POLITICAL SITUATION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 48, 20 November 1928, Page 12

POLITICAL SITUATION

GOVERNMENT RETAIN RICCARTON MR. HARRIS HOLDS WAITEMATA OFFICIAL COUNT COMMENCED Retention by the Government of the Riccarton and Waitemata seats was the main incident in the political situation yesterday, tlie official counts in those electorates having converted Mr. 11. S. S. Kyle’s lead of two into a majority of 45, and Mr. A. Harris’s lead of 276 into a majority of 315. In most constituencies the official counts commenced yesterday, and as the others will start to-day, the strength of the parties should be known by Thursday at the latest.

A meeting of Cabinet was held yesterday, but the proceedings were confined to transaction of routine business. It was reported subsequently that the gathering had no political significance. The Minister of Labour (Hon. G. J. Anderson) will return to Wellington to-day from an extensive health-recruiting trip abroad. His constituency, Mataura, is one of the seats still in jeopardy. The Prime Minister adheres to his original attitude of not announcing the intentions of the Government until the final returns have been received. In reply to a question, he repeated that once the situation- had been determined his future course of action would not be delayed. “They will not be able to say we have not played the game,” he added. . The general impression in political circles now is that Mr. Coates will not resign immediately, but that he will call Parliament together at an early date to test the strength of the parties in the House. Sir Joseph Ward will then have the opportunity of moving his no-confidence amendment, which, with the assistance of the LabourSocialists, would no doubt be carried. Mr. Coates would then tender his resignation and that of his Ministry, and recommend His Excellency the Gov-ernor-General to send for Sir Joseph Ward, .as the leader of the next strongest party. The United leader would be able to form a Ministry, and it might happen that the Reform Opposition, in accordance with their declared intention of placing the interests of the country first, would allow the United Party to remain in office to enable them to redeem the pledges they have made to the country. It is idle, however, to speculate until the final results from all the electorates have come to hand. THE OFFICIAL COUNT According to advice received by the Chief Electoral Officer, the official count commenced yesterday in the following electorates: —Auckland Central, Auckland East, Christchurch North, Christchurch South, Wallace, Grey Lynn, Hutt, Manawatu, Masterton, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Roskill, Waikato, Wairau, Wanganui, Wellington Suburbs, and Wellington South. In all other electorates it is expected that the count will start today. The counts have been completed in Riccarton, Waitemata, Manukau. In Avon and Patea, they were commenced on Saturday. COMPLETED RETURNS The following results of the official counts in the electorates named were received at electoral headquarters yesterday :— RICCARTON. H. S. S. Kyle (R.) 4515 A. A. McLachlan (U.) 4470 G. 11. Thompson (L.) 1671 Informal 88 Majority for Kyle 45 WAITEMATA. A. Harris (1.R.) 4683 It. 11. Geville (U.) 4368 A. G. Osborne (L.) 2455 Informal 72 Majority for Harris 315 MANUKAU. W. J, Jordan (L.) 6567 W. T. F. Keils-Mason (U.) .. 2908 B. Bunn (R.) 2657 Informal SO Majority for Jordan 3650 AVON. D. G. Sullivan (L.) 6376 G. T. Baker (U.) 2431 v . B. Hughes (R.) 2387 Informal 82 Majority for Sullivan .... 3045 CHRISTCHURCH SOUTH. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Christchurch, November 19. The allocation of the postal votes in Christchurch South reduces Mr. E. J Howard's lead from 381 to 363 over Mr. McCully (United). The counting of the 550 declaration and absentee votes will be completed to-night. MR. COATES AND SIR JOSEPH WARD AGREEMENT SAID TO BE UNLIKELY Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, November 19. The. following paragraph on 1' 3 political situation appears in the Dunedin “Star” to-night:— “Amongst the many guesses as to the outcome ' the present political situation is one that professes to carry a strong tincture of headquarters authority to the effect that no agreement is likely to be arrived at between the Hon, J. G. Coates and Sir Joseph Ward, and that unless Mr. Holland and Si. Joseph come to an understanding another general election is inevitable. a other words, Reform and United are as tlie blue and white iq the Seidlitz powder.”

“DUTY AND EXPEDIENCY"

ADVICE FOR MR. COATES

By Telegraph.—Press Association.

Auckland, November 19.

The “New Zealand Herald,” in the course of a long editorial on the political situation, says: “There need not be too much said about Mr. Coates being in office while in a minority. Each of the other parties is in a minority, too, though that does not mean that Mr. Coates can properly stay in office until next June as if nothing had happened. It has been said in comment by the opponents of Mr. Coates and his party, first, that Sir Joseph Ward might not care to form a Cabinet unless assured of a majority, and, second, that Mr. Coates dare not force a dissolution lest his party be annihilated. Both sound like the statements of people whistling to keep their courage up. “If Sir Joseph Ward refuses the call, he passes the opportunity to somebody else, who would also be in a minority, a thing he is not likely to do. In the alternative Mr. Coates will, as has already been said, be in a far stronger position of being able virtually to deny a dissolution if he refrains from attempting to defeat whatever Government is in power, and refuses to allow it to be defeated. Then certain premises given during the election campaign will have to be put into execution —if possible—or stand as confessed shams. For Sir Joseph Ward to refuse to form a Cabinet or for a dissolution to be forced before anything had been attempted by anybody would be an easy way out for those who have promised the country far more than they can possibly perform. “The course which duty and expediency combine to lay down for Mr. Coates is to refrain from moving no confidence motions, to refuse support to any that may be moved, to refrain from obstruction, but to exercise to the full his right of criticism, to deprive the Government succeeding him of any excuse for evading the promises by pleading malignant opposition from the other side, to let the country see what progress is made by those who accused him of failure and professed to have the secret of success in their possession. If he does this, he will play a perfectly legitimate and thoroughly justifiable role in the present situation. He should give the people a lead in Insisting that there shall be no watering down of election professions. Progress in country and city, the rapid development of the land, the immediate revival of prosperity, have all been promised. Let him, taking no responsibility for the methods, demand that they be produced. If he does this the immediate future will be worth watching.” “THE EXCITED PARTY” “Since Sir Joseph Ward seems to have mind up his mind that he is Prime Minister” (remarks the Christchurch “Press”), “and has apparently gone to Wellington to impress this fact upon the Governor-General, one feels that one ought to apolgise for offering him ar.d his party even a word of counsel. Yet this counsel we do give them—that they ought to meditate upon the position and, above all, await the final official results of the voting. At the present moment it is not possible to say whether the United Party or the Reform Party will have the larger number of representatives in the House. They are in this respect nearly equal, although the popular vote for the Government obviously exceeds the popular vote for the United Party. The United Party will be at best a party with a majority of 50 members against it in a House of SO, and with a popular vote less than that given to the Government. It has for many years cried out against the iniquity of a party’s holding office which has not had a popular as well as a Parliamentary majority over the other parties combined. This has not prevented it from claiming the right now to govern, although there is against it a 63 per cent, majority in Parliament and a 70 per cent, majority in the country I These facts will in time, no doubt, sink into the heads of the Excited Party.”