The Patea By-election.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17119, 14 April 1921, Page 6

The Patea By-election.

The result of the polling in Patea yesterday causes us no surprise,, although we are afraid that it will be very disappointing to the two Opposition parties. The returns' are not complete at the time of writing, but the re'sult is certain. Mr Dixon, the Ministerial candidate, has won by the comparatively small but sufficient majority that has been usual in Patea. The Labour nominee was not merely bottom of the poll : he seems to have secured only about one in ten of the.votes cast. At the general election in IEI 4, Mr Pearce, the 'Ministerial candidate, defeated Mr Morrison by 118 votes; at the election in 1919 tho late Mr Powdrell defeated Mr Morrison by 255 votes. Mr Morrison was therefore something like a veteran campaigner, well-known and popular, and a very likely-looking candidate, as his excellent polling at the earlier elections makes plain. Mr Dixon was not so well-known, but ho has retained the seat for tho Government. There- is always a temptation—although' we take some satisfaction in having always resisted it—to infer rather moro from a by-election than is •warranted by the facts of the case. We do not propose to make any large inferences from the result in Patea, but it has a significance that is too plain to be overlooked. The country is not in that splendidly buoyant and flourishing condition which is favourable to the Government —to any Government — on these occasions. On the contrary, the.conditions axe such that, normally, no Government would welcome a byelection, especially for a seat held by a narrow majority. This was well understood by the Liberal and Labour Parties, which threw themselves into the election with energy and confidence. Yet the Government has held the seat. The significance of this is, as we havo said, very far from being .obscure. It is, primarily, that although tho Government has been unable to avoid malting some mistakes, the public re-] cognises that no Government can avoid mistakes in a time so full of difficult and almost unmanageable problems, and that Mr Massey's administration is sound and honest. Mr Dixon's return is chiefly a vote of confidence in the Ministry. Its secondary significance is that the public does not desire either the Liberal Party or the Labour Party at the head of affairs. It does not even think it worth while to send anyone to Parliament to assist them in their.aimless opposition to the Government. This was the strongest plea advanced on Mr Morrison's behalf: that Mr Massey was so strong that it was practically a public duty to strengthen the Opposition. Patea decided that, however valid such a plea might be in some circumstances, it has no validity in the present case—that, in fact, the Opposition, being what it is, is not worth strengthening. And that, we believe, is the opinion of the nation.