POLLING TO-DAY

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22231, 23 October 1937, Page 15

POLLING TO-DAY

THE COMMONWEALTH ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN CONDUCTED WITH LITTLE HEAT (Received October 22, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, October 22. The Commonwealth election. can> paign, which will close to-night, has been relatively dull, and devoid of the bitterness which has characterised former campaigns, due, it is thought, to the intensive use of broadcasting stations by the party leaders, where they have been sheltered from hecklers, questioners, and the customarily noisy factions. A little heat has been engendered in the last few days by a wealth of Labour propaganda warning wives and mothers that the Lyons Government, if returned, was certain to conscript the nation's youth in the event of Britain being embroiled in, a war, which seemed imminent. The Government forces, who blame Mr J. T. Lang for this "dastardly canard," are obviously much concerned about the effects of the bogy on women voters on polling day, tomorrow. Ten days ago the Prime Minister (Mr J. A. Lyons) .was supremely confident that the Government would again triumph at the polls, largely because of its own record and the public antipathy to Labour's "isolationist defence policy." Today, however, the position is obscure. The feeling on the Stock Exchange is that the Government will go back with a reduced majority, which at present is 18. Labour's campaign directors, on the other hand, now declare that they will win at least 13 additional seats, six of which will be in New South Wales, two each in Victoria and Queensland, and one each in South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. Labour will require to win 10 seats to gain a majority in the House of Representatives. The party strength in the last Parliament was as follows: United Australia Party .. 31 United Country Party .. 15 Labour .. .. .. 28