POLITICAL NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3391, 5 December 1911, Page 9

POLITICAL NOTES.

PARS FROM THE SPEAKERS

What Will ba Left. The only right that will sown be loft [£ to the people will be tho- right to be lV taxed, and I want to save them from that.—Mr Massey, at Win ton. d The Read to Ruin. “Eellow-eitizens, you must over- ?• throw the Ward Administration, or its titled autocrats will drag you and your 1 d country along the royal road to ruin, ' s at tho wheels of their golden chariot. *• 1 Mr C. 11. Ensor, at Burnham, e i r | A Millar Cabinet. i s “Apparently this election is not to be! s fought on the question of the continued e existence of a Ward Ministry, but tho [ d possibility of the existence of a Millar i t Cabinet.”—Dr. Newman, Opposition 1 t candidate at Wellington East, on a j s statement by the Hon. J. A. Millar at , Dunedin. , | r Promising. j. Mr P. Durbridge, Opposition candi--3 date for Motueka (against the Hon. It. McKenzie), has so far had the largest ’ I attendance at his meetings of any of the candidates in the Nelson district. ’ —“Nelson Evening Mail.” • Cause of High Rents. t “The effect of cheap money in New - Zealand has been to force up the price of the land, and that is the reason why j you are paying more in rent now than ' r you used to.”—Mr F. M. B. Fisher, at : Wellington. V srir Libera!! A Bill proposed in 1910 made certain ! . holders of land liable to a line of £SOO, ! •j or five years’ imprisonment, but an | Order-in-Council is given to a man who j wants to farm the farmers. That’s j your Liberal Government of to-day.— . I Mr Massey, at Napier. [ Mr Miliar and Sir Jas. Carroll. I The Hon. J. A. Millar must have j ' ! been a disappointed man when Sir j : Joseph, on his visit to tho Old Coun- | ■ try, left Sir James Carroll in charge. * < i Of course, it is quite possible that if ; ‘ Mr Millar had been given command he j would have retained it, and the party j 1 would have had no further use for its ' titled head. That was the danger; but! • of course it was quite safe to leave the j 1 | “Tailioa” member in charge. ’’Rangi- 1 tikei Advocate.” £ A Jellyfish Ministry. ] “It- has been said that the Opposition is the party of privilege and aristocracy,” said Mr F. M. B. Fisher f at Wellington. “Was there over a < Ministry with more titled persons ' s among its members than the present j ( Ministry? Was there ever a Ministry I that was more entitled to be called a h motor-car Ministry, a mosaic Ministry, ! t a tessellated Ministry, a Ministry of f shreds and patches, a* Ministry of com- r promise, a jellyfish Ministry, in every t sense of the word?” ’ “ r Found Wanting. ' “Look at the Mokau business, it . stands to the discredit of the Govern- t ment, and it should be weighed on that transaction alone. If it is, it will be _ found wanting.”—Mr E. J. Carey, r Labor candidate for Wellington North. £ “Tuppence Farthing.” „ Mr Carey, at his meeting last week: j t • —“lnstead of giving a railway man a v 2UI rise per day. as Mr Millar has—” n A Voice: “Tuppence farthing!” Avoiding Questions. , “Parnell Elector,” in a letter to the * “New Zealand Herald,” states: —“I I “ wish to voice a protest against the sup- ! [ pression of some questions at political l t meetings. On four different occasions j(j the following question has been ignored a by Sir John Findlay or suppressed by r ] his chairman: ‘Are you in favor of t] granting State aid to Catholic schools ?’ Dl This matter lias been before the public fi for some years, so Sir John Findlay I r < cannot plead that lie lias not had an j p ; opportunity of studying it. It is also tl an important question, and, therefore, j ti should be treated in a straightforward ! manner and not shuffled.-” ) b;

THE REFORM PARTY’S PR OS-

PECTS

STATEMENT BY MR MASSjEY

Questioned b\- a reporter in Auckland as to the Reform Party’s prospects in the election, Mr Massey said:—“Passing through Wellington, I met- a gentle man who makes it his business to keep thoroughly in touch with the political atmosphere by reading almost evry paper in Now Zealand, and his estimate is that there are no less than twentyfour Government scats in danger, while there are only five Opposition seats that can be regarded as doubtful, i may say that I looked through the list he had prepared, and it was impossible for me to correct it in any important detail. If his estimate is correct —and I may say that I almost entirely agree with it—then the public may expect very important developments on tho 7th and 14th of next month. Whatever happens, one thing is quite certain;, that the Reform Party is gaining every day. Hundreds of electors who formerly supported the Government are coming over to our side, and I honestly believe the days of the Ward Administration are numbered.”

GOVERNMENT BAITS

A certain Government employee was in conversation with a pressman the day, and during the various topics of conversation that ensued the former incidentally mentioned the fact that the salaries of the staff in the Department to which lie belongs had been raised. “Is this a usual occurrence every 12 months?” asked the journalist. “No, I cannot say it is,” came the answer. “Then, I suppose it really only applies to the year in which a general election takes place?” further queried the reporter. “Yes, principally it docs,” assented the other, and in a gush of confidence ho added: “1 wish it were election year every year.”—.“Hot Lakes Chronicle-”

THE GAME OF SEE-SAW. Mr Dive finds Hansard an extremely useful publication. Speaking at Eltham, lie again dealt with his opponent’s view on the land question before he joined the Ward Government, and read the following extract from a speech the Hon T. Mackenzie delivered in 1907 on the subject: “We have now reached a stage on this important question of the land, when the colony lias no rigjht to ho longer annoyed by the vacillating policy that has so long prevailed. No Government has a right to play a. political game of seeisa w with great national questions.” Yet, not long afterwards, added Mr Dive, the lion gentleman found himself called to the very Cabinet he had so roundly condemned. (Hear, hear.)- His politics seemed to sit very easily on him.