TWO BY-ELECTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17038, 20 December 1918, Page 4

TWO BY-ELECTIONS.

The results of the two by-elec-tions held yesterday are strictly in accordance with anticipations. Palmerston has confirmed its support of the National Government and Wellington South has returned Mr. Semple to strengthen the group of

irreconcilables who profess to represent Labour. In Palmerston Mr. Nash won by a narrow margin over the Labour candidate, a result which must be attributed to the split in the moderate vote due to the candidature of Mr. Crabb, a keen critic of the Government, but as keen a critic of. the extreme

platform now apparently endorsed by Wellington South. Of this con-

test it may bo said that had the National Government left itself less open to attack its standard-bearer would have scored an easier and

more decisive success. The result in Wellington South cannot be re-

rarded with any satisfaction. The

constituency has returned a member who came into prominence solely as

an extremist and an agitator, and who is notoriously out of sympathy with the patriotic sentiment of the

Dominion. This result has for a week past, been regarded as inevit-

able, but it may bo questioned whether, it was necessary. Admit-

ting, that Mr. Semple, and men of his type, can poll well in such a

district as Wollington South, it does not s follow that yesterday's result represents the deliberate and con-

sidered opinion of the constituency. Tho votes i cast , for, Mr. Semple

can- scarcely be more: than a fourth of the number on the roll. The number polled by all three candidates wag less than half

the voting strength of the constituency. At the last election the

iccessful candidate had more votes

than the total recorded yesterday, and the candidate next on the list

had 600 more than has now secured Mr, Semple a seat in the House of Representatives. These facts show that the election failed to arouse the healthy interest which is necessary to secure a representation expressing the will of the majority. It is not difficult to discover the cause of this apparent apathy. The blame must -be laid on tho . shoulders of the 'National • Government. For reasons which have not been satisfactorily explained it has taken no interest in the contest. It did not even put forward a candidate, and largely through its inactivity there was no man in the field around whom,.' the , sane and reasonablyminded electors of the constituency could have rallied. The National Government has many charges to answer. By its' inaction on matters of vital national concern at a critical time in the history of the Dominion It has not retained the full confidence of the country which was hopefully accorded to it at the outset of its career. It has been lacking in initiative in matters relating to public works and settlement. It has failed to give a timely 'lead on the all-important problem of repatriation. Now it has timorously stood aside at an important by-elec-tion, neglecting an opportunity to justify itself in the eyes of the electors, and meekly permitting a minority in Wellington South to strike a blow at its prestige. Whether the Government's donothing attitude was due to doubt as to the result of a woll-fought content, to the inability of party leaders to agree upon a candidate, or to mere inertia does not much matter. In any case it must accept responsibility for the success of an undesirable candidate with 2400 votes in a constituency which could have been moved to poll probably 8000.