Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, 1934. AUSTRALIAN ELECTIONS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18503, 15 September 1934, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, 1934. AUSTRALIAN ELECTIONS

The Federal general elections which are being held throughout Australia to-day contain several factors that make them of widespread interest, and the result will be keenly awaited much further afield than in the Commonwealth itself. The campaign has been fought very largely on the usual party lines, although it is distinguished, to some extent, from previous contests by the fact that the Government supporters have gone to the hustings without presenting any embellished policy or making any alluring promises to the electors. This, however, cannot be said of their opponents, for, as is usual, the people have been assured that a new Utopia is their for the taking. The chief interest in the result, therefore, lies in whether oi not the electors of Australia prefer to gamble on the unknown possibilities of some new experiment or to continue to follow the unspectacular course that already has carried their country so far along the road towards recovery. In some respects it might seem that the prospects are unfavorable to the Government. In the first place, it cannot be forgotten that • ver since the war the policy of Australia seems to have been to change its Governments at every opportunity. On top of this is the fact that the party in power has an unusually large majority, and the tendency in such eases is generally towards a stiffening of the Opposition. Above all else, however, is the fact that, under existing economic conditions, no administration could fail to evoke a considerable amount of antagonism, and in the heat of an election the alleged misdeeds of a Government are not permitted to be forgotten while its record of achieve--merit is apt to be overlooked. A victory for Mr. Lyons at to-day’s poll will, therefore, be a victory indeed. Evidence of the keenness of the contest is contained in. the tact that there are 329 candidates offering, compared with 233 in 1931. Of the total, 2G2 candidates are standing for the House of Representatives, of whom IST are officially nominated by one of the four principal parties. There arc 75 seats to be tilled, the state of the parties at the dissolution being as follows: United Australia Party, 37; Country Party. If!; Labor, 14; Lang-Labor, 5; and Independents, 3. The policies of the respective parties are generally well known. The United .Australia Party stands for a continuation of the policy that has already proved so successful in restoring the name of Australia almost to the topmost place in the eyes of the world. It is not without a constructive programme, but there is nothing very alluring about it, Mr. Lyons preferring to rely mainly upon his past record and an assurance that his Government, if returned to power, will continue to build surely and firmly upon the foundations it has already laid. The Country Party, which'gives qualified support to the Government, relies largely upon a policy of lower tariffs and the development of primary industries, at the same time seeking to compromise on the monetary issue by promising an inquiry into the present system. The two Labor parties, while subject to serious internal differences, have as a common basis of policy the nationalisation of banking, and in this connection they have closely allied with them the Douglas Credit group, which is seeking Parliamentary recognition for the first time. It has been stated, in fact, that an unofficial agreement exists between this group and the Lang Party. In striking contract to the Government, the Opposition parties have been lavish in their promises, not only of what will be accomplished by monetary reforms, but also of the many concessions that will be giten to various sections of the community. Unfortunately for them they have found the utmost difficulty in reconciling the pledges they have made to country constituencies with those they have given in the towns, while previour experience of Labor’s at tempts at banking control—more especially the failure of the .State Savings Bank under Mr. Lang’s administration, and the deficit of £14.000,000 which he bequeathed to his successor—might be expected to react to their disadvantage. I* is all very largely a question, however, of whether or not the public of Australia has yet learned to discriminate between the real ami the illusory. On the one hand, they have indisputable evidence of a record that is almost unique in the annals of Federal politics; on the other, if their memories arc sufficiently good, they hnve equally indisputable evidence ol a Labor policy that very nearly wrecked the stability of the country, and to counteract it they have nothing more tangible than vague promises. Will these promises capture' votes,' or do the electors now realise that it is the Governments which have promised most in recent years that have performed the least, and that thoso which have

promised least have accomplished most? This experience is not. by any means peculiar to Australia, and there have been signs in other countries that the election pledges and programmes of politicians are at last being assessed at their true value. To-day’.s poll cannot rightly bo described as a test of the policy of the Commonwealth Government; that has already been tried and proved by results. The real test is whether or not the people of the Commonwealth, profiting by past experience, have learned that the true road to recovery and prosperity lies along a clearly defined path, and that to venture into the by-ways of experiment and expedient is to court disaster.