POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 136, 4 December 1911, Page 7

POLITICAL.

i MAORI NOMINATIONS. By Telegraph—Own correspondent. Wellington, Saturday. Northern Maori: Te Rangihnroa, John j Moetra, Hemi Te Paa, Huiruana Tito Reihana. Netana Wirinui, Tuiari Kowhai, Etu Ihaka, Riapoa, Timoti Puhipi, Kaka Porowini, H'erepcte Rapihana, Wiri Nehua» Western Mairo; Ilenare Kaihau, Maui, Pomare, Pepene Eketone, Ngarangi Taingamawa, Pomare Hetaraka. THE WELLINGTON CARTOON. Auckland.. Saturday. In a speech last night, Mr. Massey, referring to his action for libel against the New Zealand Times, said Sir John Findlay was the largest shareholder in the Times, and lie (Mr. Massey) hoped some day to have the opportunity of asking 'Sir John findlay in the witness box, through his solicitor, who inspired the cartoon which was the subject of the libel action. Sir John Findlay, in an interview to-day, indignantly denied having hadi anything to do with the cartoon. He said:—"The first I heard or saw of the cartoon was when it was published. lam not by any means the largest shareholder in the New I Zealand Times, and I have interfered 1 in no way with that paper, nor suggested any publication in it.- I had absolutely nothing to do with the cartoon." THE WAIPAWA SEAT. Waipawa, Saturday. Mr. George Hunter, the Reform Party candidate, had a successful meeting last night. A vote of thanks and confidence was passed. MR. BELLRINGER AT HURFORD ROAD. Although the weather was very rough and wintry on Wednesday night Mr. C. E. Bellringer had a very successful meet-

ing. Mr. Smith presided. The electors listened to the candidate very attentively, never interjecting on any occasion. The speaker said he was appealing to the electors to stick to the present Government and not to be misled by the so-called Reform Party. He explained how they were trying to get to the head of affairs by coming out under a new name. First they were the Conservatives, then the Oppositionists, and now the Reform Party. All mentioned parties had Mr. Massey for their leader. They also made charges against the present Government, which have been proved to have no foundation, such as the Hine charges and the Mokau settlement. Mr. Bellringer explained some of the, good Bills passed by the Government,

such as the Advances to Workers, Land J for Settlement, Post Office Department, Old Age Pensions, Assistance to Widows, and Advances to Settlers. He explained how the private money-lenders had the borrowers in their clutches befote the Advances to Settlers Act came into force, only lending the farmers sums from three to five years at interest of from eight to" ten per cent. Then at the end of that term the poor farmers would be compelled to renew the loan and, perhaps, if money were tight, pay a bigger interest, besides the expenses, such as procuration fee and registration. The speaker invited questions after speaking for about an hour and a-half. Several were asked, and all were answered to the satisfaction of the meeting. Among flt'-i !••• ,"e/"d if he would be in favor, if elected, of lowering the present

wage of the working man. The candidate said he considered the wages small enough and would not be in favor of 1 lowering them. If a man with a fam- j ilv were getting ten shillings a day and averaging five days a week lie would j have to be a careful man to make both i • <"nds meet after paying house rent. Mr. Bellringer said he was also in favor of military training. It was a .splendid thing for the town youths, but he considered there would have to be some better arrangements for the farmers' sons. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker for his address and a similar compliment to the chair brought a successful meeting to a close. —Correspondent. MR. FORBES AT HUIKFORD ROAD. Mr. W. Forbes addressed the electors nt Hurford road on Saturday evening.. There were over thirty persons present, and the candidate got a most attentive hearing. Mr. Forbes spoke for over an hour, and in replying to Sir Joseph Ward's statement at Inglewood as to the fanners being grossly misled by the Opposition, he (Mr. Forbes) said that hp would show them that they were being misled by the Gov.-rrr"ont when they triad to make the ivople believe that taxation was borne by those most aible to bear it. He then went to to 6how that the late Mr Seddon was hardily cold in his grave when Sir Joseph Ward

put 15 per cent, on the boots worn by the workers and farmers, the result of that extra duty being that the British firms, in order to cope with the extra duty on boots, were putting cardboard soles and heels on tlveir boots, and the people of this country were not getting all-leather boots. The result was that it cost more money for footwear. In England the Government protected the workers bv compelling the manufacturers, under the Commerce Act. to put a tag on every pair of boots, showing what the sole, insole, and uppers were

made of. Why did the Government of New Zealand not protect the workers in this wav? "If I am returned," said Mr. Forbes. "1 will bring down a Bill to protect the people of this country in the same way as they are protected in England. and to safeguard the farmers and workers in the true sense of the word. 1 will see that they are not 'bought and sold by such rotten administration." Several questions were asked and answered, and votes of thanks to the candidate and chairman concluded the meeting. MR. IHNE'S CANDIDATURE. Mr. lline addressed about forty electors at the Pembroke road school on Thursday afternoon at 1 o'clock, and was listened to with great interest. As on previous occasions, he dealt with the various political questions of the day, and at the close of the meeting was accorded a hearty vote of thanks and renewed eoiilidence, and the meeting also wished to express the esteem in which they held the candidate. 'Hie motion was carried almost unanimously, only three or four voting against the motion." At AVaitui the same evening tile schoolroom was too small to comfortably hold the audience, and as on previous occasions, Mr. lline. was accorded a very attentive hearing, and at the close of the address the following motion was carried with cheers: "That this meeting thanks Mr. lline for bis interesting address and desires to express its thanks to him for so ably representing them in Parliament. and also has every conllde-uce in him for;the future." The usual vote of thanks to the chair brought a- liiosit successful meeting to a close—Contributed. MR. IITXE AT DURHAM ROAD. To the Editor. Sir, —Durham road' seemingly has arisen so much in importunes during the

election campaign to warrant an invasion by followers of the Opposition party, if the attendance at Mr. nine's meeting on Thursday is to be taken as a criterion —but, then it has got to be a mreat habit of the satellites of the candidates (more especially Oppositionists) to roll up in force at country places in order to carry an expression of confidence. The very heavy downpour and thunderstorm 'between o and 8 p.m. j prevented the residents turning up in ' force, but visitors from Stratford, Tariid,i Junction and Mountain roads, and Inglewood were present, and the reason was obvious. Mr. J. A. Bridgeman occupied the chair, and introduced Mr. Hine to' the audience. The latter, who was> well received, after apologising for not visiting Durham road in past years, immediately proceeded with what he term- j ed a criticism of the present Govern-1 ment. He admitted that they had put ] into effect several laws that had his ( support, but the sum total of the legislation was not of benefit to the people, I and we would never get just or equitable | laws until his party held the reins. If Mr. nine's address here is a fair sample of the politics he has been disseminating through the district, well, he has a wry poor opinion of the electors, for all the claptrap I have ever heard his speech takes the bun! Innuendo, innuendo, and nothing else—nothing straight out or definite., but "put me in and I'll show you how the country should be run." The country is almost bankrupt, he said, bv the finance proposals' of Sir J. G. Ward, whom he characterised as "The Death Spot of New Zealand." The inference to be gathered from the remarks is that the whole system of Governmentwas nothing but sops, or bribery and cor--uption, but the amputations were not ■pheld; in anything like the truthful or forcible way one would expect from one who had had experience in Parliament. The speaker who showed such remarkable (?) knowledge of the squandering of public money on this, that, and everything could not tell the approximate cost per day of running Parliament. The Hine charges were next dealt with, and the statement of the Hon. T. Mackenzie that the cost to the country was £IO,OOO was ridiculed, and the cost given as £549, but if the larger amount was spent it must have been spent in suppressing evidence, and he was prepared to prove that that was* done. He added that the inquiry had done good and claimed that certain shady transactions would never have come to light if it had not teen tfor him. Mr. Mackenzie as a politician was ridiculed in a manner that ought to sicken any fair minded person. A Clean Seeds Bill proposed by the Hon. T. Mackenzie was rended in a manner that hugely pleased the Opposition side of the room. He wished to point out that the Bill was not law and did not ■want to be misunderstood as to that, j Regarding the Budget, he complained of I juggling the accounts, and if the spoils to the victors' method is in force to the extent stated then we had better go back to savagery, but it is remarkable it is only in small out .places that such tommy rot is spoken. He denied that public buildings should be classed' as revenueproducing, and drew attention to the large buildings of the cities (practically adopting the cry of Country v. Town)*. He also stigmatised the vote of £70,000 as a scandalous bit of work. Mr. Iline showed himself as a muck-maker of the first water iby quoting what he termed instances of misappropriating public money, but conveyed such by the detestable method of innuendo and inference, which seems to be the favorite method of politicians who have no i ground to stand upon when in argument. He was the saviour of the country, and the "Bill Adams" of Parliament, and knew "all" a.bout the tightness of the money market, and denied the Government any credit for coming to the counI try's assistance at the time. Sir J. G. Ward was a clever financier, but he would not admit ho was a good one. As a 'Lauds Minister he was a failure also. Mr. Hine said, and quoted a Land Bill the Premier had introduced, but which was relegated' to the scrap heap. The speaker, who had been wobbling all round the political horizon here, came back to his party's platform, but soon got away on to the road of innuendo again. He adopted the word "pickings" instead of Tammanyism, he said, and would, have his hearers to believe that all the Liberal party did was to provide for their friends—he was careful to add he did not mean they transferred the cash to their private pockets, but it would be hard to get at what he did mean, as it was a sort of take it as you like method, and one which one does not expect to heaT from one who sots up as the prophet of purity! He criticised the appointment of Sir R. Stout on a recent land commission, saying that gentleman received £4OOO in addition to £2OOO as a judge, and further said things were in a nice state when they gave a Supreme Court judge such, work to do. The Hon. Mr. Ngata, lie said, received £1950 for the eame commission, and he drew a salary also as an M.P. ; —these were instances of maladministration. Coming back to the party platform, he kept the compass fairly true for a short while on the great advantage of a Public Service Board, but again the red rag of excessive borrowing brought a full stop and the innuendo branch of the track was again occupied. Sir J, G. Ward was a plunger of the worst deseriptio n, and much was attempted to be made of the fact that six millions were borrowed in one year, but the objects of borrowing were not specified. Mr. Hine drew a doleful picture of what is to happen this year on account of shortage of exports and no money to pay interest through his (Sir J. G. \\ai\fs) extravagance, and his remarks would lead one to believe tile wot wiatlicr, bad crops, loss of stock, and other such ills were the fault of the Government, and the opposite would be the case if his party were returned. He then tried to explain the "method and cost of borrowing the five millions loan." Mr. Hine was evidently in London (if not in flesh, in the asti-al state) at tiie time of the negotiations to be enabled to give such a "lucid" account of the transaction—alum! lie quite amccd New Zealand. mn.,t still borrow anil admitted he had opposed borrowing on two occasions, which he elaborated on largely, lie considered he should not be held responsible for what had been done by his party previous to his entering Parliament. Regarding the policy of the Opposition, we are just as wise now as' before Mr. Mine's appearance, for he certainly did not explain anything that could be construed as such. A comparison of Mr. McCluggage's straightout, gentlemanly address with that of the innuendo-inference-type as given bv Mr. Hine must be detrimental to the latter, and though the latter may please the biassed politician, or the "chaps with a hollow on the top of the head," those who take serious note of the progress of the colony as a whole, can do nothing else but "douse the other glim!" In reply to questions. Mr. Hine said he favored a State ferry service between the North and South Islands, but objected to State steamships generally. He was against State control of liquor, and in favor of protecting local industries. He was against the State monopoly of mineral wealth, yet in dealing with the Mokau matter lie made much of the fact that the hidden wealth had been alienated from the people by the action of the Government. A question relating to appointing returning officers and their being objected to, in which the, inference was thrown of crooked business, came

j next, .and I must say "Ifoni soit qui I maly pense" fits appropriately here! In ! replying to a question relating to the j remission of sugar duty, Mr. Hine men--1 tioned that he had spoken fully on this ' matter at Stratford, but the Daily News, the editor of which prided himself on • being a fair minded man, had cut it 'out |of his speech. He had expected to see it in a.9 a separate article, but concluded, as it had not appeared, it had j been deliberately withheld. Several questions were asked and answered, and Mr. Joe Corney, jun., moved a vote of thanks to and confidence in Mr. Hino. Mr. W. Matthews asked to have the words "and no confidence in the Ward Government" added, and, this being agreed to, the motion was put and carried on the voices, only a few small voices 'being raised against it. Cheers for Mr. Iline, Mr. Massey, the chairman, and rat calls, groans, etc., for the' Government made a veritable pandemonium for a short while, which shows that a bitterness is being imparted into this election that needs a lot of explanation—the shoe has been pinching for '2O years or so, and the extra squeeze foreshadowed is not going to be borne if it can in any way be obviated.—l am, etc., J. 8.5.. CHARGES OF CORRUPTION.

To the Editor. Sir,—Until Mr. Wright's letter appeared in your columns on Monday last, few could have believed that a supporter, for the moment, of the Government could have so cynically ■ endorsed the charges of corruption that, have been made by the Opposition. No appeal is made to electors on the score of good legislation or administration. Simply, they are advised to put in the man who can secure the largest quantity of "plums when they are ladled out." Truly, politics are reduced to very simple elements when the only consideration is lrow to sell votes to the highest, bidder. If Mr. Wright is to be the leader of the "procession" he refers to, it is to.be sincerely hoped for their own credit that not many will endeavor to keep up with it.—l am, etc., JAMES BURGESS. , Warea, December I, 1911.