WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 266, 9 November 1928, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

IMPENDING ELECTION.

PUBLIC STILL APATHETIC. PARTY;. PROSPECTS. 1 (From Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Though the candidates themselves are throwing a good deal of vigour into the election campaign, a great number of electors remain strangely apathetic in regard to both its progress and its issue. It has been suggested that the general lack of interest in the daily proceedings is due to a wide-spread idea that the Reformers are sure to retain possession of the Treasury benches and that Labour is bound to remain the official Opposition. But this is taking for granted a good deal that is not accepted as being inevitable by experienced observers. These authorities emphasise the fact that while the Prime Minister, as in duty bound, is scouring the whole country with an appeal for a continuance of confidence in Reform, not one of his colleagues has ventured far beyond the boundaries of his own constituency. Even the Hon. A. D. McLeod, the Minister of Lands, hitherto the most willing fighter in the Cabinet, seems to be tied to Wairarapa by a "United" candidate, whom three years ago he would have simply ignored. Reform, evidently, is less confident than it might be.

The Sporting Spirit. For the time being the "Evening Post" is a little more chivalrous than is its local morning contemporary. "In electing Sir Joseph Ward to the position of leader the -party made an excellent choice," it said last night in noticing Sir Joseph's return to the platform, "as he was the cme man available with the necessary weight, experience, and standing to impress the public and to enable the party to justify its title by eliminating the jealousy and friction that must have been provoked by the selection of a weaker leader. Sir Joseph justified the choice by the speech at Auckland in which he displayed much of the old eloquence and force and all of the old sanguine spirit. ... On the ground ol fair play, no less than that of personal goodwill, the country is glad to know that Sir Joseph Ward is on the warpath again, and that he appears to be in good fighting form." The accounts of Sir Joseph Ward's progress towards his constituency and his reception there suggest that the public is ready to endorse the "Post's" appreciation of the "United" leader.

An Unfortunate Comparison. The Prime Minister will scarcely thank the reporter who handled his speech at Levin last night for the prominence given in the "Dominion" this morning to his reply to an inquiry as to who was the better financier, Sir Joseph Ward or Mr. Downie Stewart. "Downie Stewart every time," was his answer. "He would bury the other man. He has always been able to meet any question or criticism, no matter who it comes from. Why, Sir Joseph Ward, when he is in the House, always talks of politics twenty years ago. He is not up-to-date with current politics. On the other hand, Mr. Downie Stewart is one of the greatest financiers New Zealand has produced." In view of the fact that the Reform party called upon Sir Joseph Ward to see it through the financial difficulties of the war period it is certain that so good a sportsman as Mr. Coates is will wish on reflection that he had expressed himself differently. Had he recalled the negotiations that preceded the formation of the National Cabinet he could not have been guilty of such a comparison.

Labour. The Labour candidates are obtaining good meetings almost everywhere, the exceptions being in the small rural districts where they offer no attractive appeal to the settlers. Whether or not their party is making the progress its supporters claim is a moot question. The Reformers proclaim that the Official Opposition is beaten and even the "Uniteds" profess to be sure of stepping into Labour's shoes. Mr. Holland and his colleagues, of course, offer quite a different summary of the position. "The conspicuous thing about the electoral campaign during the past week," Mr. Peter Fraser declared last night when speaking in his own constituency, "is that tse Reform party is on the run. Even in the country districts, wherever the Prime Minister has spoken it has been evident that the people are strongly against the Government. The distress of the Reform party is manifest in the Press, particularly in the Reform organs, which come out every morning foaming and frothing in head lines.