WELLINGTON CENTRAL

NZ Truth, Issue 695, 12 October 1918, Page 1

WELLINGTON CENTRAL

-it,- is to withhold' gpm Mr.* ■ PeteiT • .JFraser, 'the elect of Wellington Central, thd congratulations which, his position at the top of the poll on October 3 warrants, it is pot altogether ■', desirable that; Mr. **aser and Mr* H. .& Holland and those associated cwlth them should;become obsessed with the notion that New Zealand is >"ripe for revolution.'.' Moreover* It seems necessary to give a reminder that the result of the byelection m Wellington Central will aot *0 a spur, particularly to Reform ortfanisationa, to •aoouj»ißr» and facilitate tha widening of the breach between Liberalism arid ' Labor, and by driving a wedge between old allies to JMJoomplish the tricks of Prussianism and thus 'fioote at the expense of JUberallsmj and, what is more to the jpoint, Labor. : While' It is true that. aCt. Peter jFraeer scored a decisive win, that he Secured; an, absolute majority . Over his combined Opponents, that over « thousand votes separated him from the alleged 4ndepi^ndent-*Lia;bor, candi-. date .(who seems to have been nothing more than a tool, of the P.P.A.), and that the National Government's nominee, Mr. Hlldreth, was a poor third, and Within' measurable distanoe of for- ■■- jfelting his deposit:. :the fact cannot be lost sight of that the total number of valid votes polled Is less than half of i.. ; th© registered number of electors on \-' the roll. While, hitherto; it has always . been the complaint of Labor's ardent friends that the apathy of the workers p£ election periods was one .of the. "worker's worst .crimes. Mr. Fraser's . majority indicates that at last the ."Workers are awaking to their responsibilities, and that m the near future 1 the vote of the worker -will be the .dtefcltiing factor. Whether that organised ' vote will favor the candidature of adtvanced and fighting politicians, of.'the •Holland and Fraser type is a matter *>7hich the future, and a not far distant future, will decide. ' "• m ,\' m m • ■ ' The history of elections m Welling'tpn Central is particularly interesting. IWithin the space of ten years— a decade — the people of this eleotorate have decided for an Independent, with a .leaning to Reform and a Radical Liberal, who owed his success m 1911 to the support accorded 1 him by Labor. 3>ss than four years later the electors decided on an advanced Xateor politician and Bent him to by. an overwhelming majority; yet whose total of votes idld not equal that of the defeated didate; at the 19}4 election. ,Tb*t. Wellington Central Is, or should,- be a ■tronghold of Labor admits of no quibble, and for the sake or cause of JSbor it is to. be trusted .that it will long remain' a Labor^stronghold. Whe'*" ther it will remain a citadel of Labor 'depends much on the ; political conduct bf its representative m Parliament and the policy which the Labor Party will pursue. It is -true, and It should be recognised, that what ' was accomplished m WelHngtoh>-Ceirtral otf October 3 would be repeated m a. large faumber of constituencies m New Sealand at the present period— 4t the electors had the chance. The faot that a large number of constituencies -in this country should* elect a revolutionary Zjaborlte must not, however, be conBtrued into .meaning , that the people of New Zealand are ready to place a : X/ftbor Party m power, as it is that the people of all political colors have tired of the National Government, and: are only too ready to give an indication to the, politicians m power that they Realise that Parliamentary Governrnent m New Zealand has developed Into a farce. They have wearied of the political' truce, because the fusion ; has worked to the hurt of the people, and "by-elections present an opportunity inanifesting their dissatisfaction. * The. position which Mr. H. H. Holland occupied m; the poll for the 'Wellington North by-election was a true indication of the feelings of a city contititudncy towards the National Governsnent, and -it is a safe thing to say Jit a similar result, that is to say, a, heavy polling of an opponent to a -National Government's candidate, , as m Wellington Central, the decisive defeat of the National Government's nominee, could be looked for m any city constituency m the Dominion. The result m the Grey electorate was no Criterion of the people's feelings to the National Government, and while tfie return of Mr. Holland -as, the successor' to Mr. Webb has been made much of as a- great yiotary ' Wjc Labor, we ought to be honest with ourselves, and admit that the smallness of Mr. Holland's majority gave cause for much surprise. It is perhaps tru» that m the Grey by-election «reat efforts were made .to bring about the defeat of Mr.. Holland, but it is ridiculous to declare that the West, Coast Liberals united with Tories to make a present of a ; constituency to a party which will never under any • olroumstances get a- footing In a •ffO&S demooratio part of New Zea-

•land, a. part of New Zealand where the memory of the great Richard.Seddon will never die. The real . position of. the Grey' by-election is that the 1 electors changed their representatives. The es>member ., of the constituency resigned under circumstances with which we are familiar. He Invited op--1 position to his re-election, but none i dared "to tread on the tall of hi* boat." When, however, It became Impossible for Mr. Webb to further represent the electorate, men it became neoessary to eleot a representaUve m hla stead, and Mr. Holland became Labor's candidate, he was, forced to fight hard; and was returned by a majority which, m ordinary circumstances, would not make the Gray electorate appear t* b*» «•»»*•" Labor seat. '.' ■■ • • • s }, While the revulsion of feeling 1 In. the oity electorates/ Indicate many possible political changes, while the creditable position which a Labor candidate held ,m the...poll for Wellington North, and the success of the Labor candidate m Wellington Central foreshadows the possibility^of a sweep of those politicians who supported the National Government, the real test, to this paper's way of thinking, is to come when a country electorate expresses Its disapproval of -the National Government. With all due respect to Mr. , Holland and Mr. Fraser, m fact to all the Laborites who at present seem intoxicated with success, the -knell of the doom of Toryism m (New Zealand will be sounded when. Labor succeeds m converting thefarmer of New Zealand to the cause of Labor. Should Labor succeed m capturing 1 a farming or country constituency, then indeed will the moment .! have arrived for beads to swell. At " present there are far too many swollen heads of certain individuals 5 who are apt to forget that there are many ..aching hearts m New Zealand who are awaiting the inevitable' day of reckoning with traitorous politicians. Furthermore, Labor's capture of a seat which was represented by a stalwart Liberal is, after all, no great feather In Labor's oap. Mr. Fraser'a success was no fluke. The success, if Labor had been true to itself, could have been scored years ago. • • • • While the elation m Labor oircles is perhaps pardonable, and even.lnevitable, it is altogether unwise that the success of Mr. Fraser should be oelebrated m the manner m which it .has been . celebrated: Labor has suffered many reverses and many defeats. It took Its reverses stoically; let it besober and steady 'in-, its hour of triumph. It Is all very well for certain/Labor politicians to declare that they have driven Tory and Liberal into , one . camp and . will flght \them there. So far, Liberal and Tory are united for war-winning purposes, and none will my that the Fusiohlsts m the Cafcinrt ore a happy party, that they are united/ that little and petty advantages have not been taken by one against the other. The real truth of the matter is the Liberals hay« long tired of the truce, they realise that the people of Nf«W Zealand have tired of Toryiiim, but "a sorap of paper" must be honored, and It seems certain that the day is drawing nigh when the people of this country will be called upon to ."out Massey." .It might prove to be the case that many so-called Liberals will 'Tat" on the Liberal Party, and embrace Toryism. If such a desertion involves the leading lights of the Liberal Party, then will be realised what. "Truth" has always maintained, viz".,, the beginning of the Labor Party of New, Zealand. Labor m New Zealand cannot hope to achieve anything unless it is reinforced, by the Radical elements of the Liberal Party, and when such' a reinforcement does take place, the Labor Party will be a party and; not the nondescript thing it is at present. Let Mr. Holland realise that when he issues what purports to be a warning to Labor to close its doors against the Liberal "backslider" that he is seeking to make the Labor Party of New Zealand too seleot). too cliquish, too much of "A Mutual] Admiration Society." Labor cannot afford to ignore 1 assistance of any kind. Labor m New Zealand wants its ; candid friends just as much as it requires its blind supporters: Further, if Labor's success m Wellington Central is due to Labor's organisation, to the. fact that it buried its differences, then the success is due to "Truth's" efforts for ten years m .bogging ond praying of the discordant elements of Labor to come together and present a common front to the. enemy. And what has Mr. Holland done towards that end? ■:■ • ' • • ■ Let Labor continue to bury its differences. Let Labor continue to present a united front to the common enemy, and In the end Labor will achieve many triumphs, m. comparison with which Wellington Central will ap-

pear insignificant. Let the Worker bring 1 his intelligence to bear on the political and social questions of ihe day, and, above all, let the worker beware of the Labor politician who would seek to make Labor a very close corporation. The evils of Labor politics m Australia, must be avoided, and, here again, It must be remarked that the workers of New Zealand would do well to closely study the history of the Labor movement m Australia to understand hoy opportunists have used the Labor movement for their self -aggrandisement; m other words, have climbed, to place and power on the . back of the worker, and m *the end have betrayed the trusting fools who were carried away by the passing enthusiasm of the movement. Labor's day or era m New Zealand Is inevitable. The vanguard of the movement is camped on enemy territory, and, guided by wisdom, by good generalship, it will succeed. Labor's political enemies are those politicians who reaohed power m 1911, and who tricked the workers by their promised revelations of corruption and the "square deal." The Liberal Party has been taught a." bitter lesson, and whether that parly's leader be Sir Joseph Ward or any other man, it has at the baok of it the great traditions of Ballance and Seddon, arid It Is from the Radical element of that party, even though ( the party 'itself is showing signs of demoralisation, that the workers can hope for a Bane and moderate Labor , Party to control the political destinies of thia Dominion. So far as Labor is concerned, the Wellington Central victory is but a successful skirmish. Hard work and bitter battles are ahead, and the best advice which can be tendered to-day to politicians who hardly realise that they are pdliticians is to work more and to say less.* Vain mouthings, loud flapdoodle, and even red flag flapping do I not further the cause of Democracy, and it is just as well to realise that the safeguards of Democracy are r.ot m the keeping of a handful of noisy individuals who propose to* speak for {he cause of the worker to the utter exclusion of all others.

lie Daggers ef a Swtffea Head

Labor's vote m the Wellington Central Election deaoiwtratecl that the have risen above P.P.A.-ism and sectarian bigtiry.