LANGISM CRUSHINGLY DEFEATED.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 June 1932, Page 7

LANGISM CRUSHINGLY DEFEATED.

Labour Party Loses Thirty Seats. I .... Nationalists Defeated in Queensland* % Received Sunday, 9.5 p.m. SYDNEY, June 12. In the New South Wales election the Government secured a sweeping victory and will probably have 65 seats in the new House to the Langites’ twenty-five. . ' The defeat of the Lang Labour forces was generally expected outside the ranks of that party both m the city and country. There was an unmistakeable atmosphere of lurking danger and an emphatic demand for a return to a pplicy of sanity and honesty and freedom in Parliamentary Government.

In some quarters the belief was -cherished that the Lang party would more than hold its own because of a fear on the part of the workers that a xouthless slashing of wages would follow the return of the btevens-Druxuer

party. The election thus came to be regarded as the most momentous in the history of New Soutli Wales and the federation. The opponents of Langism made no secret of their fears for the future. All conversation during the .brief but bitter campaign turned on tna political events of the past eighteen months and what might happen if a renewal of confidence were given to Labour.

Election day could not come quickly enough for most people whose minds were made up a fortnight ago and the fight resolved itself into clear-cut issues —the acceptance or rejection of the Premiers' Plan as in Victoria and and the imposition or otherSsis© of what had been termed a wealth -levy. Grimness was written on every voter's face and the seriousness of the decision at to-day's poll was everywhere apparent. The crisis originated with the Governor’s action to send the ex-Premier for trial before the jury of the people who have now given their answer in a most convincing manner, determining the fate of several Ministers of the Lang Administration and a rout of the rank and file of the Parliamentary Labour party. What has happened to the Lang party is precisely what happened in the last State election to the anti-Labour forces, hut perhaps more accentuated in Mr. Lang’s case. The devastating -current of public opinion which swamp. <ed the Lang party in the metropolitan .area spread throughout the State. Per.sonal popularity was useless in stemming the tide. One Labourite after another went under. It has usually been rather difficult to estimate the probable state of the parties before midnight on the polling days, but on this occasion nothing was left in doubt, so pronounced was the ' swing to the Government side throughout the country and many metropolitan constituencies. Labour’s • slogan, “Lang Is ;right,'’ ’ was turned all sorts of ways by the exuberant victors, .perhaps the most appropriate being “Lang is right out!’’ “Lang is .left!” was still another. Mr. Lang himself attributed the - -debacle to the “poisonous press .propaganda.” He said the policy of suppression and distortion fooled rthe people who now are going to suffer. The scenes at the'United and Country party offices, were extremely joyous. Mr. Stevens was the recipient all round of hand shakes, and compliments and felicitations. Businessmen controlling. .big enterprises were spontaneous in their expressions that a revival of trade .and industry would follow the people’s verdict. “We never doubted that the heart of Australia rang true,” commented Mr. Stevens. “This glorious victory over Langism and dishonesty has proved to the whole world that Australians stand for probity and integrity. This is no ordinary triumph. It affords .a complete sense of satisfaction. We have checkmated the forces of evil which have had a stranglehold on this fair State for over eighteen months.

When the checking of the primary votes ceased early this morning the state cf the parties appeared to be: — United Australia party .... 40 United Country Unity party 2 Labour 25 Other parties’ groups 0

What is described as the Unity party .consists of candidates supporting the Government policy and endorsed by cither the United Australia or Cbuntry parties for the same electorate. Two .such candidates are already elected. Federal Labour, whose nominees contested 43 city and country seats and whose policy generally conflicted with Lang’s on the side of moderation and whose desire was to see the downfall of the Lang party because of the mischief it wrought in the last Federal election, had hopes of picking up a couple of seats, possibly Mr. Lang’s. Although a neck and neck struggle went on at Auburn between Mr. Lang and Mr. Coleman, the position was put beyond doubt after midnight when Mr. JLang obtained an absolute majority over Ms Federal Labour adversary of 742, assuring Ms return- Nothing so

thrilling was provided in any previous election as Lang’s majority in 1930 was 8965.

Ministers of the Lang Administration who have fallen by the wayside are Messrs. Tully, Ely, Dunn, Gosling and Lamaro. In fact, 'so great is the debacle that only two of his Ministers at present survive, namely, Messrs. Davidson and McKell, while Mr. Davies, former Minister of Education, whose constituents number thousands of boutii Coast miners, looks like being defeated,. The state of the parties in the

last New South Wales Parliament was: — State Labour 55 Nationalists 21 Country party 14 Thus the State Labour lost thirty seats. The United Australia party gained twenty-one and the Country party nine. There was not one United or Country party supporter defeated. Even in the city and industrial constituencies a tremendous swing from Labour is apparent. Mr. Stevens will meet the new Parliament at the head of a United Government pledged to the adherence of the Premiers ’ Plan with an unparalleled majority of roughly forty. Certainly a couple of seats are still in dofibt, but the odds are definitely against Labour. Scats which hitherto were regarded as impregnable Labour strongholds rejected the Lang candidates in one of the heaviest polls on record and Labour has virtually been expelled from representation in the country. Premier Stevens had a comfortable win at Croydon, where he was opposed by a Labour stalwart, Mr. Eldredge, a former I cderal member of the Beasley group. High hopes were entertained in Labour headquarters of unseating Mr. Stevens, who, however, won by 6350. The former leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bavin, received a handsome majority at Gordon of 12,667. The Loan try party leader and dcputy-Premiev, Mr. H. Bruxner, was returned unopposed. Some Dramatic Defeats

Eeceived Sunday, 9.7 p.m. SYDNEY, June 12

Some of the metropolitan seats won by Labour in the last election by narrow margins have been retrieved by the United candidates with substantial majorities. The Bondi seat is a case in point. Mr. Thomas (United) has an absolute majority of 4347 over the retiring Langite (Mr. Landa). Another instance is North Sydney where Mr. Primrose, Mayor of the municipality, ousted the Langite (Mr. Howe) by nearly 2000 votes. The Drummoyne seat has been won back by Mr. Lee (United) from the Langite (Mr. McLelland). Georges Eiver has been recovered from Labour by Mr. Monro (United) by over 2000. The Kandwick contest in which there was a lot of interest, has reverted to the Uniteds, whose nominee (Mr. Moberly), practically an unknown man, defeated the Langite (Mr. Flanagan) by 780. Eyde has given the • Uniteds another seat. Mr. Spooner, also a new man in politics, triumphed there over the retiring Labourite (Mr. E. A. Davies) by 4443 with the preferences still undistributed.

A similar state of things occurred at Waverley, Concord and Hurstviue, where the retiring Labourites appeared to be unbeatable. The defeat at KoGarah of Mr. Gosling, the former Chief Secretary who reintroduced tin hares and fruit machines, was not generally anticipated and created considerable comment. His chief opponent (Mr. J. C. Boss) United, has at present a lead of 1346 and when the preferences of the Federal Labourite are distributed it is expected Mr. Gosling will go down by over 2000. The Petersham result, where the Attorney-General (Mr. Lamaro) is well behind his nearest opponent, Mr. Solomon (United), created surprise in Labour circles since Mr. Lamaro was believed to be one of the strong men in Lang’s team. He played a rather unpopular part after the Governoi s dismissal of Mr. Lang and by his adverse comment on the judicial decisions he incurred the displeasure of the legal fraternity.

The story concerning the country electorates may be summed up as an utter rout of Labour. Quite a number of Labour men who enjoyed personal popularity and were ordinarily difficult to unseat paid the penalty of their servility to Langism so-called. The Country party, who had been given a rather open field, have profited

to the tune of nine seats and. only a couple of seats remain in doubt. One of these is Bathurst -where the sitting Langite (Mr. Kelly) is having the closest contest with the Unity candidate (Mr. Wilkins) with the odds in favour of the latter. Bathurst is a large railwayman's centre. The Maitland scat, hitherto a Labour stronghold, has been lost by the Langite (Mr. O’Hearn) and the adjoining seat, Upper Hunter, has been wrested from Labour in a most decisive manner. Mr. Lang’s Minister of Lands (Mr. Tally) who has a strong grip on Goulburn, a railway centre, has suffered defeat by over a thousand. All the Riverina seats hitherto held by Labour have been won by cither United or Country party nominees.

According to overnight returns Labour seems to have lost 16 scats in the city and 14 in the country which wholly exceeded expectations. The doubtful seats arc Canterbury and Illaw-arra.

Retiring members definitely defeated in the metropolitan area are: —Labour: Messrs Butler, Byrne, Cahill, Clementson, Connors, E. Davies, Ely, Flanagan, Gosling, Howe, Kinsella, Lamaro, Lauda, McDicken and McLclland. In the country; —Labour: Messrs Clarke, Donovan, Dunn, Fitzgerald, Flannery, Folstcr, Hoad, Koast, Martin,

McClelland, O ’Hearn, Scully and Tully.

Scones of tremendous enthusiasm greeted the announcement of the progress figures in the suburbs. Large crowds listened to radio broadcasts in the streets of various centres, particularly in places of entertainment. Indeed in no previous election has wireless played such a large part. It was impossible for anyone outdoors not to be aware of the_ progress of the poll. People Endorse Federal Policy MR. LYONS IS OVERJOYED. Received Sunday, Midnight. SYDNEY, June 12.

The Federal Prime Minister (Mr. Lyons), who is visiting Sydney, is overjoyed at the outcome of the elections. ‘‘ I regard it as a vindication of the policy of the Commonwealth Government towards Mr. Lang, We received a mandate to take him to task and force him to play his part in the work of rehabilitation and the verdict at the New South Wales polls may be regarded. as an endorsement of the measures taken to compel him to keep pace with the other State Governments. The verdict is a happy one for Australia and will do more than anything else to restore confidence in New South Wales.” No Change in Figures Received Monday, 1.30 p.m. SYDNEY, June 12. There is no change in tne New South Wales elections to-night. Counting resumes to-morrow. The state of the Parties now is: United and Country .. .. 63 State Labour 24 Doubtful • • 3 Of the latter, two are expected to he won hy United and one by Labour. Interest in London Received Sunday, 9.50 p.m. LONDON, June 12. Australian circles showed the liveliest interest in the elections. The Sunday newspapers give prominence to the results, their headlines being indicative of their realisation of their significance, but there is no editorial comment. Mr. Latham (deputy Federal Prime Minister), commenting on the result, said: “It is one of the finest things that has ever happened to Australia and will give the Commonwealth new heart. There will be a real chance now of dealing with the problems which must be faced and which cannot be dealt with in the long run by any other methods than honesty and hard work. As one of the leaders and the founder of the United Australia Party I congratulate the party upon its spectacular victory in New South Wales.”