N.Z. Election To Be On A Single Issue

Wanganui Chronicle, 18 February 1949, Page 5

N.Z. Election To Be On A Single Issue

WELLINGTON, Last Night (PA). —“The issue in the forthcoming general election is a single one,” said Mr. S. G. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, in an address to the Dominion Council of the National Party, which met in Wellington today, and will continue its meeting tomorrow.

“It is not a question of who is going to offer most to the people, but a question of which side we are on, do we want to see a Government that will take over more industries and put on more socialistic controls, or do we not? That is the issue. It is going to be a question of which party is going to be the best for the country.”

Mr. Holland said the National Party organisation was in excellent shape and sentiment was swinging their way. The job of educating the public about Socialism was a long one. It had taken a number of years to bring the story home, but he thought that they could establish that nothing Socialism had done had benefited the country. The election was going to be decided in a number of closely held electorates, and although there was no room for complacency, he thought the prospects were good. There never had been greater unity in the Parliamentary party. Referring to the Maori seats, Mr. Holland said the National Party would not attempt to outbid the Labour Party, but no one was keener than he and his colleagues to do their best for the Maori people and if the National Party became the Government the Maoris would be treated fairly and justly. The President (Mr. W. J. Sim, K.C.) who welcomed visiting members of the council, said the party representation in Parliament had risen steadily and according to all the laws of probability the graph would this year extend itself well into the forties. The party would go to the country with a determined policy, expressed in clear and positive terms, and would work as never before. All who shared in its activities had a responsibility and in retrospect would regard 1949 as one of the most responsible years of their lives, Mr. Sim continued. But it was a privilege to bear such responsibilities. Mr. K. J. Holyoake, deouty leaner, and Mr. W. Sullivan, M.P. for the Bay of Plenty, who was welcor after his trip abroad to the Empire Parliamentary Conference, also .