POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 153, 24 November 1914, Page 7

POLITICAL.

THE WESTLAND SEAT. By Telegraph.—Per Press Association. Greymouth, Last Night, 'Mr. J. A. Murdock has withdrawn from the contest for the Wcstland scat. He explains that he finds his former active association with and support of the old Liberal party is being used in an unfair manner to prejudice his candidature. In the present position of international affairs nothing could be more distasteful than a bitterly-contested election. ROWDY MEETING AT TAIIIAPE.

Taihape, November 23.

Mr. H. M. Speed, Reform candidate lor Waimarino, addressed 250 people here on Saturday night. The meeting was disorderly, especially towards the end, when certain remarks of the speaker produced choruses of groans and hisses, mingled with cheers for Sir Joseph Ward. The candidate confined himself to exploding the allegations against the Massey administration, and comparing the records of the two Governments as shown by the facts and figures. A motion of thanks to the candidate failed to find a seconder, and the meeting broke up in disorder.

TAUMARUNUI SEAT. IMR WILSON ANGRY AT URUTI. (From a Correspondent). Mr C. K. Wilson, Reform candidate, addressed some fifty or sixty electors at 'Uruti on Friday evening. The chair was occupied by Mr Aroa. The speaker gave a similar address that at Waitara, until he had made the statement that he as their member had, out of the £120,000 allocated for tlio roads, secured £20,000, or one-sixth of the whole, for his electorate, and lie felt proud of the fact. "But," said tlie speaker, "what action did Sir Joseph Ward take over the position? Sir Joseph was always telling the backblocker how his heart bled for them. He could see it bleeding, but what did he say, that it was outrageous and disgraceful that such a large sum of money should be granted to settlers of this district." One of the audience interjected and said that Sir Joseph said no such .thing. The speaker three times reiterated tlie charge, and it was as many times denied, while the hulk of those present cheered Sir Joseph and the defender. Tlie candidate became angry, and challenged tlie interjector to prove that the speaker was wrong, and if he did so, Mr Wilson was prepared to give : £SO to the local hospital, adding, as an afterthought, that it was conditional on the other man putting up £SO and forfeiting to some object provided the speaker was right. The candidate then said that he supposed that Sir Joseph's defender would have to borrow the £SO from his friends, and received thu reply that it was certain Mr Wilson had not got it to lend. Mr Wilson then told him to get his head read, and received the reply that if lie had a head like the candidate he would certainly do so. Mr Wilson then became offensive and personal in his remarks for a few minutes, then went on with his address. The "ginger" however, was gone, and for the concluding hour the speaker was very tame.

Question time brought the first from Mr .T. Murray, an old and highly respected farmer of the dictrict, who failed, after several valiant attempts to get any satisfaction to his question as to what work the present Government bad done for the baekblockers within a radius of 15 miles of the township. When Mr Murray asked why the Massey Government had not done the same amount of work for the Tangitu settlers as the Ward Government had done for the Moki by completing the work of the saddle, Mr Wilson said that the Government had done what the Tangitu settlers had asked, but as this was on £ for £ subsidy, obtained after repeated applications which followed the failure to get the whole loaf that was due to them, the settlers concluded that the half loaf was better than no bread and had to be content, willy nillv. In reply to another questioner, the candidate said he was in favour not only of annual inspection of cows, hut more, frequent. .Tust here a hurried whispered conversation took place between the candidate and the chairman, the latter leaving the stage to whisper certain instructions to one of the pillars of Reform, the audience shrewdly guessing it to be an alteration of a vote of thanks and confidence to a vote of thanks only. It was very palpable.

Another of the audience was afraid that question time would lie hurried, and called "question chair." 'fie was permitted to put his request, which was asking why the Government did not bring; down mining legislation in 1012, and so save the TTuntly disaster. The candidate read a long screci of what purported to be a commissioner's report, but to all it was quite unintel.ligible. Tn reply to other questions on the same subject, he said that the Minister liad • given instruction some five months previous to the disaster to go on with a prosecution, lmt 'hose responsible, instead of taking Crown Law advice, went to some firm of solicitors in the Thames, lie advised ttmt a case canld not stand.

Mr 'Larsen, who S3 before indicated, had been spoken to before when he left the stage, after a whispered conversation with the chairman, moved a vote of thanks tr Mr Wilson, and "no confidence'' i\terjccted one of the audience. The motion (cither the single or doublo-Larrellcd one), was seconded by sonieou?. Imtr.cdiaWy another elector rose at the hick of the hall and said, "Mr chairman I want." but that was as far as ; t went, for the chairman put the ni.."-:jn and it was carried. A voce of thanks to the chair conclud- • .1 what must have been to the Reform- ' - !*»> vnlcoked for hostile audience, ?»r 1.e.(1 the amendment got a chance v '.-k li:e audience, it would have been c.rriod by a large majority.

Mr Jennings' friends are. feeling more sanguine of success every day, and after every meeting of the. Reform candidate, for there are adherents to the Liberal cause after such meetings, and Reformers are showing that their case is now hopeless. Right is asserting itself before might, and the small settlers are now reading the, sham and humbug of Reform, which is only for the squatter, man of capital and merchant, as has been clearly shown during the past two years. _