The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, November,5, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1320, 5 November 1914, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, November,s, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

“I iiAVK never seen such lack of interest displayed in any general election as the present,” is a common remark. This appeyrs true. The reason is that the war overshadows to a large extent any other subject. It does not follow, however, that political affairs are being entirely shut off by the individual voter—uot by any means. This fact will be fully demonstrated at the polls. Had the war not intervened, the forthcoming elections would have been the bitterest on record. The froth and bluster will be eliminated, but this will not iu any degree lessen the bard-euing-up of parties. There are incidents connected with the political history of this country during the Massey administration which will not be forgotten when the votes are recorded. The present Government had to face an Industrial 'crisis unprecedented iu the history of this Dominion, a crisis which threatened the very foundations of constitutional government and the holding-up of exports which caused considerable financial loss, not only to the producers, but to the people as a whole. The determined manner iu which the Massey Government faced and settled that- crisis not only won them the confidence of the people, but raised the prestige of the country throughout the Empire. To this fact aloue the country is deeply indebted to the Massey administratiou, and the industrial crisis will be one of the factors which will stand behind the party at the coming election. On top of this came the worries and grave responsibilities of the great war in which the Empire is engaged in a life and death struggle. All parties, however, have loyally stood behind the Government in this connection, except for the petty pin pricks of a few disgruntled politicians, who feel that they must say something to maintain their political existence. On top of these extraordinary happenings, and iu the face of the bitterest oppositon, the Government has not wavered iu passing legislation set forth iu their policy which is of a distinctly beneficial character. The financial positiou of the country is sound and the prospects for the future are such as to inspire confidence in the most pessimistic. Taking all things into consideration the return to power of the Massey Government may be .looked upon as certain.

Onk result of the war, writes Dr. Markoff, a Russian, in the Contemporary, is that the English and the Russian people have come nearer to each other; the mistrust is gradually disappearing, and will disappear entirely during the war ; the outcome of it will be peace for along time, “and the English will at last give due justice to my beloved country, as our mutual enemy, who made - it his business to sow hatred and mistrust between us, will have disappeared. Our Emperor, who called the nations of Europe to the Hague Peace Conference, will meet them again at the Hague, after the war, to form a peace alliance and to proclaim a general disarmament. . . . And when our

armies meet yours coming Irom the west and we from the east, let us on German ground shake hands as friends and allies for many centuries to come, burying all that distrust and those prejudices which have hitherto existed. And may our mutual patron saint St. George—give his blessing to our arms to achieve this end !”