THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 272, 10 November 1908, Page 4

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

TARANAKI NOMINATIONS. M, J, Terry, Kcturning Officer for Taranaki, lias received tile following nominations: —■ Charlie Edmund Bellringcr, of New Plymouth, fti-ardwareinan, nominated by —Arthur Standish, solicitor, New Plymouth; William .Sadler, bootmaker, New Plymouth; Edward Dockrill, boot importer, New Plymouth; Alary Anne Smith, widow, New Plymouth; William Tweedale, dealer, New I'lymouth; John Home, nurseryman, Wcstown; James Baxter Connett, esquire, New PymouUi; Mary Bullot, New .Plymouth; Claude Horace Weston, solicitor, New" Plymouth; Arthur Norman Cliff, contractor, New Plymouth; Fred Archer Coleman, carpenter, New Plymouth; Hickman Frank Russell, lodbroker, New Plymouth t> Thomas Wright, Lep.perlou, farmer; Reuben Peppercl!,' Bell Jllocl;, farmer; James Spence, Carrington lioail, fanner. William George Malone, Avenue road, solicitor, nominated by—William John lloneyliehl, Moturoa, settler; Charles Thomas Mills, accountant, New Plymouth; Alfred Ernest Sykes, New l'lyinoutli; John Bennett, watchmaker, New l'lyinoutli; William Alfred Thomas labourer, PuniJio road; Hubert ■Stanton, smith's assistant, Warea; Frederick Charles Jenkinson, farm labourer, Warea; Adam MeClure, creamery manager, Warea; Patrick O'Sutlivan, farmer, Oka to; Jolrn O'Connor, farmer. Okato: Charles ltevell. bootmaker Okato; Richard Cock, merchant, Vogeltown; Alfred Mowbray lliggs carpenter. New Plymouth; Ernest Hornsby Gibbous, settler, New Plymouth.

Henry James llobbs Okey, Frankley road, fanner, nominated by —George Knight, carrier. New l'lyinoutli; Eleanor lirasli, wife of T. Brash, Carrington road; Hannah Green, wifi' of F. Green, fanner, To Korn; George Henry Lynch, farmer, Wcstown; William Stanley, farmer. Egmont road; Artihur Newton' Mills, farmer, Barrett road; George William . Browne, builder, Carrington road; Jane Tippins, married woman, Devon street. New Plymouth; SUuie.l Wakeiield Shaw ,auctioneer. New Plymouth; AValter Ambury, draper New Plymouth; James Burgess, farmer Warea; William MoUachlan, farmer, Warea; William Revell, farmer, Warea.

THE TARANAKI SEAT. Writes a correspondent:—Mr. Malone had a most enthusiastic reception from a largely attended meeting of electors at Egmont Village on Friday evening last. Mr. Dewhirst ably filled the chair. Mr. Malone, with a most friendly and sympathetic audience, wanned up to his work, aud delivered an able speech—serious, earnest, and yet at times gay. It evidently .earned the approval of t'ie great majority of those present. He referred with regret to the fact that the sitting member was still speaking disparagingly of himself and Mr. Bellringer. It was, to say tihe least, most ungracious to tell electors uot to vote for "a lawyer or a painter." Questions were asked and satisfactorily answered. Mr. Malone was clearly of opinion that the Egmont road to the mountain carrying as it did the tourist trafficwas* entitled to special subsidy from the Government Tourist Department vote. Mr. Dewhirst moved, and Mr. G. Marsh secouded, and there was carried by acclamation, a vote of thanks to Mr. Malone for his able speech, A vote of thanks to the chairman was also carried.

Jlr. Silent, the Opposition candidate for Kiccarton, was 011 c of the employers' representatives on the Conciliation Board during the farm labourers' case, lie told a rural working man audience the other night that it had como out in evidence that there was five lw~ cent, of tile employers of farm labourers who were bad employers, who did not know how to treat a dog, let alone a man. He would have liked to liavi made them sit up, but he could not have done so without penalising the other Itl per cent, ilis advice to the farm labourers was not to wo"k for the five per cent, of bad employers. The interest taken by the gentle sex in the forthcoming elections has been shown by a large attendance of ladies at most of the public meetings in Auckland. That they have as good a grasp of political matters as their husbands and brothers was shown at a ladies' meeting, held at Eden Terrace by Jlr. Oliver Nicholson, At the conclusion of the candidate's address many written questions were handed up, and. they were all pertinent and revelant to the issues. This is not always the case at meetings where the male sex predominate.

If an absolute majority had been sufficient lo carry No-lieensc. :t(i districts would have "gone dry." including llawke's Hay, Waipaiva.. i'ahiatua. -Mastci ton. W'airarapa. Kginont, Taranaki, llauvra. I'atea. I{au«ilikei. Orua.Palmcrston. Manawatu, Otaki, Xewton. and Hull. If national opti<>n 011 a bare majority hail been force tire wnoie country would bo "diy'' to-day, for out of ;i!)ti,tl7 persons who voted in 100.3, rather move than half, or. to be exact, 180.7ti8 voted for Xo-license, as against J52.884 for continuance, and 151,037 for reduction. The licensing districts arc as everybody knows, the .same as the electoral districts—except in the four chief cities, where the "city licensing districts" consist of three electorates. Thus, the Wellington City Licensing District consists of Wellington North. Wellington Central, and Wellington Kasl. By a curious anomaly, Wellington South is a licensing district of itself, and there are portions of Auckland, Christchurcii, and Dnnedin in the same case. A Bill which was introduced by the Prime Minister in 1907 would have altered this if it had been passed. There would then have been four electoral districts in each of the city licensing districts. One result of this, alteration would have been that Grey Lynn, where So-license prevails, would have licenses restored, sinless no-lcense were carried in the city lis a whole I his year. Perhaps this was why there was no enthusiastic support of the proposal 011 the part of the Noliceusc party. .It will be rcmcmbe-.vd Unit .Newton carried .No-license, six years ago. and the bars were closed, but the poll was declared void, the case being taken to the Privy Council. The old Xi-wton district, which had grown lo be the most, populous electorate in New Zealand, is now divided between Wellington South and Wellington Suburbs.