The Southland Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1944. The By-Election

Southland Times, Issue 25505, 27 October 1944, Page 4

The Southland Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1944. The By-Election

THE electors of Awarua will vote tomorrow for a new member of Parliament. During the past few weeks, and especially in the past 10 days, they have been bombarded with political propaganda. Electors who are not now aware of the perfections and weaknesses of both parties cannot pretend they have been denied opportunities for discovering them. Political visitors have been drawn irresistibly to Invercargill; it has been suggested, indeed, that at one stage Parliament could almost have established a quorum in the lounge of the Grand Hotel. Even the President of the Labour Party, brought to the far south by waterfront business, was able to give the occasion his brief attention. National Party members, led by Mr Holland, have been actively engaged, although slightly outnumbered, and without the ministerial prestige which has been freely invoked by their opponents. The campaign has been interesting, strenuous, and notable for a general atmosphere of good humour. There have been the inevitable tactics, and a certain amount of hard hitting; but it can be claimed that nothing has occurred which might leave an aftermath of bitterness. Now that the talking is almost over, it becomes necessary to ask what, if anything, the invaders are likely to have accomplished. Is it possible for exhortation and cajolery, concentrated within a few days, to make any change in attitudes that have been shaped slowly and definitely. through the years? Awarua is predominantly a farming electorate; and farmers are by temperament a phlegmatic people. They do not, as a rule, make up their minds in a hurry; but once their ideas are settled they keep them firmly under control. It seems probable, therefore, that the number of waverers on either side will not be large. Nevertheless, there may be enough of them to justify the shock tactics of the invasion. The National Party’s majority in 1938 was only 660. There was no election in Awarua last year, so that the state of public opinion must remain unpredictable. The campaign was very much a party contest; but it is time now to remember that electors must vote for a representative as well as a policy. Their local interests have to be watched in Parliament, and their task is to decide which candidate is best equipped to serve them. The Real Democracy candidate, Mr R. J. Henderson, has followed a somewhat lonely road; he has spoken manfully for himself against an opposition that must prove too strong for an independent. The issue stands plainly, as at the general election, between the Labour and National Parties. We do not propose here to return to a political field that has been covered more than adequately in our news columns. The electors have had ample time to discover for themselves what is good and bad in Labour rule, and to decide whether or not they want it to be extended in their own district. They may be guided, to a certain extent, by the results of the general election, which left an impression that the younger and reinvigorated National Party is moving steadily towards its first term in office. But the factor which seems likely to have the strongest influence is the need for. a member who can understand the requirements and difficulties of a farming constituency. From this point of view the claims of the National Party candidate, Mr G. R. Herron, who is himself a practical farmer, seem most likely to receive a public endorsement.