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WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE DAY OF DECISION. A NEW PARLIAMENT. Special Correspondent. WELLINGTON, December 1. To-morrow the European members of the twenty-fourth House of Representatives in the New Zealand Parliament will be elected under the broadest franchise enjoyed by any civilised community in the world. The four Maori members assigned to the Native race, under soSiWJiat different conditions from those prescribed for European voters, have already been elected, the results again showing that the need for a distinction between the two imited races in this respect is steadily disappearing. The Parliament elected to-morrow will be the twenty-fourth in the history of the Dominion since the passage of the Constitution Act by the Imperial Parliament in 1852 granting representative institutions to this country and establishing the House of Representatives on the system of responsible government. The first Parliament under the Constitution endured for a few days short of fourteen months with three sessions, the first from May 25, 1854, to August 9, 1854; the second from August 31, 1854, to September 16, 1854 and the last from August 8, 1855 to. September, 15, 1855, a. total of 130 days. There Jjie .national history of the Dominion may.be. said to have begun. The Leader’s Load. After seventy-seven, years of effort and progress, punctuated here and there by ups and downs, the colony, grown into a Dominion, finds itself confronted by a huge world-wide problem which none of the nations yet has managed to solve. The Prime Min-1

' ister, the Right Hon. J. .G. Forbes, ' recognising the gravity of the situation to all sections of the community, lias taken upon himself to appeal through the churches to the people at large for assistance in unravelling the entangled situation. He is not obtruding upon the sanctity of the places of worship, but he is expounding to church-goers the- responsibilities that rest upon them. “Nothing other than the prospect of employment in full time occupations, with a reasonable degree of permanency,” lie is telling the congregations, “will restore to the unemployed the confidences and self respect which are essential characteristics of an upright and God fearing community.” This is a new departure, and a somewhat daring one, but the Prime Minister has the sanction of his church and nothing could he more admirable than the words in which he has clothed his appeal. v Party Leaders. Whatever may be the result of tomorrow’s election, which rests mainly upon the magnitude of the Coalition majority, Mr Forbes and Mr Coates, whose names should be bracketed i n ! this respect, are to he warmly congratulated upon the zest and good humour with which they have conducted a very tiresome campaign. Folk who talk of Mr Forbes ignornig Mr Coates, or of Mr Coates out-witting Mr Forbes, are simply attempting to produce friction between the party leaders. They can know little of the temperament of the two men. One story put ' about by disgrunted people is that Mr Coates insisted upon Mr Downie Stewart being given charge of the Treasury before the Reform delegates consented to discuss the question of Coalition. Another is that Mr Coates stipulated for substantial concessions to himself and bis prospective colleagups forth with. These are simply impudent inventions. Mr Forbes, burdened as he was, gladly

handed 'the Department 1 — ’of r Findnc'e over to Mr Stewart, and Mr Coates made no demand for perquisites either ■before or after the fusion of the two principle parties. The formation of the Coalition Government was the fruit of a frank and well informed discussion between the parties immediately concerned.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311203.2.7

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1931, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
592

WELLINGTON TOPICS Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1931, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1931, Page 3

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