THE LAST LAP.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 251, 22 October 1924, Page 5

THE LAST LAP.

BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION. only a "week to go. Labour expects victory. ÜBERAL-CONSERVATIVE PACT ' MAY CONVERT MANY TO j LABOUR.

{Br Cable.—Press Association.— Copyright.) LONDON, October 21. Although it is now practically only one veek from polling day (Oct.'2o), there is evidence in all quarters that large masses of the electors remain uncertain how to vote. The Conservatives and Labour are equally confident of increasing their representation at Westminster. If they should do so it would obviously be at the expense of the Liberals. It is, however, by no means certain that the Liberal vote will be obliterated to that extent. On the contrary, some of the shrewdest critics express the opinion that many of the electors will, ■wherever it is possible, vote for the Liberal candidate, us representing the jniddle party. Curiously enough, the "Morning Post," which is an out and out Conservative paper, says it has foreseen all along the danger, from the Corservative point of view, of driving the Liberals into the labour camp. It records this morning a statement from the Liberal headquarters which was given prominence in last evening's "Star," to the effect that the withdrawal of a Liberal candidate means only that the Liberal electors must vote according to their own judgment and conscience, and not necessarily for the old Coalition. Obviously, therefore, the liberal vote must remain an important, and possibly a decisive, factor in the election. !

SID THEY TALK ABOUT THE ■WEATHER ? Mr. Stanley Baldwin, Leader <6i the Conservatives, having been released from activities in his own constituency, which re-elected hi-m unopposed, continues "his campaign throughout the country. Ho spoke last evening at Bouthend. Preferring to the rejection of the Imperial preference proposals by the Labour Government, he said that when the day came on which the British Dominions entered into commercial treaties with the United . States, Britain might as -well prepare to go out of business. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, in a speech at Birmingham, said that it was in cultivating trade with the Dominions that Britain would find a better remedy for ler unemployment than in kow-towing to the sanguinary, ruthfess tyranny which had devastated Russia and destroyed her credit. The Campbell case continues to figure largely in the election speeches. Sir W. tfoynson-Hicks (Conservative), speaking at Hesworth, said the suggestion -was that the Government was "got at." The men who could tell tbe truth were Messrs. G. Lansbury, J. Maxton, and J. Scurr, Labour members in the late Parliament. .... I

"I accuse these men openly," said the speaker, "that they did not go to the Prime Minister or Attorney-General to talk about the -weather." MORE ABOUT CAMPBELL CASE. Mr. Arthur Henderson, Secretary for Home Affairs, in an address at Preston, said: "I ar , - Sir Alfred Mond, the exLiberal member for Carmarthen, to be honourable and produce evidence to prove that I took a deputation to the Prime Minister regarding Campbell, or that I allowed* Mr. Lansbury to come and see me' on thifi subject. I ask for proof or a withdrawal of both statements." Sir Alfred, speaking at Aberavon, repeated his assertion that it was a fact that Mr. Lansbury went to see Mr. Henderson. "What happened at that interview?" he asked. ~ ' The Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. J. H. Thomas, in a speech, at Porthcawl, iWales, said Sir Patrick Hastings, the Attorney-General, told the Cabinet that Mr. Maxton had said he knew Campbell, tnd was sure the Attorney-General had Hade a mistake. The Attorney-General, ifter an examination of the papers eonceming Campbell's war record, came to the conclusion that it would be ridiculous to put a man like him in the dock. The jury was sure to take a tletic view. Mr. Thomas proceeded to argue that Mr. Lloyd Goorge's Cabinet had, in four instances, discussed questions of prosecutions. IABOUR'S GREAT CONFIDENCE. Officials at Labour's headquarters state that reports from the country indicate that the party is likely to make substantial gains, and that in the next Parliament it will be much stronger than in the last one. Mr. Philip Snowden, Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking at Greenfield, Colne Valley, said he was confident that labour candidates would be returned in ?ery considerably increased numbers. The "Daily Express," in a leading article, accuses the "Daily News" of trying to wreck the Liberal-Conservative pact in the constituencies. The -writer says the pact -was arrived at by responsible Liberal leaders, and had the support of practically/ the entire Liberal Press. The object in breaking the padt w as to increase the Socialists' representation in the next House of Commons. 'It is notorious that the 'Daily News' las .been playing -up to the Socialists

for months past," says the article, in conclusion.

THE ITAVAI/ ASPECT. A critic writes: "Even from _ a purely British and Imperial viewpoint the power of the Navy has been brought down perilously near the margin of safety, and any further reduction would k suicidal madness. The determination of the country's naval strength is, or should be, a question outside the region «i party politics, but the trouble is tluit tte Labour party, and many Liberals, in tteir consuming' zeal for universal peace a nd disarmament, blind themselves to tte reality of danger. Mr. !XlacDonald \ and his party declined to carry out the ftll programme of naval construction (modest as it was) which their predeces- ! °rs regarded as the minimum essential for safety. There are, no doubt, among ™c more temperately-minded members 'oftlie Labour party many who are alive w the vital necessity for maintaining ™c Navy a t the full strength permitted W the Washington Agreement, but here, "8 elsewhere, the party as a whole has shown that its policy is dictated by fear jtf , its extremists—that it cannot Jje justed to take the necessary precau- ; uons for the safety of the country, the : Wpply of its food, and the security of •"Imperial communications." —(A. and