“A BETTER SERVICE.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 935, 4 December 1933, Page 4

“A BETTER SERVICE.”

Labour Party and the Tramways. The Rev J. Iv. Archer, who headed the poll for the central sub-district, returned to Christchurch last evening from a brief camping holiday in Marlborough. When interviewed last evening he said that from the Labour point of view the election was extremely gratifying, but at the same time the victory was so great as to become almost an em ba r ra ssmen t. “What we shall have to do,” he said, “is to face the issue soberly and seriously and not come to any hurried conclusions. There is no doubt in my own mind that one of the decisive issues was the strike. In my judgment the great majority of our citizens were vigorously opposed to the strike policy of the old board, and if the election had taken place within a month of the strike the city’s censure of the board would have been even more severe than it was on Thursday. One knows, however, how soon waves of public emotion are apt to subside, but in this case it seems to have continued to a very material extent. “However, as 1 said during the campaign, the main issue after all was not the strike but a better tramway service, and I feel sure that that will be the primary object of Labour people who have been returned to office.”