THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Evening Star, Issue 19198, 15 March 1926, Page 6

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

By' tho decisions of the Electoral Court, consisting of two judges, Mr T. E. Y. Soddon (Nationalist) has been declared elected to Parliament over his Labor opponent for tho Westland seat, and Mr M‘Corahs (Labor) declared elected over his Reform adversary for tho Lyttelton scat. In the Westland case the returning officer had held that votes shown in the municipal way, by placing a cross opposite the name of one candidate, were votes validly registered in his favor, and the application of that rule, confirmed by the judges, to the Lyttelton issue was decisive in effecting Mr, M'Comb’s return. A secondary,

but not unimportant, effect of tho judgments., unn-Hcir, lies in the establishment of tho principle that an elector may vote either way for a parliamentary as well as for a municipal election—by striking out tho name of the candidate who is not approved by him, or by putting a cross opposite to tho name of the one whom ho approves. By either method tho intention in his mind, which the law in each case makes the important factor, is held, wholly reasonably wo think, to bo clearly expressed. Au absurdity is still constituted, as we have pointed out before, when the ballot papers for tho two kinds of election direct different methods, and that inconsistency should bo amended.

The result of the court’s judgments is that, if no other change should take place in the strength of parties before tho House meets, tho Nationalist Party (including Sir Joseph Ward and Mr Atmore, who cannot bo excluded from it) and the Labor Party will bo equal in numbers, each with twelve members. In that case it is to be expected that the Nationalists, under Air Forbes, will retain their title as the official Opposition. The position, however, will not be without its incongruities and its difficulties for them, with a second Opposition, much more active, because more drastically opposed to tho Government —and opposed as fundamentally to themselves—equal to tho official one in voting strength. That equality gives a special interest to the by-election for Eden, which may yet destroy it, and make Labor tho official Opposition, by returning one more Labor man to the House. Air Alasou probably would have small chance of getting there in an equal contest with Sir James Gunson, the Reform candidate; but if Aliss Melville should stand to split the votes, as she lias declared her intention of doing, his chances would be distinctly good. As to Air Forbes, a word from him would bo welcome to show that lie still exists. It is not much that tho country has heard from him since ho became the leader of tho Nationalist Opposition. We notice that Air Sullivan, one of tho Labor whips, maintain that his party is already entitled to take its place as tho formal Opposition, on the ground that Sir Joseph Ward is a Liberal, not a Nationalist, and that Mr Atmoro has described himself as au Independent. But that plea is not one that can bo taken seriously. Sir Joseph Ward’s position was surely defined beyond any possibility of doubt when he said, in his first election speech last year, “if returned I shall take my scat with tho party I was so long associated with and led,” and Mr Atmore is as unlikely to prefer a lonely furrow for himself to association with Air Forbes.