The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 23, 1945. Dunedin North’s Verdict

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23260, 23 July 1945, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 23, 1945. Dunedin North’s Verdict

poi.l.l\( J in the Dunedin N'oi if by. , election on Saturday was good. On present figures ] 1.891 votes were east as against I 1.396 at the General Election in 1913. 'Elie most significant feature of the result is that the National Party candidate polled 3’>.3 votes more than had been cast for his party in the larger poll of 1913. At the General Election the late Mr Munro had a majority of 2.310 over the National Party candidate and a total majority of 1689 over all candidates in the field. This large majority has now been trimmed to 738, a happening which must cause some concern to the Government and justifies a certain amount of confidence on the part of the Opposition. Mr Walls, the new member, is one of Dunedin s I.abour stalwarts; the Government could not have chosen a more lik-ly candidate to make sure of holding a seat it was most anxious not to lose. Mr Jones, the National Party candidate, is a young man, totally inexperienced in politics, but he had one qualification which would have commanded respect; he fought in the present war, suffering severe injuries handicapping him phvsicallv for life. He went courageously into the election and the support he received showed that he must have given an excellent account of himself. Gallant though his effort was. he had an impossible task in attempting Io win a seat which has been held by l abour for 19 out of the mist 22 r ears. The Prime Minister, as was to be expect. 1. d lares that Dunedin North lias given Labour “authority to proceed with its progressive policy.’’ lb lid not venture an analysis of the figures, contenting himself with the prophetic assurance that the majorities of Mr Walls would increase in the future. Mr Eraser could not say less than this, but privately the Government must 1 he a little disturbed by the rather . slender victory won after a major i bombardment of the electorate. The ' most impressive artillery of the i Government went into action and 1 the only result achieved is that the Government’s majority, even after ( proportionate allowance is made for < the smaller poll, has declined. J Nothing can argue away that dis- ] agreeable fact. ‘ There are a number of electorates ( in New Zealand which would be won 1 l>v any Labour candidate, no matter J how poor his personal qualifications < might be. And, correspondingly, J there are other electorates which no ( Labour candidate would ever have a chance of winning. Dunedin > North, for better or worse, is com- ( mitted to Labour and a Labour i victory was certain in a straight-out [

contest, the crime Minister could have claimed with greater conviction that present trends of Government policy had been endorsed if the Labour candidate had succeeded in maintaining the party majority proportionate to the poll. This he did not do. It is not likely that the result of this election will have a moderating influence on Government policy, but the inner councils of the party, if they have political wisdom as well as mere campaigning shrewdness, should be able to see that many people who were not unkindly disposed to Labour are now growing genuinely apprehensive over more recent developments in the Government's policy and the lime has come when attention should be paid to this drift in public opinion. If the Government is not prepared to gear its policy to the will of the people it will pay the price for its errors of judgment. It is improbable that moderate opinion will prevail within he Labour Party and for this reason the Opposition can apply itself to its tasks with greater confidence than it any time within the past 10 years.