PARTIES IN THE DOMINIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19448, 6 November 1925, Page 6

PARTIES IN THE DOMINIONS

Election campaigns have been going on simultaneously in three of the great British Dominions. The Australians, who have not yet had the opportunity to express their opinions at the polls, are faced with a Federal election because the Government desires to obtain a mandate in favour of law and order. The shipping strike is the primary cause of Mr. Bruce’s decision to appeal to the electorate. He requires increased power to deal with the menace of extreme Labour rud Communism, and it is only at the ballot box that the people of the Commonwealth can say whether they intend to safeguard the constitution against the forces of revolutios. New Zealand had a less acute problem to solve, but the verdict given on Wednesday was so decisive that it may have some influence in the neighbouring Dominic n. The issues placed before the Canadian electors last week were very different from those confronting New Zealand and Australia, and the result of the Canadian election differs vastly from the New Zealand result. Air. Alackenzie King, the Liberal Prime Alinister, had insufficient support in Parliament to make him independent, the Progressives really holding the balance of power, and it was the weakness of his position that compelled him to go to the country. The result cannot be said to have relieved him of his difficulties, for we have been told that the new Parliament consists of 100 Liberals, 116 Conservatives, 23 Progressives, and seven members who are classified as Labour, Independent and “doubtful.” Mr. King, we are told to-day, intends to meet Parliament as Prime Alinister, but it appears that if he endeavours to retain office he will be in a worse position than before. 'rhe Canadian figures indicate that in that country, as in Great Britain and Australia, and also, we judge, in New Zealand, it is the two-party system that finds popular favour. Canada apparently would be content to have the. issue fought out between Liberals and Conservatives, while in Great Britain it is the Conservatives and the Labour Party that are the principal opponents. and in Australia the struggle is between the Nationalists and Labour, the former being a fusion party. New Zealand, it seems, has now relegated what was once the Liberal Party to third place. Though one or two changes may occur, they may not alter the position so much as to deprive Labour of its right to become the official Opposition. The two-party system is the most satisfactory for the country, and that now seems to be the generally accepted view in Britain and the Dominions.