The Christchurch Star FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1931. AN ELECTION ANALYSIS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 300, 18 December 1931, Page 8

The Christchurch Star

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1931. AN ELECTION ANALYSIS.

PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd.

A FAIRLY CLOSE analysis of the election figures, taken from official results as they have been published from time to time, shows that the state of parties does not disclose any very grave anomalies. The Coalition Party, however, secured four seats more than it would have secured under a perfect voting system, and these seats ought to have gone to Labour and Independents. The figures may be tabulated as follows: Seats Seats to Votes. Won. Votes Coalition 394,712 47 42.4 Labour 242,466 24 26.0 Independent . 69,233 5 7.4 Communist .. 639 0 707,250 76 75.8 It will be interesting at a later date to examine the figures more closely as between town and country, for it is apparent, when we consider that the country constituencies have the advantage in voting strength of what is known as the country quota, that on this occasion it has not been strongly reflected in the election results—that is to say, that the Labour representation, although dependent on the city voter, the value of whose vote is substantially watered down by the operation of the country quota, has not suffered proportionately when the aggregates for the Dominion are considered. This result, however, is merely accidental, and is due to the fact that the anti-Labour vote in the cities has been rendered ineffective by the present voting system. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. WE HAVE STILL a long way to go in New Zealand in the education of the public conscience in matters of hygiene when a member of a county council will declare that he sees no harm in milk bottles being washed in laundry tubs. This looks as if that medical belief in the invisible germ has not yet conquered the lay attitude of “ what the eye does not see the heart does not grieve.” Indeed, our community presents the spectacle of progressive dairymen carrying out a scrupulous sterilisation of utensils, beside the easy-going methods of the can-and-dipper brigade. The fact that the consumers’ sensibilities are somewhat diminished by the presence of dairy inspectors requires that the work of supervision should be unquestionably thorough. Otherwise people who realise the dangers of milk as a disease carrier, will demand ocular evidence of cleanliness in the dairy before they engage a milkman. IS AUSTRALIA SOLVENT? r I ''HERE are 380,000 unemployed in Australia, apart from the vastly greater number working on broken time. In the first four months of the current financial year the Government deficits amounted to over £15,000,000, although the deficits for the full year, estimated by the Premiers’ Conference, were only £14,500,000. The adverse rate of exchange on London is 30 per cent and on New York 75 per cent. It is not surprising, therefore, that in such desperate straits the people of Australia should take an intense interest in the Federal Election, to be decided on Saturday. The issue is one of inflation or no inflation, and it is striking that Mr Scullin, who, while in England, stoutly supported Messrs Lyons and Fenton in their opposition to an inflation plan, should have abandoned the last pretence of balancing the budget in terms of the Melbourne agreement which he signed in August, 1930, and should be advocating a continuance of a policy which has already driven enormous amounts of capital overseas, and has threatened to paralyse trade and industry. In the South African Assembly recently the Minister of Finance said that for a solvent nation to devalue the £ was tantamount to fraudulent insolvency, and this taunt has been thrown out at the Scullin-Theodore combination. The question appears to be whether Australia will regard herself as a solvent or insolvent nation.