THE GREY ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1802, 15 July 1913, Page 4

THE GREY ELECTION.

It is significant of the_ changed order of things in our politics that, despite the strenuousness of the contest for the Grey seat, no Minister of the Crown has thought it necessary to participate in the struggle and seek to influence the result with election-bribes and promises. It is easy to recall by-elections under the Continuous Ministry's regime when»a very different state of things prevailed. So far as the present contest is concerned, the most noti'ceablo feature is the growing recognition of the success which has followed Mr. Michel's campaign. He is no longer a rank outsider, and, despite the fact that the Opposition have held the seat for over 20 years, their confidence in their ability to continue to retain it is a diminishing quantity. Their candidate, Mb. Hannan, enjoys a certain amount of local popularity; but, apart from the fact that he has not the knowledge of politics displayed by Mil. Michel, nor the fighting capacity, he is handicapped by the circumstance that he is the champion of a dead cause. Sinco the advent of the Eeforrn Government, r the so-called "Liberal" party has not only been leaderlcss, but it has had desertions from its ranks, and has lost further ground in the country by its weakness and incapacity. The best it can hope for in the way of a leader is the member for Awarua, who almost from the day he became tho head of the party began to dissipate the enormous majority left him by his predecessor, the late Me. Seddon, until in less than six years the party was ejected from office. This is tho | party which Mr. Hannan has pledged himself to support—a broken and demoralised remnant of the powerful organisation which Mr. Seddon had so carefully and skilfully built up. This is the party which Mr. Hannan is now attempting to persuade the electors of Grey will best serve their interests and advance the welfare of the country. We can only assume that the Opposition candidate is so out of touch with political matters that he is ignorant of tho changes that have taken place. Judged by his speeches, Mr. Hannan is well suited to fill a place on tho back benches of the AntiReform party—he is in tho main but an echo of that party's time-worn and threadbare catch-cries and professions of good intentions. Mr. Michel also has a handicap. He is the first candidate for many years to contest the Grey seat in the interests of the present party in power. But while this necessitates the breaking of a lot of new ground in the way of organisation, he is a tremendous worker and an able and forcible speaker. He would command attention in Parliament; and the fact that he is on the side of a strong Government likely to continue in office for some years is not without its influence. At the present time the West Coast has not a single representative on the Government side of the House, and the Grey election is expected by many who know that part of the country well to mark a turn in tho tide of nopulav feeling there. The Labour-Socialist candi-

date, Mr. Webb, is expected to poll strongly at the first ballot; indeed, the general opinion seems to be thai the voting between all three candidates will bo close. On their past records, and on the service they would be likely to render their constituency, Mit. Michel unquestionably can claim to overshadow his opponents. "Whether his personal qualifications and his political attainments and policy views will outweigh the advantage which Messrs. Hannan and Webb possess in the way of organisation remains to be seen.