The Tauranga By-Election.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17700, 28 February 1923, Page 8

The Tauranga By-Election.

I It is evident that the" by-election to fill i the vacancy in the House of Representatives caused by the death of Sir William Herries will be unusually interesting. The Government, of course, j will have a candidate for a seat which i has for many years been held by a supporter of Mr Massey. The Labour Party is reported to have decided to run a candidate, even if it should be necessary to bring a man from Auckland. Mr Wilford is considering the ! choice he will make amongst a number j of Liberals willing to stand, <vnd Sir i Joseph Ward has given out that "if it | "is tho general desire, he will be. dis- | "posed to favourably consider placing "his services at tho disposal of tho j "people.' 1 There has been a feeling that Sir Joseph. Ward has been waiting for an opportunity to seek a way back into political life, and his readiness to regard tho present vacancy as the de-sii-cd opportunity has caused no sur- " prise. When he took the rather strange course of sending his message of condolence in connexion with Sir William Herries's death to the Mayor of TauI ranga instead of, as anyone else would have done, to the Prime Minister, it ! was- 'not very difficult to become expectant of his appearance as a suitor for the suffrages of the electorate of j which Tauranga is the chief town. : Whether Mr Wilford will accept Sir Joseph Ward as his candidate, or will prefer a candidate who, if elected, will ' be his follower rather than bis rival or master, remains to- be seen. We know little of the family secrets of the Liberal Party, but it has not been understood that Mr Wilford has been acting as a. bed-warmer since the general election of 1919, and there is no very-strong reason why he should behave as one now. Rut wo shall doubtless know before long what the Liberals | will arrange. Perhaps they will decide that Sir Joseph can be accepted as a candidate willing to recognise the leadership of Mr Wilford. The narrowness of the margin by which Mr Massey holds office makes this contest much more important, than a by-election usually is, or ought to be. A victory for the Government will leave the position unchanged: a victory for any Op- ' position candidate will make the position acutely "difficult, unless it is an, Opposition candidate who is unwilling to look with favour upon that combination between Liberals and Reds which the "diehards" have built their hopes upon. Although Sir Herries's great' personal popularity was a large factor* in his repeated victories in the Tauranga electorate, the seat should be retained by the Government, and we Lave little doubt that the electors will realise that a change of Government is as little to be desired, as a new election.