ELECTION REFLECTIONS

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 1, 3 January 1923, Page 4

ELECTION REFLECTIONS

I .. ■ -—-■-..■■■- .. ■ ... . • :. , BjTfc. 3. ©'Regan ■. ■ j I concluded ray last batch of Notes i with a reference to tlio I^rotestaiit Political Association and the attitude o£ the press incidentally i-ei'err.mg to the alleged orgauof Wellington L" : h-( eralitmi, the "New-Zealand lYtnes." in connection therewith. Tho Notes had j barely "been concluded, when tho J "New Zealand Times," in. its issue of Monday 11th ins>t., oame out with an i editoi'ial strongly denunciatory of. I the Association. Hearing several ! laudatory references t o the article in J question, my eommentory was, v/hy I d'd not the article appear before tihe I elections? No disuse ic-itate r-siader j will deny that excellent as -the ed tor-f-il condemnation was in itself, it i came too fate either t o be o? any I real, service or to rebut ' '.he pre- ; sunrotion. that the."New Zealand Tiiiies," like th,e majority, o£ its contemporariets, wih'de not openly sup- | porting the small but noisy clique of' ' sectarian war-mongers, was only too>. ] pleased to treat, it as a possibly ad- | vxijU-agcous political asset. The eiec- ! tions iiayo s-hov/n UiM. quite the re- : verco »s the fapt. and accordingly, i "TheTimes' " ondemnatVm emues a !, trifle late. However, it is to f'e hoped that the lesson of the eleetkns will . not l >e os ~ either on the press of ! this country or on public ttvvin who i cithf-r paraded their sympathies with I ri-lig'-ous bigotry or regarded it coin- • pV~cently as a valuable a<l.l unct to; I political caiapaigning:. ! j « » it' ■•» I What wouiil be thought ot a mcmi her of Par!iauiCiH v/ho iniiilicSy aai nounced that he would support no j I Government which included, say > ai j Presbyterian, ;•:■. liaptist or an An-j ■ gllcan" 1 ventuvy to nay <he press of, ih-e country would read Inm a \en-\ son and. thai when ho faced liffl con- ■ s-tUuentfi he v/ould have to -answer' j «onic av/If.vV;ard tiuesUons. Yet a; ' ;neml)er of the i> repeal Cover-ninent, ! ' named Nosworthv, in hie j days, more tlian once j '■publicly proclaimed that he would; I support; no Government which includ-j |ed a Catholic. Akt" irom adverse; ! comment in the "Auckland Slur" -anti i ! tho ••L.ytttit.ou Tiitic-s," die of; ! the r:yan!ry ulLer-ed not one wovd of i ' protest. - and afi:-r having nia<le such: ; a disgraceful profoss-y.-on,. ' Hils man; 'was considered fit for admission to; iiie M'niHtry'. Apart l'vom ! ! tho ridiculous and impotent IMarriage j ■Amendment Act, inl"roduee.d in the! L-cg: ! 3lalire Gouucll by the plausible; . pretender, Sir Francis BeH, as a j ■policy measure, tlie admisyion to "the j : Ministry of Mr. Noswortliy ainouniedj ito nothing else buL an aft"rorit to the : ■Catholic community. ISxcept it Siiiall j minority of li,ighly-nlace<l personages, j i whom I understand Sir Frances Bell j ! still claims a? "my Cawtholic friends," j ' the vast majoriity of my eo-religlon-1 jij;i3 feel compelled to resent the !n-1 i suits they have received ai the hands! lot the Government, aa4 they would j !Ue a craven set if they adopted any j i other attiaule. \ **» * J What, the reUgVmy bigot? would flo | lif they bad the chanoe v/aa indicated j Jat a meeting; ot. the. Protestant PoiiiiI cal Assciation at Napier ia few months ; ag<». One of tho partial!pants was Mr. jK. D. D. Mc Loan, a hereditary mag- , nj'i.te who, tt>anks to ancestral a.c(luisUious of Maori lands, is typical lof the Kmall clasa In this country! J i.o-day who are rich for no other ] I -reason ' than that they are able to j compel the vast majority of the people of New Zealand to work- Cor them, j On Mr. McLean's motion, a resolution ! was carried that men who had bepn I imprisoned for :seditiou should be I disqualified from offering themselves \ a.9 Parltameolaary candidates! Why; I seditious utterance? should have been j I singled out appears more, curious I J when we rememiier that, although lie I ser'/ed a sentence of three years' im-J, ; prisonment for abduction, lid ward Gibbon Wak-efleld was elected a member of Parliament, first, in Canada and later iii New Zealand, People of the McLean type, of course, find jit expedient to encourage organisations like the Protestant Political Association for exactly the same reason thai Italian dukes encourage the -Facisti or American bosses the-Klu Klux Klan. As long as the masses can be divided, the vampire interests which afflict every civilised country are at ease, because " thpy are safft,

Apart from the campaign of slander against the standardbearers of Labour,- which has how grown so stale and Ineffective that it can be treated with a certain amount of contemptuous tJie election campaign waa conducted iv a fairly good spirit, the post-election sp'eeclies by the defeated candidates we<o on* th,e ; whole highly ; creditable. There is oiip .exception, however, and the delln4lueat was uot, defeated. Aa ; Uie- elect-,

Ed representative of Well-irigton. Suburbs, Mr. R. A. Wrigrht made sevefal speeches, on election night, and In each instanice behaved like,a defeated candidate.- One cannot (approve the interruptions he received,' though public men look upon such treatment as "part of the day's work." Nothing could justify or palliate tho bad taste ! evinced by Mr. Wright, however, and j it may interest him to know that none 'of hi. i i supporters defend, though some J excuse it. Speaking as a voter in Mr. Wright's constituency, though I supported Mr. Croskery, I have not the slightest tlngo of 111-will against the member for Wellington Suburbs, and I am quite prepared as a political opponent to admit his services as a public man. His~trueulent and unfair i>tr tacks upon Labour, however,, are calculated to arouse nothing But resentment in the. mind uf every talrmtnded person, and Mr. Wright would ,do well to reconsider his tactics for the future.

The political situation is very uracil as I expected it would be. II was anticipafcsd that the Massey Government would lose at least ten seats, arid that two Ministers would be defeated. As a matter of fact, it has lost eleven seats, including' one Minister. Prom tho sleet ion contests certain facts emerge very clearly: First, the Massey Government is decidedly unpopular; iff never has polled a_ majority of't'-ie electors, but has won previously by reason of the accidental consequences of- an electoral system which makes vote-splitting inevitable. This time its unpopularity more than counteracted th? advantages which the present system gave it, and the result ?s that the people have given the Governim at. a crushing rebuff. Secondly., Lhe majority of representatives elected to riie new Parliament are not only opto the Massey Government:, but are pledged to'enact proportional representation. In face of these facUs, under ordinary circumstances a new Government would soon come into

power, and the people of New %-aian* , would iv due. cotfrse have seen the last of the existing obsolete and i"nil? Sensible electoral system. Difficulty has been created, however, byMr. Vv Hford's impolitic and absurd declaration that he would not consent to iio'd oflice with the consent of Labour. This declaration has "been wade with ev.:-n greater emphasis by one 01 ■•.wo ot his followers.

i however, I'arliaI ment must he called .together shortly I alter the New Year, and it ! members :-of the Opposition are true to their ; pledges a motion of v/.'int.-of- ; tonlldence in the Massey Government ! should'u«*. carried. That being so, Mr. i Wilford would undoubtedly he "miii 101 , ," and I 'imagine' would have tin ■rlifHoiilry in forming a IMinistry. He

7/oviicl then be uv'itied to a respite uvitii June next, when Parliament wow hi reassemble. The plain duty of the nvw Govern nv:nt would be to submit a Proportional Representation Bill So Parliament, but. there are other Mi ings that a Liberal GovariinitJrt ouyht. to- do, and which I feel yurc vvoiiild meet with the.cordial co-opera-tion and support of live Labour Parly. For example, the infamous (Ultimo on toil, and sugar and ot.-ber necessaries should at once be repealed, and replaced by an iuorea:-?- in tlie i'.radftatedi land tax. A? , . I pen these Notes, I read in the Wellington papers of a "bis land deal," whereby a block of city ■ property has changed hands at £600 per foot. The men v»'h o thus wax rich upon the unearned increment of land arc included among the "poor farmers" to whom the Massey Government has granted enornioua reductions in taxaiion. This taxation should at once be- replaced, and the benefit given to the people by reduced. Customs duties. Then the benefits given by the amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act fathered by the Massey Govern ment have been rendered to a large extent illusory by roason of the reduction in wages. Leg--islatlon should bp introduced, at the earliest possible moment extending the period of liability under tho Workers' Compensation, Act. thereby making the alleged bench'ts of the Act a reality and not a mere pretence, as they are at present. Of course,, I am expressing only my own personal opinion, but I venture the view that a programme on ili« Loregoing. linto could not fail to receive the support of Labour in spite of the provocable and indefensible conduct its representatives have received at the hands of the Liberals.

* * * # Of course, the Legislative Council has been packed with the nominees of the Government which pledged itself to reform ii, <uid that body m&y be relied upon, to throw out a Proportional RepreseatiMJou "Bilk That bein^ , so, tUe ■aew' Govoi;nmenfc would be entitled to cenjaJu In' ofllice tot atiothei\ year to preaent the Bill' 1 agaM to tUe Oouttctl, tke seconds tiiae Ui the

threat Qf further ai>i>ointm'cnts, .Thus, it would be possible to place Pro- ,- l)6rtioiial Reprttfenlation Act on theStatute Book in '1924—rather more' than a year foel'ore the next general election. Whether tjie new Government should carry on until the normal time for. dissolving Parliament, or whether it should dissolve immediately after the Proportional Representation Act has been passed, would be a matter entirely for the House of Representatives to. consider. In any case, the new system would allow eack party to pursue its own course; and we would be rid forever of an elec-r toral system which, though it pleases ■ political bosses, succeeds in nothing: save in thwarting the will of the people. •

Everything that I have said about . the potentialities oi the future, however, may provo illusory when Parliament meets, as it must meet shortly. I have no doiibt whatever that, -in spite of the plain verdict oi.' tn&. people, powerful subterranean forces are at work to keep the present Government In ofilce.-and I am equally ~

safe that numerous rat-trays are already set and well baited: To begin with, about 20 members of the .Legislative Council will be due for reappointtnent dining *i:e lifetime of the present Parliament. These gentlemen iticiu.de influential newspaper magnates, of whom some were nominal Liberals. "We may rest assured that they will puil every string available to defeat the verdict of the people. That can be done, of course, in one way only—a certain number of Liberals must go ovtr to the Government. It ha* often been said, and truly, that rats leave a "sinking ship, but between the situation of 1012, v/hen the Mas-a-i-y Government came into power, and that of to-day there is an important difference. Then Mr. Massey'o star was in t'ae ascendant;- to-day it is abundantly clear that th rt reverse is the fact. Moreover, the antagonism to the Governnnmt. oven on the part of Liberal electors. Is so strong' that those who went to the rescue of Ministers would certainly lose their seats at the next -election. For example, were -Mr. AYilford either to accept tls.3 Speakership or countenance a coalition with the Government, he woivll certainly not survive the next election. The exasperation of the peopleat be'ng cheated of their verdict would not be a mere passing-feeling, but would continue until it l'ounu gratification by making an end of the cairoers -of those who aided and abeiteJ tha Government. I venture to say that Mr. vriliorfl is much too shrewd not to realise all this, and it is. difficult to understand how any of his followers ca;i take a different view.