TWO ALTERNATIVES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17607, 24 October 1931, Page 5

TWO ALTERNATIVES

THE ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN MR. BALDWIN’S WARNING INSANITY OF BOLSHEVISM LONDON, Oct. 23. Mr. Baldwin, broadcasting, said that if Labor were returned nothing would save the pound from immediate arid' irretrievable collapse. The issue was national bankruptcy on tho one hand, and national co-operation and : reconstruction on . the other. Labor members, after approving, of tariffs in the Cabinet, were trying to delUdo the electors into the belief that tariff meant an attack on wages. If such tactics prevailed, democracy' would have failed forever, The election was the turning point in Britain ’s history. , The electors must choose Between a Government consisting of the best elements of the three parties imd the Socialist Party, whose policy Mr. Snowden had described as “Bolshevism run mad.” ....... Determined not to be out of the election, fight., Mr. Lloyd George made a speech at Churt, which was reproduced on gramophone records and circulated to the constituencies. An important disclosure is that there are still £300,000,000 worth of foreign deposits in England. If tho outside world lost confidence, these would* Be withdrawn and the value of the £ would siiik further. The crisis must be faced by national unity similar to that shown in war-time. Mr, MacDonald, in a special message in tho Daily, Telegraph, urges the electors to dismiss party cries and theories and to put the nation in the forefront of their thoughts. A LIGHTER INCIDENT One df the few lighter incidents in the election typical of Mr. Th6mas occurred at a lunch hour meeting of the raihvaymen at Derby. A numbor began Singing '‘Tell Me the Old, Oid Story.” Instead of showing annoyance Mr. Thomas good-humoredly seized a stick and assumed the roll of conductor, after which he was given a patient hearing. Mr. Thomas said if they were satisfied that he had acted against their interests, they could vote against him, but he Warned them not to squirm if on Wednesday the pound dropped to 4s or 3b in tho event of the vote going against tho National Government. • • ■

The ox-Cabinet Minister, Mr. W. Graham j questioned Mr. Snowdoit’s statements of the Labor Cabinet’s decisions, uhd Maid ho adhered to his own version. Cabinet discussions wore not intended for further comment. That the National Government wiß have tt, majority of, nearer 200 than 100, the Daily Telegraph’s political correspondent regards as a safe prediction. Laborites hope that the casualties will not exceed 80 or 90. At the best they cannot count on being more than 200 strong. Conservative , meetings in the industrial areas areas havo been extremely satisfactory,, The 'Conservatives are also receiving useful help from the Liberal Association. Lancashire and Cheshire aro sure, to provide a number of Government gains. Conservative and Liberal seats in the eastern counties are not regarded as being in danger, despite the Laborites’ active campaign. The Midlands are studying the tariff question seriously. ’ SCIENTIFIC AIDS “TRAVELLING TALKIES” LONDON, Oct. 14. The tactics of both sides in the election campaign are to employ tho latest scientific aids, including tho “talkies Twelve-hundred open-air meetings will be addressed next week by this medium on behalf of National candidates, tins being the first general election when the method was used on a large scale. Six thousand people were ? present at a “talkie” meeting in Scotland, the addresses beiiig clearly heard for more than a mile. The basis of the cinema political organisation is a fleet of touring vans equipped with British “talkie" apparatus. At present there are 12 vocal films, one each of Mr. MacDonald, Mr. Baldwin, and Sir John Simon, and nine illustrating the industrial situation affected by foreign competition. The country is divided into a dozen areas with subareas, each having an agent. There are 300 copies of the 12 films, also many gramophone records of speeches in use. The loud speakers have a range of two miles. The Morning Post issues the warning that, if Labor is victorious, it will repeal the Tra<)o Disputes (Trade Unions) Act, and thus legalise the attempt, of the Trades Union Congress to hold the nation at ransom by a general strike. Tho campaign is particularly bitter in Glasgow,' calling for personal courage on the part of National candidates who are facing violence and disorder. The Communists are urging the Clyde to resist the dole cut by mass action. They