« MR E BLAKE AT PAPANUI. j Mr E. Blake, member for tho Avon ' eleotorate, addressed a small meeting of his constituents in the Town Hall, Papanui, laßt night. On the motion of Mr Cresswell, Mr Charles Burgees, Chairman of the Avon Eoad Board, was eleoted Chairman, and briefly introduced Mr Blake. He said that he differed from Mr Blake in politics, but at the eaoao time he could not help expressing himself dis gusted at what he consideied the dis honourable proceedinga of the laßt two or : three days, which had been seen by the public in the shape of two advertisements that had appeared. He thought tbat the least those people could have done was to ; have waited till Mr Blake had spoken, but I instead of doing this they popped out their j notices, and so in a measure forestalled i him. Such conduot he looked upon as base and dishonourable in the extreme. | Mr Blake Bald that before dealing with the political questions of the d«y it behoved him to mention the deep regret , that he felt at the lots the Colony had i sustained through the death of the Hon J. i Ballance, a cultured gentleman and ! patriotic politician who would be greatly ! missed amongst them. Though hiß views I were not the views of all of them, yet be ! was not one to force hiß opinions upon i them, but would reason them out logically ! and fairly. It was a oauße for great regret when a Colony such as this lost so able and so good a man, and, under the circumstances, he took the opportunity to express his deep sympathy with Mrs Ballance in her sad bereavement. He also thanked the Chairman for his kind expressions of sympathy under the circumstances he had mentioned. He did not know how to account for the small attendance at the meeting, whether the eleotors were satisfied with his actions, whether they were sick of him, or whether these pre-seesional addresses were distasteful. He sometimes wondered whether, with the advantages offered by the newspapers for the con sideration of all shades of politics, such addresses were necessary, or whether the questions of the day should not be dis cußßed in the form of light lectures. 