ELECTION FORECASTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1935, Page 4

ELECTION FORECASTS.

The “speeding up” of the general election in the Dominion and in Great Britain may quicken public interest which has hitherto remained fairly lethargic in regard to political affairs. So far as New Zealand is concerned there seems ro reason why the election should not be held with as little delay as possible. The legislation either suggested or actually before Parliament is largely of an amending nature. It applies to measures placed on the Statute Book in order that certain policies could be carried out'. If the general election results in those policies being condemned there seems little need for further amendments of laws which may be repealed by the incoming Government. Members of the House of Representatives are anxious to begin their election campaigns, and in all the circumstances it would appear that the sooner the session is brought to an end the better. So far as an election in Great Britain is concerned conditions are different. There is no constitutional need to dissolve Parliament until next year, but apparently the National Government considers an appeal to the electorate is desirable. In the first place the mandate it received in 1931 was to be applied to overcoming a particular economic crisis. That has been overcome, and the crisis that has now to be faced is one almost as grave. It is the question of national defence, and as with that is bound up the defence of the Empire as a whole, the Dominion has more than an academic interest in the election in Britain. Defence is not, and should never be, a question in which party politics should exercise undue influence. Nevertheless it is understandable that if the National Government considers a widely different policy in regard to armaments must be followed in order to maintain the safety of the realm, Ministers desire to assure themselves that they have public opinion behind them. The effect of national endorsement of a defence programme upon other nations has doubtless not been lost sight of, and there is no doubt that wide support of the National Government will strengthen its influence at Geneva and elsewhere.