Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, OCT. 1, 1936. THE FIRST BY-ELECTION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19134, 1 October 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, OCT. 1, 1936. THE FIRST BY-ELECTION

The. first by-election since the return of the Labour Government to office has naturally aroused an unusual measure of interest and in political quarters there will be a keen desire to draw conclusions from the result. It is doubtful, however, whether any real guide to public opinion can bo obtained from one

isolated contest, more particularly when it is held so .soon after the general elections and in- a constituency which, far from being a key one, has been regarded as a Labour stronghold for fourteen years. The decision of the electors of Manuknu was only wit tit could reasonably have been expected, although many people, no doubt, felt that the voting would ]*ave been closo.r tluin it was since there were some factors which tended to gain additional support for the National candidate. la the last place, the Labour candidate could hardly anticipate t lie strong personal vote- that for years has been- accorded ids predecessor, while the generally recognised need for strengthening the Opposition in Parliament, must have exorcised some influence. On tin* other hand, Manuknu includes an in-i-iensinglv large industrial area, and it was only natural that the Government should retain the votes of those who, so far, have felt only the benefits of recent legislation and have not yet inn.- to realise its possible disabilities. Ft is not possible to estimate how far these considerations weighed with the electors, but an analysis of the figures suggests that while the Labour Government has lost at least some of the

-opulnrity that swept it on to the Treasury benches a few months ago, it is still a great deal stronger than It was in 19.31, when there was a land slide in the opposite direction. Yesterday’s polling has the out standing advantage that the figures

mn be read with satisfaction by both sides. The Government hits every reason to congratulate itself on having more than survived in the first electoral contest, while the Opposition can console itself with the evidence that it has made- some headway. The figures can be interpreted according to the desires of either side. Labour supporters can point to the fact that the vote against their candidate was smaller than at the general election, while, although nearly 1400 fewer votes were cast, the Labour vote fell by only 1100. The Nationalists, on the other hand, can show that the Labour majority was reduced from 0400 to 4400, and will point out that Mr. Doidge, in a much smaller poll, secured nearly as many votes as the combined anti-Labour candidates in 1935. And so the calculations can be extended almost indefinitely without really proving anything. A more correct test, perhaps although this, too, is far from being conclusive—is a comparison with the 1931 figures, when there were also only two candidates. On that occa-

sion the Labour vote was 7401 and the Nationalist, 4007, the total number of votes being about 600 -fewer tlinn yesterday. Reduced to a proportionate basis, it will be found that in 1931 Labour secured 65 pet cent, of the votes ease in Manukau, in 1935 it secured 70,2.2 per cent, and in 1936 the percentage was 68.10. On these figures it might be claimed that

Lit hour is 3 per cent more popular Iliad it was five years ago and 2 pet cent less popular than at. the last general elections. The difference is mil very great., but. critics of the presold Government will derive some satisfaction from the knowledge that a similar swing throughout the Dominion would be suflicient to remove Labour from office.

I’rom a political point of view, the grimiest lesson to he learned from I lie by-election is the value of organisation and cohesion. In these respects, the Labour Party has an undoubted advantage over its opponents, who, even now, have not profited from the experiences of the past. In Manukau, ~ti(l, indeed, in every part of the Dominion, the. Labour Party organisation continues to function throughout the year; it does not come into existence only when an election is in prospect. .Moreover, either through loyalty or discipline, it retains tho support of its followers. In actual

fact, there are wide cleavages of opinion- in the ranks, from tiie Cabinetitself down to the smallest branch or union, but those are not permitted to interfere with the general aims of ihe party or to bring discredit upon it hv excessive ventilation in public. 'l’lie same cannot be said for the National Party. On the contrary, as yet it has practically no organisation in the electorates, and, in any case, its supporters, as a rule, do not realise the responsibility that devolves upon them to play their part in preparing for an election contest. They have neither loyalty nor discipline, but are almost perpetually divided by petty differences which should be entirely subordinated to ihe .lone dominating issue, leaving other factors, such as, for instance, the question of leadership, to be thrashed out by the party itself. To some extent the majority secured by the Labour Party in Manukau was a vic-

tor)- for unity over disunity, a triumph of organisation over disorganisation, and until these defects are remedied the National Party cannot look for the full support, that is availaide to it.