Politics and Pledges.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20382, 31 October 1931, Page 14

Politics and Pledges.

We have something to say in another article about the contents of the questionnaire prepared for candidates for Parliament by the Executive of the Farmers' Union. But the matter does not end there. The practice of sending questionnaires of any kind is so liable to abuse that candidates should regard them all with suspicion. In every case in which they are asked to pledge thei» votes they should refuse without hesitation unless it is for a plank in the' platform on which their Party has gone to the country. Even when the .proposal for which their' vote is asked is one of which they generally approve they should refuse absolutely to sign away their frledom; and if they do not take care in time they will find themselves committed before they realise it. The Fanners' Union questionnaire is not t»j>eciaUy jlangexous—•fyejx if ft* psa-

lutiona are actually to be submitted as a questionnaire; but it is an indication of what may be expected when the campaign begins and sectionalists and fanatics warm to their work. The danger is indeed so serious that each Party should disown a candidate who pledges himself beyond his party platform; and it should let all candidates understand in advance that this is in store for them if they offend. For in the end no one but the candidate himself can guard either his own liberty or the country's real interest. It is almost useless to say, and quite foolish to expect, that these traps for candidates should not be laid. As long as we have our present system of government —and with all its faults it is the best yet devised—there will be people who think that they may, and others who are convinced that they should, seize the opportunity presented by a General Election to coax or terrify candidates out of their independence. The particularist is always with us, and the candidate who does not arm against him has a fifty per cent, chance of being compromised.