NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 50, 22 November 1928, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

Those who are . never happy unless they are blaming their country of origin may take heart when they read a list compiled y an authority of the subject of things that Britain has given to the world. These include Parliaments, railways, safety bicycles, afternoon tea, aseptic surgery, the jury system, Boy Scouts, the Salvation Army, high-class tailoring, and Gilbert and Sullivan. Germany. is credited with beer, music, and disciplined knowledge; France with good taste; and the United States with brilliant mechanical inventiveness. Germany’s disciplined knowledge produced the General Staff, and it must be admitted that Britain soon realised the many advantages to be gained in this respect, particularly in such a complicated thing as war, which showed signs even then of becoming more and more complicated. The brilliant mechanical inventiveness of the United States must have had a good grounding, thanks to the ancestors of the vovagers by the Mayflower, for Britain whilst perhaps slow to invent ‘ cute” ideas has been and still is the admitted leader of the world in good and solid workmanship.

Kept in office by the votes of the four Country Party members since September, 1927, the Hogan Government has . been twice defeated within the past few days. The Labour-Socialist Government had proposed to pass a Redistribution Act which would, have transferred to Melbourne the greater portion of the representation in the State Parliament. The country districts would have lost considerably by the proposed change. The Country Party, therefore, were unlikely to support a Government which would rob the primary producers of Parliamentary representatives. The existing electoral representation, which was only initiated by the last State Parliament, provides 39 country constituencies and 26 metropolitan. Under Mr. Hogan’s proposal there would be 32 country constituencies and 33 metropolitan. Parliament so elected would have been preponderately concerned with metropolitan interests, and the great primary industries of wheat-growing, dairying, and sheep farming upon which the prosperity of the State depends would have been relegated to second place in Parliamentary consideration.

Now that the final count of votes is nearing completion, the political situation remains as confused as ever. The Reform Party yesterday lost the Wellington North seat to the Labour-Socialists and the Labour-Socialists lost the Dunedin South seat to the United Party. Thus we now have the position:

Reform • 28 United • - 27 Labour-Socialists 19 Independent 5 Country Party 1 It will be seen that the position now is very much as it was on election night. With two seats —Waimate and Rotorua — still uncertain, the Reform Party still continues the strongest numerically; but the United Party can claim the support of certain of the Independents on a no-confidence motion. Probably if Sir Joseph Ward offers them portfolios they will continue to lend him their support. The whole of the Independents and the Country Party combined, however, could not give the United Party a majority in the House. No one of the three leading parties can hold office without a working agreement with one of the others or on sufferance. It is a very unfortunate position, and until the rival parties have held their separate meetings and discussed the possibilities of the situation, further speculation as to what may happen is futile. It can be taken for granted, however, that Parliament will be summoned at an early date—possibly the second week in December.

Under the system of absentee voting now permitted at general elections the suspense of candidates in many instances is much prolonged. The large number of absentee votes to be counted after the first declaration of the polls makes even a substantial majority for a candidate at the first count an uncertain security as to the final result. In quite a number of cases in the recent contest the absent voters and seamen's votes ran into four figures, and candidates could not feel secure until the returning officer added these to the count of Wednesday last. In Wellington North, where Sir John Luke was first shown to be in a small minority against Mr. Chapman, the Labour-Socialist candidate, the figures were later turned to Sir John Luke's ■ advantage, giving him a majority of 8. With 1138 absent voters and seamen’s votes to be counted, however, the result was still in doubt,' and finally the balance swung against the sitting member and the seat was lost to Reform by a small margin. In Dunedin South, where there were 823 votes to be counted, the Labour-Socialist candidate started with a lead of 8 over the United Party's representative, and here exactly the same thing occurred as in Wellington North. The candidate in the lead at the first count was defeated by the count, of the absent voters. The seat thus gained by the. Labour-Socialist Party in Wellington was counterbalanced by the loss in. Dunedin,