NOMINATION DAY

Southland Times, Issue 22730, 5 November 1935, Page 7

NOMINATION DAY

BRITISH ELECTION ABOUT 40 CANDIDATES UNOPPOSED 70 WOMEN STANDING (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 8.20 p.m.) London, November 4. To-day is nomination day. It will be known late this afternoon exactly how many candidates will contest the 615 seats at the general election. Probably round about 40 candidates will be unopposed compared with 65 at the last election. It is believed that Mr Baldwin and Mr Runciman will be the only Ministers unopposed. The Prime Minister, who has represented Bewdley (Worcestershire) for 27 years, sent a letter to the local organization saying that he was gladdened because the country was again leading the world on the path of progress and recovery. The return of the Labour Party, which was committed to extremist Socialism, would mean economic chaos, and the first to suffer would be the workers.

The candidates include 70 women, of whom 19 are Conservatives, 33 Labour nominees, 12 Liberals, 2 Independent Labour Party candidates and 4 Independents. Electioneering will became more intense now that the municipal contests are over. Reports reaching the Government headquarters are regarded as entirely satisfactory, though excessive optimism is discouraged. A crowd of over a thousand refused to hear Mr J. H. Thomas support Mr Malcolm MacDonald at Worksop (Nottinghamshire). They jeered and shouted so persistently that he was unable to make a speech, but he answered questions for over an hour. Mr Thomas said: “To-morrow you will think what miserable cowards you have been.” MR LLOYD GEORGE ELECTION BROADCAST. NEW DEAL PROPOSALS. (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, November 2. At the invitation of the Liberal leaders Mr Lloyd George last night occupied one of their three allotted broadcasts in the series arranged in connection with the general election and dealt with his New Deal proposals, which were rejected some time ago by the Government and were afterwards endorsed by the “Council of Action for Peace and Reconstruction” set up under Mr Lloyd George’s leadership. He said that since the war the British people had spent £1,200,000,000 in maintaining people in idleness with maintenance allowances which were less than sufficient to provide all required for full sustenance, but which even in the lifetime of the present Government had cost £460,000,000. For these gigantic sums there was nothing to show but the gradual demoralization of those out of work. Would it not have been infinitely wiser to have expended all this money in subsidizing useful work? It was a sinister reflection that throughout the last five years the average numbers of the workless had been twice as large as during the preceding ten years. Mr Lloyd George then described the scheme he had advocated for the expenditure on housing, educational development, road improvements, land reclamation and other projects of the sums now spent on doles. If devoted to these useful tasks this money would bring wages to hungry households and transform the country. Regarding international affairs, Mr Lloyd George said that the Ministers had gone into conferences with a divided purpose and had been hopelessly outmatched by resolute and astute men. He urged the electors to vote for the candidates of any party which subscribed to the programme of the Council of Action. “The Council has published a list of nearly 300 candidates whose replies to the questionnaire have fully satisfied it,” he said. “The largest number of favourable replies are from Liberal or Labour candidates, but the list includes several Conservative and Liberal Nationals, supporters of the Government.”