BRITISH ELECTION

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11685, 24 November 1923, Page 5

BRITISH ELECTION

CANDIDATES SELECTED ARR,ANGEMENTB TO PREVENT SPLITTING OF VOTES. WINTRY WEATHER. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received November 23, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, November 23. The three parties have now selected the majority of their champions for the 615 seats. The Conservatives are contesting 550 seats, the Liberals 460 (including 70 out of SI divisions in the home counties) and Labour 412. Twenty of the Labour candidates are women. The Independent Labour Party has issued on appeal for £35,000 to finance 75 out of the 412 Labour candidates, though the membership of the party is only 31,760. There are numerous local arrangements in different parts of the country, designed to avoid triangular contests. _ Thus, Mr Arthur Henderson, speaking at Newcastle, complained that no Liberal candidate was standing for Central Newcastle, and no Conservative at West or East Newcastle. It looked like an unholy alliance to defeat Labour. On the contrary, owing to the Liberals at Manchester agreeing not to contest Mr J. R. Clynes’s seat, a series of three-cbmered contests in Manchester has been avoided, the exception being Rusholme, where a Communist has been nominated. Unless a way out of the difficulty is found, there ire likely to be eight triangular contests at Glasgow. A spell of bitter wintry weather is making electioneering difficult in the country districts. There are heavy snowstorms in many parte of the country, with 12 degrees of frost at Aldershot and 15 at Glasgow. MASS MEETING OF WOMEN “EXEMPLARY CONCENTRATION.’ ’ THE CONSERVATIVE CASE. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association (Received November 23, 7.46 p.m.) LONDON, November 23. The most novel ineeting of the day was a mass meeting of women in the Drury Lane Theatre, where the stalls, circles, and gallery were crowded to hear Mr Neville Chamberlain. The women listened with exemplary concentration to Mr Chamberlain’s justification of the Conservative slogan: “Keep the home fires burning.” Continual murmurs of subdued “Hear, hears,” suggested that women voters are fully capable of following a complicated political argument. ‘ ‘There is no use having the cheapest prices in the world,” urged Mr Chamberlain, “if you have nothing with which to buy things. If home produce can supply the home demand, prices will notbe affected by the duty. That is what differentiates wheat from manufactures. ” It is noteworthy that the greatest enthusiasm among the women was aroused by a reference to Empire. A storm of applause broke out when Mr Chamberlain urged that Britain’s whole future was bound up in the Empire. FOR PARTYJURFOSES UNEMPLOYED “EXPLOITED.” MR THOMAS PROTESTS. Apstralian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received November 23, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, November 23. Mr J. H. Thomas, genera] secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, speaking at Enfield, protested against the misery and suffering of the unemployed being, exploited purely for party purposes. It looked as though Mr Baldwin, finding himself in difficulties, had fished about for an excuse for an election. Instead of landing a salmon, he had caught a whale, which threatened to swallow Mr Baldwin and his party. Whether the whale would survive such an unwholesome diet events would show. EFFECT OF A TARIFF INCREASED EMPLOYMENT. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association (Received November 23, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, November 23. The National Union of Manufacturers has issued a statement, based on questionnaires addressed to various trade associations. The replies suggest that a tariff on 50 per cent, of the imported manufactures would provide employment for half a million of those now receiving the unemployment dole. EASY LIVING FOR ALL COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. Reuter’* Teleeram. LONDON, November 22. The Communists’ election manifesto demands the confiscation of all idle factories, a minimum wage of £4 weekly, a six-hour working day, full maintenance of unemployed, housing for all, and a workers’ Government.