BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26, 1949 THEY’RE OFF!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 55, 26 October 1949, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26, 1949 THEY’RE OFF!

With an address at Devonport last night the Prime Minister opened the Labour Party’s campaign for the coming election. Local campaigns are getting into gear, with the sitting member, Mr W. Sullivan, sprinkling the seed in the outlying parts of the electorate, and Mr T. G. Santon, official Labour, warming up for a tour of country settlements before meeting the big audiences of the larger towns. As yet we do not know whether any of the “big guns” of either party are to be brought to Whakatane, but substantial support for Mr Santon is being organised by leaders of the Labour Party, since the experienced Mr Sullivan will no doubt be regarded by the Government hierarchy as rather a tough customer for a beginner at the hustings to tackle unaided. However, in this electorate we are assured that we have two candidates who will state honestly and sincerely what they believe to be their parties’ policies and who will support those policies earnestly believing them to be in the best interests of New Zealanders.

That both policies will have points electors will criticise is natural. Such criticism is one of the privileges of democracy, and it is to be hoped both candidates will allow ample time for questions at their meetings' and give careful attention to clarifying any angles of policy on which their questioners might have doubts.

In the thick of the campaign throughout the land, the voices of the local men might ' seem muted by the noisy clamour of the party leaders, but they will still probably be our best sources of authentic information. Prom them, by giving them a courteous hearing on all occasions and questioning them intelligently and as seekers after knowledge rather than political bigots trying to justify our bigotry, we can hope to clear away a lot of the dead wood that always tends to obscure the political scene at such a time. •

From Mr Santon we hope to learn to look forward to what the Government—if it continues to be the Government—intends to do about the pressing problems of this day-, rather than to look back to the soup kitchens a previous and less fortunate administration, run by a party ijo longer in existence, was forced by international circumstances to administer.

From Mr Sullivan we hope to hear what plans his party has to relieve the people of some of their present burdens, rather than to hear horror stories of what might befall us if a pale pink Labour Party ever dyed itself truly red. Knowing both men and their reputations, we feel they can be relied upon to cut out vain recriminations and futile flights of fancy and give us the evidence on which we can decide which of them is likely best to represent us in Parliament and which belongs to the partv likely to do the most good for the most New Zealanders in the next few years.