The Star. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1922. CHRISTCHURCH NORTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16848, 26 September 1922, Page 6

The Star. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1922. CHRISTCHURCH NORTH.

The "Reform Party ha 6 evidently deoided that its prospects in Christchurch .North are hopeless, and that it is not worth while nominating a candidate. Of course, it may have had all the will in the world to content the seat, but have failed to find a standard-bearer. In a previous reference to the subject we said that the only function which a Reform candidate could perform in Christchurch North would lie to add a few hundred votes to the Dominion total of the Party. The Reform candidate. we argued, could not possibly win. and he would only be immolating himself on the altar of his Party by coming out for the constituency. The real contest, in aby case, would be between Mr Isitt and the Rev J. K. Archer, the Liberal and Labour nominees respectively. It is impossible to say what the effect of the presence of a Reform candidate would be v "While many of the Reformers would prefer the Liberal to the Labour candidate, there are others who would not hesi - tate to vote for the Labour nominee, not because they like his politics, but because they desire to kill Liberalism. They would run the risk of putting in a Labour* member, with the idea that at the next election there would be a direct contest between Reform and Labour. It is necessary to remind these die-hards that such schemes are apt to go wrong, and to produce results the reverse of gratifying to the people who are pulling the strings. We do not regret that the Reformers have come to a decision not to contest the seat, though we can imagine that no satisfaction will be felt by the Labour Party. In a straight-out contest Mr Tsitt is a formidable opponent, and Labour’s hopes were built on the expectation that the candidature of a Reformer would split the anti-Labour vote. There is no reliable basis on which to build theories regarding the | results o.f triangular contests. Anything j may happen, and quite frequently it is the unexpected that does happen. We believe, however, that the electors appreciate most the contests between men who have recognisable chances of election, and that the presence of other parties who have no possible hope of winning is generally deprecated. Messrs lfitt and Archer are leading representatives of their respective parties, and may he relied upon to provide the electors of Christchurch North with a campaign not lacking in interest.