THE HOME ELECTIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 December 1923, Page 10

THE HOME ELECTIONS.

PREFERENCE., '(•From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Dec. 19. At this distance from the great political upheaval in Great Britain it is difficult to grasp exactly what has happened. The only thing perfectly clear is that the Conservatives have ’failed signally in their ‘ attempt to secure a ’sufficient majority in the House of Commons to make them definitely independent of the other two political parties, Liberal and Labour, whether singly or in combination. This, of course, leaves them quite unable to give effect to the policy with which they appealed to the constituencies, and, particularly, for the time being, at any rate, places their tariff reform proposals entirely out of court. There could be little profit in speculating here as to the reasons which induced Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues to invite the hazard of an election just now; but in Wellington, where public opinion stretches a little further afield than, it does in most other parts of the Dominion, the popular feeling throughout the campaign was that the Conservatives had selected an inopportune time for the determination of their fate. The outlying portions of the Empire had not been fully convinced of the advantages of “preference” and Labour appeared quite unpersuaded that higher prices for food were going to bring them greater abundance.

PREFERENCE. Had New Zealand felt at liberty during any part of the campaign to express an opinion upon the question of preference, it would have raised a very divided voice. But a great majority of the politicians, and a great majority of the newspapers of the Dominion, realised it was incumbent upon them to refrain from attempting to guide the Mother Country upon such a matter. But it is quite an open question whether, had the sense of the whole community been gathered, the weight of opinion would have been on the side of the Protectionists or on the side of thd Free Traders. The official Labour Party here, as everyone understands, remains apart from the other political groups on some little matters of etiquette, and it did not hesitate to send to the British Labour Party a message of endorsement and encouragement in its opposition to the preference policy. But the sentiments it expressed were in entire accord with those of the rank and file of the party, and of the much larger army of unattached workers. The working man, speaking generally, has the primitive instincts of the Protectionist, but he cannot reconcile his habit of thought to the principle of preference, which it seems to him, would tax the workers at both ends for the purpose of helping the Dominion producers.

A BUSINESS VIEW. The business view here, so far as it can be gathered from people who obviously have little to say and no particular desire to say it, is that the best thing possible in the circumstances has happened. There can be no rash experiments by any of the -parties, they maintain, and yet there are plenty of capable, sane man in the new House, of differing party colours, who ultimately should get together and form an effective, stable Government. There are people who always talk in this way when surveying the perplexing results brought about by the wayward operation of the three party system. But New Zealand, where party divisions are much less tense than they are in Britain, has not yet evolved an effective, stable Government out of the material it chose for itself last year, and at the moment there is no reason for assuming that the Mother Country will be any more expeditious in extricating herself from the tangle in which she is involved. Speaking specifically of the rejection of the preference proposals, the representative of a large importing and exporting firm said this morning he never had doubted the decision of the constituencies. In the aggregate, he declared, the British elector is the best grounded political economist in the world, and he is not to be persuaded against his convici tions by the most persistent of the politicians.

MR. MASSEY’S PART. Hard things have been said of the part the New Zealand Prime Minister has .played in the campaign. Mr. Massey has given special offence, both to his political friends and his political opponents, by his utterances at the Belfast banquet, which, as they were cabled to this end of the world, conveyed the impression that he had pronounced a warm benediction upon the preference proposals, not only in his own behalf, but also on behalf of the people of this Dominion. The ‘first alone would have been a very grave lapse. When the Prime Minister goes abroad as the representative of the Dominion, he is expected to abstain scrupulously from meddling with the domestic affairs of any country he may visit, and from saving anything likely to arouse the ill-will of any section of its people. Thie is the sacred unwritten law. Tt seems incredible that Mr. Massey flouted this law, as he is reported to have done. Such a proceeding would have been entirely inconsistent with his precept and example and the nice sense of propriety he has shown on former occasions. Judgment must be reserved.