POLITICAL PARTIES

Hokitika Guardian, 14 August 1931, Page 5

POLITICAL PARTIES

(Otago Daily Times). While Mr Coates is still' engaged in making up his mind concerning the answer which he will give to the busdiness men in the North who addressed to him a memorial in. favour of the establishment of a iiNational Party to guide the country through the existing crisis, the weeks are slipping away that will bring the Dominion to the normal time for a general election. 'Hardly a day passes that does not bring with it the announcement of the selection of a fresh Candidate for the suffrages of the electors. The parties as at present constituted are all busily preparing for the fray. Already candidates representing each of the three parties are in the held for the majority of the constituencies. Clearly, in these circumstances the prospects of a fusion of parties with a view to a concentration of political effort upon the solution of the difficulties with which the country is surrounded are becoming increasingly gloomy. There can be very little doubt that the mind of the business community throughout the Dominion on the subject was expressed by Mr T. >C. Boss, president of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce for the current term, when he said on Monday might that the present situation “called , for a cessation of party strife 1 .” >. The Prime Minister has on various occasions indicated that in h’is judgment, founded on his experience as the head of a minority Government during a period of constant anxiety, an organic co-operation of the parties that are prepared to cope with the problems of the times in a national spirit is not only desirable but necessary. Mr Downie Stewart, who, in the course of his speech in the Budget debate, reiterated his belief that a fusion of parties would be in-the best interests of the country, has; alone among the members of the 'Reform Party in Parliament publicly favoured the creation of a National Party. It is probable ■ that the supporters of his party throughout the country are, by a large majority, in agreement with the views entertained by Mr Stewart, and, this being so, the official attitude of the party towards the subject may be expected to place a good many of them in a position.' of considerable embarrassment when they are required to decide how their votes shall be cast on polling day. One candidate who has been accepted by the Reform Party for a Wellington electorate is reported to have said, in effect, that the fusion proposal might suitably be postponed until after the election. His statement has been interpreted—and it is certainly open to the •interpretation—that the Reform Party would consider the advisability of fusion if its members did not form a majority in the new Parliament. That the fusion proposal, if rejected now, .must‘.he revived? after may almost be taken for granted. The effect of the postponement of it must, however, be that a number of seats, chiefly in the urban areas, will be secured by candidates obtaining a minority of votes since there must in triangular contests be a serious dissipation of the voting strength o'f the supporters of the parties that have most in common.

If there is to be a fusion of parties at all, therefore, there is a clear argument in favour of the accomplishment of it before the general election, instead of after the election. For that reason, the large body of electors in all parts of New, Zealand who believe that a fusion of parties is necessary in: order that an unbroken front be exhibited in. the presence of the economic disorders that are 'afflicting the country xvill oe-gravely disappointed at the way in which the opportunity for a co-ordination of effort is being disregarded.