HOW GOES THE FIGHT?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10301, 4 November 1911, Page 6

HOW GOES THE FIGHT?

NOTES FROM THE FRONT. (By the War Correspondent.) The elections are to be held, it seems, during the first week in December. For a week we may look for little platform work from the candidates, but presumably the committees will be busy, and the break caused by the holidays is reallv no hardship. As a matter of fact,' it is better lor the candidates to have to stand down for a space, assuming that they have already made a start, because while they are in the thick of it they must hnd it difficult to estimate the position. A breathing space enables them to size up the situation, so to speak, and to see where work needs to be done. Kaiapoi is the district that is attracting most attention, the reports concerning Mr Blaok well's progress suggesting that Mr Buddo will hare a tough fight. Tho newcomer is a popular young man of commonsen.se and markodly progressiva views, and it is known that he has the support of many Radical stalwarts who in previous yea-its have been prominent supporters of Mr Buddo. The Minister must have found the position a little depressing when ho returned from "Wellington tnrly in the week and learnt of the defection of old-time supporters. Mr Buddo, however, has lost no time in sizing up the situation, and wJieu he gets seriously to work he will probably find that the outlook is not at all unpromising, ft goes without saying that when a man has the field to himself he and his friends are liable, to be unduly optimistic, and this is probably what has happened in Kaiapoi. At the same time, it would be idle to pretend that Mr Blackwell has not made a good beginning. In the city itself there, is little of public moment doing. Mr Ell tells me that his committee has made a flying surrey of the ground and that its reports give him. no cause for uneasiness. J)uring the coming week he will meet his friends and supporters in each part of South Christchurch and will enter upon platform work as soon as the holidays are over. Mr Davey's report is similar in kind, and Mr fsitt promises to make things merry when he opens his public campaign. No on© is taking Mr Petherick seriously. Candidatures that commenced in jest and ended seriously are riot very common nowadays, for the obvious reason that it costs a few pounds to contest even a city seat. I remember a case in the nineties in which a. well-known man about town wagered that he could poll a thousand votes in a city election. Ho had no special interest in politics, but he went into the game with energy and won his bet. Some years earlier Sir Julius "Vogel might nave had a walk-over but for a little joke on the part of a few young bloods. They had a friend who, at the time, was greatly taken up with politics, and they decided to " pull his le,g " by persuading him to announce himself as a_ candidate. Tho enthusiast took the joke seriously, and so did a. good Tinny other 7>eopie who had no liking for Sir -Julius, and to save their face the jokers had to put their backs into the work and toil a good deal harder, as " friends and supporters," than they had expected. Their man was handsomely beaten, but not disgraced. Mr Witty and Mr Russell took the platform last night, and both, of coursej were well received. Meetings nowadays seem to run on quiet lines, but that is only because politics are really quiet, and there are no burning issues before the people. "When the personal element is introduced a>nd feeling runs high there may still be plenty of rowdyism, as we have found on more than one occasion in Christchurch in recent years, and even this year. When Mr Massey earae down before the session opened, he was promised, all the "fun" he wanted, and if the meeting had bpe.n held it would, beyond doubt, have been a lively one. It is not kind, to suggest that a politician is lacking in courage, bit£ 1 am personally inclined to think that Mr Massey failed to fulfil bis promise to return to Christchurcb. mainly because he saw a hot time ahead, with nothing to be gained by his side in the inevitable row. Still, for bis own sake, he ought to have come back. One cannot imagine a strong man declining to face the. music. Mr Seddon was at his best when there was a. pronounced hostile element in the crowd, and most spenk-. ers rather welcome opposition, provided, of course, they are sure of themselves. I have recollections, growing yearly dimmer, of strenuous times back in the eighties, when Vogel and Grey and Atkinson and other giants bad to put up with pretty severe heckling, some of the most active hecklers in those days being quite prominent citizens. I recall one famous meeting at which tho chairman had to " name " a popular medical man for persistent interruptions. The most interesting episode of the week has been tho retirement of Mr W. J. Walter from the Avon contest. Mr Walter probably sized up tho .situation to commence with accurately enough, for he has a full measure of common-sense Mud he knows the district. Doubtless he realised that he had undertaken a big task, and one in which he would need every ounce of weight that could be commanded. When he discovered that the Conservatives were not unanimous in supporting him the futility of the fight was evident and he withdrew. \o one can blame, him for his action. Ho was entitled to expect the full support of his party, but his advocacy of the bare majority on the licensing question gave offence to a section of the Conservatives, who wore not prepared to sink their opinions on this question for tho general good of the party. After this incident it would be a sheer waste of time and money for the Conservatives I to rim ft candidate in. Avon,