“Well, yes. I’ve put Rhodes on to it. But Dodge is a slippery customer.”
“The more slippery he is the more certain it is that he will stand to be bought. Name a figure and don’t budge from it.”
“Yes, that’s the idea, I know. And with him out that leaves us both liquor men. I’ve been approached to stand for prohibition, but I’d lose more than I’d gain by that.”
Dane smiled at him. “No labour man mentioned?”
“No. I wish there were. He’d draw from Mobray, not me. Barrington, I wonder if you could find out where Townshend stands. He’s given us his jobbing, but I don’t lean on that. He’s always been for Mobray, but he’s been very amiable to me since I came out. Only he won’t talk politics, and that’s a bad sign. He holds the election in his hands if his men are solid.”
“They won’t be solid.”
“No, that’s the funny part of politics in this country. You can’t count on anything.”
“That looks as if the voters did a little thinking. What is your war cry? Justice for the North?”
“Yes, and it’s the best we could have. It’s high time the Government paid some attention to us. Seddon never did, and neither has Ward. They have lived for the South. And we mean to see that if Massey gets the lead he will take some notice of us up here. If I get in for Waitemata, and Haines gets in again for Marsden, and Sloan goes in for the Bay of Islands, we can do more than talk about the main trunk line and the opening up of the North.”
“Yes, you really have an issue, Roger. I was amazed at the possibilities of the North when I went over it, and at the little that had been done for it. Not a decent road anywhere. And it has the finest climate in the country.
