THE BAY OF PLENTY ELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24790, 15 December 1941, Page 4

THE BAY OF PLENTY ELECTION

The smallness of the vote at the Bay of Plenty by-election on Saturday, plainly reflects the feeling of the constituency, which will be shared by other constituencies throughout the Dominion, that, in a time of exceptional crisis in which the life of the Empire itself is at stake, domestic political issues are a matter of little public concern. And this feeling will have been intensified by the knowledge that the result, whatever it might be, could not materially affect the party strength in the House of Representatives. Nevertheless, it is clear that the decision of the Bay of Plenty electors is not devoid of significance. The anxiety of the Government to retain the seat was revealed by the intervention of Ministers in support of the Labour nominee. Whether this was to the advantage or the disadvantage of Mr Sullivan, it is certain that there were other factors in operation during the contest that must have been adverse to him. The fact that the vacancy in the representation of the district was caused by the death of Mr Hultquist on active service undoubtedly raised the question whether the National Party should have put forward a candidate at all. And the argument that it should not have done so—that it should have acquiesced in the retention of the seat by the Labour Party—waf, it is indisputable, powerfully reinforced by the declaration by the Prime Minister that the Government would not in existing circumstances present a candidate for any one of the three seats that have been vacated by the death of National Party members, two of them on active service. The inference which the electors were probably expected to draw from this, that political generosity is exhibited only by the Labour Party, will have told somewhat heavily against the candidature of Mr Sullivan. It was inevitable that it should. Yet, under conditions that were seriously unfavourable to him, he secured a handsome majority. The interpretation which it seems reasonable to place on the result is that it 4s an expression of strong disapproval of the domestic policy of the Government. There can hardly be any other interpretation. Viewed in this light the contest has possessed a certain

value. ■ There has' been a growing impression that the majority of the people of the country are out of sympathy with both the legislation and the administration of the Government. The Bay of Plenty byelection seems to suggest that the impression does not lack some foundation.