Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1919. “THE FATEFUL 17th”

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1704, 18 December 1919, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1919. “THE FATEFUL 17th”

The “17th” has come and gone without any of the electrical disturbances or violent convulsions of Nature predicted by certain meteorologists, but at the same time it was attended by, for some people, an wholly unexpected upheaval in this country, which brought about a surprising debacle of the old Liberal forces. That a party which went to the country 33 strong, flushed with the hope of victory, should lose not only half its men, hut three of its leaders, was about the last thing expected. The Liberal defeat,has been more decisive than that of the Reform Party in 1905, when Mr Seddon fairly swept the country, which confirmed him in olfice by the biggest majority he had held up till then. The surprising part about yesterday’s pollings, apart from the Liberal debacle, is that tne Government, or Reform Party, has lost only two of the seats it formerly held—the third, that in which the Hon. J. B. Hike is concerned—being still in the balance, while the Liberals have gone all to pieces. Locally the supporters of the Government have every cause for satisfaction, Mr J. A. Nash having won the election handsomely with a majority of over 90(1, the vote polled in his.favour (4407) being the highest yet recorded for any candidate who has contested the J almerstou seat. This is the more gratifying in view of the insidious attempts that were made to injure his candidature, and particularly by the wholly unwarrantable introduction of the sectarian issue by a contemporary, which fights none too cleanly in its opposition to the Government and its supporters. In the Auckland province every one of the seats held by Reformers in the last Parliament remains with the Government, and the two new seats—Roskill and Rotorua —have been gained by Government supporters. At Gisborne, Mr W. D. Lysnar has wrested from Sir James Carroll the seat so long Held by that gentleman as otie of the most prominent members of the Liberal Party, thus ending, for the time being, Sir James’s political career, which dates back to his election as member for the Eastern Maori district in October, 1887. In the Wellington province the possible loss of the Stratford seat has been counter-balanced by Mr H. M, Campbell’s victory in Hawke’s Bay, and by t®e now Manawatu seat falling to Mr Edward Newman, the A ? ongitikei seat being also retained for tke Government by the election of Mr Yfy S. Glenn.

■ : ; ;v‘ ' , ;• v HOWMATTERS~STAND, —h v? The South Island retuVns show the loss of two seats be|tljb|; wi'mers in the late Parliament-bNelsoh alul Wakatipu. Mr Scott, the senior Government Whip, who held the old. Central Otago seat, is .a veteran, who will bo greatly missed in the new Parliament. It was his misfortune to have his old electorate cut out, and apportioned between the neighbouring electorates. He. was at the further disadvantage of being less known in Wakatipu than his successful opponent, Mr R. Horn. Mr Field, who held the Nelson seat, has had to give place to Mr Harry Atmore, whom he ousted in 1914, Against the loss of these seats , may be placed the Kaiapoi seat, gained by Mr- David ■: Jones for the Government; the Teinuka seat, which at time of writing is held by Mr T. D. Burnett (with 140 .absentee,votes to come in, which may alter'the position);, and the two Southland seats—Awarua and Wallace, held formerly by Sir Joseph Ward and Mr J. C. Thomson. The decisive defeat of the former is the most sensational feature of the elections. Like Sir James Cartoll, Sir Joseph Ward lias sat in every Parliament almost continuously (with a break of seven months only) since October, 1887, and his sendees to the country have been such that there will be a general feeling of regret over his defeat. Other notable defeats in the South Island are those of the Hon, G. W- Russell and the Hon. P. Buddo, both ex-Ministers of the Crown, Mr Buddo having hcldi the Kaiapoi seat continuously sjilhe T893, while he was a member of Sir Joseph Ward’s Ministry from 1906 to M&. Mr "Russell has had a more chequered v career. Ho first entered Parliambnt ’aA-member for Riccarton in JB9J, and. held the seal up to 1896, when he-was defeated. In 1899 he gained the Avon seat, but lost it at the General Election -in 1902. Ho regained it six,years later in 1908. During his 19. years of Parliamentary life he has hold, office"for llivee",’months in the shortlived; Mackenzie Ministry, and for four yeprs as a„- member of the National Government. ... Mr H. 6. ;EU, another member of-the'Mackenzie Administration, met his Waterloo tel ton,’ which he contested in the Liberal interest. With the returns still incomplete it is not possible to state definitely how parties stand in the new House, but the facts show Mr Massey lias made a good win, ghd that his.party is confirmed ip jpjffice by ■ a', majority of the constituencies. He will ; probably be able to yount,upon over 50 votes should any attempt be made to move a_ vote of nb-confidence against him—this in a House of 'BO moifiborrf. The country may well be congratulated upon the result, for it now has every prospect of a strong Government, conducting its affairs for the next tliroe. years on lines that will make, for loyally, safety and progress.