THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3621, 23 September 1890, Page 2

THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

'Mi'M'OMtolntlsTlioatro .Royal. • About four:hundnd persons~assembled in the Theatre fioyal last evening to hear the'address of Mr W. Wr M'Oardle.

His Worship the Mayor, in a fow words, introduced the Bpeaker, and naked for him a fair hearing. Mr M'Oardlo, who was received with applause, said ic wsb rather unfortunate that the weather. waß not favorable. Still, they had a fair representative audience. He would endeavor to deal,, as briefly and clearly as possible, with questions affecting the colony at large. He felt rather nervous in commencing his address. The position he occupied at the present time was different to what it was when he first contested the seat, fie had then one paper in the town in his taror. Since then, for some reason unknown to him, this paper and its editor (Mr Hog?) had withdrawn their confidence, He had no hesitation, however, in saying the fault did not rest with him. He had ahays worked in the interests of the district, and had tried to.advance those interests in every possible way. He had frequently been asked why he troubled himself about politic?. The fact was that he held .views which were of considerable importance to the Colony and the people, and he would be lacking in his duty if he did not come forward and place those views before the electors (hear, hear). Life to the best of men was exceedingly short, and each had a duty to perform to his fellow man; If over there was an important era it wa3 to-day. During the history of tho world vast and wide differences bad existed in the condition of the people Owners of wealth had wrested from the labourers the true and just earnings of thier labour. The views he would advance would be only what he believed to be in the interest's of the masses, and not out of selfish or personal motives. Had he been blessed with wealth he might have ccrae before them as a butterfly candidate. But he owed n duty to the people. If. he was persuaded in bis own mind'that he. had a worse ohance of being'restored than a labour candidate who had been mentioned, and who they all well knew, he would retire in his favour and do all that was in his power to ensure his return. Ho believed, however, that his moderate viewß were more acoeptable to the people than those of tho candidate to whom he had just referred, He was not going to sit on Ins own pedestal and assert that he had a greater knowledge of affairs generally than the other candidate, but he had felt the pulse of the electors and found they were in sympathy with him. (A voice: No!) Woll, he liked to hear people express their opinion on the subject. They flould be afforded ample opportunity for doing this after he had concluded his address. Ho might say that there was not tho slightest foundation for the rumour that ho had retired from the last election in favor of Mr Beetham. Not a single shilling had found its way into his pocket from that or any other gentleman, at the tinje, He had gone to Woodville at the express request of the leaders of the Liberalparty, Sir Eobert Stout and the Hon. Mr Ballance, as it was thought Mr Smith would not contest the seat,' He claimed that as one who had largely assisted to open up the bush districts he had a rig'nk to' seek the suffrages of the Woodville electors, No man had done more for tho bush districts than he had. Ho did not think that in retiring from the Masterton contest he \yp sacrificing the confidence of the people, He was not altogether sorry that he had beon defeated. If he had money ho would not mind being defeated time after time for the sake of hja. principles, But this was where the toes of many were pinched, They had certain high aspirations, but they could not contest p'ejection successfully for thewantof funds. He would now conclude his introductory remarks and refer to tho

AOTSOKMSrPARUAMEHI.. . Two parties had been engaged in bringing in the present tariff proposals, The present Government bad been in power for a term of three years, Ho found'that there had been

liberals who fought against their pwn causp, Tjjerp wqs no man in the House who had wotkefj harder I for the cqlony than the Hqni Mr i Ballance (Hear, hear,) No one had I done §o mucji jn opening up and I settling theland, but they could notajl agree with him in bis nationalisation i scheme, Mr Ballance oontended that i the State should hold the land for the ' people in the fee simple, Bu 1 ; it > would bB impossible to 'build up the : two principles of perpetual lease and' I freehold. This was where hirasolf i and Mr Ballance differed, Tho i Government advanced moneys on • holdings' «t the rate of five pep pent. He djd'npt think anything ' bettertlian'thiacpulpTbewistie'd for, i It had enabled hundreds of men' to i find employment, and whenever men were willing to work they became i successful settlers. He expected soon to seo settlers in the neighbourhood i of Pahiatu) with sufficient land to 1 liya comfortably upon, He did not Mr Ballance in giving only smaJl'secthmsV sutlers. This forced them to leave l|ieir hoines and work elsewhere, If larger tracts of land were given them they would be afforded an opportunity of making a home. On another point he disagreed with Mr Ballance, and over the same question he had lost one of his, ohlest'and best supporters in Mr Beese, who'had dropnedbim as a hot potato. Every man, in |jis opinion, should have the privilege of making his land freehold. Under the present system a man took up a lease for thirty-three years at say one shilling pppacre. At the end of this term he had the privilege of renewing the lease, and all improvements belonged (o him, But' if tho land was valued atjß3() peracrpmope at the tiine'of the renewal than .before, tho occupier would mto P.V 20s per acre lnqpo for it. He mam::'.™! should be placed on an equal and no man should be debarred from making his Jpd afreehold, If a man lived next to another wljo |ield a freehold, and paid tho same amount for bis land, should he not have the right ot purchase? Through his advocating the equality of bettlers he had lost a man who he considered at one time to be his best friend, but he had: fortunately withdrawn his support at the right time. • Passing to another subject he weuld uphold a system of

FREE ASD IJtPABTIAL EDUCATION. He owed what little knowledge he possessed to what ho had read in tha press and studied, He came to the Colony some .years ago bb a labouring man, had worked hard, and received instruction jfrom reading and study, Although progressive education might be all vory well, he did not believe in colleges and universities being maintained by tho State., for. the benept of tho wealthy alone,

He would propose that in f uoh places aa Masterton the first and second teacher in the public school should impart ns much knowledge as possible to the children during the day, and in the evening have classes for those who did not attend the school. This would bo the means of introducing technical education. A large number of youths would thereby, be taken from the streets and educated. They had, he was sorry to say, a large force of larrikins in the colony, and even his own sons had been termed larrikins. There were boys who were irrepressible and hard to subdue, and who were oE a scapegoat disposition. These boys, if there was a night, school,, would attend, their good qualities would be brought out;and their evil propensities subdued. A system of secondary education should be provided. Mr Grundy had informed him some time ago that if a school such as he advocated were established sixty or seventy boys a night off the streets of Masterton would be present. This they should have, seeing that the wealthy and favoured few alone could take lull advantage of the present system of education (applause). There wasanother question he' would like to deal with, The late Parliament had passed a

RE-VALUATION ACT. This had met with opposition at certain quarters, He believed as ho said before, that the people should be settled on the land with equal rights, He pointed out that land at Kopuaranga, twenty miles from Masterton, had been sold by the Grown at enormous prices,. To r these high valuations he had objected, and he got them reduced. /When the land was taken up it was understood il' was near a market and was of good carrying capacity. There were three classes of land. When the people looked upon the bush they thought that tho land must be fertile and that they could make a good living from it, They had since discovered, however, that it would not carry one sheep to the acre. After several fruitless attempts to get a quorum of the Land Board to.visit the district, the matter fell through and was left in the hands of the ranger; This ranger, as. a matter of course, worked in the interests of the Government, and settlers had to be particularly careful not to offend him if they wished a reduction in their rent. The land should be Bottled on as equal it basis as possible, At the first sales land was disposed of at £land JHlOs per acre, and since then the same land had been disposed of at. 12s 6d. The first buyers should by all means have a reduction made. It had been urged that by this revaluation scheme the burden was retnovod from the shoulders of the tenants and placed on those of the taxpayers, This was not so, Land would bo sold at a proper valuation, As tenants, people often found after living for a year or two on a piece of, land that it wis. necessary that that they should have a reduction. If the Government did not make reductions they would soon be like the Irish tenant and tho English landlord. Ho looked upon the State as. the father of a family. The whole of the descendants of a family should bo treated alike. Residents of tho bush districts had not received the consideration they deserved. If returned he would use his best endeavors to get the valuation of the land reduced as. it had been in the South Island, It was tlio duty of' every member to work in the interest of the electors. (Applause.) During last Parliament

THE HARE SYSTEM had been brought forward, He thought the system was right to some extent, Sueli electorates as the W«irarapa and Maoawatu aliould be combined with Wellington, even though such a combination would affect him personally. The system of local representation had don.9 no good. The railways had been made by a system of log-rolling, and everybody had scrambled for wealth, .Representatives had the interests of their own particular districts and not the colony at large at heart, and as a result were supported by their constituents. But this was in consoqueuce of local representation, Three country representatives should be oleoted with three city, He now carno to the question of the

SEDUCTION OP MEMBERS.' Ho had treated this question with a certain amount of distaste, There was no doubt but that the Government with the new Representation Bill had played into the hands of the wealthy. To a man liko Mr Beetliam £IOO or £2OO meant very little, but to such as himself it might mean ruin. The Government should give some explanation of their reasons for making the change, Butnow that the Bill was passed they should give it a fair trial, In this district its effects were not felt, but other constituencies had been completely wiped out, The fact was, it was easier to entry on a Ministry with a small Hguse than with a large, The Oolony had, howeyer, done yery well under its past system of representation, Then there was the question of

FEDERATION,

which had been a leading subject for discussion in political circles of late. He thought New, Zealand would have very little show" in' a Cpnference, Sir Beetham had advocated the federation of tho wholo of -the British Empiro, But ho did not think such a oourse was wise, Tho less they became entangled with English affairs, (ho safer for themselves, No great Power would think of molesting New Zealand unless we meddled in their affairs. At the same time the system of DEFEHC£' in the colony was holding out a red rag to a hungry bull. They were practically asserting that they were prepared to defend themselves against all comers, lie did not think the public money fshpu'ld be' squandered in an'clabpralo '(Jefeiioo of' the cqlony. A great deal had ken said for and against r BETRENOniIENT.

Tlu-oeyearg ago advocated a I retrenchment policy, The party of Sir n „w,' """it attliat time considorod it was not necessary,' T ha J W woe discovered, however, that it was peoejjwy, It Lad been said that the salaries of head Qfi}ciajo should not be touched. Hedi.dn.ot tbjnk Jf fight that the Burnoo f 'per year; ghould he paid person who held { she positiopg-.;,.in-,\the civil ser-: vice, It wae Ifee freight ofi absurdity (hear! hesr j) It M$ been urged that the responsibility of heads of departments demanded high salaries. It was not necessary ho maintained, for the head of the Railway Department to bo paid £I2OO a year, Since the vote for the Audit Department had been reduced, the ControllerGeneral had written stating that he wotilcl.be compelled to' discharge bix clerks, Tbif was not': right, Xhe salary of the heads'of dopartraents! should bo touolitfd first (hoar"} hear!) 1 Would not any farmer in this district

saorificehis present' prospects for a position in the Oivil Service at. £SOO j a year r The position of affairs had' been brought about by the present system 'of education, Jrom what he had seen, men who occupied high positions had very little to do and plenty of leisure, It was not the (I ty of the State to build up a Civil Service aristocracy. These hgh salaries should not be paid. At h e last election he had dealt more fully with this subject and had produced figures. He believed Mr Beetham was present, but he was not speaking on this subject on that 'account" It was all very well for Mr Beetham to support these high salaries, Ho was a man in a high position himself, aud had wealth and affluenco, andof course be sympathised with those iu the Civil Service who held higb positions, They should not have a " hob nobbing" aristocracy, e?en though other countries had. They surely could not expcot this Colony to be the same as the Old Country, They should Btand out singly if necessary and say to the high officials, "Yon will have twelve months' notice or a reduction in salary," (hear, hear I) The men who were doing, the real.work of tho Colony did not receivo more than £2OO a year. Suou salaries as these should not be reduced, but the high officials should be dispensed with, and the genuine worker should be given, the opportunity of rising to the head of the department (hear, bear). He thought it necessary to refer to the RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS, ./ without touohiug upon the preson difir bulty with the railway servants.He had given the question a calm consideration. At the last general election the Government had introduced tho Railway Commissioners as a now plank in their platform, and it was said that nnder the new arrangement the whole of the debts of the Colony would bo paid off, He had not thought so from the beginning, The present system was worse than Maxwellism, If any man went to the Commissioners at the ore of this election and requested a concession as regards the railway he would get it, and if Mr Beetham went to the Commissioners now and tried to get the five miles extra for freight on the Kiroutaka taken off he would most assuredly have his request granted (hear I hear! If the Government did not graut what the people wanted they could havo ut charge shoot against them which they would not face. During the .last election a sawmiller at Woodvillo had come to him and stated that he' desired to export timber to a neighboring colony. He went to the Government and pointed out that by the concession of 3d per 100 tho colony would be benefited as well as himself, but as a matter of fact no concession was granted, The present management tended to centralise trade and money in such centres as Wellington and N»pior. By tho present system property in the neighborhood ot Wellington would be increased tremendously, If the original scheme of Sir Julius Yogel were carried out the settler occupying tho soil would have his property (made neatly of the same value as the resident near the city.. If it was a fact that the railways were in the hands of the peoplo and they could make monoy by them,surely>they should wake up and demand tboir rights, (Hear, hear.) The graduating scheme proposed by Mr Yaile in Auckland | was deserving of the consideration of I electors, (applause,) The present Parliament had made amendments in

THEMNDAOT. | He did not always condemn what was done by his opponents. For instance, he believed that every man should have the right of paying off his lease and waiting bis laud a fvoeliold, A man improved his land as far as possible, and then found he could not stock it to make it reproductive.* It a holder could find the money he should be afforded the privilege of acquiring a freehold. He failed to Beo how borrowing could bo done away with. Then there was the question of

; DUMimsji, Not a single attempt had been made ' to put a stop to the present system of 1 dummyism. The land might be 1 cut up into small sections, but in a year or two one man would monopolise the lot, If auy man was anxious 1 to oflect a cure of this evil, it rested itianutsholl, An amendment should ' be made in tho Land Transfer Act 1 and it should be impossible for a man ■ to register more than a certain amount in his own name. It would 1 then be impossible to create big estates 1 (hear? hear I—A voice: And you do it). Ho had given evidence bofore 1 (he Dummyism Commission, ami be ' had suggested a schemo which a 1 certain Minister (of whose return at 1 tho coming election he was very 1 doubtful) had said would be opposed ! to the interests of capital, He would show that this would not bo so, ,as tho capitalists would get interpst on twenty blopks ' the same as upon one. He 'belipyed 1 that even Mr Beotham would agreo that his scheme was feasible As a member of the Land Board he was an administrator and not a law maker, They administered the Act, and to some extent did more than the Act provided. Peoplo in Wellington had paid the Boar;} had decided that a man could transfer without leaving the district, He believed that under certain oircumstanccs a man should beallowed to transfer. For instance, when he found he could not mako bis land pay, anda better man was coming in. Men often found that they could barely live on their sections. Were they to allow the land to revert to tho (Joverririierit? He bad always taken up the position that' they'should transfer to good men, He would not support the granting of transfers whero people stated they were about to leave the district; It was now blood they'wanted, and they should conservo their population (heai',hear). No real effort had b;en made to settle men oil the land, Every obstacle had been piaped in the way pf. a man becpmiDg a successful settlpr. Land ' such aa tho Puketojs, where'tljore i were one or two surveyor's tracks, I was nCt Be *W. No wonder men left the colony in tKoUSauds,. Mr i Beetham had stated that it was tiie ! poor (nan wfio was leaving the colony, i Hedisa'greijoj'qn this no|nj, I who found'after a diifgenj; search j they could not settle on the |n| were < the men who were leaving.'.' People I were told tpsettle,an| themselves \i tlie jnisj), Eralnajly, < having become martyrs tp toil, ihey I cleared out, He 'had brought ] forward, a systom ftnd hi discussed 1 it with Mr Beetbam at tlie las < election. He would like W'disoug it ' again. Mrßeetham' had i the old course," but he advocated the I system of village settlements. When I a vote had been lakon on tho subject, t Mrßecfham bad received four votes i and himjjef mofp thsp he ppujd count, J

Under the present system large areas. of land were taken up and small sums lent to Road Boards to patch up and fill up the holes in the miserable roads mado, He had found that on 50,000 s acres £240,000 would bo a sufficient sum to form,' metal, and keepin repair good rends throughout the block, Ho was not a believer in the cry

"HO MORE BORROWINQ," ;-v and he did not believo that borrowing- jL was going to swamp Ihe country, Ho W admitted that borrowing in the past • had tended to do so, but he would support borrowing for the specifio object of settling the people upon the'. ■ . land, They should have a progressive land settlement, Mr Beetham, in his : last address to the electors,', had favoured the granting of suitoble men who were willing tosettle on the land, for tho purpose of en- jv couraging settlement. But he would V ■ point out that scores had como to tho ' colony in search of good land, but had been unable to find it. As many as ninety had bullotted for one section of -• land alone in the Forty-mile Bush. Of courseonly one couldhave the land,and the other iighty-nine were compelled - to leave the colony without a foot of land on which to rest their weary feet, They had better throw.their money in the fire, where it couid do nobody any harm, than to get people to come to the colony undor bumi a , proposal, He would like to see Mr Beetham with one of his, English., small farmers, wending his way to rijAt remote summit and stating, is land on which you mhst settle," ' His English friend would' be dis-.'' gusted, He wished the Government to provide money to make roads when the people had settled oh the land,' Mr Beetham,. probably under tho impression thai he was doing hima good turn, had told him that at Queenstown Mr %us had greatly , praised "Mr McCardle's proposal forW/\ land settlement." He would take this 1 opportunity, however, of saying that in no two respeots were their view* ' alike, He would propose purchasing large blocks of laud, and laying off sections in such areas as would suit all classes of the community, Money should be borrowed and j,ood roads . made, He would suggest that small suburban sections be set aside for the working man, and sections of 500 acres outside for larger settlers, By this means they would have three classes of settlers. If they gavo ordinary encouragement they would get plenty of settlers. Was there, he asked, anything of so much importance to the Colony as tho opening up of the land,? All sorts & attempts at retrenchment and lo'caT industries had been made, but only partial success would bo attained until overy inch of the country was opened up. For this-purpose tho Government should advance money at the rate of five per cent on easy terms' - (hear, hear). The question of

TAXATION had occupied tbo attention of politicians for a long time, There kinds of taxes, tbo property tax and v the land tax, Personallyhe belieyed in a land and income tax,and a progressive one at that, Largo holdings should, if ✓ possible, be broken up. For instance there was at Pahiatui an enormous estate known as the Balfour P3tate, on which only two persons lived, whilst on the adjoining 5000 aore3 they had nearly 2000 settlers, Was this right] Theyhad men who went up froth Masterton toPahiatua without a sixpence, and had become successful - settlers and landholders. (A good deal of talking was here going on among tho audience and the Chairman requested that, order be maintained), Perhaps his reference to these subjects was rather tedious., but it was of vital importance to jfc He said again there were mehin Pahiatua 1 who had made homes for themselves in a few years, Ho was not one of those who went in baldheaded for a "busting up" polioy. They should procure sufficient land for the people to settle on, With a progressive land and income tax thcso largeestates would be gradually "burst up," He believed that sometime*ago a Mr M'lean on this platform advocated a single tax on the land " itself, This, he m lintained, was not a fair tax; Stock in this district and in Canterbury had been selling at enormous prices for export purposes, and if they put a tax on land only these exporters of meat would not be touched, Even in the Wairnrapa a large trade in this direction was done by a comparative few, He did not think, therefore, that a single Jand tax would be fair, They should tax land on its unimproved value, together with income on a progressive scale. There was, however, as he he was aware, one objection to tbo land tax, and that was that a man might erect a mansion and store in it all kinds of wealth and treasures and yet escape being tixed. This was the principal objeolion to doing away with tho property tax, Mr Ballance had suggested a modified property tax, but he would rather that the matter had been put plain beforo the electors. The land and income tax had been lucidly explained by Mr Henall, pn that platform. At the present tjme the man who improve!} his land had to pay heavily, whilst the man who made no improvements got off scot free, He could Bee that his audience wero getting somewhat restless, Ho would probably have another opportunity of addressing them later on, (A voice: I hope notl) Wpli, that was a (natter pf If his friend who made this remark did not caro to come ho could stay away, (Hear, hear) He had not, he maintained, diverted from his original course (Cheers,) No one had. done more for tho district than mpMf) and he belived that if the question was put to Mr Beetham he would admit that this v, as so, Through his influence, by petition and lobbying, the Land AtnCndihen't Act of 1887 had been passed. He then referred to the system of taking up land in -• the early days, and how he had' made it possible, although Wt a metnber ipr Parliament, for a man to make a home for himself," Under' the Land 'Act Araen'dment Acts p,f 1887 and 1889 many a man had beejf enabled to settje op the land, Ho supposed that ag a candidate ho would be supposed to touch upon the presppj

LABOUR DIFFICULTY. in Wellington,'At least the Daily of [hat day had said that each candidate should express himself clearly upon the labour dispute, Hi's sympathies, he ipightsav, pre entirely with, those, on strike (hear f hear |j ' |E|e beliejeij theWn had gone put'ln.the mtbrests of labojir, 'The 0 " difficulty '{fail cp,tt)tn'e'()CPd'in it was lAe| bijt the tjlepij taken, by the, I'abpaJ! party wirp rjght in the interests p| labour, The men.wefe quite ijght in resenting the option' of.-thp Unipn Copipany,'and he felt sure theyMd no selfish motlvo In view, m had been spoken to in Wellington by the men, and they had expressed thoir sorrow (U leaving good mnstere and good employment, perhaps never to rejurn to it again, but they did no in.

the Interests of Now, a 8 regards Iho KNIGHTS OF LABOUR, He had read carefully thoir prenmblo and found that there wero a number ot principles waioh were deserving of their best consideration.' There was no doubt but that great changes wcro necessary in the present relations of capital with labour, Me would advocate a reform ma moderate, way. Supposing, ho said, a man had a family, Branches of this family would attain to positions equal to those of their fathers, whilst others would go down lo tho lower classes and some would oven find , k - themselves amongst tho vory lowest, This procoss of descending wasbrought abont by poverty. He asked would tiny man present liko his offspring to l, doscond to where thousands wero going, Capitalists might 'hold up their vested intorests and everything olso they could to resist the demands of labour, but, he asked, did they not gain their capital by labour] (hoar, hear.) Ho was coming forward in the interests of tlm working man, His solo desire was to use all the influence he possessed to do away with the extromes which to-day existed among tho classes, He would uso every endeavour to get ikeso extremes slopped, Ho would proven!; men from acquiring vast amounts of wealth, and would work for the elevation of the masses. He those present for then' patient hearing, Ho might say that he would liko to moot his supporters after tho mcbting for tho purpose of forming a committee, Ho had not yot been dafinitely informed that Mr Hogg intended to contest tho soat, If ho did and he found that the majority of tho Liberal party were in his favor, thoy would hoar no more of M'Cardlo (hoar, hear,) Ho had 4_ always acted honorably, and ho would Flight if ho was wanted, If defeated, ho would bo defeated as an honorable man (prolonged cheering,) QUESTIONS, Tho Chairman hero called for questions, An'elector: Do you approve platform, asked if Mr M'Cardle a|h proved of thoaction of tho Railway Coin (Cries of "Platform,") The elector having mounted the missionera in discharging platelayers and officers of tho Kailway Servants' Union, Mr M'Cardle said it appeared to him that the Commissioners had gone out of their way to embitter tho men x agaiust thorn and to promoto a general jftike, They had been ill advised Hum had done a very wrong thing. The same elector asked if tho candidate approved of the Coinmis* Bioners reducing tho train service on tho Wairarapa line by two days in tho week, and thus diverting traffic to the Manawatu line, Mr M'Cardle replied that ho strongly condemned tho action of the Commissioners in tho matter, He tho Government had systoworked in the intorests of a private company in preference to the! railways of tho State (hear, hear, The linefrom Eketahuna to Woodvillo should have been constructed beforo . the Gorge lino. He would say that on one ppint only had he heard Mr Payton raiso his voice against the present Ministry, and that was giving over to Manawatu what belonged to the Wairarapa, fle had spoken to Mr Stout on tho subject, and had urgod that tho Eketabnna lino should he continued, And the question now came whether the Gorge line, when completed, would bo safe, The Government would eventually have to face the Eketahuna lino, He did not believe in the action Jjjjjf the Commissioners in reducing tho servico, They were trying to • get the men dissatisfied, and they would then have grounds for dismisBing them and taking on men thoy wished (hear, hear), Tho Chairman: Are there any more questions to put to the candidate? Cries of "Kcnall." ' ■-• Mr H. Marsh here made his way y, to the platform amidst groans and general uproar, and asked if Mr M'Cardle considered he was working in tbe interest of the liberal party in deserting them at the last election and saying, ''limdonewith you, but 1 recommend you to Mr Beetbam," Mr M'Cardlo: Such a statornent is a deliberate falsehood (cheers), it wasnovermadobyme. Mr Marsh: I was present and heard you; you recommended tho electors to support Mr Beotharn, Mr M'Cardle; I say again it is a deliberate falsehood, Marsh: It is not, you used those words. (Cries of "Chuck him out,"" Sit on him," and general uproar), Mr Marsh said he had another question to ask. He would like to know if Mr M'Cardle thought ho was working in tho interests of liberalism by contesting the Woodvillo seat with Mr Smith. Was it not in tho interests of Mr Horace Baker ? («o!) Mr M'Cardlo; No! I think I have explained this matter already. Iliad the full consent of the Liberal party . in my candidature for tho Woodvillo seat, It had been expeoted that Mr Smith would not step out of the Waipawa electorate and go to Woodvillo. I have acted honorably, Mr Smith was equally to blame in having left his pwn.district. When I retired v Jfe wW in. tha interests of Mr Hogg, 'i£r and did not moke thestatemontattri- ".. Wed to mo. I did not support Mr Beetham. Iu fact I argued Mr Yile and others present into supporting Air .f.Hogg and tho Liberal party. Mr Hogg jybs helped me in the past, and I Believe that when misrepresentations have been removed I will again liavo bis support (bear, hear.) Mr Marsh is labouring under a delusion, I never used'the words he attributes to me , (cheers,) " ■.' /' ' The Chairman; Are thore any 1 otlior questions —(Cries of " Russell" hnd"Eapworth,"j " Mr' Prangnell: Would you—- (" Platform.") I have no objection to the plitform (hear, hoar.) He would like toasiwhethcrMrM'Cardlewould be willing to 'la>' the voice of the electors in the large centres as to who siioultj witl)draw,liimself oy Mr Hogg, (Mr M'Gardhn I would,) They had two Liberal men before them and they could find no fault with either. If both of them con. tested the seat the electors might as well stay at home and give Mr JJeotham a walk over (hear, hear). He • jfad fought''in the Liberal ranks in • ■■■ would; stick'to his post. He believed he had net made enemies by standing tolas ■ • Hrinoipl^,' jjatlaii oppprtmuty p of puttirig a Liberal man in the House, and lip asked were they going • :i- tobe alotpf "nidiots 1 ' and put Mr «£•■ Beetbam baok again (Shrieks of .''••• laughter). Yes, thoy would be a lot of '°nidiots'" if they allowed this man to go back in preference to those who had a bettor, knowledge of tho district (renewed laughter), It was satisfactory to know that -Mf McCardle had

signified his willingness to meet the . electa of tbo largo oontres andabido by their decisions.-' This was all they could expoot (Cheers,) Mr McOardla said that while consenting to such a course it would be necessary under tlio circumstances that they should have men to travel with them. They should not go ( together. Whon he was shown that ' Mr Hogg had a bettor chanco than himself ho would retire. Mr Prangnoll said that they might think ho to Bpeaking for his party, j This was not so, Ho asked the j question as a private individual, i The Chairman: Any moro ques i tions?—Cries of"Eonall." 1 MrKonall: Yes, I havo a word or ' two (chcors andories of" platform.") Mr Renall: Ordor, will you. Whon J you've done your howling I'll spoak j to you (platform.) Thay had seen him on tbo platform often enough _ laughter), Ho had very little to say, as he was not in good, form, There was one question which had cruelly injured their "blessed" district, and. that was tho Rabbit Act, (applause). Ho would lilto to know if Mr Mo- 1 Cardl6 was going to Bupport an Act I which dragged honest men before tho ' Court and fined them as though they ' were folons, Ho had boon selected ' as tho only largo holder in the district to be fined because ho had property _ on' which be had not placed liia foot for twenty jours (laughter), He would rather sacriiicn a member of his body than vote for either Mr Becthaui or Mr Buchanan, tho framers of this Act. Ho had heard tho able addross of Mr M'Cardle, to whom ho would now proposo a vote of thnnfa and the approval of the electors lor having expressed his willmgnosa to retire if roquosted, (Cheers), < Mr Prangnoll seconded tho motion, which was put and carried almost ' unanimously, Mr M'Cardle briefly responded, and a vote of thanks to tho Chairman terminated tho proceedings. ,