The Wanganui Herald. (Published Daily.) FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2l, 1919. MR. MASSEY WORRIED.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15978, 21 November 1919, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. (Published Daily.) FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1919. MR. MASSEY WORRIED.

The prospects of the Liberal and Labour candidates making a clean sweep on tins coast have greatly perturbed Mr Massey, who has rushed to Taranaki to the assistance of his colleagues ■there. On Wednesday night he took tho platform at Eltham on of Mr Hawken. Tho is sorely pressed by Mr Astbury, who is standing in the Liberal interests, and whoso scathing and ®oi. tspokon criticism of Reform is daily gaining him fresh converts. The Hoii. .1. B, Hine in Stratford is being tackiod by one of tho best equipped recruits the Liberals have discovered for a very long time, in the person of Mr R. Masters, and' the Reform candidate will require all the assistance Mr Massey can give him if he hopes to retain his seat. For Taranaki the popular Literal and Labour member (M,r S. G. Smith) is a certainty, and no amount of Ministerial or Reform influence will alter the situation there. The same may he said of'Mr Jennings, whose new Waitomo constituency extends to Waitara. and whose long and faithful services as a staunch Liberal and Labour member cannot be forgotten by his constituents. The seat a little nearer Wanganui is perhaps causing Mr Massey the greatest anxiety, and it is known, that one of the objects of his visit to Taranaki is to induce Mr Powdroll to stand down in Mr Pearce’s interests for the Patea seat, where Mr Morrison, whatever happens so fax as the Reform candidates are concerned, has a great chance of capturing it in the Liberal interests. In the adjoining constituency of Rangitibei Reform also is hard pressed, and though the Labour vote is being split by tho extreme Labour candidate, Mr Meldrnm’s return is confidently anticipated. Here in Wanganui Mr Voiteh’s staunch and consistent support of the principles which won for him a seat in Parliament, his unswerving loyalty to King and Empire during the great wax crisis, and his ever-watchful attitude towards the interests of Wanganui and district have not only enabled him to maintain but to strengthen his position. ELSEWHERE. Mb M asset’s worries are by no means confined to West Coast seats, for h© is faced with the fact that several of his colleagues and many other Reform candidates are engaged in keen fights, with prospects hopeful. Sir James Allen, for instance, is .meeting an active young Liberal in Bruce, personally popular, with no political sins to count against him. The Hon. W. Nosworthy in Ashburton is opposed by his neighbour; Mr W. J. Dickie, algo a farmer, whose former constituency has teen extinguished; and the Hon. W. Herrics in Tauranga is meeting a live Labour candidate who may give him some trouble. On the other hand, most of the prominent Liberals hold fairly strong hands. Judging from the accounts of Sir Joseph Ward’s Southland tour, the Liberal leader has a safe seat in Awarua. The Hon. W. -D. S. Mac Donald is a “certainty” in Bay of Plenty, and probably will be spared the worry of a contest. Mr T. K. Sidey is meeting one of the strongest of the Labour candidates in Dunedin South, but his mana in the constituency has not departed. The Hon. G. W. Russell is “the dog for the hard road” in Avon, and should pull through even against a younger and equally capable candidate of the Labour persuasion. The Hon? A. M. Myers did such good service in Parliament and in the Cabinet during* the war period, it is impossible to think of his being exchanged by Auckland Eaet for either of the

alternatives that are offering. Mr George Mr L. M. Isitt, the Hon. David Buddo, and tile rest of Canterbury Liberal stalwarts all seem safe enough and, except in Ashburton, no material change is expected in the representation of the wheat province. Generally, the prospects of the Liberal Party arc exceptionally bright, and it is certain that a number of moderate Labour candidates will be returned who have declared themselves independent of the N.Z. Labour Party, and who will ally themselves with the Liberals. During the last live years thousands of boys and girls who had given scarcely a thought to politics and parties when the war began have reached manhood and womanhood, and have taken their places on the rolls. They have been brought up, as it were, under the party truce, and arc now realising for the first lime the sharp differences between the elements they-see in conflict. They have not been unmindful of the blunders made by Reform, and are by this time thoroughly conversant with'the successful efforts of Liberalism in the past to uplift the people of this country. And they will not forget these facts on polling day.