The Southland Times SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1939 Political Tactics In New Zealand

Southland Times, Issue 23828, 27 May 1939, Page 6

The Southland Times SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1939 Political Tactics In New Zealand

THE ethical tone of political campaigns in New Zealand has never been noticeably high, and recent examples of the electioneering method seem to give little promise of improvement in the future. Speaking in Christchurch on Wednesday night, Dr D. G. McMillan said that the medical profession is now ‘on strike. This, of course, was a deliberate perversion of fact. The doctors have not laid down their surgical instruments; they have not refused to attend their patients or to do less than formerly to relieve human suffering. Further, they are bound by no agreement to accept the terms offered them by the Government: in refraining from signing contracts they are exercising the democratic right which trade union leaders have fought zealously to establish and protect in the past. These facts have already been pointed out by spokesmen for the British Medical Association, and Dr McMillan is fully aware of them. In misrepresenting the position to the electors of Christchurch South he was using the methods advocated by Herr Hitler in “Mein Kampf.” The secret of a successful propaganda is said to lie in aiming a statement at the lowest level. of intelligence, in clothing it with the simplest of words and thereafter in repeating it with a merciless insistence. Therefore Dr McMillan reduced the complex issues of the dispute between the doctors and the Government to a formula which he knows to be inaccurate and assured his audience that the medical profession is on strike. These tactics may be effective in certain quarters; but they are not admirable. Keeping The Fight Clean

This was by no means an isolated case of dubious platform methods. At the beginning of the campaign in Christchurch South the Labour candidate, Mr R. M. Macfarlane, informed his audience that he did not expect a clean fight. In addition to being a reflection on the character of his opponent, all the more unfair because Mr Lyons had. not then made his opening speech, the statement indicated a deplorable state of mind in one who hopes to become a representative of the people in Parliament. Is it necessary to assume, as a matter of course, that New Zealanders are incapable of conducting any kind of political discussion without immersing themselves in thickening airs of intrigue, misrepresentation and personal bitterness? This tendency to reduce all questions of national policy to the level of a class struggle is by no means confined to the Labour Party, but seems to have crept like a poison into the intellectual climate. It is less easy to defend because in New Zealand there are no rigid divisions within the community. There are comparatively few wealthy persons. Vested interests are anything but the powerful groups pictured by the demagogues; in any case the State is everywhere becoming the largest shareholder. If Labour speakers must be blamed more than others for the low standard of debate in the present campaign in Christchurch South it is because, after inviting the public to prepare for the spectacle of a “dirty fight”, they proceeded to throw out wild statements and accusations that cannot be supported by a shred of proof. A typical instance was provided by Mr J. Thorn, who suggested to a meeting that the drain on London funds towards the end of last year was “the result of a deliberate determination on the part of certain interests to face the Government .with a financial crisis if it succeeded in the elections.” It should no longer be necessary to explain that capital flowed fromNew Zealand simply because the Labour Government had announced in the plainest terms what it meant to do to the capitalists. A few days ago Mr J. A. Lee raised his voice on the same theme, attributing the shrinkage of London funds to a “raid” by “unscrupulous forces.” Finding A Scapegoat

These are further examples of the Nazi type of propaganda. Herr Hitler found it convenient to blame the “Marxist-Jews” for every malady in the German State. In New Zealand politicians who are avowed believers in Marxism are using the same technique, although with a change of direction. Instead of blaming the Marxists (which would be uncomfortably like blaming themselves) they throw out their hints and accusations against the “unpatriotic .... supporters of Forbes-Coates-Mamilton.” The important thing is to have a scapegoat. It saves the labour of intellectual activity and allows a speaker to play upon the fears and prejudices of less informed electors. Yet in the long run the responsibility for this low standard of political ethics must rest with the people. In an age of radio and improved communications the voice of the propagandist comes instantly into far places. An

educated public opinion may ultimately create difficulties for the inferior type of candidate who formerly could languish unheard among the back benches but who nowspeaks to the nation, if he speaks at all. The alternative to a gradual improvement in the quality of political debate is an increasing reliance on crude forms of propaganda. It will be a bad day for New Zealand if the tendency in this direction, already noticeable in many speakers, is allowed to debase a democratic privilege until it is no longer worth preserving.