POLITICAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2328, 22 October 1908, Page 7

POLITICAL.

A WORD OF WARNING.

[Special to- “Times.”]

'. WELLINGTON, Oct. 20. -Mr Winder, one of -the Wellington candidates, and a' supporter of the W ard Government, atHiis. meeting last night said: “Never in the whole history of New Zealand was this country face to face with a political crisis such as faces it to-day. I anr neither a political pessismist nor an alarmist, but the aspect of the money market is one of the most threatening during the experience of the present generation. We in the past few years have been floating on the tide of popularity and prosperity.- It is necessary now.' to curtail any extranous expenditure. The latest intelligence from the Home market, I believe, is such as to have induced the Government to fix the elections at so early a date in order to ’ anticipate bad "news as. to flotations of loans on the London market in December.

A TRUCE TO LEGISLATION.

A GRATIFYING ANNOUNCEMENT

[Special to “Times.”]

WELLINGTON, Oct. 21. Sir Joseph Ward’s statement that we are to have’ a rest in Legislation is received with very general satisfaction. Indeed it is the best news we have had from a leader of the House for several years. Everyone -who closely watched the Legislative mill rapidly grinding out new legislation, much of it is of inferior quality, session after session, must have recognised that New Zealand was attempting too much in this respect.' There will be little objection to the Premier’s new proposal except, perhaps, on the part of the Socialists and the ultra radical.

ELECTION NOTES

A NO-LICENSE CANDIDATE

Though satisfied with the Hon. J. McGowan the No-license party decided to nominate a. candidate to ensure a valid local option vote. The Rev. F. W. Isitt will be asked to stand. •

THE IvAIAPOI ELECTORATE. Mr. R. Moore, a candidate for Kaiapoi addressed his first meeting at Papanui on Monday night, He announced himself an opponent to the . present Government. He favored the % freehold, an elective Upper House, and spoke against Socialism. He was accorded a vote of thanks. THE RICCARTON SEAT. Mr. George Witty, Government candidate for Riccarton, addressed the electors on Monday night in support of the general policy of the Government and received a vote of thanks and confidence. „ THE OAMARU CONTEST. Mr. J. Mitchell, who opposes the V Hon. T. Y. Duncan for Oamaru, ad- * dressed a good meeting, of electors on Monday. He pronounced himself a supporter of the leasehold tenure. He said that the syllabus was being overcrowded and children were not receiving as good education as years 'fSgo. He defended the Minister for ' Labor against the attacks made upon him by the unions. He favored the policy of the present Government but claimed the right to freely criticise their doings. A vote of thanks and confidence was accorded.

A TAIERI CANDIDATE. Mr. J. R. Johnson, candidate for the Taieri seat, addressed the electors at Mosgiel recently. The meeting was well attended. The main plank of his platform was that the workers should have more facilities for righting their grievances than existed at present. He advocated an amendment of the industrial law to enable .any worker irrespective of a union, to claim the assistance of the Arbitration Court

to regulate wages, laying down a precedent, that Parliament. *%niould provide legislation enacting a living wage. On the event of an industry, under existing conditions, being unable to pay that living wage, he suggested that the State should have power to either take over the industry or in part take at over with a stipulation that tlie minimunf&be the living wage stipulated by Industrial Court. He announced himself as a supporter of the present Government. He was accorded a vote of thanks.

THE NEW PLYMOUTH SEAT. J. Mr. W. G. Malone, standing as a TsHpporter of the Government, opened his campaign on Monday night to a . large house. He spent an hour and i twenty minutes criticising the- select-i-’d Government candidate and the alleged method of • selection, to which, he claimed, he had not submitted himself. He expressed himself a very strong supporter of the Ward Government and gave a lengthy review of their measures. He spoke for two hours and a half, and was accorded a vote of thanks. NELSON ELECTORATE. ' Air. John Graham. M.P. addressed a largo meeting of city . electors at Ac Ison recently on the political questions. He was recorded a good re-. ception and at the close a vote of confidence was carried unanimously. A CANDIDATE RETIRES. Owing to serious indisposition overtaking him, 'Mr, John • London, intimated to a large public meeting, ou Monday, he had decided to retire from the contest for the Bruce seat. 'W A CHALMERS CANDIDATE. Mr. E. H. Clark, who contested the Waikouaiti seat at the last election, has decided to stand lor Chalmers against Mr. E. G. Allen.- Mr; Clark will give general support to the policy present Government. : THE WAKATIPU SEAT. Mr. W. Eraser opened his cam- . paign for the Wakatipu seat at Waikaka, being well received. He dealt with the work of the past session, particularly with'the Arbitration Act, which was an improvement on past; forcing penalties for breaches," as it was ridiculous to coerce men to work under conditions unapproved of. He always supported the principle of old 'age pensioaiig, and agreed' with the . increase ,in tjaa amount of, property

allowed to.be held'by pensioners as an encouragement to -thrift. He trenchantly criticised liis opponent’s figures and claimed that lie had secured the authorisation of the Waikaka railway. He. congratulated settlers, upon its completion. He referred “ ;t h G Statq, of the Dominion, saying that -tho_ country was thoroughly sound and had c°m° through a period of depression stronger than before. He had paired against the Meikle •grant- The candidate received a vote of thanks and confidence.

THE RIOADS-.AND-BRIDGES .MEMBER.

The. tendency in the party system of Government was for men to be chosen to a great extent because they were merely loyal supporters of the party, and the individual who was most likely to bo loyal in that sense, was one who was least likely to have opinions worth sacrificing. And therefore, although they might be good road-and-bridge members, the great questions were left to one or' two thinkers, of the House, so that the tendency was to. get a minimum amount, of brains instead of a maximum amount in Parliament. Even as road-and-bii ages members, a member’s occupation Vi as being taken away from him because whenever an important local question came before the Government, it was now customorv for a deputation consisting of men who have made a special study of. the question, to go to Wellington and. put the case before the Government, and the member fox- the district simply became the mouthpiece for the deputation.—Mr. Gardner, at Mart on. JOTTINGS. Speaking at Waitara on Thursday evening, Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P., said hp. was a patient, long-suffering man, but lie had got his knife into tile Boundary Commissioners, who, ho believed, had given him’ the worst district in the whole of the Dominion, so far as convenience of working it was concerned. It- looked as if the remnants from other electorates wero thrown" into his, and when lie growled he was told -that he had been such 1i good hackblocks. representative that lie could take a little extra work. It was not fair, however, t 0 the district or him, and lie also took occasion to quarrel with the state of the Jaw that made the honorarium for a man who had to travel over 1500 square miles of territory the same as the man in the city, who coiild go about his business and attend to his Parliamentary duties at tlio same time, while his travelling expenses were nil. There should, he said, be equality -of sacrifice. .

•Mr J. B. Gow at Rotorua:-—Of course the iiienibers of the present Government- were not evil above all others. They were capital fellows, but they were human, and wero suffering nob from their own fault, hut through misfortune. They had been in office too long, and had begun to look upon the people as their property. The electors should make them aware that they intended to take a hand in their own affairs. In one of his addresses Mr E. G. B. Moss, Independent candidate for Parnell, quoted the following observation as the opinion of an Austrian diplomat who had lately visited New Zealand: —“If this is God’s Own Oountry ? I cannot -understand why, when.the Deity found-only ten laws necessary, the people of New Zealand require about ten thousand and ten.” “The Second Ballot Bill is the subterfuge of the politician, rather than the reform of the statesman,” said Mr Byron Brown at Shannon. “The people have never asked for it, and no one thought of it, except Sir Joseph Ward, -when he found that Labor had had enough of him, and were going to put up candidates to win seats off their own bat. Sir Joseph at once saw that Labor could do this in our larger towns and cities by slipping in between t]ie Opposition and Government candidates, and so the Second Ballot came along to defeat Labor’s chance of any representation what--ever. So much for the Premier’s sincerity to the Labor party.”