'Country has Shown it is not Going to Stand Any Humbug.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 257, 29 October 1931, Page 9

'Country has Shown it is not Going to Stand Any Humbug.”

LABOUR OVERWHELMINGLY ROUTED. Continued from page 1. (Received October 29, 1 p.m.) LONDON, October 28. THE COUNTRY has not yet recovered its breath at the overwhelming nature of the Labour rout. Mr Lloyd George refused to comment. He said that he preferred to await the complete results. The tale of Labour defeats, several by National Labour candidates, continued throughout the day. Nine women have so far been elected, including seven new members. Thirty-one candidates have so far forfeited their deposits. These include eleven Communists and eleven supporters of Sir Oswald Mosley. Tired but triumphant about describes Mr MacDonald as he appeared entering No. 10, Downing Street, flushed with the news that he had won Seaham. He said that the nation had shown that it was not going to stand any humbug about putting the finances in order. The Conservatives now have a clear majority against any possible Opposition combination.

The final figures are the best index of how persuasion broke down the resentment which the party machine tried to stir a week ago. Mr Thomas, with drooping spirits, feared that Derby had forsaken him, but Mr MacDonald’s visit worked wonders and turned the currents to success. The family gift of impressiveness enabled Mr Malcolm MacDonald to entrench himself more firmly at Bassetlaw. The Labour cup of bitterness filled when Mr T. Bevin Mr MacDonald’s chief castigator, fail ed to hold the hitherto safe seat ol Gateshead. The Clydesiders, how ever, retained the picturesque extrem ist, Mr James Max ton, with a halved majority There was throughout Britain a thrill in the afternoon at the news of Mr MacDonald’s vindication at Seaham against almost heartrending odds. It was indeed a miracle poll. Lieutenant-Commander J. M. Kenworthy was decisively thrown out. Mr Churchill’s majority was easily the largest in his varied political career. Mr Wedgwood Benn, ex-Secretary of India, was rejected by a 14,000 majority at Aberdeen North, which had been one of the safest Labour seats since 1918. Brighton eclipsed all records with huge Conservative majorities. While the Duchess of Atholl and Lady Astor remain to give the House feminine dignity, it lost the touch of gaiety and irresponsibility personified by Miss Ellen Wilkinson and Miss Jennie Lee, both victims of the Nationalist avalanche.

Labour, apart from unassailable strongholds, suffered a staggering crash in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Nationalists wresting eight seats. Strong Comment. Mr Bromley, chairman of the Trades Union Congress, states that the trades union movement has not always been served as fully as it should have been by Labour politicians. The movement will immediately begin to rebuild and start the fight all over again. The “ Manchester Guardian ” says: “ The shortest and most fraudulent campaign in our times has ended. Mr MacDonald’s tragedy is just beginning. He and the Liberals within the Government did more completely than was foreseen the business of the Conservatives. The new House is Protectionist to the core. The electorate has been swept away by panic and fear. The campaign was carried on in a mood of hysteria, making one tremble for most of the political leaders ’sense of proportion.” Sir John Simon says: ‘‘The result surprises only those who underestimated the people’s sanity and steadfastness. It will stand in history as the crowning proof that our democracy knows how to make short work of demagogues. Britain has saved herself and recaptured the confidence of the world by grit and common sense.” The “ Evening Standard,” in an editorial, says: “ England’s voice will be heard throughout the world. What’s more, our purpose has been heard throughout the Empire and will awaken a tremendous response there. The Government’s first action should be the summoning of a new' Imperial Conference not at Ottawa, but at London.”