Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1935. CANADIAN POLITICS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 195, 17 July 1935, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1935. CANADIAN POLITICS.

This is general election year in Canada and a confident forecast is that polling will take place in the early autumn. There lias been much speculation regarding the dale, with the Liberal Party pressing for an early election. It had good cause for doing so, for provincial elections have gone very badly for the Conservative Party, which m some cases has been routed with disastrous effect. Ontario provided a striking instance of a turn towards Liberalism when this great stronghold of Canadian Conservatism which, except for one' brief period of a FarmerLabour Administration had been Conservative for thirty years past, returned a Liberal Government commanding a bigger majority than the Conservatives ever enjoyed, even when _ their supremacy was unquestioned. While provincial issues bulked largely in these campaigns, and it may. be unwise to draw conclusions from the results in their effect upon the Federal election, they have at least proved disconcerting to the Conservative Government led by Mr It. 13. Bennett and a source of stimulation to the Liberal Opposition of Mr Mackenzie King. In both the Eederal and the provincial spheres Conservative Governments have been attacked by opponents for alleged extravagance and incompetence, while Mr Bennett’s high tariff policy has been denounced as a hindrance to trade and a handicap imposed on the farming community for the benefit of urban industrialists. In these circumstances the Eoderal Liberal Party pressed for an early election, but the Government has been able to resist its opponents. According to the cable messages the outlook is for an exceedingly confused contest. Mr Bennett’s health in recent months has caused his party much anxiety, and it is doubtful how much vigour he will Tie able to infuse into what may be a bitter contest. It was thought some months ago that Mr H. 11. Stevens, then Minister for Trade and Commerce in Mr Bennett’s Cabinet, would possibly succeed the Prime Minister if considerations of health caused him to lay aside the cares of office, but Mr Bennett was able after a holiday to take his place in Parliament and guide through it the legislation arising from his “New Deal.” Meanwhile, Mr Stevens had broken with his leader and formed the New Reconstruction Party to fight for a place in the new Parliament. It advocates the restriction of interest rates, the liquidation of the national debt in 25 years through the development of Northern Canada’s great goldfields, and great national housing scheme, together with sweeping proposals to remedy all phases of the nation’s economic and social ills. To what extent this programme will appeal to the Canadian electors only time can decide, but the rift between Mr Stevens and the Government undoubtedly has passed beyond the stage when it might have been healed, and the dissension in the Conservative ranks must prove to be to their disadvantage in the contest. Mr Stevens, when Minister for Trade and Commerce, initiated the socalled Price Spreads Commission, whose report recommended a programme of legislation which met with a divided reception. Some members were anxious that the Government should adopt the recommendations wholly, but staider elements including some of Mr Bennett’s colleagues in the Ministry were reluctant to embark on far-reaching measures of Government interference in business. Influential leaders of finance, industry, and commerce who have supported the Government urged that the legislation should be cut to a minimum, enabling the Government to save its face. Mr Stevens vehemently attacked the big business interests and so the breach between

his new party and Mr Bennett’s loyalists has widened to the point of the former making their own bid for power, giving the Liberals the opportunity to profit from it. It is these cross currents that make the issue confused and the Government’s future uncertain. Beyond them, however, is a strong demand for a National Government, which, it is maintained, would alone have sufficient authority to find a settlement of Canada’s problems. Eminent men in business and finance urge this course which has much to commend it for providing stability in Government and the national life.