THE ELECTIONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3037, 6 November 1908, Page 5

THE ELECTIONS.

Messrs Bradshaw Dive (Opposition) ( and George Percy Wake (Government) have so far been nominated for the Egraont seat. Mr Hunter will deliver a political address at Atea this morning, and at Putara this evening. He will i | speak at Alfredton on Saturday evening. The Premier will visit Pahiitua i next Tuesday, when he will reply to j the speeches made there by the j Leader of the Opposition and Mr Jas. Allen. The nomination of Mr John Huiter, as a candidate for the Masterton sett, was handed in yesterday. Mr Hunter was nominated by Messrs R. Rigg, builder, Masterton; J. McGregor, senr.,, farmer, Kaipo; Hillas, farmer, Masterton; arid A. G. Major, journalist, Masterton. Mr T. E. Y. Seddon was nominated yesterday for the Westland constituency. Feeling over election matters is said to be running very high all through the district, and the contest promises to be one of the keenest ever fought in the history of the constituency. Mr J. Hunter has drawn our attention to an error in a report of his Newman meeting. A correspondent informed us that it was the largest meeting of electors ever held at Newman, but as a matter of fact the attendance was not large, owing to the extreme inclemency of the weather prevailing at the time. "Are you in favour of compulsory military training?" was one of the questions put to the Hon. Geo. Fowlds in Grey Lynn. In reply the Minister said that he thought there should be as little compulsion as j possible, but he recognised the value of military training. He referred to the good results of the school cadet-system, and said he thought there should be some method of transferring boys direct from the cadets to the volunteers. There is some dissatisfaction in Ashburton amongst the supporters of Mr Nosworthy and Mr Mastin that Mr David Jones should have been accepted by Mr Massey as the official Opposition candidate, particularly as Mr Jones, in beginning his campaign, appeared to be more of an Independent than a straightout Oppositionist Mr Massey, however, is apparently satisfied as to the support that he would receive from Mr Jones, if the latter is elected. All three Opposition candidates will go to the poll, but a second balot is almost a certainty, and in that case it is believed that

the party's votes will be concentrated on whichever of the three has to go to the poll again. In the course of a political speech in City East. Mr W. Richardson expressed his strong convictions that the whole of the North of Auckland was suitable for the breeding of silkworms. It only half that country were planted with the right kind of .mulberry tree, he said, a crop of silk could be secured that would exceed in value all the wool clip. While wool went from 6d to 9d per lb, silk was worth 2s per lb, and what a valuable stand by such an industry would be! Thousands of pounds went from New Zealand •every year for glass, while New Zeaand had one of the finest glassmaking sands in the world. Then £21,000 worth of blacking came annually to the Dominion, and surely New Zealander3 . could make their own blacking. There were 221,000 barrels of cement being brought here every year, and yet Auckland could turn out splendid cement. Ihen .again, 1,441,0001b of maize came here from abroad, whereas not lib should be coming; the maize lands of the East be developed to produce all the maize required, yet the Government admitted maizena free,