WILL LYTTELTON VOTE COALITION?

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20956, 9 September 1933, Page 19

WILL LYTTELTON VOTE COALITION?

TO TH". EDITOB Of TUB I'flßSfl. Sir,—The eyes of New Zealand are on Lyttelton. The interest will be daily intensified until the day of the election. The warriors of both parties are on the warpath fighting to further the interests of their respective candidates. The Hon. E. A. Ransom has been and gone, but did not cut much ice. He rather harassed the path for Mr Coates, who now appears on the scene to administer the necessary Coalition dope to secure victory for the candidate carrying the Government banner. Can Mr Coates do the trick? At the last general election Mr Coates claimed that he did the trick for the Coalition party, being returned to power by an overwhelming majority by administering the right political dope to cajole the majority of the people of the country to support the Coalition banner. On thin banner were emblazoned the following alluring magnetic slogans of the party—"Back to Prosperity," "Women protect your husbands' jobs," "Farmers, higher prices for your produce," "Business people. Coalition spells Success for you," and to crown it, "Give the Government an open cheque." It all acted like magic. The electors were decoyed like sheep led to the slaughter; they were tricked, I amongst the number, but never again, once bitten ever shy. What followed: under this Coalition regime, a sorry story of maladministration and destructive legislation, and in every respect intensifying the depression. Certainly nothing constructive to alleviate the position. You cannot change the colour of the Ethiopian, or the spots on the leopard; neither can you change the politics of a hidebound Tory party, but the people can change the party for a vigorous, progressive one when the opportune time arrives. I wonder what political card tricks Mr Coates will play with the electors of Lyttelton. Will he tell them why his trump card of raising the exchange, of which he is so proud, has impoverished 75 per cent, of the people of the country, including ail the small farmers to enrich the other 25 per cent., namely the "squatocracy." And why it has ruined the good name of the Dominion in the Motherland; and further, why the associated banks are indemnified against loss, and are enjoying a royal lucrative win over the exchange ramp; and, why, too, the banks boss the show in all financial

concerns of the country. Truly the banks have the country by the throat. Will he explain why the Government violated the Ottawa agreement to the displeasure of England, resulting in the injury of our best market? Will he point out what is to become of the 18,000 boys and girls yearly leaving our schools, labelled "not wanted." Will ho explain why the cost of Government administration of the country has increased, despite all the drafw tic wage cuts? Will he answer all these questions, to say nothing of a thousand and one others that would fill columns of your newspaper to enumerate? ~, ~ Take it from me, Mr Coates will skilfully dodge all these posers. Instead he will reel off miles of figures and fantastical statements to make us believe that the country has passed through the depression, and is now on the high road to prosperity: that unemployment will disappear like mist before the rising sun: in fact, that everything in the garden will soon be lovely. I rruess it is dope similar to this that Mr Coates will serve out to the electors of Lyttelton, and. there will be some credulous enough to swallow it. But will it be effective enough to do the trick? It has been said, "You can fool all the people* some of the time, and you can fool some of the peonle all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." I think Mr Coates is set a very difficult task to bluff the electors on this occasion. Certainly he triumphed at the last general election, and also pulled off a good win at the Motueka by-election with the magic of his dope. But since then his stronghold in the farmers' support, has considerably weakened. More than 50 per cent, of "the farmers of the country are in queer street. Every morning they arise with terror, see the apparition of the Coalition pick and shovel on their farms, and dren.d to think or the day of its reali'v, when they will bo compelled to pick un their burden and walk to join the ranks of many others who have gone before. I calculate that Mrs McCombs will romn heme an easy winner next Wednesdav. the electors recognising that a really cultured, progressive woman of wide public experience, is preferable to endorsing a noliev of stagnation and retrogression, the bitter fruits of the Coali*ion Government. I venture to pay Mr Coates will fail to do the trick this time. —Yours, etc.. ' t.EIGH WALTER. September C, 103:5.

TO THE KIUTOR I f TUB I'EESS Sir, —All Lyttelton electors who happen to be ratepayers of Christchurch will be painfully reminded to-day on opening their rate notices of the policy of the Christchurch Labour Council in keeping up wages and (incidentally) rates. I trust the Lyttelton electors will remember that Mrs McCombs is a member of this Labour Council. A party, which keeps rates up by paying wages higher than oustiders can get, in times like these, is not the sort of party to put in charge of the greater finances of this colony. The cry of the women for a woman member should be tempered by the reflection that women's hearts invariably run away with their heads, and in these times, business brains and not sickly sentimentality is wanted.—Yours, etc., UNFORTUNATE RATEPAYER. September il, 1933. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRK.-iS Sir, —Are emotionalism and feminism to have full sway? Is not thin a time that calls for calm exeneise of common sense, of sane judgment? In all truth the needs of the country demand a sober facing of facts, independent of all irrelcvannes.—-Yours, PATRIOT. September 8, 1D33.