writing, and a section of the crowd derived amusement from his difficulties. Finally Mr. Clinkard announced that he would hand the message to thd press so that the curious could be informed of its contents. Question Time. When question time arrived, a man in the front of the hall rose and asked the candidate whether he would answer three points raised in a leaflet distributed by the Labour Party during the afternoon. The first question concerned a statement that Mr. Clinkard had been rejected by the Labour -Party for a nomination. "Parliamentary 'usage forhids my saying what I think about that question," said the candidate. Mr. Clinkard explained that he had refused offers 6f a nomination from both the , Labour and the Country parties and had also been approached to stand in the Reform interests. He did not believe in these party barriers, however, and contended that if he ever represented the people, he would not represent a party section but the whole of the people, The second question from the leaflet concerned a statement that Mr. Clinkard had been rejected in the Liberal-La-bour interests, and this the candidate answered in the same manner as the first question. The third question concerned the Ward £70,000,000, but at this point a section of the crowd in the" gallery stamped so persistently that the question could not be heard. Mr. Clinkard, * however, answered the question hy stating that Sir Joseph Ward had never said he would borrow £70,000,000 but only up to that amount and that £60,000,000 of the sum would be expended in loans to settlers. Fired by this example, a Maori sitting next td the first questioner rose and commenced a long harangue, the text of which appeared to he that he did not consider that the Maoris were proportionately represented. The crowd enjoyed the fun, but after a while, as the speaker got no nearer his point, became restive. The chairman thereupon-advised the questioner that he had better cease, but as the man did not appear to understand some one translated it "he say, finish" whereupon the Maori sat down. In reply to another question, Mr. Clinkard reiterated his statement that he was not in favour of further cuts, but if it came to a choice between cuts and putting off men, he would vote for the cuts. "Mr. Clinkard, you said that the Coalition is going to be returned tomorrow," asked another man from the gallery. The candidate assured him that it was. "Then," said the questioner, "would you t-ell us whether you would be in favour of putting relief workers ori superannuation after 35 years' service?" "I said I was making no- promises, but seeing that it is sq far ahead, I will say 'yes'," replied Mr. Clinkard amid general appreciation. The crowd was still in a good humour when a moment later, a vote of thanks and confidence was; moved and carried by' acclamation.