POLITICAL TACTICS

Hokitika Guardian, 24 December 1929, Page 7

POLITICAL TACTICS

(By x.)

At time of writing the result of the I!utt bye-election has not been liinliz('d, as some (500 absentee votes have vet to come. Out unfortunately it must he assumed that the Reiorni tactics have been successful in giving a Liberal se.t to the Socialist Communist Labour Unionist party otherwise known as Labour. Now that the result, has been attained and tlier is no longer any necessity to hood-wink the people one ol the official organs of the Reform Party—the Auckland Herald—is frank enough to admit that the Hutt has never been a Reform seat, “and nas never been counted as a likely one.” This admission that the candidate was put up without any idea, of winning the seat, hut merely to spoil the chance of the Government retaining it, should never be forgotten by any Liberal. If Reform, its leader, and its policy were anathema to Liberals before, it should be doubly so now. Anyhow it is well to know that the line of demarcation between all true Liberals and the Reform—or sham Liberal Party—has been once more definitely drawn. Perhaps when ALr Coates presents Air Holland with what will no doubt be a very acceptable Xmas present—the Hutt seat— it will cost him much more than he expected and he may be rather disconcerted when he has to pay the hill. For it is an accepted axiom that while all the people may be fooled for a time and some peopde for all time, yet all the people cannot be fooled all the time. There is only one object “Reform” has in view—to get back to the Treasury benches at all costs. The fact that the people of New Zealand intend that they shall do nothing of the sort, and have just given the most emphatic verdict against them is not to be allowed to stand in the way. The word has evidently gone round to smash up Liberalism at all costs. The big land owners, their satellites and supporters will no doubt be jubilant when the formal returns from the Hutt are in. It will he a political “tactical” success for them. An analysis of the figures however, now before me, is instructive. Reform in 1914 polled 3,034 votes in the Hutt electorate; in 1919 the Reform vote droped to 2317, and the seat was given up as hopeless, evidently, as it was not contested again by this party until now, when they have, hv desperate efforts, and bringing all the resources of their organisation to bear polled •51 more votes, or 2368 (these are the figures of T)ecemb«r 19). The first point made clear is that this paticular electorate has no more time for Reform now than it ever had. The next interesting point is that in Nash, the same Labour candidate who contested the seat in 1925-1928 has polled 1185 less votes than last year. Also 1463 less votes have been polled. This accounts (for more than the total votes received by the Reform candidate Tt is a reasonable assumption therefore that, when there was no Reform candidate in the field half the party votes went to Labour. Anyhow the Labour vote lias been less now than it was before, and some seven thousand voters have declined to identify themselves with the party which Mr Nash represents. It is well therefore to remember that wliat happened at the Hutt in Christchurch . East and in Westland previous elections probably happened at the general election last year, and the votes recorded for Labour comprised a large proportion of votes which would have gone to Reform had a Reform candidate been standing. This accounts no doubt for the somewhat incomprehensible fact that the LabourUnionists, Social Communist party appears to he much stronger politically than could reasonably lie expected Labour Unionists comprise less than seven per cent, of the population, and the more sensible of tlieiii know that labour unionism is an industrial and not political organisation, and retain their independent political views. Communists and Socialists are, though aggressive and noisy, comparatively few. The party known ns labour must therefore consist largely of malcontents from other political parties, or the irresponsibles who vote according to their personal likes or dislikes, whims or fancies. Anyhow it has been made perfectly clear by the Hutt election that a party avowedly radically anti■'bour has been in the past simpo.

labour rather than liberalism. The point is important. If the Hutt seat is now lost to the Government—which seems highly probable, if not inevitable —it will he a political tactical success for the Opposition and Mr Coates. Rut they may find it lias been one of the most serious blunders they have over made, and that, considering their past record is a big admission. The country is not likely to forget that Reform win'll it thought to serve its own purpose deliberately handed over a seat to Labour. Later on when it will appeal to the country again to consider it as. the accredited champion against Labour, and all that Labour stands 'for, it will find that unscrupulous political tactics are apt—like a boomerang —to recoil 1 on the- head of the user.