The Wanganui Chronicle. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1925. THE RURAL ELECTORATES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19444, 2 November 1925, Page 8

The Wanganui Chronicle. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1925. THE RURAL ELECTORATES

While one elector’s vote is as good as another’s, and every elector is keenly interested in the verdict of a general election, we may perhaps say that the primary producers throughout the Dominion are especially concerned with the result of the .poll to be taken on Wednesday. The efforts of the Labour Party to obtain control of the nation’s affairs constitute a menace to the

wellbeing of every elector who believes in constitutional progress, but if Labour were in charge the primary producers would be th§ first to suffer from the effects of its revolutionary and confiscatory policy. Labour’s land policy has been given grefft prominence during the election campaign by Labour speakers, who, shrewdly as they try to disguise its ultimate aims, have made it abundantly clear that the first objective of the party would be to raid the freehold. Electors in rural districts should get this idea, firmly fixed in their minds before they go to the polling booths on Wednesday. If they have to choose between a Reform candidate and a Labour candidate-—a representative of the party that would “socialise” the means of production by seizing the land—they will have no difficulty in deciding the issue for themselves. But in many electorates the choice is not the simple one between Reform and Labour. In Rangitikei, for instance, the three candidates represent Reform, Labour, and Nationalism. In Patea and Oroua the straight-out fight is between Reform and Nationalism, while the electors of Waimarino have to choose between an Independent Nationalist, who has expressed his willingness to follow- Mr. Coates, and a representative of Labour. Those electors of Waimarino who desire safe and sane government will vote for Mr. Smith against Labour’s candidate, Mr. Langstone. Rangitikei electors who hold similar views will pin their faith to Mr. Glenn. Their first and only aim must be to defeat Labour, and they cannot assure the defeat of Labour by voting for the Nationalist candidate, Mr. Lyon, whose chance of election is nil. Votes east for Mr. Lyon can only assist the Labour candidate, Mr. Duggan, and anti-Labour voters do not really wish to do anything to help Labour. They may even think that Mr. Duggan is very mild and very estimable, but the truth is that he represents a party which, under the surface, is anything but mild. The Labour Party has put up many candidates who certainly do not appear to be wild revolutionaries, but the Labour member of Parliament is governed entirely by the party, and it is well known that in practice the extremists in the party frame the policy and tell the members what to do. The only safe decision for Rangitikei electors is to vote for Mr. Glenn, who in the past six years has proved himself a most capable representative of Rangitikei and has taken a prominent place in the councils of the nation. The electors of Patea and of Oroua have to decide between Reform and Nationalism. Mr. Dickie has conducted a very successful campaign in the Patea electorate, and those who are to vote on Wednesday have had ample opportunity of comparing this well-informed and capable candidate with his rival, Mr. Corrigan. But the issue is far more than a personal one. Mr. Corrigan stands as a member of the National Party—the remnant of what was once a strong political party. Some of his fellow-candidates of the National Party are so bitter against the Reform Government that they have declared their readiness to vote for Labour if by that means they can defeat the Government. The Nationalists realise that they will not themselves be strong enough to turn anyone out. The best they hope for is to tack themselves on to another party and thus maintain their political existence. The Nationalist candidates want to be *in Parliament, but they know that if a few of them do struggle in they will be useless as a party. In Mr. Dickie the electors of Patea can return a member of a strong and virile party—a party which can give the country good government and ensure its safe and steady development. The electors of Oroua have just the same opportunity in making their choice between Mr. Gordon Elliott, a most worthy representative of Reform, and Mr. Cobbe. In these rural constituencies the farmers should be especially concerned to make their votes tell against the party which reserves for them its keenest hatred. Labour is definitely out against the farmers, and they should vote definitely against Labour. The only way to ensure their votes being effective is to cast them for Reform.