The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1913 THE BY-ELECTION.,

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14835, 28 November 1913, Page 6

The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1913 THE BY-ELECTION. ,

fiithougli Mr Maesey made it clear in tho House of Representatives on Tueeday that the Government were not expecting the abolition of the second hallot to affect the Lyttetton by-elec-tion, the".Liberals" appear to have rather lost their heads; and to have suspected plots and conspiracies everywhere. Accordingly, it is jnst as well that the Prime Minister made it clear last night that the by-olootion will be held under the Second Ballot Act, ■which will then disappear from the Statute Book. Perhaps the distracted opponents' of the Government may scont a new plot, and clamour for that which -- : * they havo< been clamouring against, determined that whatever the does wiil be wrohe. Normal people, however,. win merely note with satjsfaction that the Prime Minister has adopted the , natural and straightforward course expected of him.

Mr MHler, who opened the campaign last night trith an. -excellent little speech at Cashmere, set an example of moderation and good nature which we shonld like to bo able to think will make the campaign agreeablo, bat which it would be too much to expect tho Red Fed. candidate to follow. Mr Miller has, as Lyttelton well knows, always been soundjy Liberal in his opinions, and it is loss because the Opposition is no longer a Liberal party, bat a party of opportunism driven in tho last chapter of its career into grasping the skirts of tho Federation of Labour, than because the policy and 1 administration of the Reform Party are thoroughly liberal, that he has attached himself to the party of Reform. In doe course Mr J. B. Laurenson may be &b2e ±o explain, why he, of all xoen, has come forward in the interests cf tho party which is said by its chief party origan to be "identically on tho ** came lines" as tho R«d Fed, party, and which the local organ of the Opposition i declares to be at one with the Federa**oa en "nino points oat of ten." But Mr. Mfflex has realised that true liberalism has nothing to hope for from the so-called "Liberal" party. The Government has now been before the country; for nearly eighteen months, .and its legislation has been so Liberal that tho exasperated Opposition, desperate at *ie exposar© of their old cry that R«-

form meant reaction, are complaining that the "Tories" stole their policy. The proof of the padding is in the eating, and tho Government's legislation is Liberal in every line.

Tho real issue in this contest, as Mr Miller said, is not between Liberalism and Conservatism, but between true Liberalism and Syndicalist anarchy. It is clear that if the election were to be fought on the Government's legislation and administration, Mr Miller would be in the strongest possible position, for the Opposition have shown themselves incapable of finding a policy, incapable even of useful criticism, incapable, indeed, of anything but reckless and irrational slandering and blundering. After tho other candidates have delivered their speeches—and we confess that we look forward with uncommon interest to Mr Laurenson's—we shall be in a better position to know how much effect the subsidiary question* may have upon the election, but in the meantime Mr Miller has done well to emphasise that the paramount issue is the war which tho forces of bad faith and crime and disorder havo been waging on the community. No Government ever had the

good fortune to represent the community so completely as the Massey Government, and we are confident that Mr Miller's personal merits, his unquestioned devotion to sound Liberal principles, and tho soundness of his case, will secure the seat for the Reform Party.