"AN UNHAPPY FATE”

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 304, 8 December 1931, Page 11

"AN UNHAPPY FATE”

GOOD MEN WHO FAILED. LOCAL AND GENERAL POLITICS. In these days an unhappy fate appears to pursue men and women who endeavour to graduate from local to national politics. It used to be con side red that good and patient service in local government was the best recommendation for Parliamentary honours. says the “New Zealand Herald.” It was the firm conviction of the late Right Hon. W. F. Massey, who perhaps thought not so much about the reward aspect of the matter as about the training of men for efficient Parliamentary duty with as little delay as possible. In rural districts and the smaller towns the rule that local body service should be performed as an essential apprenticeship for Parliament may still hold good. It is almost impossible to imagine an acceptable farmers’ representative who has not been a county council chairman or a borough mayor or a prominent person in some semipublic institution. In Auckland, however, it would almost seem that the greater prominence a Parliamentary candidate has had in municipal government, the more his chances of success are liable to be prejudiced. Naturally, no one could dream of dogmatising on the subject. Different factors influence different elections, and it may be that a long series of defeats is simply a long series of coincidences. SOME NOTABLE EXAMPLES. Yet there does seem to be a connec tion between the opposition a strong personality is bound to create in municipal affairs and his rejection at the Parliamentary polls. Why, for instance, should it have been impossible for Sir James Gunson, after a brilliant Mayoralty of ten years, to have followed Sir James Parr and the late Sir Arthur Myers from the Mayoral chair to Parliament and a seat in ih-j Cabinet? No one could question his capacity. His opponents admitted his outstanding ability. Y'ct a combination of circumstances denied him the opportunity of serving his country that has been given to many lesser men. The only Auckland Parliamentary representatives who have served, or do serve, in local government are tho»e who have always been politicians first. Mr. M. J. Savage, for instance. Mr. A. J. Stallworthy had a term on the City Council, and this brought him into the public eye, but never as a local leader. Perhaps he was fortunate in gaining a seat in Parliament before ho had been long in city government. Both Mr. W .J. Holdsworth and Mr. J. A. C. Alhim have been prominent for years in civic affairs. They have “fought” local elections, even if fighting in that sphere is of a casual character win compared with a Parliamentary stiv; gle. ’