The Sun WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. PRE-SESSIONAL ELECTIONEERING

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 88, 20 May 1914, Page 6

The Sun WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. PRE-SESSIONAL ELECTIONEERING

There .'is stuj <a go bfefore Parliament opens, consequently there is littie prospect-of any immediate reKef from the campaign of pre -sessional .electioneering 'tliat ;iias been .waged ever since tlie Christnias vaeation. Ministers and prominent Oppositionists are merely following' the usual practice in utilising the recess between the second' and third sessions Hanearth likely; candidates;and beat up. support. They can. never tell with, any degree of certainty how' long, jyfie. iast,- 6nS'ffit S tlieie / is very .little time left for- a final rush round the eountry prior to the verdict of the people being taken. The coming' sessitm will be" more than ordinarily interesting, because amendments' of the law providing for voting on the liquor question are - 'inevitable, and the/ Government is also bound: to. do its best to* carry out a further" instalment of the policy enunciated in 1911y on which it got into power. In the meantime both sides are trying their.'utmost to get the ear of the public. One noticeable feature of the campaign is the small part that several 6f the Ministers have taken in it. Mr Massey and Mr Fisher have been pretty active, and the Premier's tour#is- distinctly reminiscent of Mr Seddon's methods. Mr Massey has-made it his business to coyer al- ; most the whole of tlig Dominion during the recess...He lias received deputations by the store; thousands of electors have turned out to meet him personally, and his exposition of the Government's policy has been made from a hundred platforms. He has been well received wherever he has gone, and is no doubt satisfied with the result. At any rate his colleagues seem to be,, for with the exception mentioned they have been content to leave the spade work incidental to the elections to their chief. Mr •Allen, Mr Herdman, and Mr Herries have each riiade a Speech, and having done so, let things go at that, although the party would probably be better pleased to see them on the platform a little 111 ore frequently. On the Liberal side there has been even greater, activity. It is very difficult ,for a party without a policy to talk itsejf into popular favour, but no one can ftisguise the fact that the Liberals are making headway. Sir Joseph Ward is not sparing himself, and if his- lieutenants were of a higher calibre, as politicians, the position wou|d be by no means hopeless. Mr Myers, his ablest supporter, is still out of the., country, and he has had to rely on Messrs Russell, I silt, Atm'ore, Witty; and one or two others. . Great tales have appeared in some of the party organs about the tremendo.ilh impression thg oratory of these gentlemen has made, on the backblock settler of the North Island and elsewhere. .Porliaps it is so, but there is no need;to gamble on it. From the taetical piint of view, the' best thing the Liberals have done'is to reach an understanding with the Labourites in respect to certain seats, so as to avoid vote splitting. It is only by combination that they can hope to bust the Reform Party, but the most persons, would be inclined-to ask is what good will it do the' Liberals to oust the present Government, if they are going to be dependent for their majority on mfen iike Messrs Payne and Robertson? Perhaps Sir Joseph Ward is optimistic enough to anticipate a working majority over and'above his-Labour allies.; It is hard to see where' it" fc going to come from, but office is not really wtorth having, on jyiy. other tej-ms.. . ...