The Sun WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1914. ON THE EVE OF THE POLL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 262, 9 December 1914, Page 6

The Sun WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1914. ON THE EVE OF THE POLL.

Most, persons have made up their minds by now how they are going to vote, and the final manifestos issued !>y the party leaders will merely have the effect of hardening up their respective supporters, and catching, perhaps, the votes of a few stray waverers. In several quarters the view is expressed that party feeling has run higher during this Campaign than usu?il. We do uot think that is so. Feeling was undoubtedly keener in Wellington in 1911, and as far as Canterbury is concerned, allowance 1 must be made for the fact that for . the first ...time for many years there; are party contests in every constituency, in some instances partisans have been carried away by their feelings, ~ and', serious? . .disorder ... has occurred in connection with meetings. This is almost inevitable at election time, but it is noteworthy in the present instance that the Reformers have been ; thfe ! ' priiiciipal stiff efers, while Liberal and. Labour members, save in very few instances, have enjoyed peaceful and orderly gatherings. The Red Fed. element has been mainly responsible for any interference with the inalienable right, of free speech, and .there is no doubt that a. section of the workers, arc so thoroughly imbued with hatred'for. the Government owing to the way it dealt with the transport strike that they will do anything to be revenged. This circumstance alone brings an issue before the "electors which has never been raised before at a General Election.. Hitherto questions of policy and administration have been paramount, but oh this occasion the electors have to consider the effect of repudiating the action of the Massev Government in using force to preserve j order during v the transport strike. The Red Feds, make no secret of their desire to punish the Government for the firmness it displayed when they sought to paralyse the business of the community, and they are combining with the Liberals to attain their ends. If their joint efforts are successful, it means that in the event of another strike the people who live in any of the large centres are liable to be brought under the heel of the mob, and a Liberal Government, existing by the grace of the lied Feds., will be powerless to protect them. As to the general questions of policy and administration, the' respective merits and demerits of the parties have" been dinned into the public ear with so much force during the past few weeks that it would not be surprising if many persons were hopelessly confused as) to the realities of the case. The Liberals undoubtedly did good work during their twenty years of office, and it is equally indisputable that real and tangible reforms have been accomplished by the Reform Party since they took office in 1912. The point the electors have to settle to-morrow is whether they will get better results from the work of the present Government during the next three years than they may reasonably expect to obtain from a Ministry composed of leading Liberals and led by Sir.Joseph Ward. The Sun has already expressed the opinion that in knowledge and capacity members of the Reform Ministry are ahead of the leading men in the Liberal Party as at present constituted, . and sthose whose political Sympathies lie with the Liberals must balance that circumstance against thcaf--desire to see their friends back iii office. We do not think that the Liberal Party in New Zealand will ever do much good till it is purged of some of the men comprising it, and a further three ; years in opposition will probably be better for the party in the long run. The Reformers had to stay out so long that they became for all''practical purposes a new party; and" although we should be very sorry 'to see another "continuous" Government in power, it is an indisputable fact that a party acquires virtues in opposition that it 1 tends to shed in office, and the Liberals will be a better party when they do , come back if they have a longer period in which to regenerate.

The rushing through to Lodz of German reinforcements from the frontier fortresses has apparently had the effect of throwing back the Russian advance in this quarter. Yesterday Berlin reported that the German forces had had decisive success to the north-west and south-west of Lodz, and a telegram from Petrograd received to-day suggests unmistakably that the Russians have been forced to evacuate the town. This message is official, and while it refrains from a straightforward intimation of the capture of Lodz by the enemy, it is so worded that no other meaning can be read into it. General Hindenburg has got out of a tight corner with greater success than he could have hoped for at one stage of this battle. The glowing reports of the magnificent Russian victories were so extravagant as to arouse suspicion as to their accuracy. ,We were led to believe that a daring enveloping movement oil the part of the Russians had resulted in disaster to the enemy, but while it has been admitted by Berlin that in the process of extrication from a difficult position the Germans sustained very heavy losses, it is evident that the arrival of reinforcements from the frontier turned the scale of battle against the Russians. With the railways still intact, the German commanders would have no Difficulty in the rapid transference of fresh army corps to Lodz, and this access of strength has seemingly taken the Russians by surprise. The result of the acquisition of this town will be to relieve the pressure of the Russian left on Cracow, which, when this phase of the Eastern hostilities was last mentioned, was reported to be in danger of investment. Since the battle has been joined in Central Poland, ■ the operations in Galicia have been practically ignored. The Russian reverse should only be a temporary setback, but of late the reports from the Eastern zone of war induce an uneasy feeling that the Russian leaders are being outgeneralled by their opponents. However, the Grand Duke Nicholas has the soldiers —an inexhaustible supply-—and in this calamitous war it is numbers that count.