CAMPAIGN OPENED

GOVERNMENT'S RECORD

SURPLUS PREDICTED

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, 15th April. The Purnell by-election campaign opened .to-night, when meetings were addressed by Mr. W. A. Donald (United) and Mi:. T. Bloodworth (Labour). There wore good attend- : anees, and each candidate received a cordial reception and a vote of confidence. ' Mr. Donald said the Parnell electors had sin unique opportunity at the by- ■ election to give a vote of confidence to tho Government. He reviewed the Government's achievements in eighteen months of office, and submitted that tho United Party should be given a chance to bring its programmo to com- ; pletion. The Government had been under a big handicap through being without an independent majority in tho House, and because of the fact that it had to 'begin its administration faced with a half-million deficit. However, . Mr. Donald deduced from the.fact that certain primage duties would be removed at the end of March that the P. imo Minister would be able, to announce a small surplus in the national accounts for the financial year just ended. Mr. Donald said if the verdict went against tho Government, at the byelection, there was a risk of the country being plunged into the expense of a general election. He criticised the Reform. Party, claiming that Ministers in tho late Government had lost control of their departments,, and that their administration had been extravagant. Ho had every confidence that the United Government would in a. few years bo able completely to eradicate unemployment. The Minister of Labour (the Hon. W. A. Veitch). also spoke, briefly contending that the. call was for stability in government, and .the Parnell electors should not do anything to weaken the Government's .position. LABOUR CANDIDATE. , Mr. Bloodworth based his appeal on what he described as the complete failure of the two other parties, which had governed .New Zealand hy catchwords. Labour, on . tho other hand, would introduce.real measures; It offered men of experience in public affairs, and would give effect to measures, calculated to restore prosperity— measures of land settlement andindustrial development providing employment for labour. Mr. Bloodworth said that instead of seeking to bring about a general election, Labour considered it to the country's advantage to support the party i)i power. He expressed the hope that Parnell would follow the lead of Britain and Australia, and vote Labour. • This election, he said, provides an opportunity for showing whether or not public opinion in New Zealand has kept abreast, of public opinion, in other parts of the Empire. • ■ *