THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1922. FARMERS IN POLITICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18017, 16 February 1922, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1922. FARMERS IN POLITICS.

I The warning which Sir Andrew Russell has addressed to returned soldiers in Christchurch against meddling in party politics might be j i tendered with even greater force to | I the farmers of Auckland, or to those J | who are supporting the latest j ; activity of the provincial executive. | | It is improbable that very much will be heard of the proposed farmers' political party, which is taken so seriously by its promoters that they , are discussing tho appointment of a leader, and already regard six of the provincial, seats with an air of proprietorship. Auckland farmers j have been playing with the idea of I a separate political organisation fori some time. Their more practical | brethren in the South have steadily! refused to entertain the notion, and! even if farmers succeeded in winning ■ l some Auckland seats in the next | Parliament their representatives' would probably remain indefinitely a j provincial group without much in- j fluence or power m the House of j Representatives. Before it ventures i into the unknown the executive of - the Farmers' Union would do well to ponder what i« to be gained and i what lost, by such action. The ad | vantages of political combination of; a party character are at least j r obscure. It can scarcely be sug- i s gested that in any concoivable circumstances farmers would win a 61 greater measure of representation j S than they now enjoy in Parliament. Their influence in the existing House of Representatives is paramount. ; The unwritten rules of New Zealand politics permit of very close cooperation between farmer members, r on both sides of the Houso when rural interests are under considerj ation. The Government is headed I by a farmer with vastly greater. ' experience and political ability than I any leader the Farmers' Union is i likely to discover. The Cabinet is j well informed on all rural questions, j and is so well disposed toward j , farmers as to incur the charge from j ! its opponents of favouring producers i against consumers. If their own j party were in office farmers could not hope to command more Bym- | pathetic administration than they now enjoy, for the simple reason | that no Government, being respon- | sible to the whole of New Zealand, ! could show a stronger bias in favour of the farming community than does Mr. Massey's Administration. The risks of the course favoured by the Auckland executive are fairly plain. As a class farmers enjoy a proportionately higher voting power than the rest of the community through the operation of what is known as the " country quota.'' This quota is already being attacked. If farmers desire class government _ the case for it will be very materially weakened; indeed, it is very gravely doubtful if it cotlld be sustained once an active farmers' political party came into existence. That is j one risk. Another is that the entry of farmers into party politics would raise a political issue between the country and the towns. If this happened—and it is the logical , | sequel—the count would be against ' farmers. At the 1916 census counties contained only 45 per cent, of the population, and since then the i. balance has swung more decisively to the boroughs. To put it plainly, if an election were fought between farmers and those who are not farmers the country party would lose. It is wholly undesirable that such an issue should be forced upon I) New Zealand. In the past it has been a source of great strength to the Dominion, and indeed to all r , British countries, that the political parties have been national in their conception and outlook. Although - at times they have degenerated into meaningless labels, conservatism and liberalism have in the main reprelj sented principles and ideals which divided men, not according to their occupations or the size of their bank accounts, but according to their r - philosophy of life, their mental outlook and their perceptions of political and social justice. The old order is passing because the political questions which divided the two parties have either been settled or | have lost their significance. In New i Zealand the land question was the rjjlast of what may be termed the " I historical issues between the parties. In the United Kingdom the Irish '! question was the last, if one may j exclude the reform of the House of | Lords. Consequently in both coun- | tries, and, for similar reasons, in Canada and Australia, new groupings are taking place and new lines of demarcation are becoming visible. Yet one may hope that the post-war ib | parties will be national and not sectional, finding their inspiration a. in broad ideals and not in a narrow I self-interest. Unfortunately one party which is frankly class-conscious has already made its appearance in New Zealand | politics. The Official Labour Party I aims at class government, and its ) 1 objects aro economic rather than ! political. For that reason, if for no | other, it deserves to fail. No party which does not see beyond a class and which lacks a national consciousness is entitled to control the destinies of the country. Farmers • can serve all their legitimate inj terests and advance national policies " j vastly better than by following the ' example of the Labour Party and opposing one particularism with another. The immediate effect of such a course would be to confuse the political issue and lead 'lo unwholesome party manoeuvring such * as has taken place in Australian federal politics. The ultimate effect might be to make a present of the government to the Labour Party, as has happened in Queensland owing to the separate existence of the Country Party. It is not improbable that the Labour Party will ultimately force into one camp all New Zealanders who believe in national ; government by a national party. : Till then farmers would be well a. j advised to leave party politics alone to confine their political activi-

ties to discovering among their numbers candidates of experience and capacity who, whatever their party labels, will stand for economy and efficiency and who will be vigilant in exposing the errors and weaknesses which even the best administrations exhibit unless stimulated by the oriticisui of private memberß.