Christchurch North.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17627, 2 December 1922, Page 16

Christchurch North.

An elector of Ohristchuroh North asks us, in a letter we print to-day, to tell Reform voters how they ought to choose on Thursday next between Mr Isitt and Mr Andrews. We have already advised the Reformers of the district to support Mr Isitt, and* that advice we now repeat. Everyone knows that in this electorate there are many diverse forces at work, and that the issue i# complicated by sectional opinions on secondary questions. But the problem is simple enough for those Reformers who realise that their principal duty is so to vote as to male© it perfectly seouire that the Liberal-Red combination which is the aim of Reds and official "Wilfordites alike shall not he able to obtain a mar jority in the House of Representatives. The local Reform Executive decided', after a Berie3 of meetings which enabled the fullest consideration and its due weight to be given to every kind of opinion, that the main interest of Reform could best be served' by the election of Mr Isitt, who has pledged himself to vote with Mr Massey on any nooonfidence motion unless the Liberal Party has a clear majority over all parties in the House. The Prime Minister has expressed his approval of any arrangement which, the Reform Party, through its local executive, might make. Mr Andrews would have acquiesced in the deoision of the local executive if he had not been in various ways induced to stand as a Reform candidate. His friends are exceedingly energetio, and are endeavouring to persuade the Reform voters that a.majority of Reformers are in favour of his candidature and will support him. But the fact is that the main support upon which Mr Andrews can rely, is the support of those who would oppose Mr Isitt in any circumstances. His candidature wiU split the Reform vote quite seriously if open-minded Reformers are misled by Mr Andrews's propaganda, and' in that case the Lal>our candidate will be elected. Should the splitting of the Reform vote result in the election of Mr Archer, Mr Andrews, or rather Mr Andrews's friends, will be wholly responsible. Since that is the very last result which any genuine Reformer, can desire, it is obvious that the true friend? of Reform should support the Reform executive and vote for Mr Isitt. Mr Isitt is a Liberal, but ne is first and foremost an opponent of domination, direct or indirect, by the Reda, and at the present time the question which this election will decide is whether or not the Reds shall control the nation's affairs. Mr Andrews is an estimable citizen, and a friend of the Government, but he does not appear to realise the true issue. If he did, indeed, he would not have surrendered to the pressure of individuals who are far more concerned to defeat Mi- Isitt than to • secure the return of Mr Massey. Some of these people are friends, and some are enemies, of the pres:nt Government. Tho bond of union between them is antagonism to Mr Isitt on grounds other than political. It will b© a thou-

sand pities if they succeed in detaching from the main body of Reform voters a number sufficient to reduce Mr Is : tt's vote to such a point that Mr Archer will be elected. Therefore we rdvi-e Reformers to trust the judgment of the lo;;al I'-cfcnn executive and work for Mr Isitt's return.

Various candidates —mostly Lib-Labs and Independents —.have told their hearers harrowing tales about the reaggregation of laud that has gone on under the Reform Government. One

could almost imagine at tunes that they saw tho plutocrats evicting the hardy peasantry and yeomanry in order to make sheep-runs of their fa:m-. Figures have been quoted by one candidate with reckless indifference to those which another candidate was using in the next electorate. As a matter of fact, though the number of holdings of occupied land in New Zealand increased Ijetween 1917 and 1921 by 4540 from 79,536 to 84,07<>—there has been some re-argregation. ** was lately expl ■■mod by an Auckland man as behiK due to blocks of sheep country, sold during tho last few years in small areas, falling back to the original ownera, because they were too small to bo worked at a profit. The Trades Hall may scoff and sneer as it ploases, but it ia a fact that there are considerablo aro-i of tho Domiuion where a farmer would starve in dull seasons on five or ten thousand acres. The aggregation of aovcral of theso small runs is the only possible wav of making profitable, use of the land.

A North Island Labour candidate told an audience recently that some of ,the stupidest men in New Zc-.la.nd were 'to be found in the House of Representatives. However this may be, some others, to whom the same description might well npply, are trying to join them there. Take for instance, Mr Brindle, the Labour candidate for (Jisborne. "When labour power is m short supply," Baid Mr Brindle last week, "wages 6 o up. Therefore, .f labour power is kept short, there will be no fear of a reduction Tn wages." Thie lamentably wrong-headed idea is unfortunately, held by numbers of misguided workers in the Dominion, whoso leaders bofore encouraging them in the beliof that "go-slow" is a profitable rule, ought to read what Mr Clynes and some other genuine Labour leaders at Home hare to eay on the matter.

Another genius who seeks to represent a Wellington constituency as a Labour member propounded a new theory as to the cause of a condition that Is gravely affecting a large parf of the world. "After ten years of Reform in office," he declared, "the purchasing power of your money is lower than ever it was before." He did not tell his hearers how, or why the Government had brought this about, nor, as the "Post" remarked, how its wicked practices had caused the purchasing power of money to fall not only in New Zealand, but in all other parts of the world. The franc, which used to be worth about 9Jd, now stands at a trifle less than 4d; the German, mark, worth about a shilling before the war, is now reckoned at 35,000 to the £ sterling, while of the Russian rouble, formerly valued roughly at two shillings, something like 50,000 are needed to pay for a penny bun, or whatever the Russian equivalent for that article may be. The Russian worker almost needs a wheelbarrow in which to take home hiß wages, and when he has got them there they hardly buy sufficient black bread for his family for a week. Surely Mr the Wellington candidate referred to, does not blame Mr Massey for these colossal depreciations.