POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 86, 2 October 1911, Page 3

POLITICAL.

| THE TAI'MARL'XI'I SEAT. •Mr. Forbes, Opposition candidate for T,unu:m]niii. addre-sed a good meeting at Tikoi-aujii mi Kriilsiv night. He appears to Ite making good headway in liis ca.ni|Kiig!i, ;ind was frequently applauded during Friday night's address. In replying to the suggestion that his speech in Wait am had contained nothing nuw, .Mr. ForiUe* said it would be a difficult matter for a candidate to And anything worth bringing before the electors that had not already been sipoken of by some member of the Opposition Party. However, they would not have long to wait for sometliing new, and that would be a change of Government. With that there would come a sense of security, a business policy, and a wave of prosperity that has never before been realised. The Opposition was accused of having no platform. He considered thait their's was a clearly defined policy. Reform and economy in administration, reform in the Civil Service, security of land tenure, reduction of taxation, a tapering off in our borrowing, and the carrying out of public works under the contract .system were what he advocated, and also were the planks of the Opposition'# platform.

Mr. Forfjea said that a number of the city members were asking that the tramway men should get tickets at excursion rates when travelling on the railways, as they could not avail themselves of the cheap fares during the busy season. If there was one class of' people that should be considered it was the farmers, who were the backbone of the country, and Who "could not leave their farms during the busy season to take advantage of cheap railway fares. He spoke on the same lines as in his previous address, and pointed out the necessity for a change of Government. In answer to questions Mr. Forbes' said he was not a supporter of the preference clause to unions, as it robbed the employer and the employee of their liberty and had a levelling-down tendency. He was no friend; of the liquor trade, and had no time for Socialism.

Votes of thanks to the candidate and the chair concluded a successful meeting. THE PATEA SEAT. Mr. J. ODea has had successful meetings during last week. M Patea he received a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence, on the motion of Mr. F. Elliot, seconded by Mr. J. Smith. The Mayor (Mr. J. A. McKeima), <who presided, said that now the Hon. T. Mackenzie was standing for Egmont, he hoped that all Liberals throught the dis-j trict would support Mr. ODea. At Waverley, 'the chairman of the Town Board (Mr. J. Dalton) presiding, the candidate was also accorded a vote of thanks and confidence, on the motion of Mr. D. McDonald (the "father" of the Liberal Party in that district), seconded by Mr. J. Banks. The meetings were easily the lajgest first meetings held in those towns. Mr. ODea has also addressed meetings of the E.F.CA. railwaymen at Hftwera, and the men employed on the Mofeoda deviation railway works. He addressee the AS.RS. branch at Hawera next week. A committee of 67 members has been formed at Hawera, and committees are forming in all the other cewtres. ADVICE TO POLITICAL LEADERS.

There arc probably no two men la the Dominion who receive so much gratuitous advice concerning their political conduct as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and of these the Prime Minister is an easy first (says the Wellington Times). Hardly a day passes without Sir Joseph Ward receiving either written or personally delivered admonitions concerning "the wisest course for him to follow" —in the choice of colleagues, in regard to party allegiances and so forth. He will be told to be more radical and more conservative; he will be urged one moment to defer more to the advanced section in the country, in the next exhorted to "stem the tide of socialism," and so it goes on. He will to-day be besought to take Smith as a colleague, to-morrow to remember Jones, and the day after not to forget Robinson, even—though it seems incredible —to invite Mr. Massey to give the strength of a unique personality to the Cabinet. This is all very quaint, no doubt, but it is quite understandable, just as one has no difficulty in believing that there are people in the constituencies striving to make Mr. Massey also see the light. But nothing could be more futile than to seize upon some incident of the kind for the purpose of making it appear part of a definite, official plan.