FAREWELL TO AWARUA.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3420, 26 February 1920, Page 2

FAREWELL TO AWARUA.

= SIR J. G. WARD'S SPIRITED. REPLY. VVINTON, Feb. 24. Sir .Jk_..~;<pll \"»':u'«_l xxzxs met by the .\luyOr of Winton and tin.‘ band on his an'iv2Ll, and was given :1 \\’lll'm welcome. In the c.ourse. of his reply, Sir Joseph stated that he and Lady ‘Nard would be leaving for Australia shortly for a few months on an invitation received two days after the election. .9 At a banquet given in honour of Sir Josoph Wan] and Lady Ward, 200 were present. Many others were unable to gain admission. Lady \Val'd was pl'oson/rod with :1 handsome fur and rug.

Proceedings were most enthusiastic. and no opposition met S: Josopli’s I'c-inarks. Many apologies were received from leading Liberals, all strongly ]audato._v" of Sir Joseph \\’ard’s services. An address read to him tx'u\'oi'sed his work in connection with the COl‘;Si'ifuCllL‘_V_, the country and the Empire.

Sh‘ Joseph ‘Ward deliverecl a lengthy, sp.eec.‘h, t.ravcrsing the incidents of the recent election, with particular reference to the imputation ot' seetarianisin, which, he said, had been employed to an unprecedented extent in Awarua and other electorates. He cited a. large number of publications issued by the P.P.A. and Orange. Society, and "s7ratelnents in their ottieial I organs, which he eharacterisecl asi seandalously untrue and unfair. The: Rev. H.o\\'al'(_l Elliott stated at Bluffl on December 12th that it had cost. be-i tween £15,000 and £16,000 to carry Cil“holi<’« Children past State Schools. As -.1 matter of t'at-t, it cost nothing, but he inferred that he (Sir Joseph Ward) was responsible for the expen-I diturc of this ainount. The principle of issuing free school tiekefi ‘to chil-i dren attenclin-g public anu private schools was affirmed in 1886, before he was a member of Parlia.:'..ent, and on the motion Of Major‘ Atkinson in I.si.‘§.‘l it was adopted by the Railway ‘Commissioner and had been in forcel ever since. The cost mentioned byl Rev, Howard Elliott was a book entry, l,:y which the Railway Depal'tmellt got credit from the Education Department for the carrying‘ of children of all de—i llOllllllEl'-‘IOIIS. A statement was inadei by Rev. Elliott at the Blufl’, and by] others elsewhere, that in 1911, when he I was Prime Minister, there were six thousand appointments to the Civil Service, of whom four thousand were Catholics. The total number of appointments to the Railway, Postal and other departments in that year‘ was under 1200. While he was Minister of Railways, from 1900 to 1906,‘ 4170 appointments were 2uade——ani average of 523 per annum. No per—‘ son’s religion was stated upon an application form, and the Minister seldom or never saw -an applicant personally. The orgau of the Orange Lodge and P.P.A. accused him of getting Mr. L. M. Isitt .to attack the P.I’.A. in the House. That statement was absolutely untrue. In the same issue they made -a charge, irinrectly, that letters of Protestants passing through the Post Office were not Safe with him as Postmastevr-General. This again was deliberately untrue. No letters passing through the Post (lfiiee Came under the notice of the .l\'lli‘nis—lei‘ unless there was a breach of the I Act, but at the Mime referred to in this iiistance he was out of the country. lie \\':ls aeeused of nmying :1 motion in l’:lrliament to e:x'enapl' Nli:ll'isl il'3l'otliel'S t'~.'oni milil:u'_\f .~:er\'ice. ills motion e.\:« eznpted all teacllers, lecturers, and pro fessois, and was neeess'ar_\' owing to the depletion of the pi-oi'ession. It had iber-n insinuated that his firm erlgagefl in prot’it.eel-illg during the war. That 1 was impos.<i.ble, for feason:*.llat it dealt» lin products \\'hi(:h were connnamleered Eby the lmperial Government. Another istati-inem used in several eleetorxites

"\‘\.':..< I'll-.l‘: wllml thu (Eon.-I'n.llwllt <::11nu {to lho 11171 of the Bank of l\'c\v Zealami thv Pope lent £2,()0(_),0()0, sub!j(‘Cf to stipuhxticms that tlw Papal rt.-oat of arms was to uppozxl‘ on the bzznknotcs un’lil the ztmolmt was I'c~ ’pai(l. The (:’()\.’ol'lHll<'llt JlC‘.’(‘l’ hmt r£2,()OU,(‘)U(). it gu:1,1':1nfc0(1 :1 101111 of that unmunt. which was floated in F ].U!IdOH by the bank. ifself. The r “coat of arms” rofex“ ,d to was :1 copy ; of the 30:11 ()n=lh«,\ 'l‘l'«»zl(A\' M" \V2litallgi. ;xHe had not at any time any communi}c:l.tion with. an_vono in Rome, directly’ } or imlil'o<_'l‘l.\'. Sir Joseph \'\'zlrd I'ef'm'l‘o«l in scathing terms to inlputat'Lons on his loyalty (-ir11r'!:t3?0:1 during thv clovmm for politicn‘. purposes. and :111udo._1 ’ to his 011d(-u\’ou1'>‘ to assist in the do--I’mwo and unity of the Exnpirté I')of'orv !-am] :hlv.'ing HlO \'\':u'. H 0 did not be‘limm than the hull; of (‘IIO Pr-otosl'anfs ;.mur(»\'<*«l of LhL'Sn nt‘r“:lcl<S; am] the }:()Hin_:: showed that 336.206 vofos out nf .-3-1368?’ wa‘-r._— crust for oppom~ntS of zhv P.l‘..'\. Tm‘ni.llj__»' Au HM) R«>.’fol'nl }\-i.=+.or_v at tho <-h)«'Hon.<. Sir Joseph }[n~i!lll,'(7_ nut that Govm'nllwllt hold [ofiirw on :=. milml'i.*_\* vote. f:hmlrl‘h he Eflid nu? \‘.'i.<h to I'hr<m' cold \\'{lh(\l‘ on I{.+Tn‘~ir juhilnfinra 211' ‘Mi-' m;l‘j..;-§e_\- 3,, i!’::l‘}i:lm«‘u?. M» <'()w'l:wim- \’i; J -wx-In 11:219.». am <~]nqx:m'.t' f‘:u‘(‘~,\'vH I‘)-» thu :\w:n'ua vlu-H.)za.‘Lv.