Street-Corner Meetings

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30794, 5 July 1965, Page 12

Street-Corner Meetings

Street-comer meetings held by candidates for Parliament are not what they used to be. In pre-war days, when politicians and the electors felt more strongly about political issues than they do today, a wellknown politician could expect to draw a crowd of several hundreds to an open-air meeting on a fine evening. It would often be a lively affair, too, for the speaker could expect a miming commentary from the vocal opponents in his audience. Times have changed. For a number of reasons political meetings no longer attract large attendances. In an attempt to win back their dwindling audiences politicians have resorted to megaphones or amplifiers which can be heard several blocks away. The hecklers have been overwhelmed by sheer weight of sound. Television to most people is a better source of entertainment than the street-comer meeting. At the time of the last General Election only one household in five had a television set; by the next election, two of every three houses may have television. Reflections of this nature may have prompted the movers of the Electoral Amendment Bill, defeated in the House of Representatives recently by a vote on party lines. By-laws were “ something of “ a nuisance ” at present, said Mr H. G. R. Mason, the mover of the bill. It would, he said, enable a parliamentary candidate to hold a street-comer meeting without getting a permit from the local body. But removing restrictions on street-comer meetings will not restore lost audiences. The limited appearances of politicians on television during an election campaign are made before wider audiences than any politician in this country can command in person; but only a small proportion of parliamentary candidates will enjoy this privilege. Most will have to make do with the traditional spoken and written messages to their Yet it can hardly be doubted that politicians and electors have lost something through their diminishing personal contacts, particularly at election time. Mr Mason’s bill might have gone a little too far—or allowed election candidates to go too far—in overriding local body bylaws; but it is to be hoped that local bodies will put no unnecessary obstacles in the way if parliamentary candidates and electors show some inclination to return to their traditional meeting-places at street comers.