COALITION CANDIDATES

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 102, 27 October 1931, Page 8

COALITION CANDIDATES

♦-. In selecting candidates for the General Election it is understood that the Coalition will endorse the nomination of all sitting members of the parties which comprise the Government. This does not give much scope for improving the personnel or securing the services of some more able men to help the country at the present juncture. But where it is necessary to preserve the balance of parties in a coalition it is the. only course that can be taken. Had the parties agreed to come together permanently they would not have been under the same necessity for regarding political antecedents. But as it is, any attempt to obtain stronger candidates in seats now held by Reform or United would possibly lead to complications and strife. There may still be some difficulty with independents whose ambition will be greater than their loyalty to the party leaders. Such independents must be given to understand plainly that a profession of a desire to serve will not be accepted as sincere if it is expressed in an obstinate determination to complicate the simple issue of the election by triangular contests. Where electorates are not now represented by supporters of the Coalition, there is, however, an opportunity to strengthen llie Government by the selection of candidates whose ability and experience would be of value in Parliament. Jn such seats the dividing line between the parties to the Coalition should not be made a barrier. There should not be insistence on the fact that the seat was Reform in 1928 or Liberal in 1920. The test in choosing a candidate should be his fitness to represent the people and to give real help to the Government in the task with which it is faced. Such men can be found at the present time if the parties are willing to have them; for a crisis such as we are passing through makes a call to men of high purpose who would not otherwise feel disposed to sacrifice their own work and leisure for politics. They would be of the greatest service too, for they would give Parliament a new point of view. They would see facts without the unconscious bias which is liable to embarrass the politician who has been habituated to party warfare. Their presence would indeed be most helpful in smoothing out difficulties which are yet liable to arise in a Coalition which is regarded as only a temporary alliance. But do the parties want such men? Are they prepared to accept their services, or will they still make adherence to a parly a condition of candidature?