The Waikato Times MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1943 ELECTORS CALL A HALT

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22153, 27 September 1943, Page 4

The Waikato Times MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1943 ELECTORS CALL A HALT

Electors of Now Zealand have administered a very healthy cor- ■ i rective to a Government which was beginning to forget that the people prize their liberty highly. There is little doubt that it was the incursion of the State into the private affairs of the people that caused the revulsion of opinion. State marketing, State licensing of almost every phase of public and private activity and the accelerating trend 1 toward Socialisation of the means of production, distribution and ex- ! change were resented by a great many people who otherwise might have been benevolently disposed toward the efforts of the Government to improve the lot of the less fortunate in the community. That there are many who believe that the desired objective can be attained without resort to bureaucratic tyranny has been clearly demonstrated at the polls. It was sheer nonsense to say that no one other than supporters of the Government had the best interests of all the people at heart and an acceptable means of applying effective measures. The Government still has a comfortable majority of probably nine, but it has been given a clear warning that it has been taking a dangerous road. The result should be a better Parliament. There were those who believed the Government would be returned with an increased majority and that New Zealand was on the high road to complete Socialism. There was much undesirable sentimentalism attached to it and far too little practical politics. New Zealanders have shown that they are not irresponsible voters who are prepared to surrender their liberty to the State. They have emphatically indicated that they are prepared to go so far and no farther. If on a later occasion the Government attempts to force the issue the electorate will assuredly take its warning a step farther. Already there has been a widespread and general withdrawal of support from the Labour Party. The National Party gained 10 or 11 seats and lost not one, excepting Eastern Maori, which was a different matter. From possessing a reasonable majority m the whole electorate Labour has declined to a position of numerical inferiority. In these circumstances, will the Government agree to the formation of a non-party or all-party administration? That was the aim and the promise of the National Party, but during the election campaign the Government utterly ridiculed the suggestion and accused Mr Holland of wrecking the previous attempt to achieve national unity through that strange hybrid the War Administration. No serious attempt has been made to arrive at a truly non-party Government because of persisting “class consciousness” and because that was not the way of progress toward Socialism. What the people want is now clearly evident, and the opportunity offers. New Zealand is still deeply involved in war and it can achieve its maximum effort only with unity and goodwill. • The other outstanding feature of the election was the complete annihilation of the political ambitions of Mr l J. A. Lee and, indeed, of all other aspirants apart from the two main i parties. Even the one Independent, Mr H. Atmore, barely escaped with a majority. The defeat of the Hon. J. G. Barclay, Minister of Marketing and of Agriculture, is a distinct indication that the Goveme ment has blundered in that direction. It has been asked in plain e terms to change its internal marketing policy. The National Party said it would abolish the Marketing Department. The electors emphatically agreed.