POLITICAL PARTIES

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17385, 23 April 1928, Page 7

POLITICAL PARTIES

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—l notice by Mr Hcbenton’s letter in your issue of April 17 that he continues to draw attention to a matter which, by the time this letter is published, will be quite public throughout New Zealand. 1 refer to the announcement of the names of some of the candidates who will be supported by the United N.Z. Political Organisation at the coming elections, and another list is to be announced shortly. I trust this arrangement will relieve Mr Hebenton of all worry concerning this matter. However, Mr Hebenton is not satisfied with merely the mention of candidates, but he demands that the name of a leader be also mentioned. Now, sir, may I have the audacity to inquire of the chief organiser of the Reform Party how it would be possible of this organisation to announce the name of the gentleman who is going to lead the United Parliamentary Party • when the leader of a party is chosen from amongst the members of the party when the party is complete? Furthermore, I can assure Mr Hebenton that the United Party are going to experience difficulty in finally deciding on the name of the gentleman who will be leader owing to the very pleasant fact that there arc quite a number of real leaders to choose from. This principle, of course, may not be the practice of the party which Mr Hebenton represents, but I am pleased to inform him that the United N.Z. Political Organisation prefers democratic practices, and the above-mentioned is one of them. This democratic spirit, if maintained in a party itself, must naturally extend to that party’s actions as regards the people whom it represents. It is by democratic policies that the United Party hopes to gain the absolute confidence of the electors, j Returning to Mr Hebenton’s reference | as to the breaking away of Reform j supporters from the fold, I hardly j imagine it is necessary for me to make further mention of this fact, as it is a widely acknowledged state of affairs from one end of New Zealand to the other. If the Reform Party continue to imagine, as they assuredly do, that there is no place in the sun for any other political party and that mere bluff is going to carry them to victory at the elections, I feel it my duty to extend fair warning that their happy dream of the monopoly of the Treasury Benches is about to be shattered.—l am, etc., JOHN IT. GILMOUR, Dominion Publicity Manager United Party.