The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1919. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 23, 13 December 1919, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1919. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

On Wednesday next the electors will % dalleß upM to record their Vote's for representatives itfHhe twentieth New'Zealand Parliament. This will be the first general election held since 1914, and the chief feature noticeable in the political world to-day is its curiously chaotic state. Though we may not be impressed with the sufficiency of Party (jovenr jnent to meet the needs of the country we have to frankly confess that so far no better system has been evolved. During the war the Coalition Government . did some fine work; but that Coalition was purely ah emergency war measure, and we feel sure that a Coalition of the nature of the one lately ended, is not the solution of the difficulty now •facing the country. We do not propose to predict whether the followers of Mr Massey or Sir Joseph Ward are likely to be the stronger party, but we believe there will be but a narrow margin., Whichever party is returned we sincerely hope that that party may be strong enough to carry on. without the aid of the extremists who never ought to have gained seats in the House. Certainly, these latter may be retired to oblivion at the poll on Wednesday next, and if the country is in its right mind that will be their fate 1 . But, again, it is difficult to foretell what may happen in those constituencies now represented by extreme Labor members, and for which extreme Labour is seeking to be returned. So far as the Stratford election is concerned both side,-* are happily confident that the candidate they support will h* at the top of the poll. Unfortunately, both candidates cannot vtKii and disappointment is in store for someone. Both sides have had an equal opportunity of fairly stating their platform and claims to support, and we hold that it ist entirely a matter for the individual elector to make up his or her mind on the evidence placed before them without further direction. One -regret table feature of the contest, in this electorate—as in many others throughout New Z"ul'ind—ist the rlr'io'p-.ina- in of sectarian strife, and also the suhmer<?intr of "p'r p n- 1 and vital questions of paramount ;

importance: to t|ie j*Dominion's welfare under the bitterly-con-tested question of License versus No-License. We are forced to the conclusion, and we believe the country will agree with the view, thaf this question ought to be decided altogether apart from the choosing of Parliamentary representatives, on some other day in the year than that on which the General Election Qf Members of the House of Representatives takes place. So far'as reports from all parts of the Dominion'are to be relied on, at this stage the indications are that though a few seats may be lost or won, there is not going "to be any great and sweeping upheaval." •