ELECTED AND UNELECTED

NZ Truth, Issue 890, 16 December 1922, Page 6

ELECTED AND UNELECTED

POTHER ABOUT PQLIUCS ; Some Pertinences And Some Impertinences

SEED TIME AND HARVEST

There seems to have been some diversity of opinion m his home city as to exactly where Mr. W. .7. Jordan stands m politics. The gentleman who "outed" Speaker Sir Frederick Lang has been variously described as Lib^ erar-Labot-IndependentrComi?»anistic-Reform. We have it from Mr.. Jordan himself that for purposes of classification he can be uncompromisingly labelled "Labor."

Politically one rejoices at the ousting of Minister of Justice Le.e;to. make room for that sterling Liberal, Jack MacPherson, who farms oh The Tables, but personally one has y regrets at- the temporary retirement from politics of a man who was . undoubtedly one of the most level-headed ahd> sanest of Mr. Massey's supporters. Minister Lee was not a, popular man 1 -m > the House, but this was entirely due to his unfortunate mannerisms and an exclusiveness which was, really born of diffidence. ' Those who have the pleasure of knowing, him- more intimately can bear testimony to the fact that he was dead straight m his political life. His promises were- always carried out and his word was literally JV hi 3 bond. From a Pressman's point W of view he was an approachable fel<L low, always ready with such informa§p tion and advice as he was permitted to *% disclose, which is more than' can be If said of some .of his contemporaries. I* The suggestion that he had any of the ' attributes of a Uvowser is ; just so > v much "hot air." Asa matter of fact, * he is an "all wool" sport, and If you sit ln at a game of "draw" with him and deal him four aces, you'll- find the sky is his limit. !.-'.• " 7 - »!• ■'; ii.,; TJ, ii Tfellj One of the big surprises' of the, elec- , tion was the excision of the name of Seddon from the t Paniajnentary roll of the elect. For forty-three years father and Eon have had a stranglehold on the Westland seat, and the rejection of "Young Tom" is frankly a blot on the Liberal 'Bcutcheon of the West Coaet. The staunchest of Liberals, he had always followed closely m his father's footsteps, jtnd during his term of office he has served his constituency wisely and well. At the last election he was returned With- a majority of 1497 votes over the successful candidate this year. That majority has been turned into a minority of 487. To all intents' and purposes Seddon has gone back 2000 votes m the three years. Just what / personal element is responsible for this \ extraordinary change ' this journal ? ' cannot state, but the vote, cannot be iit accepted by any stretch of imagination v as representing the political spirit of the Coast. / -. it si II , h A section of the Press is ..busy ap\i pointing Tom Wilford Speaker of the i" 'next Parliament. What's the matter with the Prime Ministership? You b don't side-step Tom that way. The/ Labor Party has the practical I habit of electing its leader session, by ) session, even though at times it is reduced to the expedient of . drawing the names from a hat, which accounts for Harry Holland's position as boss dog- of the party. It is no secret i that whilst the Labor members cling ■& together In matters political they are '? s far from being a happy family where ' personal relations are . concerned. This is a stonewall fact for whioh "Truth" J can vouch from their own. mbuths. With the substantial addition to the ranks of the party this journal. would "' suggest the election of aJle&Mer •• by secret ballot. With Harry Hollandand Peter Fraser sent for, duty before the mast and somebody else on the bridge — say, a comparatively sane man like Mick Savage and Teddy- How- \ ard — a compromise with -.Liberalism would not be outside the bounds of , practical politics. : : : : : : . Happy commentary on the political situation overheard m a tram, car: i "It's like an inebriated pawnbroker trying to juggle with .three balls; he's bound to drop one of them." i: t j . ., t « ,, , 7 If , as stated, constitutional law al- . lows the Prime Minister for. the time ' being to select his Cabinet n outside members of Parliament altogether, Bill i /could soon turn his minority into a y majority by calling a dozen of hi* '**' rejects to his assistance as- holders of I portfolios. This Journal is quite .sure , that his followers m the House -.'would i not mind his distributing the loaves and 4 , fishes Jn thl3 manner. None -of them hanker after the sweets of office. :i :: ' isl ■- ' George Tweedie, who scored 29 votes m the contest for the Taranaki seat, writes to ."Truth" gratefully acknowledging the assistance this paper gave him at the election., , He objects, however, to the statement that he is m the habit of knocking his . head against telegraph poles. and says that he only "knocks it on. the panel of a door, which is soft.",. We hasten to remedy this mis-statement. Also, George, writing on the eve of the election, says that his only regret, at the prospect of his inevitably 'winning the seat lies m the fact that ''my joy. will always be saddened by the -reflection that I have done dear Syd. Smith, out of hlB billet." Furthermore, George * resents the "insinuation that 1 certain people are a little out of gear," and claims that there "never existed a more extraordinary well-balanced brain than what I now possess." Now.i . we've done you justice; better luck , next 7. time, George. • . • : t : : • • : _ . . - ■ The men from the Inky "Way have pat up a record In the new Parliament, for there lir quite a batch of newspaper fellows who have won seats. The Hon. G. J. Anderson, who owns , the Mataura "Ensign," very appropriately continues to bo Minister m • Charge of the Government Printing ■ Office. Sir George Hunter has an interest m moro than ono ; paper, and doesn't Mr Isitt own the "Vanguard"? Mr de la Perelle Is the editor and owner of the Wlnton paper, and he is proud of tho fact that he . has won back for the Liberals Sir Joseph Ward's old seat. Mr Henry Holland is. a newspaper man. as also Js Mr R. A. Wright. Mr O'Brien, tho Laborlto who beat Tom Seddon for his seat, i .Js manager of tho Greymouth Labor daily. Mr Sullivan, who comes back for Avon, was a reporter, and still calls himself a journalist. Two orlnters havo gono out m Archlo McJJlcol and Bill Jonnlngs. i i It :i Probably the biggest disappointment In tho whole of tho elections was' tho defeat of Dick Cobbo for tho >Oroua seat by Davo Guthrie, tho veteran. : This was tho young Folldlngito'S first political fight— nnd it was the boat Over. That ho should havo come so close to winning that oven thtf Minister and his big nnd influential .com--mlttee should havo given up all hopes lit 8 o'clock on Thursday night speaks volumes for thro futuro of Dlck;:.C. It is the general opinion of all parties ln tho Orotm eloctorato thnt Richard Cobbe is the name of the ndtxt M.P. : for that electorate. Tho Minister got such a gruelling .throughout the campaign nnd his opponent did bo splendidly that tho veteran will. never face euch odds iignln. What was . the vßecre*. of the ultimate defeat of Dick, who, with a square deal, would havo won by 300? It was the result of a

very dirty conspiracy on the part of leading men who ito-day are feeling very much ashamed over their deeds that were dark and ways that were mean. They viilified a clean liver as a'drunkard! There was the astonishing; combination of Prohibs. voting against a Prohib. candidate, against whom the Liquorites also voted! Of Red Feds voting en, .bloc against a Laborite and for the; nominee of their

bete noir- — the big squatters! And of the P.PjA. opposing a/ good Protestant!

First man before thfj result board on the seventh: Getting exciting, chum. Second man: Hades! Bung and Lemonade stand equal*. Call that exCiting? That's suspense.

"Truth" really hastes to say so; but some of the candidates were elaborate and, expensive- practical jokes upon themselves . and the few others who thought they had rosy chances. .' Of course they .. considered their chances good, enough, some of them probably reckoned up household bills on the basis of the M.P.'s .£450 and.-w rote away for Ford -car catalogues and placed orders for hew suits on the strength^ of- the certajnty, butthe public did not think .sot. Not counting several Maori also-started candidates there is a little list -of fourteen who did not poll one-fourth .'of the votes gathered by the winners and so dropped, their deposits, like this: W. D. Adnams, Manukau; C.Lafferty, Hamilton; E. Piggott, Raglan; C. H. Chap-

man, Hawkes Bay; V. A. Chrlstensen, Palmerston North; J. Ross, Wanganui; H. ! S. Mpntgomerie, Rangitikei"; . G. Tweedie, Taranaki; J. D. Lynch, Westland; R. D. Martin, Kaiapoi; R. M. Thomson, Christchurch South; P. R. Needham, Temuka;,* W. S. Maslin, Dunedin Central; N. Mclntyre, Awarua. it i» >i • New , members In next Parliament will number 20 — about the same as m the late Parliament; :: "- :j :: Massey polled 1115 more votes m. 1922 than m 1919. Rea, his opponent, securing 1282 more votes than he did three years' ago. ::::: t "' . Peter Fraser won by the biggest margin . against his nearest opponent, but Massey beat him by about three hundred m the majority over his total opposition. f -'.-'■ »• .\y; '■'■ tt > ■ In the last days of polling a remarkable number of cases came 7to\ light m which the P.P.A-. Vigorously" opposed staunch Protestants" who incurred displeasure because -they were not blind .bigots. -, 7 To-day, as since 1912, W. "P. Massey is a minority Prime Minister. Always a" majority of the people have voted against Reform. „-, The strong infusion of freßh blood m the new House .still further democratises our Parliament. It was charged against Mr. E. A. Ransom, the LibLab, winner of the Pahlatua'seat, by his opponent that be did not know how to express himself properly. Yet he made Liberalism so plain to. the electors that they sent him to the House. As a matter of fact, Mr. Ransom is an able platform man, and he will be listened to m the House—he will not empty the chamber, as did Archie McNieol, whom he defeated. Then thero Is the case of Mr. J. R. Corrlgan, who won the Patea seat for Liberalism — why, the Reformers aotually scd.ffed at his -illiteracy. Shades I' of Hee Hem Smith— but J.R.C. will make eager ear 3 tickle In the time to come. John Lee, of Auckland East, was' a farm laborer; BiU.\Tdrdan, who put out Speaker Lang at Manukau, was also a slave on the land; C. ,J, Parr. was the son of a farmer; Jim Coates was a backblocker'i; son; -Mick Savage wns ■i miner with Paddy Webb , over m Victoria. D. G. S-'Mlvnn serfp'l an apprenticeship to French polishing, and . afterwards became a reporter. Leonard Isltt was a glovcmnker nn«'--a, draper before becoming a parson, and Geo. Witty was a farm slave at 26 bob per annum In England before emigrating. David Bmldo was an engineer In Scotland nnd New Zealand before ho became a farmer. , Bob Bollard was a feiwmiller, and . so was ■lack Bitchener, who has again won Waitakl. Fred. Lye is a dairy farmer (a. slave to Her Majesty ..■ the Cow), Bill Parry was a N.S.W.' miner, and E. J. Howard was n smelter m England and Australia, but has lived on the Labor leader gamo In Now Zealand. Tho outstanding feature n' every parly m the new House is tho largo number of members who have been something or other on tho land — squatters or slaves, dairymen or drudges, landowners or laborers. i : : : : : A lot of street corner quid mines m tryintr to guess the political card aro wanting to know "How can Massey get Tom- Wilford out of tho road?" That's nn easy one. What's tho matter with making -him Attorney-General and giving him. a reversionary interest In the Chief Justiceship? That's a good stout proposition with which to ring the, bell. . . .* t : t : : : The Prime Minister has announced that the Government lia«- decided , to convene a short session of Parliament at an early date to discuss tho political situation. A meotlnir of the Reform. Party will bo held after tho Christmas holidays to fix a date and discuss other matters. The session is expected to be held early m February.

"Peter Jackson" writes: Dear "Truth," — During the recent election contest it is alleged that Colonel Macdonald, the Independent candidate for Wellington East, and Mr. Forsyth, the Reform candidate for the same electorate, had a difference of opinion of a personal character. Mr. Forsyth said that Macdonald had hit him below the belt. Such was not the case: m fact, he would sooner punch him on the nose than condescend to such ungentlemanly procedure. The Colonel m reply said he w r ould like- to see Forsyth trying it on, and invited him to come on tte platform from which he was speaking, and promised to fight him to the death and beat him. Now, there are a number Of people out of employment, and money is badly needed to relieve the- financial stringency, and as one who dearly loves a "scrap," I would suggest that a contest be arranged between Forsyth and Macdonald at the Town Hall at a uniform charge, of five shillings. The fight to be under prize ring rules, including wrestling, but barring kicking,, the latter proviso on account of the ladies who would no doubt be glad to be present at such a gentlemanly entertainment. Mr. Massey could be asked to second Forsyth and Mr. Wilford m the same capacity for Macdonald, with Mr. R. A. Wright as referee. As a preliminary, Pussyfoot Johnson might be induced to haye ■ a go with Mr. Heathcote, and Mr. Dawson could "hold the bottle" for both parties. I am sure we would see a good and interesting fight, and the money accruing would be very welcome m relieving the present unemployment distress.

:: . :: :: A Magisterial recount of the voting for the Oamaru constituency is now taking place, but it lis not anticipated that the result will be altered, and the Minister of Justice will remain •■ defeated by a - small majority.

The fate of the Waito'mo seat is still m doubt. The latest news is that Mr. Rolleston (R.) has had his majority reduced to six and -that returns are still to come from three small polling places; There is a dispute concerning some 20 or 30 declaratory votes. The final return will not be available until Monday. - ■ .