The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1918. WELLINGTON CENTRAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 311, 20 September 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1918. WELLINGTON CENTRAL

The electors of Wellington Central should have no difficulty in chopsing the candidate who will roccivo their support at the coming by-elec-tion. It may safely be assumed that tho vast majority of them accept the view of all right-thinking men and women throughout the Dominion that all party and sectional interests* and prejudices should be subordinated to tho great task of winning tho war. It should be obvious to them that they can best serve tho Empire by maintaining a strong win-the-war Government in office, and they have now an opportunity of showing tho sincerity of their patriotism by placing the National Government candidate at the top of the poll. In accordance with the party truce the nomination of the Government candidate for the Parliamentary vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Kobem Fletcher fell to the Hos. W. D. S. MacDonald (acting on behalf of Sie 'Joseph.Wabd), and ho has selected MR. W. T. HIIiDKETH.

Wellington Central is a Liberal seat, and the Reform Party is pledged not to place a candidate in the field. More than this, loyal members of all political arc in honour bound to do their utmost to ensure Mr. Hildihsth's return. Mn. Hildreth is not to bo regarded merely as the Liberal nominee, but as the approved candidate of the National Government, and as such ho is entitled to claim the vote and assistance of every elecfor in the Wellington Central district who wants to sec party strife eliminated from our politics, or reduced to a minimum, until fcho war has been won and the peace settlement completed. It is fchci duty of Liberals and Reformers to work together, vigorously _ and harmoniously, in this campaign. They can afford to take nothing for granted. The bigger the majority "~llic Government candidate, polls the more pronounced the moral effect of the contest will bo. Electors, Reform as well as Liberal, who have an' adequate realisation of their responsibilities in these momentous days, ought not to be content with giving Mr. Hildketh mere passive support. They ought to play the frame with scrupulous fairness, and to observe tho spirit as well as tho letter of the truce. They rest under a clear obligation to make :xn honest and wholehearted effort—to work just as energetically an'd to vote just as. willingly as if they were fischtin.ee for a .Reform candidate. The Reform members.of the Cabinet will probably take an early opportunity, in conjunction with their Liberal col-' leagues, of announcing that Me. Hildreth is the National Government's, candidate, and calling upon the electors to vote for him. The duly of every one who really desires to sec the Germans beaten will thus be made so plain that no man or woman of average intelligence will have- an.v excuse for making a mistake. The electors of Wellington Central should not allow themselves to be diverted from the obviously right course by any personal or party considerations. "Beware of the vote-splitter" should be their motto. The crisis demands a. strong Government backed up by a united nation. 'Unity means'strength; division means weakness. He is no true friend of this Dominion or of the Empire, however faithful he may profess to be, who would do anything at such a time as this to lessen the power of the nation's sword arm. The defeat of the Government candidate would tend to create the impression abroad that New Zealand is growing war-weary. The impression would, of courte, bo a fake one, but at the present juncture we must be careful to avoid even the appearance of wavering in our resolve to fight to a finish. The last stage of the war will probably test the moral stability of the nation to the uttermost. The enemy will resort to every conceivable political and diplomatic manoeuvre, direct and indirect, for the purpose of causing discord among the Allied peoples. It is more than ever necessary that we should present a united front. The Germans are extremely anxious to stir up party strife in Britain and the overseas Dominions, believing thatby sorting seeds of discord .they will weaken our resistance to their "peaceoffensive. If wo are true to ourselves, true to our Allies, and true to the righteous cause for which so many of .our brightest and best have sacrificed their, lives, we must stand firm and stand solid to the very end. We must make, it clear to all tho world that we are as a nation firmly and solidly behind the National Government which we brought into existence for the express purposo of enabling New Zealand to concentrate all her energies on the war, and to put her whole undivided power into the struggle. The National Government has made mistakes. It has at times disappointed its best friends. It has sometimes lagged hesitatingly behind public opinion, and has frequently shown a lack of courage in grappling with urgent war problems. Its most lenient critics, cannot maintain that its ; administration has been without fault or blemish. But on the whole;.and in the big things, it has done remarkably well. The decisive test of the merits of its claim to continued support is the. success- or failure of its war activities. Judged from this point of view its claim cannot fairly be. rejected. The Royal Commission which recently investigated the. administration of the Defence Department declared that "in

all essentials the administration has succeeded." This is undoubtedly the opinion of the general public. After due allowance is made for the strongest case that reasonable criticism has been able to establish against it the Government's war work has been well done. The most uncompromising critic cannot cleprivo the National Government of the credit of tho outstanding fact emphasised by the Royal Commission that an army of 100,000 men, excellently and fully equipped, has been carried to the other end of the world. This splendid achievement entitles the Government to'the sympathy and support of every man and woman in the country who regards the winning of the war as a matter of immeasurably greater importance than anything-else that can occupy, the attention of the people and Parliament'of New Zealand. If the National Government has done the essential things well the dictates of reason and common sense- demand that the citizens of Wellington Central slipuld select as their representative the National Government candidate, not for the purpose of silencing criticism, but in order to discourage party antagonisms and frustrate political tactics that would tend to divide the country. We must do nothing that will give tho slightest encouragement to our enemies. It behoves us to stand out in the sight of all men as unswervingly resolved to pay no Heed to pacifist or defeatist whimperings.' but to go right on, united in mind , and aim, till a righteous peace has been firmly established throughout the world. This is no time for halfhearted allegiances. The National Government has a right to say to the electors of Wellington Central: "Ho who is not for us is against us."