THE POLITICAL SITUATION. ADDRESS BY MR G. FISHER. MINISTERIAL DIRTY LINEN. Wellington, June 4.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 375, 8 June 1889, Page 4

THE POLITICAL SITUATION. ADDRESS BY MR G. FISHER. MINISTERIAL DIRTY LINEN. Wellington, June 4.

Mr G. Fismee, ex-Minister of Education, addressed his constituents in the Opera House last evening, Mr Midlane in the chair. There was a crowded attendance, and Mr Fisher was well received.

HIS RELATIONS WITH MR MITCHELSON. Mr Fisher began his speech with explanation of certain personal matters to which public attention had been much drawn, The first of these was the statement frequently repeated and widely circulated, that he had intrigued against his former colleague, the Minister of Public Works. He denied that he had ever done so. There had been a question in Cabinet as to whether a crossing should be allowed to be put across the Hutt line by the reclamation contractor. Mr Mifcehelaon objected to the crossing. He himself had voted for it. That was all the part he took, yet immediately afterwards he was told that Mr Mitchelson had sent in his resignation because he could not tolerate Mr Fisher's interference. That resignation was afterwards withdrawn. The next thing was he was asked to put a notice on the paper regarding the Printing Office contract. TTe was pressed for time at the moment, and hurriedly got Mr Cadman, as the first man he met in the House, to do it. If the motion was an attack on anyone it was aimed at the Stout-Vogel Government, but it no sooner appeared on the paper than it was immediately said it was aimed at Mr Mitchelson by him, and this story had been repealed in every form ingenuity could devise. He thought it was time he disabused the public mind on that point.

THE GASPARINI AFFAIR. He then referred to the Gasparini affair, and accused one of his former colleagues of inconceivable duplicity in withholding information Irom him he should have given him as a friend and fellow-member of the Cabinet, the more so seeing the efforts he had made to get that friend kept in the Cabinet in its early stages. He had closed his hearb againsb him from the moment he ascertained the fact.

THE BEER DUTY PROSECUTION'S. Coining to the beer duty cases, he said he had suffered considerably from the slanders spread about, but he intended to follow the matter up in Parliament until he had thoroughly cleared himself. The position he had taken up was that one and ali the defendants should be treated alike, and that one man should not be persecuted and others let off comparatively easy. They could see from what had happened lately that if the effect of these prosecutions had been to wipe out a certain brewery there would have Leen a monopoly of the brewing business in Wellington. He knew something of what was going on in business circles, but there were some men in the big building who did not.

THE FINANCIAL POSITION. Having dealt briefly with the purely personal questions, he went on to refer to topics of larger scope. They might fairly congratulate themselves on having at last a real surplus, but he deplored the amount of our indebtedness, now £37,500,000. It was the interest on this which was eating into the heart of the country, a fact which those in power zealously kept out of view as much as possible. It was a mercy our exports last year had been two millions more than the imports, for it enabled us to pay that interest which otherwise would have been hard to find. Yet they had heard a gentleman the other night deploring the excess of exports over imports.

THE TARIFF. He defended last year's tariff, for he knew several industries it had come jusb in time to enable to keep afloat, some of them paying heavy amounts in wages. What we wanted wab an influx of capital. There was plenty in the colony, but it was kept in the pockets of the owners, and competition was w anted to force them to put it to u?e. For every £300,000 of capital coming to New Zealand four millions went to Victoria and New South Wales. A statesman's head was wanted to discover the reason and cure for this state of things. There svas no doubt the era of faddism was partly responsible for it. THE EDUCATION BILL. He defended his Education Bill and the abolition of Boards, on the ground of financial extravagance. Sir R. Stout had said the Bill was not in favour of the working classes, bub he distinctly affirmed the contrary, and also that it placed the administration of the system more in the hands of the people than ever. RAILWAYS. He objected to the efforts being made to divert the Northern Trunk Railway, and said large sums of money had been wasted to no purpose in the effort. It was extravagances of this kind that caused their great indebtedness, and it would always be the case while political railways had to be made to keep certain people in office. It was bhis sort of thing which frightened capital, and it brought them back to the question when would the man arise who could initiate the new order of things ? The one-man policy could nob endure for ever. What would they do if Sir Harry Atkinson died ? After referring to the Electoral Bill, and Hare system, which he opposed, and to a few local mabbers, he thanked his constituents for their continued and loyal support. Mr Rose said as it was he who had involved Mr Fisher in trouble regarding Mr Cadman's notice of motion, he wished in justice to him to say that his version of the story was coi'recb. Very few questions were asked, and a resolution was unanimously passed expressing unabated confidence in Mr Fisher as member for Wellington East.

He stood under the window and sang, " How Can I Leave Thee ?" Buts he did leave so suddenly that the dog went behind the house and wept. Why is a man affected with paralysis like the drama to be presented at the Opera House this evening ? Because he's all of a twist. Next ! \ The Othor Way About. — Irate passenge (as train is moving off) : *« Why the— didn't you put my luggage in as I told you, you old—" Porter : " E— h man, yer baggage es no sic a fule as yersel. Ye're i'th wrang train." When gels is very little it is their mother's enxiety ter keep matches out uv their wy, but wen they gets bigger the motherly enxiety is all th' ether wy. Gayley : " Won't you have some refreshment, Miss Wiggle ?" Miss Wiggle : " Thanks, no, I'm sufficiently refreshed now. Miss Howler has stopped singing."