The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1933. THE BY-ELECTION.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1933, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1933. THE BY-ELECTION.

Although there is not a great deal at stake so far as the Government is concerned in the Lyttelton election, due to the fact that the. result one , way ox the other will not make much difference to th© numerical strength of the Coalition, |he occasion will create much interest. The appearance of a welLqualified and experienced lady in th© ‘ lists/ one possessed of educational qualities'of a. high degree, lends special interest to the occasion. Mrs McCombs enters the fray in the place- of her lamented husband who was a foremost member of the Labour Party, and the Jady has loyally expounded that cause. Opposed is a well accredited candidate for the Coalition—one also well equipped for service ill Parliament if returned, Thefb is yet a third candidate—ait independent- or . free lance, whose candidature It would appear its rather recruited by Labour because of the splitting of voting, Mr Hill, how* ever, while a young man with piardon' able ambition to serve, and possessing qualities of merit, is ploughing alone furrow, the lot of most Independents, and by common consent the contest is being relegated to the champions for Labour and Coalition. Both have now addressed the public, and the . lady lias had the help of the, Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holland) while other prominent members of the Labour party are in the electorate endeavouring to do their bit for the common cause. Mrs McCombs' candidature, very properly, has had a very sympathetic beginning, and the lady is capable of retaining a great deal of the goodwill being extended to her. As the time approaches to cast their votes, the electors will probably in the main, divest themselves of the personal aspect of the oontest and study the position in its j true import. The principal candidates offer a strong 'contrast in policies. Labour ambition is to reach office, and from time to time on the huskings, sugar coated promises are offered the electors as a means to the end in' view. Labour professes to be all anxious for the national good, but when th© national weal was at stake at the time of the Great War, Labour did not come forward with any readiness to cooperate in the national emergency; nor when there was the financial emergency did Labour show any anxiety to coalesce, nor has there been practical help to the Coalition. Time and again there have been motions of no confidence and other fprms of the House have been used to delay business. Visionary proposals have been advanced again and again, and theories relied on to give the practical shecour required. OnVtlie other hand, the Government has faced a difficult and thankless task boldly, but with a determined aim. The Government lias not done popular things, nor has it offered gilded promises. It has plodded along keeping the financial credit good. It has maintained a sound policy for the benefit of the nation’s credit. It has helped where it could. The unemployed have genuine consideration along more practical lines than obtained in most countries. Social services have been maintained as liberally as possible in the face of 1 falling revenue. Generally, a safe policy has been developed in very difficult surroundings, and the measure of success is being revealed to-day in the' general feeling of betterment prevailing throughout the countryThc Government is succeeding and the country is in a position t 0 recuperate rapidly. That surely, is the best lest of all to national service well done and is the main recommendation why the, electors of Lyttelton on polling day should return the Coalition candidate.

In a speech at a summer school of tlve British Empire Society, Lord Lloyd said the past 20 years had seen a great change in their philosophy of Empire. It was time to set to work to build up again a sound philosophy on which an Imperial policy could be based. Discussing the dangers which, lie believed, threatened the British Empire at the present time, Lord Lloyd said that the most obscure and critical danger lay in the Statute of Westminster. So great was the confusion that had followed it that it had even become a matter of legal argument whether under this statute a Dominion Parliament might not pass a law altering the succession to the Grown. There was in the Empire to-day no central staff to co-ordinate the doings of the various communities. There was an urgent need for ensuring the inclusion of a very large number of Dominion men in the diplomatic and consular services. Perhaps the only fundamental mistake that anyone could make in Empire building was to get the wrong method of approach. He suggested that the only right method of approach was the evidential one, which was based on truth. There' was a danger that Imperial administrators would go,out determined to have no definite principles of any kind. Others, in default of a practical policy, would go out armed with no guidance except vague dreams about the brotherhood of man and the perfectibility of human nature. The second great need of an empire was its safety. Whether 'the Imperial defences were adequate to withstand invasion wfts a question very little discussed to-day. It would be fatal ever to believe politicians when they said there was no risk of war, for on that point they had always been wrontr. With regard to sea power, practically never since the days of Nelson bed they felt themselves safe with less than a twc-Power standard, but they wore' far below that now. The Army was reduced to dangerously small proportions. As to the air, they had been reduced from first Power to sixth, and ho supposed there was no one who would now feel entirely happy about their aerial defences. It- was impossible for a country to increase its responsibilities and liabilities, and at the same time to reduce its assets, wthout taking a grave risk.