The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1919. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 479, 7 November 1919, Page 2

The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1919. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

"We noth.mo extenuate, nor let down auahi in malice."

I THE Parliamentary elections will shortly be upon us. and no doubi many people will have difficulty, amid a mass of con- ' fusing issues, as to whom thev i should vole for. Though we I have in) intention of presuming |in advise, wo may legitimately ! point out a few guiding lines to I those who may have their doubts as to which candidate would be the better man to represent them and to assist in legislating lor the good of the people of iho Dominion. Firstly we want ordered government. Order is the great law of the ("niverse. Never a hair-brained fanatic but what must evolve some sort of order before his theories can be given affect, to. You may revolutionize, turn things topsyturvy, but until you can produce order out of chaos you will produce nothing of a constructive nature. We want, then, men with the capacity to build, and to keep the machinery of State running smoothly, so that there shall be no more destruction than is necessary to clear the ground for whatever new edifices may be required to accommodate the spirit of the times, Tt is wretchedly trite, but we must repeat that the Dominion's greatest need is more production. Our national indebtedness is now so heavy that we imperatively need a heavy excess of exports over imports, and this \ is the only really sound way in ' which to wipo oft our debt and reduce the amount of interest annually payable. Every assistance, therefore, must be given to the farmer and the manufacturer to produce to the utmost. The cost of living is a problem which affects every grade of society, and more particularly the wage workers having large families. Any practicable suggestions towards this end, from candidates, will merit serious consideration, hut such methods the giving of subsidies (apart from the justifiable ones granted a- war and postwar measures) arc not to be recommended, tin 1 nei result being the putting of inoiney into one pocket and taking it out of the other. Hound up with this problem. \ cry closely, is that of shortage of houses, and every candidate should be made to promise most definitely that he will at least do all in his power to ensure that existing legislation will be promptly and generously given effect to. The demands of uducai ion also, must be met in a broad, liberal spirit if Xevv Zealand is to hold its own in the markets of the world, and equip itself to be largely self-sustaining in the event of another international upheaval robbing us of the finished product', of other lands. And neither must it be forgotten that the primary great purpose of education is to educate, to develop the mind and make men and women -elf-reliant, enterprising, and honourable in all their relationships. Volumes might be written on the subject named in the heading of this article, but, in the main, an elector will not go far astray if he vote- lor the candidate whom he would be least averse to allowing the control of his i-r her own business and the ruling of bis or her own social life. After all. Parliament is merely a big board of directors, managing the affairs o| the Stale, and Ihe -Mine qua] ilies of wisdom, sagacity, enterprise, sympathy, iuteu rity and moral courage are reipiin il ;i make the l>cst pers>nrii ,i-.-ei- iii [be personnel "I uv m her ;i -iicial i' m ol huma u