NATIONAL PARTY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 39, 26 November 1940, Page 3

NATIONAL PARTY

RELATION TO LABOUR. . ADDRESS BY COLONEL NICHOLLS. Failure to place a constructive policy before the voters, and lack of support of candidates or members of Parliament by supporters of the party, were given as the two principal reasons for the defeat of the Nationalist Party in the election of 1938 by Colonel S. C. P. Nichohs -(organiser for the National Party for Canterbury and Westland), addressing the Tinwald National Party in the Town Hall last evening. Mr S. P. Taylor presided. Colonel Nicholls dealt with the establishment and growth of the National Party, a combination of all parties opposed to the Labour Party and primarily opposed to Socialism. The. defeat of the Coalition Government in 1935 was entirely due to the split vote brought about by the Democratic Party. The New Zealand Labour Party was a per-fectly-organised political machine, said Mr Nicholls, one of the best in the world. On the lines of tbe Labour Party, the National Party began to organise after 1935. When the Labour Party was returned in 1938, Nationalists asked what was wrong. . In his view, one big point where the Nationalists failed was in the lack of support of candidates or members of Parliament. There was not that necessary personal contact, between a candidate or member of Parliament and the voter. A second reason for failure was a lack of placing a policy before the public. Candidates dealt lengthily with the pitfalls of the Labour policy, while referring only very briefly to the Na-. tional Party’s policy. After 1938 an attempt had been made in Canterbury to rectify these mistakes. It was seen that it was necessary to educate the people and this could be done by getting members of Parliament or defeated candidates to speak constructively out of their own electorates. He referred to many successful meetings held on these lines. Nio Time for Party Politics. Colonel Nicholls spoke of 'the efforts of the National Party aimed at the cutting out of politics and concentrating on winning the war. After many representations a War Cabinet had been formed to deal with the whole of the war effort. It was only doing a part of this work however, and it was hard to say how successful it would be. He also spoke of the split in the Labour Party and the strength of the Left Wing in securing the election of Mr I>. G. McMillan to, the vicepresidency of the party at the Easter Conference. After Colonel Nicholls had answered one question, he was accorded a vote of thanks on the motion of Mr J. IJ. 'Grigg.