THE REFORM PARTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20521, 24 March 1930, Page 10

THE REFORM PARTY.

AN UNUSUAL SITUATION.

SELECTING THE CANDIDATE.

FIRST MEETING ON WEDNESDAY.

The willingness of political opponents of 1923 to securo the official endorsement of tho same party 16 months later lends a piquant interest to the Reform Party's choice of candidate for the Parnell byelection. Mr. 11. R. Jenkins, who won the seat for the United Party, is now prepared to consider overttjyes to become tho official Reform candidate, while Mr. J. S. Dickson, whom he defeated, also states he will be a Reform candidate, with or without the official endorsement. There is tho further possibility that the party's hall-mark will be placed on a candidate apart from cither Mr. Jenkins or Mr. Dickson.

When approached regarding the selection of a Reform candidate, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, who arrived in Auckland from Dargaville on Saturday evening, said he had no statement to make. "The selection of a candidate is a matter entirely for the party supporters in Parnell and it will be made according to the constitution of the New Zealand Political Reform League," he said. Mr. Coates left for Wellington last evening and he expects to return to Auckland within the next few days.

Preliminary arrangements for the selection of tho official Reform Party candidate will bo made at a meeting of friends and supporters of the party in the Remuera Library Hall on Wednesday evening. This is the first step in the constitutional procedure of the Reform League in selecting a candidate to contest a seat which is not held by a member of tho party. At this meeting, areas in the electorate will be grouped for the purpose of the selection of delegates to a conference, which will select the official candidate.

All arrangements for the convening of the meetings and conference are in the hands of the electorate committee, which will also fix the date by which nominations for candidates are to be received. The selection conference is called with the authority of the Dominion president of the league. Delegates are expected to ascertain by inquiry the feeling of the people in their districts, and they shall not be instructed in such a way that their hands are tied when the vote is taken. Candidates are required to sign a uniform nomination paper agreeing to abide by the decision of the conference and to support the candidate selected. Any person other than the officially endorsed candidate standing in opposition to such candidates shall not be entitled to be chosen as an official candidate for a period of six years and six months.