WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 18 February 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE BY-ELECTION.

INTENSE INTEREST.

(Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, February 15.

The contest in Wellington North is exciting more interest and creating more commotion than has any byelection for many a long day. Mr. J. P Luke, the official National Government candidate, and Mr. H. E. Holland (the Labour nominee), are the principal figures in the struggle, B'ut Mr. A. de B. Brandon, Independent Reformer, and Mr. A. N. Poison, Independent Liberal, are obtaining their share of the limelight and there is a growing fear among orthodox people that by detaching votes from the official condidate those two gentlemen may help Mr. Holland into Parliament. Neither of them is making a very brave show in his platform addresses and Mr. Poison is handicapped by the too obtrusive patronage of Br. Thacker, but the National Government is no more popular in Wellington than Governments usually are in the capital city, and Mr. Luke himself is very far from being a persona grata in this particular constituency. MINISTERIAL APPEALS.

In the opinion of many of his friends Mr. Massey, is making a mistake in entering upon a personal controversy •with Mr. Holland in regard to various issues that have been raised during the contest, but the Prime Minister is in the unfortunate position of having to assist a candidate who cannot take the whole burden of the fight upon lis own shoulders. Mr. Luke, both as Mayor and as a private citizen, has done a lot of very excellent war work, and on this account he will receive support from a number of electors who have no sympathy with his politics; but his parliamentary record, for one reason and another, is not a very impressive one and patriotism is a virtue which both the vote-splitters can claim. Mr. Massey puts the position quite fairly when he says the electors have to pronounce an opinion upon the war policy and administration of the Government, but this does not help - Mr. Luke against Mr. Brandon or Mr. Poison. HOIST WITH HIS OWN PETAKD. There can be no doubt that- if Mr. Luke were contesting the seat against any one of the other three candidates in the field his success -would be assured. • The only danger confronting him now is that a number of electors wish- - ing to 'give the Government a fright' or to pay off some old party score, will cast their votes for Mr. Brandon or Mr. Poison, without any expectation or hope of returning their candidate, and so let Mr. Holland slip in between the disunited supporters of military service. If the second ballot were still in existence there would not be the slightest chance of this occurring and of course Mr. Massey is being reminder that he is responsible for the Temoval from the StaTute Book of a measure which would have saved him from much anxiety just now. The second ballot was open to many objections but in its clumsy way it at least secured the representation of majorities THE OUTCOME. The statement attributed to Mr. Massey that the return of any other candidate than Mr. Luke would lead to ap. early dissolution of the House and a general election is not taken seriously here. It is true that the success of Mr. Poison would place the old Eeform Government and the old Lib-eral-Labour Opposition on an equality so far as numbers were concerned — thirty-eight on each side —but these party divisions are no longer existent. and it ever would occur to Sir Joseph Ward or to anyone of consequence among his supporters to take advantage of such a mishap to the Prime Minister's schemes to revive the old party lines. Mr. Brandon is pledged to support the National Government and Mr. Holland is a reed on whom no leader would care to lean. The defeat of Mr. Luke, which is not among the probabilities of the contest, would nat bring about a political crisis.