LAST STAGE OF CAMPAIGN

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21631, 15 November 1935, Page 13

LAST STAGE OF CAMPAIGN

BRITISH ELECTIONS SUBSTANTIAL GOVERNMENT MAJORITY PREDICTED (BRITISH OFFICIAL VTIIKLESS.) (Received November 14, 7.5 p.m.) RUGBY. November 13. To-day is the last stage of the brief election campaign, and the activity in the constituencies is intense. Most of the candidates have a long succession of speaking engagements to fulfil this afternoon | and. evening, and the canvass of i voters is being continued until the very eve of the poll. The consti-j tuencies are flooded with election literature of all kinds, including | postal handbills and circulars, and exceptional demands have been made on the Post Office services, through which millions of communications have been delivered. With some unfortunate exceptions, the campaign has been fought calmly, but in certain constituencies notably those in whk'b National Labour and National Liberal candidates are in the field, there has been a good deal of rowdyism. Mr Ramsay Mac Donald. in particular, has •encountered bitter opposition at Seaham Harbour, and he and Mr ' .). 11. Thomas and Mr Malcolm Mac- ! Donald have on several occasions found it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a hearing. Sir Godfrey Collins, the National Liberal candidate, has been similarly treated in his constituency, Greenock, in Scotland. These however, are oxcopUunal occurrences, and all but a very small number of speakers have been given attentive hearings. The meetings have been very largely attended, and keen interest has been displayed in the issues before the electors. Final Labour Message Mr C. R. Attlce, leader of the Labour party, in a message to the voters, says': ''The contest represents no mere political game of ins and outs, but the taking of a critical and vital decision for the future of tli is country and the world. Socialism and peace are not sepprate issues. The foundations of peace must be laid in the economic system of justice and co-operation. The modern world, though full of danger, offers a great opportunity if we have the courage to grasp it. The Labour party stands for peace, democracy, and social justice. It bases its foreign and home policy on the practical application of the doctrine of the broiuorhood of man." 'Loo danger to the N;,Penal Government at the e : ectiuns fo-morrow is apathy, aecordine to Nationalist headquarters, which issues a final appeal lo vote, no matter how safe a seat may seem. Last-minute reports from party headquaiiers suggest that the Labour position has slighflv improved. though i 1 is nolewortliy that the Labour parly is emulating the; Government m warning its followers of ihe danger of apathv. Forecasts ln-da<- ail give the Government a majority. The Nationalists estimate that tueir majority will lie laO. NaLonal Labour estimates it at lan. National Liber,ds at 127. and Opposition Liberals at 100 to L'O, and even the Labour party concede Mr Baldwin a majority of 145. The new.-papi rs are full of estimates of the results, which vary widely. The only safe prediction, perhaps, is that whatever happens the results will not be so spectacular as in the last election when 22fi I members of the previous Parliament | lost their seats and L\! Cabinet MinI isters wei'e defeated. Tame Caniitai;;n j It has been a lame campaign, in j which the worst interference was j reserved tor last night, when Mr Winston Churchill's son, Mr Randolph Churchill, had his car stoned a.t .Liverpool. Mr Ramsay Macdonald. Sir John Simon, and Sir Godfrey Collins were silenced at Shotton. Barn: lev and Greenock respectively. Sir Austen Chamberlain was also shouted down at Birmingham. Tlvere is a last-minute belief that Sir Herbert Samuel will just hold Darwen. An individually picturesque touch was added to the feverish last-min-ute preparations for the election py the case of an elector whose name was omitted from the electoral register by a printer's error, and had lu's right to vote to-morrow restored to him at the latest possible moment, this afternoon bv the King's Bench Divisional Court. Polling begins in many consti tuencies at 7 o'clock to-morrow morning. Haste Criticihcd "The electors ought, to have had I time to consider the issues which ! affect not: only Britain but the Empire and the world." said Mr D. I Lloyd George at Carnarvon. If | there had been more time, he said, the Government's defeat would have been inevitable. Mr Arthur Greenwood, at. Doncaster. said Labour was fighting for a majority. If Labour was threatened ' with a crisis, it would see that the < people who caused it suffered. The ; House of Lords go. The Gov- ' eminent had exploited' the international situation to divert attention from home affairs to secure a further term of office. Sir Austen Chamberlain, at Birmingham, said, "We must not put men into power who say there will ■ be a crisis if their policy is car- : ried out." MR THOMAS MAY HOLD SEAT POSITION IX CABINET UNCERTAIN (Received November 14, 7.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 13. Latest reports give Mr J. H. ] Thomas a better chance of holding 1 Derby, but there is general expectation that in any case the Domin- 1 ions Office will change .hands. i Nevertheless, Mr Thomas, who con- 1 founded the prophets by retaining it in the recent reshuffle, to the sur- . prise of the Dominion delegates < then in London, will make another ; effort to hold the portfolio. Little credence is given to the re- \ cent suggestion that Mr R. A. Eden ] will go to the Dominions Office. He ] would, undoubtedly, be appreciated 1

there by Dominion residents in London, but at present there seems no likelihood that he will be diverted from Foreign Affairs