King Country Chronicle Saturday, Dec. 16, 1911. THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 423, 16 December 1911, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, Dec. 16, 1911. THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

The general election is completed and the free and independent elector has declared at the ballot-box that ho is weary of Sir Joseph Ward's administration. Had the elector been ouit.e whole-hearted in the business he would have intimated with considerably greater emphasis that he desired to give Mr Massey the opportunity of carry in;; into oil cr.i. the platform lie has so ably placed before the electors throughout the .Dominion. Mr Massey has been given a majority, but it is more than doubti a! if a workable party machine can be created by either Mr Massey or Sir Joseph Ward. An appeal to the country at ail early date is universally forecasted arid there can be little doubt that an electtion will eventuate in The present situation is to the average elector a very welcome change from the period of political somnolence into which the country had fallen. Clear-cut issues and well-defined lines of party cl{Terence may possibly he expected in future but at. present as far as the finances of the; country and the broader

questions oi polities are concerned, there is little difference of policy between the rival parties. i Ik l chief point of (iivereeii i\- is i ne land policy. .Mr Massey is linn on She .freehold question ami may he relied upon to remain firm. Whatever Sir Joseph Ward is personally on the I ami <!'" :!- tion there is n<> deimt his tollowior are divided. It must be rememberee. however, that the labour parly stanus solidly for the leasehold, and whatever action Mr Massey may be inspired to take he will have to count, on a Labour vot'' ap.ainsi him on tin? land question. It is elaimeo with much truth that Mv ,Mss:-ey s policy is that of advanced i .iheral is;-,i. and ( lie party waichwrnMs are progress and reform. Whatever refer;) l may be necessary will no doubt be aecompiishco satisfactorily f,o the party in power, but there can be no donnt a.houl. the matter of progress. Comi!!,". to the position of our own electorate in She political turmoil the. parfienlar shade of politics advoca'ed n_v eifher ol the present party leaders can sheet, us but, little. Apart, from the quest.ion ol land tenure the reqniicmenis of the electorate though lei-ion m numbi'i. are mainly all'ecteu by (lie onaneial policy adopted by the unity in power. LTpon the iand question there is ni.t'.e

to fear in a fight between the present parties. Freehold has carried the day and will continued to do so an long as Labour remains a negligible quantity in Parliament. The elementary requirements of a new and rapidly settling district, however, are enormous * and demand the utmost attention at the hands of whatever party may have the administration of the country's affairs. In Mr Jennings the district possessed a member who did excellent service for his constituents, while in Mr Wilson, the new member, we have a representative who ia thoroughly acquainted with the multitudinous needs of the district. He is, moreover, imbued with the doctrine of work, and may be counted on to champion the cause of the King Country upon every possible occasion. To sound the personal note wo may be permitted to reiterate that the f oilcy of the Chronicle is distinct from party politics. Tho separate interests of the district arc tho chief concerns, and such a district as the King Country requires all the assstance it is possible to obtain for it. The member for this constituency or for any other constituency may rely upon the active voice and assistance of the Chronicle in championing the requirements of tho electorate at all times and seasons, and apart altogether from shades of political belief which do not vitally affect the King Country interests and progress.