POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 284, 4 May 1914, Page 8

POLITICAL.

THE TACMARUXUI ELECTORATE. DEFENCE OE LIBERAL PARTY. and finished at Ot£S J n £ * on >, When uske.l for his i, Ilp of mud was a treat for .Mr Wittv who h|M had no difficulty in hi. district so la> as roading.is concerned, as metal is placed on the roads for is .Id ~7^? electorate it is costing as high as £1 3s Per yard. The meeting at Ohura was equally .ai enthusiastic, and attended by »ettlers who came many miles. Tile exmember received an ovation. t Jtw~ J? eeti . I W. w «» «t Taumarunui, the 1 heatre Royal-bsing well tilled flavor Jackson presided, and there were also seated on the stage most of the principal esidents and representatives of local bodies. The same appreciation of the speakers defence of Liberalism was shown, though there was some Modhumored interruption by a . few p-op.c "hiu. gave Mr. Witty a splendid op'!.;tumty ot justifying his name. This Gentleman next addressed settlers at Aii'ho iNiho and Maticre, Messrs Smith and Jennings taking Otorohanga and o'her places. Tlie last-named place finished th■■ northern portion of the electoral and was_ equally as interesting and entliiiiinstic, tlie ex-member again being received at the meeting with acclaim The principal points touched on bv the -U.I. s were the broken promises of the Reform Government, tlie Liberal Party and Sir Joseph Ward's attitude during the strike, and showing what leil to the three stonewalls; the increase in the rate of interest on borrowed money, and the great increase in expenditure in connection-with governing the country. Mr. Jennings quoted official figures, showing that in the years INO2-11 no less than 14i,570. selectors took up land, and the area- totalled 4.424,1110 acres. Moat of the settlement was during the time be was member for Egmont and Taumarimui under the Liberal Government, and he claimed the record as a phenomenal one.as.mdjpning each' selector and his family as four, over (5(1,000 persons were provided with homes. This meant prosperity to the business man, and emii.'oynieiit all round.

Asked wliat his impressions were as to improvements in reading and metalling, Mr. Jennings said lie could only repeat what an old settler said to hiiii in connection with this important matter: "We put you out, "believing we were'not getting a fair deal; but three Christmuses have gone by since, and we are worse oil' to-day than ever." Ik- had never seen the roads so bad, and at Aria, Kaeaea, and other plates, the settlers will bo imprisoned this winter, as the roads leading into these places li'ave broken' up already.' Some portions' of Olnua road arc in a shocking state; and if it is a long and wet winter, as present indications suggest; settler-- will have a rough time of it. A rea! goou season has been allowed to slip bv without anything practically being done, aiid to start men to work on roads now is a sheer waste of public money. Probably the best way of-summarising the position of roading'nnd metalling in the Taumarunui electorate was the statement made by Mr. Scholes at the meeting held by the M.P.'s at Otoroliango on Thursday night last, Mr. Sciiolea is chairman of the Local Bodies Association, and speaking after Messrs Smith and Jennings had concluded, he said that had it not been for the loan money, subsidies, and grants voted by the Ward Liberal Government, they ' would have been in a very bad way* in Waitomo County, for all they had had from the Reform Government in two years was £2OOO new money, and" that had only been authorised last month, am was too late to be utilised this year.

'"Generally speaking," Mr. Joinings said, "I have found an unmistakable change in public opinion throughout the electorate. The public mind is alarmed over the 'toy navy,' the Boyd Garlick affair and the scarcity of money aim employment, etc. In connection with the latter, a friend of mine, a contractor in Taumarunui told me on the Tauniaiunui railway platform on Friday that he advertised for twelve men for some work and in one day he had over sixty applications."

MR. FORBES Af OKATO. Mr. G. W. Forbes, member for .Hurunui, spoke to an audience of about forty at Okato on Friday evening, and received a good hearing. At the conclusion of the meeting he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. TO-XIGHT'S HEI'.TIN*IS. Mr. G. Witty, MJ>., and Mr: A. AY. Smith. M.P., speak at ilidhirst this evening; Mr. G. W. Forbes af Tariki, and either Mr. Atmore or Mr. tsitt at IngVwood. MR. TSITT, M.P., AT THE THEATRE ROYAL. A Dreadnought cruiser from the L.licral Flying Squadron, in the sh.vpe of Mr. Isitt. M.P. for Christehureh Nnrtli, will open fire on New Plymouth in the Theatre Royal on Tuesday night. Mi. Tsitt has visited Fcilding. where the drill j hall proved all too small to hold the crowd that collected; at Aramoho. the hull was also crowded, and a large.r number had perforce to go away ; Bulls, YY'averley. and Kaponga, where very large audiences attended. Everywhere votes of thanks to the speaker and oi/n-

I fidcnce in Sir Joseph Ward have been ; carried. • Mr. Isitt finds that he is unable to get to Whangamomona to-dnv. as the train arrives at Pohokura half an hour after the ballast train has left. If 11 r. Atmore's indisposition prevents his speaking at Inglewood, Mr. Isitt will probably do so in his stead.