THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1911. THE COMING ELECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14853, 2 December 1911, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1911. THE COMING ELECTION.

On Thursday next, December 7, the people of New Zealand will cast their votes in a general election which will decide for three years the political character of the national Government. Under our democratic methods this voting will be participated in by the entire adult population, without noticeable exception, and' the , result must necessarily bo taken as an" expression of the present political views of the community as a whole. An impression prevails in various quarters, sedulously fostered by those candidates and partisans who are interested in so per- ; suading tho public, that the Opposition Party is a moribund factor. in New Zealand politics, and that.its prospect of success at the coming election is nil. As a matter of fact the Opposition is an exceedingly living element in national politics and is able to give an excellent account of itself in every electorate where individuality of political opinion has not been submerged by abnormal conditions. Throughout Auckland Province—excluding the Gisborne seat where Sir James Carroll has been elected unopposed—Auckland East and Auckland Central are the I only electorates not being contested I by an Oppositionist or by an Independent whose sympathies are with the Opposition, bo far is the election from being a foregone conclusion that there is not a contested seat in which the Opposition or Independent candidate has no reasonable chance of success, and there is no electorate which is . safer for any candidate than is Franklin for Mr. Massey, in spite of the efforts of the Prime Minister to shake its fidelity. The shallowness of the criticism that the Opposition has no hope of receiving a convincing expression of public approval and appreciation on Thursday next is demonstrated by the confidence with which Mr. Massey can leave his candidature in the hands " of the | electors of Franklin and can devote his energies to the assistance of his ; supporters in all parts of the Domin- ! ion. There may be no startling suri prises on Friday morning, but the j returns of the elections will certainly ' show a great display of strength by ; Opposition and sympathetic Independent candidates, and the relative position of parties will turn more greatly than Sir Joseph Ward would have us think on the fortunes of the Second Ballot. At the last general election Opposition and Independent i candidates polled 98,000 votes in the North Island, while Government candidates polled only 116,000. In the South Island—which ' is Sir Joseph's stronghold—Opposition and Independent candidates polled 55,000 votes, while Government candidates polled 118,000. It will be realised, after reading these figures, that the political scales are very evenly balanced in the North Island, : and that it is quite possible for a comparatively small change in the voting to seriously change the political complexion of North Island representation. In the South Island the Opposition has evidently, and for very obvious, reasons, a much greater amount of leeway to make good. The fate of the Government really depends upon its holding of- a strong majority in the South, and this fact gives particular interest to that display of Opposition feeling in Awarua — Sir . Joseph Ward's electorate —which \ so disturbed the serenity of the) Prime Minister and has been followed by his strategic movement towards- the threatened point. ■ . '. j ' ''"

While the attempt to persuade the public that the Opposition has no sound national standing continues unabated, it is noteworthy that the Administration is putting out all its strength to hold its ground against the rising tide of dissatisfaction in the South. Not an elected member of: the Government has addressed an Auckland metropolitan audience since the campaign openeda lack of customary courtesy which cannot be considered complimentary to the metropolitan electorates or to the Auckland provincial population, and can only be justified if it is the conduct of a Ministry fighting with its back against, the wall. Whether similar justification can be pleaded for refusing all improvements on profitable Auckland railways, and choosing to overload trains on slower time rather than to make trains lighter by increasing the number of trains and thus expedite time, is another matter. In either case it must be inferred that the Government has determined to leave the Auckland campaign to the special pleadings of its local partisans, and to concentrate its attentions and its influences upon districts where it is more grudgingly served. And what has the Government done for Auckland or for the people of this province that they should say on Thursday next that the Government cannot be improved 1 It would be absurd, even in the heat of electioneering campaigns, to assert that the Government has done nothing right. To pretend this would be to sink to the level of those remarkable partisans who profess to believe that Mr. Massey is an enemy of his country and that this yeoman representative Of Franklin yeomanry wishes to turn New Zealand into a mere sheepwalk'. The Government in its long career of 20 years has done much that is right— we are all beginning to feel the deadly pressure of the things that it has done wrong. That, of course, is a matter of opinion. If the people of Auckland Province are desirous of keeping Sir James Carroll in charge of Native Affairs, if they consider Mr. Millar the best obtainable manager of their railways, if they admire the suave and gentle genius of Mr. K. McKenzie and are otherwise assured that Sir Joseph Ward has made himself the chief of "All the Talents," they will naturally vote on Thursday next for those approved and approving Government candidates who have actually -or tacitly pledged themselves to maintain the exist- • ing Government in office.