THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1927 “A HOUSE DIVIDED”

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 30 September 1927, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1927 “A HOUSE DIVIDED”

by no means unexpected result arose' out of the Raglan byelection yesterday when, on counting up the votes, it was found that the Labour candidate headed the poll with a small but quite sufficient majority over the officially recognised Reform candidate. When it came to be known that no less than five candidates were to stand it was at; once seen that the Labour Party, concentrated on the one nominee, had every good chance of slipping in among the dissensions of its opponents. The outcome, as shown by the unchecked figures so far available, has been that Mr. W. Lee Martin has secured the seat with a number of votes to his cr.edit that represents very little more than one-third of the total number cast. These also show that, had the “Independent” Reform candidate only been able to bring himself to withdraw from the contest, even the scanty vote he secured would have carried the official candidate in. If to these had been added the Reform votes deflected to the Country Party's nominee, Mr. Waring would have scored with a fairly handsome majority. The two candidates at the foot of the poll can thus most certainly congratulate themselves on their importance, inasmuch as they have undoubtedly been the instruments of success in winning the seat—for the Labour Party, to which both are definitely opposed. As for the Liberals, who have also repudiated all leanings towards Labour’s extreme Socialist policy, they must also find themselves pleased at securing about onesixth of the votes recorded.

The significance of the result of a by-election such as that of yesterday is very apt to be greatly over-estimated- In the first place, the general body of electors is not stirred to the same sense of responsibility as in the case of a general election. In the present instance this is seen by the fact that, while the Year-Book shows 7,327 votes to have' been cast in Raglan at last general election, yesterday there were only some 6,025 who troubled to put in their papers, although the number on the roll had been slightly increased. In this case, too, there was no consideration to be given as to how the result would affect the position of parties in the House, Reform being known to command a strong majority there even should the Raglan seat be lost to it. There was thus really no strong party incentive except on the side of Labour, which could scarcely but recognise the fine opportunity-- that was offered and so no doubt mustered its fullest forces to take quite justifiable advantage of it. In contests such as these, too, where party fate is in no way in the balance, personal considerations are allowed to take sway to an extent that electors do not allow themselves when they are doubtful as to how things may be going elsewhere throughout the Dominion. The fact nevertheless remains, however we may qualify its special significance, that the Labour Party has, for the time being at any rate, gained a new seat and has thus strengthened its position as His Majesty’s Opposition in our House

of Representatives. This may prove to be a blessing in disguise for those who recognise the danger lurking behind the differences that disunite the great majority of the people who are against the declardely Socialist platform of the Labour Party, If the lesson required is to be learned at all, it should be even more impressively gathered from the narrow defeat of the anti-Socialist forces than it would have been from a narrow success for one section of them. Victories in anti-Socialist electorates such as that scored yesterday by the Labour Party are like to be multiplied even in a general election unless the anti-Socialists close up their ranks, But, far from this being in prospect, the signs of the time seem to point to still further cleavages.

Not only is the Old Liberal Party making efforts to re-array it ; self under an old leader, but we have the Country Party, despite the very decided rebuffs it has already had at the polls, persisting in its apparently futile attempts to preserve its existence. Even this is not all, for within the last few weeks we have been hearing much of yet another party being hatched. This, we are told, is to be something of super-excellence “cordbining all the best elements of the Reform and the Liberal Parties.” Who it is that is to have the delicate task of discovering and making the selections to constitute this party of all the talents we have not as yet been permitted to hear. That there are disgruntled members among the Reformers in the House we all know, but we are not by any means convinced that they will fill the announced requirements of the eclectics now said to be at work. Doubtless, too, there are among the Liberal-Nationalists a good few who despair of their party ever again attaining to power. But they, too, can scarcely be counted among the superlatives that seem to be alone eligible. Even with the three well established parties already in the field, there is every possibility given for the moderates among us finding ourselves under Labour rule. With yet another party added—or may it be two?—the possibility may well be converted into a probability. Yesterday’s result in Raglan may perhaps give some pause to all these disrupting activities. “ A house divided against itself shall not stand.”