POLITICS IN CANADA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19474, 2 November 1926, Page 9

POLITICS IN CANADA.

ISSUES IN LATE ELECTIONS. LIBERALS' DECISIVE VICTORY. OPINIONS AS TO THE FACTORS. [FROM OCTt OWN CORRESPONDENT.] TORONTO. Ssct. 25. What is the real, significance of the decisive Liberal Progressive victory m the Canadian elections ? While the holding of " post mortems " is still the universal p&stime throughout the country, and is likely to remain so for weeks, and perhaps years, to come, there is anything but unanimity in arriving at a verdict. Each school of thought is disposed to interpret the result with a colouring that suits its own predilections. Among the victors, the free traders and low tariff exponents of the West and elsewhere describe the victory as a rebuke, to high protectionists. Others find tn it a rebuke to " muck-rakers." A third group sees m it chiefly a significant reaffirmation of the principles of responsible gov- ! eminent. And many districts have their own pet local interpretations. Among the vanquished there prevails :as yet » degree of inarticulateness One or two of iheir spokesmen have complained of weakness in party organisa- ! tion, which tn itself seems an inadequate explanation, particularly in view of the aggressive and eminently successful campaign waged by the Conservative Party less than a year ago. Some candidates and workers are disposed to minimise the iufluenco of the issue of responsible government raised by Lord Byng's refusal to accept his, Prime Minister's advice. They report that it was difficult to arouse interest in the subject with the average audience or the individual elector. The public, they say, seemed far more interested in the reduction of taxes, the denunciation of scandal-mongers, local issues, or even in purely partisan invective. ! The Constitutional Issue.

Lord Atholstan, in his Montreal Star, who no doubt is in sympathy with his fellow peer, taking to task English and Onited States papers who see in the result a rebuke to Lord Byngj declares: "It is safe to say that Lord Byng and his conduct during the crisis was not in the minds of one-tenth of 1 per cent, of the electors as they marked their ballots. There may be a modicum of truth in this assertion, but does it tell the whole truth ? To see the foresit one must not get too close to the trees. To sec the significance of the campaign just closed one mast include in the survey more than the incidents of election day. Hero is another way of appraising the result. Daring the last few %veeks it has been declared a thousand times, alike by Liberals and by Conservatives, that if the Governor-General had granted Mr. Mac kenzie King the dissolution he asked for, the King Government would have been swept from office by the electorate. If that is tme, how explain Mr. King's victory on September 14 ? The issues, with one exception, were precisely the same on September 14 as they were on July 1. The stigma of the customs dis closures was no weaker. The appeal of the reduction in taxes by the Robb Bud get was no stronger. No now proposals for legislation had arisen. And the trans fey of Government prestige and election machinery should have helped the Conser vatives, if anyone. Liberal Cohesion Re-established.

The sole new factor of any importance in the situation was the constitutional issue. If it is admitted that Mr. King could not have won in June, the logic of the situation is .inescapable. What is overlooked by many observers is that the constitutional issue, despite the personal popularity of Lord Byng, despite the danger of offending pro-British sentiment, despite the fact that the issue itself was more or less academic and non-popular—-despite all these circumstances, the constitutional issue, from the outset of the campaign, gave the Liberal Party a cause to fight for. . It may be true that this issue did not change many votes from one side to the other. Few issues do. But it rekindled the flame for thousands of traditional Liberals, many of whom, grown indifferent to contests for the spoils of office, had become lukewarm In party allegiance. It provided a base broad enough and strong enough to carry all groups in the party. In short, it was A great resuscitating and cohesive force which sent the Liberal Party into the fray with a momentum unequalled in 20 years. The real significance of the election result is no more academic question. On the contrary, it is of vital importance to the respective political parties in their determination of future policies that they correctly appraise the warrant furnished by September 14. * Prospects for the Future. If the new King Government accepts the verdict as an absolution in the matter of maladministration in the Customs Department it will have a rude awakening. If the low tariff West accepts the fact that 29 Liberals and Progressives were elected in Ontario as evidence that the East has been weaned away from its prevailing allegiance to the principle of protective tariffs, it may discover it is following a will-o'-the-wisp. And on the constitutional issue itself if extremists read into the result any indication of weakening in the Imperial tie they will soon find themselves encountering a stone wall of unimpaired British allegiance. Liberals are boasting that the Mackenzie King Administration can nowlook forward to 10 or 15 years uninterrupted tenure of office. They do not say on what issues they expeict to win the nest or following elections. It is extremely unlikely they will have in the ne»r future another constitutional question like the one that ha 3 now passed into history. Next time there will be a new issue. And wisdom will be needed in. its selection, if the Liberals' boast is to be fulfilled, even though the recent Conservative debacle seems overwhelming.