ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1915. THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 22, 27 January 1915, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1915. THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Public interest in-tlie political'situa-, ,tion^'#4uch. has been somewhat tepid for the last few weeks, is likely to be considiel^afely revived by the coming by-election in Dunedin XTentral, and me election petitions which have Jbeen filed.against Dr McNab and IVIi- Jennings, the elect respectively 'of the Hawke's Bay and Taumarunui constituencies. Th© re-openirtg of tho I>aw Courts after the usual vacation must soon'be followed by the Ihearing (Of the petitions irn. question, together with similar proceedings in connection with the petition which lias been filed against the,return of the sucoessful candidate in the Northern Maori electorate. The nominal strengtih .of the two political parties is so close that it is only natural that the insult of the Dunedin Central election .and of three election petitions to whidii we have referred should bo .awaited with no small curiosity and anxiety by the party leaders and the public generally. With regard. to the Dunedin election, a certain amount of sympathy must go to each of the contending candidates; to Mr Munro, the Labor candidate, whose victory, as at first announced, was upset through no fault pf his own, ibut through the stupidity of one or moi-e of the incompetent officials employed by the.Ellec- . tocal -..Department; and to Mr Statham in that a useful and most, promising political career was temporarily ent short by the fact that ti large number of his ordinary supporters, obeyine? the dictates of tlheir nar-row-minded sectarian leaders, abstained from voting, as a punishment +o Mr Statham for having dared1 to defy th^ clerical ukase by voting aecamst the Hon. James Allen's precious Bible-in-Schools Referendum Bill.' Should these oleetors again choose to stand aloof Mr Statham's ehnrieos of pocnring liis old ?<?at arc,

we are afraid, but very slender* as it is well known that the tabor party in ; , Dujiedin ace working tooth and nail to secure another vote for outing* ."- tho gentleman they call "Bill Massey," and that Mr Munro will have the support of a large1 absentee.-sea- . men's vote which is being specially registered in.Dunedin Central for th© j purpose of securing the Labor So- i cialist's return. Mr Munro is, from what we can ascertain^ a wnan <o_f considerably higher intelligence and education than the average political t champion of the "Red" Federation > of Labor, and no doubt, should he be ■ elected, he will prove a useful enough j Member. It .is, however, m our i -opinion, much more desirable that a* | gentleman such as Mr Statham should j represent the Dunedin electorate rather than that a- Socialist candidate should be returned. In time, no doubt, a certain sprinkling of Labor Members might be of advantage to the House;; tet we wa~nt Labor Members of the .stamp of those who sit in the Federal Parliament, and nrt.gentlemen who would be, to a large extent, merely i>he .tools^Lihe "Bed' Federation., which ' was in such evil notoriety a year or two ago. Besides this, Mr Statham well deserves to be rewarded for the sterling independence he displayed on the Bible-in-"schools and Prohibition questions. It was a courageous attitude to take up, in view of the strength of the Clerical and Prohibition factions in Dunedin, and it proves him to be a man :of strong individuality, who .scorns to be treated as a mere pawn in the political game. His opponent, Mr Miunro, favors the bare majority on the National Prohibition issue, and for this reason alone we should prefer ±o see Mr Statham victorious on February 3, for the financial equilibrium of the Dominion is of far too great importance to be endangered by such a disruption .of the revenue arrangements >as must infallibly be entailed by-the carrying of National Prohibition. ■' : '■'.'• With regard to the three election petitions, it will be for.the judges of the Supreme Court to decide whether the electoral laws were broken and irregularities occurred of sufficient gravity as materially to affect the result. ■'•The actual plaints, set forth aro sub-judice, and may not properly be referred to in detail. We are, however, quite in order in expressing a, hope that neither Dr McNab nor Mr Jennings will lie unseated. Dr McNab's alisence fiiom Parliament is a, distinct loss to, the. country, for men of his intellectual calibrej sterling honesty, and fine grasp of public affairs are unhappily all too rare in the House; Mr , GJampbell was certainly not a shining light in the last Parliament, and as a legislator he ''never would be missed." Mr Wilson, the late Member for Taumarunui, was chiefly famous, for his noisy inter»jections, often of ■ an objectionably personal natu?-e; ■'.•aiid-.-'-'-Taumariinui would be much hetter represented by that veteran friend.of the backblocks settlersy Mr. Jennings. ■ Before February is out we ougHt to liave/the final results, as revised by ,tb.© Laiw' Courts, '—or by the electoi"s-^iri the Hawke's Bay and TaumaruriiiiV electorates—^ andionce we have these, plus the result of the Dunedin.; Central contest, it will be known exactly !ho;W: stand. Until then ;the i public will have to possess its, political soul in patience.