ELECTION NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2365, 6 September 1887, Page 2

ELECTION NEWS.

Mr Whyte at Ngaruawahia

Mr Whyte addressed the electors in th> Public Hall, Xgaroawahia, oil Saturday evening last. There was a large attend, ance, and his address, which lasted neatly two horns, was listened to mo-t attentively, and frequently applauded. Mr Rome occupied the chair. Mr Whyte on rising said that he had just heard outside that a great point was made against him bv hiopponents because be was not in the habit of addressing the electors annually at the different centres of population. Well, he admitted he was not fond of making speeches, but he defied anyone to instance

a case where he had ever declined an invitation to visit any part of the constituency, or had failed to attend to any heal or individual want which was ever hr-,light under his notice, be it big or little. Hr thought attention to such matters was much bulter than any amount of speech making. He then, before entering upon general questions, referred to several points, upon whieh he and those with whom hi worked, had been grossly misrepresented by tiiose opposed to his candidature, evidently for electioneering purposes. In the tir-t place he was accused of a desire to lower the

Rate of Wages,

and the fact that his party had made an all rmmd reduction in the Civil service in of 10 per cent, had been given as a proof of this. Xow, in the first place, he desired to say that he and everyone el-e who cared for the colony wished to see wages high, because high wages iiieantpond times all round, and low wages rneaut hard times, and he himself had always paid the highest rate of wages that was current. He, however, desired to point nut that the rate of wages was entirely beyond the control of either Mr Russell or himself. The inexorable law of supply and demand would regulate that. If work were plentiful wages would be higher, and if scarce wages would be low. As regarded the Ten per cent reduction.

In 1879 he thought this a very unfortunate instance for a supporter of Sir Robert Stunt and .Mr Ballance. to bring up, seeing that it was owing to the reckless extravagance of the Ministry of which they were members in 1879 that this extreme and in itself undesirable reduction was rendered necessary. The country had then to face a deficiency in the revenue of nearly one million, An immediate saving was required, and it was decided with the greate-t reluctance by nearly the whole House, that as a choice of evils it was better to do this than to turn a large number of men adrift upon the colony, thus increasing the number of the unemployed. It must also he remembered that in doing the latter no immediate saving would have been affected, as large sums in the way’ of compensation for loss of office would have had to be paid. It was this that caused that reduction to be made, and no follower of Sir Robert Stout was wise in bringing it up, especially when it was remembered that the present (lovermnent iiad issued a circular last summer, lowering the rate of wages on the railway. Besides, the Ministry who made this 10 per cent reduction showed their sincerity by reducing their own salaries 23 per cent., whereas the present (lovermnent, when times were infinitely worse, only promised to reduce theirs 7-j per cent. He, however, wishes! to say’ that an all-round percentage reduction was unfair, and he would certainly take care that no such means of retrenchment should he resorted to again. Then he (the speaker) was accused of wishing to tax tea as I sugar, and to reduce the exemptions mri :■ the Bropertv-tax, whereas lie was distinctly of opinion that no extra taxation was, as far as he could see, necessary, as by'means of retrenchment he thought our expenditure could he brought within our income. All ho had said to give colour to this rumour was that he, or any other prudent man who had any regard for his pro mises could not absolutely pledge himself not to impose fresli taxation, as no one looking at the falling off in our revenue, and the depression prevailing all over the world could say what might happen, and what steps might become necessary m order to avoid repudiation. We must of course pay our debts. He, however, earnestly hoped that the country would be able to d-> without any fresh taxation, and certainly he would do his utmost to avoid it. He had also been accused of promising to vote for the 8 Hours Bill and not having kept that promise. He, however, held in his hand the page of Hansard, 1887, which showed that he had kept that promise, although he had been unfortunately absent when that frill came up quite unexpectedly in 1880. Then lie was accused of belonging to the Conservative Party,

but that was simply another piece i.f electioneering, as was proved by the fact that his party had passed the most liberal measures of the recent times, including manhood suffrage, triennial Parliaments, etc., etc. It was also said that he was a representative of the p.ank of Xew Zealand. Well, he had often heard of th • improper influence which that institution exercised over the polities of the colony, and when he went to Parliament he n> quite prepared to resent it when it ap peared, but so far he had seen nothing „f it, and certainly it had never been exercised upon him. The only measure that he remembered being introduced under their auspices was a bill to grant certain concessions to the East Coast. Native Land Settlement Company, of which several directors of the bank were large shareholders, but be (the speaker) had always told them that it had not the slightest chance of success, and it was withdrawn without even a division being taken upon it. He mentioned all these matters, and apologised for doing so, because they showed to what straits his opponents were driven when, after eight years of service, these and other similar trumpery charges were all that they could bring against his candidature. He looked upon this fact as a very great compliment to him indeed (applause). He also could not help referring to the small and paltry line taken by the

Premier, in his stumping tour throughout the colony, in saying that the policy of the Opposition was to introduce Kaffir labour, and to take the duties off silks and satins to put it upon the working classes. Why neither of these propositions had ever been mooted, and everyone knew that the Kaffirs wouldn’t come even if you tried to make them. This also came with very bad grace from a Premier who in ISvl took half the tax off property and tried to very largely increase the customs duties, and who again last session proposed to increase the customs duties by i’18(j,000 and the property tax only i.75,000. Mr Whyte then proceeded to point out that the real issue before the country was not only whether we would give the present Government another term of office, but also whether we were disposed to consent to Increased Taxation.

The one involved the other, because the Government had declared their policy and brought down their proposals last session, and put broadly they were, that no very substantial retrenchment in the public service could be effected, and that tTSiI.OOO extra taxation should be rawed by means of customs duties, and 17-i.OOO by'means of the property tax. If, therefore, the Government were retained in office this would be their policy, and this was the question now before them for their decision on the polling da}'.

Would they retain the present Government in power, and by doing so give their consent to largely increased taxation and but slight retrenchment.

The speaker then went on to show that in deciding this question thev must be guided by what the. Govemment had done, what they had unsuccessfully tried to do in the past, and what they now proposed to do as laid down in their financial proposals of last session. He then showed how the Government bad largely increased the annual expenditure, how the .Sinking I’imd bad been appropriated for revenue purposes how half the charge for hospitals had been put upon the localities, and that still their was a large deficit. He showed how the last loan bad cost ns 100,000 more than we had received, and how improperly this Government had behaved in the n after of the purchase of certain railways which had been reported upon by a committee as not worth bovine, and had paid morn than its estimated value for another with which three .Ministers were closely connected also how the Government had endeavoured by the increase, of paid positions in Parliament to have nearly a third of the memmembers of the House receiving pay in addition to their honorarium.-—He also I jointed out that although be thought any reasonable scheme for settling people on

*hc land ■-! li ■* tn-'l and had accordmglv approved of a vote for the purpose of establishing Village Settlements.

it vvas-ti;; highly impr iii-r on the part of any Mim-Oo lo.uwj that vote to fourteen times it- amount. Th t was what the llou-e lo an! tank with last session and bi.nii-d Mr ll.il.ance for, and not for hat ing established tillage .-clticmuuts. He (the sp.-ak-i I icp-at-d that every scheme which showed even a slight pio-pect of sucoes* should is- tiled, not only for settling people iijs-n the land, blit also for enabling them to live afterward-’. He thought if these settlements were well situated, the land good, and the class of settlers suitable, they might succeed, and if so, great benehta viiedd isa conferred upon the colony. He, however, regretted to say that in some instances tin- scheme had l>-en n=ed to secure political -upport. and to a-si-t men wno were now in the field a- lluvcrnmeal sup* pniPrs. H- aho nfeired to the largely-mereas-d charges f-r Ministerial rcsidenei. s, traiolinjg ..\is n-. s. ,Vc., Ac., and the manner in which the (lovernment had fulti.h’d their pr-mi-c to re-h-mi the Upper House by putting more members into it in • •ne year than their predecessors had in live. How th- 1 lovernuient had caused the c untry the ■xp'-n-e "1 a second session and nuliitied Mr llryce's efforts in the way of lelrenchm--nt. He also n feired to the manner in which the representative (lorcrnmeiit had t,e. n degraded in the eyes of the people by tbe manner m which the > love■rnmeiit had abandoned every principle rather than vacate the Treasury benches. He also showed that, if all their financial proposals had been carried out with regard to the Hast and Wc-t Coast Railway, heal finance and public works, our deficit this year nin-t have very nearly approached f'oo,ooo, instead of Then coming to the t lovernment proposals of last session, in addition to seizing the Sinking Fund and appropriating other funds, it was pnqiosed Pi increase the duties upon such things as boots and shoes, rice, corn flour, sago, tapioca, starch, mustard, patent medicines, and agricultural implements, and also to rai-e £.’110,000 a year from duties upon cheap calicoes, cottons, prints, shirtings, hollands, and all articles u-ed largely by the floorer classes, and this by a 1 lovernment that jsised as tile friend of these classes. Xow, it was said that this was done for protective purposes, but anyone could see that the measure of protection ptovid< d under these proposals would do but litue to encourage any local industry, and was simply another m-ans of getting more money out of our pockets in order to carry on the existing • ■rder of things. Very few of these articles were likely to he produced in this colony for the next fifty years. He also referred to the fact the present Ministry was conqioscd of city men who invariably championed the towns as against the country as was shown most notably in tbe case of the Representation Rill the manner of levying contribution to Hospital and Charitable Aid, their recent action regarding tiie limits of the Thames Harbour and many other matters. Their sympathy was evidently with the town as shown clearly by their actions. Ho thought he had now said enough to induce those electors of W'aipa who were present as well as those of Waikato to vote for an opposition candidate. It would be no n-fi to stud two men from the district to pull at two ends of the rope rather than together. The speaker then referred to retrenchment, which was absolutely necessary, saying that the line- which it should take were pretty well agreed upon by every one with the exception <d the members of the present Mini-try. Mr Whyte also referred to education, protection, and other subjects, pointing out that between ad valorem duties already imposed and the other expenses connected with the importation of golds, the colony already had protection to the extent of over HO per cent., and that surely was as much as wo could afford to pay. .Still he was in favour of

Encouraging Local Industries, and especially the mining industry, by means of direct aid, and not by increasing our already heavy Customs duties. He also referred to the evil effects of extreme protection in America and elsewhere, as shown by the wretched condition of a large part ot the Working classes there where although it immensely increased the wealth and jxover of rings eleven jrer cent of the population of New Vork were in receipt of charitable aid, and Ni per cent of them Working over 10 hours a day. He pointed out also how difficult it was for farmer's to make a living, how then would they g< t mi if the purchasing power of their products wa< reduced by heavy customs duti< s. Tin- only matter in which he was an out an 1 out protectionist was as regards onr statesmen and rulers. He did not think wo should require to imjx/rt them. By means of education he hoped to s- e them growing up in the colony from ail classes, and thereby having popular sympathies, ami not those of a particular as heretofore. Mr Whyte then refcrrel very fully to the question of

Railway Management, saying that in this matter also he had been gi osslyiui.-rcpresent'-d, efforts had been made tosliow that, he was opposed to all reform, and actually that his sympathies were with the department as against the settler. It seemed so absurd to say this of one who had had practical audpainful exjierience, of the many difficulties with which farmers had to contend as hardly to require contradiction. He would therefore simply say that he had this matter as warmly at heart as any one, and had done as much as one man out of ninety-five could do, and would continue Lis efforts. Ho c mid show a long list of reductions which he had help to effect, but very much remained t«. lie done and if Lis fellow sellers would help him with practical suggestions Le had little doubt that by degrees, the management would be gieatly improved. As regarded Mr Varies scheme he gave a full account of his connection with it showing that his action with regard to it had been of a friendly nature and that lie had succeeded in getting as favourable a rc|Hirt upon it as was possible. His only crime in that connection was that lie had been outspoken enough to sav that he cmld not conscientiously advocate the adoption of some very extreme proposals contained in it with regard to passenger fares, in some instances proposing to carry them fifty miles for fourjience. He thought an adjustment of freights of much greater importance than passenger fares although he thought these could laj reduced also. He however, repeated that he was as warmly interested in this matter as any one could be and be felt certain that Waikato men would not ceii-ure a man for being outspoken rather than acting the humbug. It would have been much pleasanter for him to have agreed with so many of his ..Id friends upon this point and as one of themsebes lie was as much interested in its success as any of them, but he had offered to retire from the representation if desired, because there were two things that he declined to do, even to obtain a seat in the House, and that was to advocate a thing in which he did not believe, or to fight against die wishes of his old friends of INI', I-SSI and lss(. He could not preach retrenchment in one breath and advocate expensive experiments in the next. .Still he related that Jig had never actively opposed this scheme in the House, and he had n*i intention so. It^jjarduig railway management Le might remind his hearers that he had reiieatedly advertised for complaints, that he might try to put them right, and he exju-cted to be flooded with them, but he had actually received not a single response. If his hearers wished f->r reform, they must themselves assist with practical suggestions. He had also in his much-abused letters, which were so mis-jiioted, skecthed out a plan, whereby things, he thought, could be very much improved. Mr Whyte then went on to speak upon what should be the Policy of the Future. He did this because he had been taunted with not doing He had a few words to say upon that, and he wished to b» clearly understoid, but before doin» so hj» would refer shortly to “

Mr Russell's Policy, which, as laid down by himself at his fir-t meeting m Hamilton, c-. misted of th.-ce planks—retrenchment, railway reform, and protection—and he proposed t- 1 carry out this political pl.itr na bv a leader who bad distinctly declared gainst the br-t two. Sir K.fjert Stout receutiv, in Auckland, stated that he did not see his way.to ally gie.it retrenchment m the civil service, to any reduction i n the salaries of the Governor, Ministers. o r Members, oria their numbers He , -t,.t«f that he would strenuously opjc.se aav interference :f hj , U 'p educate n v-.to. ’He also said puml} th.uhe would not give Mr Vaile’s scheme a trial without that objectionable guarantee against !o- So that as regards the hrst two';.] inks ~f hi- political platform, * ir Russell was at direct variance with thtj

leader will'll! Ill' ITOIX.SI-li t" fnll'.W, 1111(1 was violently opposed to Major Atkinson, wlio was well known to he the warmest friend of Mr \ aiie s scheme in the House. As ri't'anls his thud plunk namely, proteetmii all (hat Sn Robert Stout Inn) pro post-il in that linn was a tariff which was simply extra taxation, without any elhetiw nicasnni of protection to local industries conlaiiicd in it. So much for Mr hu-sull s three planks. ll** h;\«l, howowi, lately, ;it laid down a fourth, and that was hy proposing to hold ti ist monies from the liovernment Insurance. Ilepartment and (he ("• verntnent Savina's Hanks at threi»or four per cent, interest, to cheese factories and other similar undertakings. Now, whatever might be said on the merits of (lovcniment luiulinp' public money at a low rale of interest In farmers i.r others, this proposal of Mr Hnssell's dealing as it did with trust funds certainly struck him as tin; most unhusi nesslike as well as the most unjust proposal lie had ever heard of. What were tlie funds of the (Invernmont insurance (lepai tment and the (hivernnient Savings Hank hut (lie hard earned savings i f the people, laid aside as a provision against old age, a rainy day, or (or their widows and children after them. Upon these deposits tile Savings Hank had tn pay tint depositors 5 per cent., and yet it was proposed to relend that at a lower rate of interest nn very donhtfni securities. ft must also lie remembered that upon the wise and careful investment of these funds depended all chance nf receiving bonuses upon mir life policies. If those funds were well invested the lannises would he large, and if not there would be none, Hid ever anyone hoar of a wilder and more absurd proposal? What could bo thought of the business capacity of a man who propounded such an idea as lending trust money upon very doubtful securities at a less rate of interest than was paid for it, and of putting tile savings of the people to Hitch mi unprofitable and dangerous use ! Ho the speaker, however, did claim to have

A Policy, and in two of its planks, viz., Retrenchment and Railway Reform, it resembled that of Mr Russell in their main features, and lie proposed to carry them nut by first clearing those Ministers nut of the way wlio had declared themselves opposed to them, and joining himself with ethers wlio would and could declare themselves favourable to them. His (Mr Whytes), third plank was to favour local industries hy direct aid, and not hy imposing additional Customs duties upon tlie people—not by decreasing the purchasing power of our principal products—not hy enriching a few business men in tlie towns at the expense of the masses, and not hy artificially bolstering up exotic industries to the benefit of a few, in order probably to induce Foreign labour to inundate our already over crowded towns. He find often been asked what was His Cure for the Prevailing Depression,

and his answer was that it lay far more with the people themselves than with the Government. Kotrcnchment was necessary in the Government service in order to restore the credit of Xcw Zealand in the London money market ; and as a ; field for private investment and immigration of the right sort, (that is those with a little money) and because we must pay our wav and live within our income. The principal remedy, however, lay with ourselves. The colony had become demoralized. Public plunging had perhaps led to it, but it was private plunging, and the genera! trading beyond mir means that was the principal if not the only root of the evil. Owing to the hunger for land nearly every one in the country districts owned three acres, when they could profitably occupy only one, and had a most unprofitable mortgage on all ut these three acres, the burden nf which the single cultivated acre had to carry unassisted by the other two. This, of course, could not last, and it must work, and was working it's own cure in a very unpleasant manner. Still lie had no fear, but that health would ultimately be restored. Then we displayed an utter incapacity to manage or control even onr own local markets, us was shown by the prodigious deseropancy between what the producer got and what the consumer paid. Of this the speaker gave some instances. Then the credit system had been grossly abused. The bad debts made in business as has been shown in numerous recent bankruptcies were out of all proportion to the business done. Every - rino seemed bent upon doing business, no matter at what risk. Kveryono seemed to bo trailing either upon the capital or credit of someone else, as was manifest by the fact that never before in onr history had there been so large a sale for promissory note forms. All this was, however, rapidly working out its own cure, and it was to a healthier tone of commercial morality that lie looked for a restoration of confidence much mom than to Governmental reform, however important and necessary the latter might he. He, however, thought that it was ipiitc within the functions nf a Government to assist in regulating onr European markets for onr produce by lirst making freights within onr boundaries as low as possible, and also taking stops where possible to lower freights to Europe, and to help in the distribution of those products to the host advantage. This of course need he only temporary, as afterwards these tilings would regulate themselves, but at first strong efforts in that direction wore urgently required, as it was perfectly scandalous the manner in which the real value of our products was Inst, somewhere between the producer and the ultimate crummier. Ho had seen the account of sales lately of shipments of meat to England, and although the prices obtained there seemed Ifetty good, yet the net return to the farmer was next to nil. Nearly the whole was swallowed up in freights and charges. The same was the case within the colony, the producer only' receiving about one-third of what the consumer paid. This, together with the reckless trading, to which ho had referred, and which really meant that those who paid were maintaining swarms who don’t, and never intended to pay was, ho thought, the principal, if not the only cause of the present state of affairs. These Therefore Might be Broadly Stated as the Planks of his Platform : I. Retrenchment; both public and private. 'l. No increase of our already heavy Customs duties for protective purposes. Reform and regulation of railway rates and charges within our boundaries, and whore possible regulation of freights too, and assisting the distribution in European markets of our principle products. -1. Encouragement to local industries—especially the mining industry—by direct aid. In addition to this, however, as he had already said, ho built his hopes of a removal of the prevailing depression much more iip-m a revival of a more healthy and sounder system nf private business and a more careful and economical management of onr own alfairs ; in other words, upon Self-sacrifice and Self-help rather than upon Government coddling. He also thought that the colony was suffering from too much legislation, too much tinkering with our laws referring to taxation, land tenure, and almost everything else. When New Zealand ceased to ho a held for experiment for all sorts of political fads and plausible nostrums, then, and then only, would uncertainty, doubt and distrust be removed and confidence restored. The speaker sat down amidst applause. A number of questions were then put to the candidate, many of which were of an amusing character. Regarding a land and income tax, Mr Whyte said that although a good deal could bo advanced theoretically in favour of a land tax, yet as matters then stood, in the majority of cases the real owner—namely, the mortgagee—would escape, and that, in other words, you would bo taxing many upon their debts. An income tax, lie said, might perhaps suit most of us just now, as, ho regretted to say, very few of ns had any incomes, but then the revenue from it would be small. After a number of questions had been asked, and answered more or loss to the satisfaction of the audience, Mr H. Thomsiv proposed, and Mr E. Fitzpatrick seconded, a vote of confidence in Mr Whyte, which was carried without dissent. Too usual vote of thanks to the chair was then proposed, and carried with applause.

Mr Whyte at Cambridge West,

Mr Whyte addressed the electors at Cambridge West last night. There was a full attendance, and Mr C!udw..rth was voted to the chair. Mr Whyte’s address was somewhat similar to that delivered at Ngaruawahia, which we have already reported. He spoke for nearly an hour and a-half, and was listened to most attentively. At the conclusion, a number of tjueAioua were asked, and answered af>pa-

rently to the satisfaction of the meeting, and the utmost, good Immnnr prevailed throughout. Mr A. McKinnon then moved a \ ole of thanks to, and confidence in, Mr Whyte, which was duly seconded, Mr Keeiey then moved an amendment ol thanks only, and Mr Colwell seconded it. The Chairman then said that lie would permit only residents in Cambridge We it to vote Several present protested against tins, contending that all electors of Waikato bad a right to vote. Another also pointed out that the chairman himself, along with others from Cambridge West, had allendeii i lie meeting at Cambridge Fast, alid held up their hands in Mr Russell's favour. Tins the chairman admitted, but aftei some demur consented to put ttic amendment to the meeting, when, after some hesitation lie declared the voting to he eijual. Many present contended that the show of hands was in favour of the vote ol eonlidence. Mr Whyte, however, declared that he was perfectly sati-lied with tie chairman's ruling as apparently hy it both resolution and amendment were assented to, and lie had no doubt In Would receive both thanks and confidence on the pulling day.—lie then moved a vole Ilf thanks to the chairman for his mnai kahly impartial conduct in the chair, and thus ended a very pleasant meeting.

Major Jackson at Kawhia

M.v.nm Jackson', a candidate for Waipa, held a meeting at the Hoarding House, Kawhia, on the evening of August 3lst. Mr A. F, Tangly was called to the chair. Tlie Major was well received, and addressed tin; audience, a large one, comprising both Knropeans and Maoris, for folly an hour and a half, entirely carrying the meeting with him. Only two questions Were asked, which were satisfactorily answered. Mr Turnbull proposed, and Mr Phillips seconded, a vote of thanks and confidence, which was unanimously carried. The, Major leaves for To Mata to-morrow, and will address the electors there in the evening.

Major Jackson at Raglan

Major Jackson addressed a meeting of the electors in the court-house on the evening of Tuesday, August 30th. Mr R. C. Mathias occupied tlie chair. A good number of settlers attended. The chairman having introduced Major Jackson, he then delivered ills address, in nearly all respects tile same as given at Hamilton. In speaking of Mr Maxwell's flight before tlie avenging Vailo, and tlie impropriety nf paying ids salary and expenses, lie believed lie was' gene for good, would not come back again. (Hoar, hear). Ho was of opinion that county councils should have extended powers, to enable them to undertake tlie administration of hospital and charitable aid, forest reserves, etc., and that means should be provided for them for that purpose. Having stated his views nn education, he could not see why the State should undertake to educate teachers. Other people had to learn and pay for their own trades. Having spoken in a lucid manner against a protective policy, he gave several illustrations, and quoted many authorities from America and elsewhere against such a policy, and one certainly not in tlie interest of the great fanning community of this great colony. Having stated that it was said Mr Tole, the Minister of Justice, was going to contest this sent, lie could say, “The bigger the fisli the more credit in killing, “ but lie felt there might yet be a dark horse to come forward for tlie running.” After his repeated visits to this district ho noticed that tlie fern in many places was giving way, and the hill sides wore now green with grass, shewing that in time mere sheep could be kept. After giving tlie meeting a short account of the fruit industry, he thought Raglan admirably adapted for the cultivation of the same. What was wanted was better communication with the outside world. Tlie Waipa road should be metalled, and a steamer subsidised to call oftener. Then the land would bo occupied, and cultivation would spring np all round. Having spoken against tlie .State Hank of Issue, and thanking them for their attention, lie desired that they would put any questions to him they might desire answering, etc. Ho was net in favour of a continuous Ministry, and did nut think more of Atkinson than Vogel. Ho would allow the £3OO exemption. .Several other questions were asked, all nf which .Major Jackson answered to the satisfaction of most present. Mr Mitchell proposed a vote of thanks for Ins address and confidence in Major Jackson as their representative. Mr J, H. I’liillips seconded, which, having boon put to the mooting by tlie chairman, was nrnniinimsly carried. Major Jackson returned thanks and proposed tiie usual veto of thanks to tlie chairman.

After tlie meeting (which was a most entliusiatic one), a strong eoniiniUoo was formed to assist in tlie return of tlie gallant Major. Mr Ihmdo was chosen chairman, power being given to add to their number. Major Jackson having given instructions for thoir action. It was decided that Lite committee should meet on Saturday evening next, comiimuciatioii to bo opened up with the central committee in Hamilton in tlie meantime.

From all appearance Major Jackson seems certain of tlie majority of Raglan votes. (Own Correspondent, Raglan, August 3Ut, 1887.)

Mr Kelly at Tauranga,

[m TELECtiuru.—muss association.] Taubakua, Monday. Mb Kelly addressed the electors at Tauranga on Saturday, and received a unanimous vote of confidence. He declared himself a (iovernment supporter, and favoured protection.