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Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 944, 19 February 1917, Page 6

By withdrawing his nomination for the Hawke's Bay seat, Sir John Findlay has shown a proper sense of dignity. It was not to be expected at the present time that a man of Sir John's eminence would consent to a vulgar scramble for the favour of any constituency. It is not indeed desirable that a man of his powers should ever take part in such proceedings, and it would be little short of a scandal if such an exhibition were to be afforded just now. Sir John consented to nomination only after very strong representations from the Liberal Party, and may very justifiably have hoped that in the present crisis his return to legislative activities was desired by many who were not Liberals. We are sure it was desired. However, he stipulated, and rightly stipulated, that in the constituency itself there should be at least reasonable unanimity. When, therefore, he found that no such unanimity existed, withdrawal was the dignified course. The situation is rather unfortunate. It is true that Sir John Findlay has not yet proved himself in any popular sense. He was an adornment to the Upper House, and a spectacular representative as a delegate to a somewhat famous Imperial Conference. It is not yet certain that as a local representative he has any outstanding qualifications at all. But clearly it was not as a local representative that he was urged, or consented, to come out of his retirement. He came out unmistakably as a Dominion representative—as a candidate with, presumably, something wider and deeper than the customary qualifications of the local member of Parliament. There can be no doubt that he possessed such qualifications, and that there was no empty egoism in his expressed belief that the by-election "was to be run on national rather than on party lines," and that he was being called on "to assist in some solution of the national problems that confront us." Sir John, however, has again and again announced a deep reluctance to any further plunge into the hurlyburly. He does not like politics—and they have proved an extraordinarily costly distraction. Probably he requires no condolences.