A MOMENTOUS POLL.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20571, 13 June 1932, Page 9

A MOMENTOUS POLL.

MI-LABOUR WAVE.

MR LANG ON TRIAL

POT LOSES THIRTY SEATS

ASSOCIATION—BT ELXCTEIO paOSAPH— CO P 1'313HT.) Jtrne 11th, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, June 11. tifySw Sonth'Wales General Elecsecured a sweep--5 vietory. It •will prcfoaWy have G5 fcin tTieiiew Legislative Assembly, i Lang labour Party Tnjl have 25. lefeat of tfte Lang Labour forces was urally expected onWde the ranks of £ Party. Boih in the city and the afajr: there was an unmistakable iwphere of larking danger and an S&tic demand for a return to a o£, sanity, honesty, and freedom government.; IgSwtto; Quarters a belief was liwjjeft. that the ilang Party would hold its own because of the-part of the workers that a 1% (bulling of wages would follow J of the Stevens-Bruxner Party. - was th* lß regarded as the in the history of New and the Federation, fypjrpraents of Langism made no IJiheir fears for the future. All Spa during the brief but bitter tinned on the political events eighteen months and what s!pHo>aji'if ;a renewal of confidence' fcio Labour. - (Quid not come quickly ,most people, whose minds - n P a fortnight ago. The itself into clear-cut issues or , rejection of the Tpp fiehahUitation Plan as in Vicand the imposiWkffiirmta of what had been |||P|y pn wealth. Written on every voter's j -®? not uness of the decision ! .everywhere apparent, the action of the Gover(lame) in sending the Base'for trial before who have now in "ft most convinc®Kteji#tennimng the fate of in the former Lang the rout of the rank Parliamentary Labour

Ilf*Ppenod to the Lang what happened at perhaps more accencurrent or' public the Lang Party area, spread throughstate of' Parties bepolling days, but on was left in doubt, the swing to the gp&roughout tho eounand disH&fts peo vlio wore

Scenes at tho United and Country Party o flics were extremely joyous. The Premier, Mr B. S. B. Stevens, received ' all round hand-shakes, compliments, and j felicitations. Business men controlling i big enterprises were spontaneous in j their expressions of confidence in a rej vival of trade and industry as a result j of the people's verdict, j "We never doubted that the heart of i Australia rang true," commented Mr I Stevens. "This glorious victory over | Langism and dishonesty has proved to j tho whole world that Australians stand | for probity and integrity. This is no j ordinary triumph. It affords a comI pleto sense of satisfaction. Wo have I checkmated the forces of evil which j had a stranglehold on this fair Stato i for over oighteen months. | State of the Parties. Counting will be resumed to-morrow. The state of the Parties is as folj lows: —

Of the doubtful scats two are expected to be won by the United Australia Party and one by Labour. What is described as the Unity Party consists of candidates supporting the Government policy and endorsed by either the United Australia Party or the Country Party for the samo electorate. TVo such candidates have already been elected The Federal Labour Party, whose nominees contested 43 city and country scats, and whoso policy generally conflicted with Mr Lang's on the side of moderation, and whose desire was to see the downfall of tlio Lang Party, because of the mischief it wrought at the last Federal Election, had hopes of picking up a couple of seats, and possibly Mr Lang's. Mr Lang Hard Pressed. I Although a neck-and-neck stsrugglo ! went on at Auburn, between Mr Lang and Mr Coleman (Federal Labour), the j position was put beyond doubt after midnight, when Mr Lang obtained an absolute majority over liis Federal Labour adversary of 742, thus assuring Ms return. Nothing bo thrilling has been provided at any previous election. Mr Lang's majority in 1930 was 8965. The Ministers of the Lang Administration who have fallen by the wayside are Mr J. M. Tully, Mr W. T. Ely, Mr W. F. Dunn, Mr M. Gosling, and Mr J. Laniaro. In fact, so great is the debacle that only two of Mr Lang's former Ministers at present survive, namely Mr M. A. . Davidson and Mr W. J. McKell. while Mr W. Davies, the former Minister for Education, whose constituents number thousands of South Coast miners, looks like being defeated. The state of Parties in the laßt New Soutli "Wales Parliament was:— State Labour . .. .. 55 Nationalists ' .. • .. 21 Country Party .. .. 14 Thus, State Labour last 30 seats, and the United Australia Party gained 21, and the Country Party 9. There was not one United Party or Country Party supporter defeated. Even in the city and industrial constituencies a tremendous swing from Labour is apparent. Mr Stevens will meet the now Parliament at the head of a United Government pledged, to adherence to the Premiers' Rehabilitation Plan with an unparalleled majority of, roughly, 40. Certainly two seatß are still in doubt, but the odds are definitely against Labour.

Seats which hitherto were regarded as impregnable Labour strongholds rejected Lang candidates in one' of the heaviest polls on record. Labour has virtually been expelled from representation tho country. The Premier, Mr Stevens, had a comfortable win at Croydon, whore he was opposed by a Labour stalwart, Mr ,T. C. Eldridge, a former Federal member of the Beasley Group. High hopes were entertained at Labour headquarters of unseating Mr Stevens, who, however, won by 6350 votes. The former Leader of tho Opposition, Mr T. R. Bavin (formerly a New Zcalander), received a handsome majority at Gordon, of 12,G67. The Country Party Loader and Deputy-Premier, Mr M. Bruxncr, was returned unopposed. The weather was fine and cool throughout the day. At midnight on Friday polling-booth workers in a number of suburbs had taken up their j ositions for the big day. There were 305 candidates nominated for 90 seats, and in three elecortates —Vaucluse, Tenterfield, and Clarena — there was no contest, the_ returned member in each case being antiLabour,

: United and Country Parties 63 j State Labour 24 Doubtful .. S