DESPICABLE TRICKERY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19445, 3 November 1925, Page 6

DESPICABLE TRICKERY

It is particularly noteworthy that in his message to the electors to-day Mr. Coates emphasises the point that if he is to carry on the government of the country he must have the support in the House of Representatives of straight-out Reform members. All over the country there are candidates who are trying to sneak into Parliament by telling the electors that they really admire Mr. Coates, though they are opposing his candidates at the polls. The Prime Minister says as plainly as it can bo said that he does not want these admirers, who might vote with him one day and with Labour the next. He wants- to be backed by men upon whom he can rely. In electorates where three-cornered contests are in progress Mr. Coates' warning should be taken to heart. In Wanganui, for instance, the journalistic friends of the Nationalist candidate are almost beside themselves in their efforts to persuade the electors that their candidate is the right man to send to Parliament. They are now so thoroughly convinced of the impending failure of their plans that they are trying the most despicable tricks to bamboozle the electors. They have even dragged in the licensing question in the desperate hope that they may divert votes from the Reform side. They have also published a distorted statement, which they have attributed to the Prime Minister, in the effort to persuade the electors that their candidate, who has definitely said he will not support Mr. Coates, will be found joining the Prime Minister after the election. A reply fi»>m Mr. Coates, published this morning, will defeat that contemptible device. If Wanganui wishes to see Mr. Coates at the head of a strong Government it must return Mr. Coull. He is the only candidate who is pledged to support Mr. Coates. To vote for Mr. Veitch is to UK to defeat the Government,