The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1914. THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2262, 23 September 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1914. THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

The decision of the Government to hold the General Election about the usual time in December next will appeal to the common sense of all reasonable people. A few weeks ago the question might have been open to doubt. Tho . excitement and anxiety attendant on the outbreak of a great war dislocating trade and commerce, and threatening the very existence-of the Empire, rendered it desirable at that stage of affairs to sink all internal party differences and to concentrate our whole attention on the best means of contributing our full share to the defence of the great interests the nation has at stake. But as the weeks have passed the stress and anxiety of the early stages of the war havo gradually dwindled. Britain and her Allies have proved themselves ready for the struggle, and capable of more than holding their own. The Government of New Zealand, acting in full ac-" cord with the feelings of the people, has demonstrated the readiness and ability of tho Dominion to assist in the great struggle to the fullest posr sible limit of our resources, and the arrangements to give practical effect to the offers mado to the Mother Country havo been carried out with a thoroughness and ardour wholly admirable to all concerned. Broadly speaking, tho first extreme tension of the war strain has passed, and tho second and equally important stage is now being entered on. It is now that the Mother Country and tho Overseas Dominions must settle down to tho task of their staying power. They have met* the first emergency of the war magnificently; now they must show themselves equal to the long strain, which Earl Kitchener has intimated is ahead. It must surely he obvious that the first step hi this direction is to endeavour to restore our trade and commerce to their normal conditions, and to this end it is necessary that in all walks of life matters should proceed as much as possible along the lines which existed prior to the war. Sir Joseph Ward|s proposal to postpone the elections for three months may have been made with good intentions, but, unhappily, he cast doubt on the bona-fides of his party in his closing remarks. He professed to be extremely desirous of avoiding party conflict, but concluded his. virtuous professions with the offensive suggestion that the holding of the elections at the usual time would give the Government a "mean" advantage. This little indiscretion on the part of the Leader of the . Opposition is very illuminating. It would have been wiser on his part to have rested content with tho expression of opinion that ,a three-months' postponement was desirable. It might then have passed vnbhm.it challenge as a cUfu'nto.rqatod L Qai.aioß + but when ho

the suggestion that to hold tho elections earlier would be to tlie advantage of his opponents the obvious retort is that his party must hope to gain an advantage by postponing the elections. a_ matter of fact, noither party is likely to gain or lose anything by the holding of the elections at the usual time, and it is all humbug to suggest that the country will bo any less able to express its opinion concerning tho choice of its representatives in Parliament in December next than it would be in March next. The Government has no right to prolong its existence beyond tho timo for which tho people elected it. If it were justified in doing so for three months on the grounds suggested by Sie Joseph Ward, then it would be justified in doing so until the war ended. If the Opposition'is so deeply and disinterestedly concerned regarding the possible effects of the Parliamentary elections while the war is in progress, then its obvious duty is to propose that no election shall take place until the war is over. Seeing that Earl Kitchener has suggested that the war may last over three years, then. it is plain that if n proposal of this nature were agreed to, the Government would continue in office for another three years without consulting the people at all. As a matter of. fact, there is no good reason apparent at the moment why the elections should not beheld, and there are many in favour of their being held,_ at the usual time. The Opposition is endeavouring to make it appear that in adopting the usual course tho Government is doing something; detrimental to the country for its own' advantage. Had the Government decided to postpone the _ elections exactly the same suggestion would have been made against it. The Opposition is.simply doing what it accuses the Government of doing—it is endeavouring to score a party advantase. Unfortunately for its purpose the elections just held in Australia show conclusively that the interests of the country and the welfare of the Empire have not been prejudiced in the slightest by the elections being held even at the present early stage of the war. On the contrary, everything has gone on as usual in Australia oven during the most strenuous period of the struggle. The same thing may be expected here. ■■ There is even reason to hope that the holding of the elections may have a beneficial effect on the tono of our politics. Members and candidates may be mduced, in view of the bigger national interests at stake, to rise above the petty bickerings and the ugly exhibitions of party passion which constitute so large a part of our political strife, and conduct the contest on higher and broader lines.