A NEW OUTLOOK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 79, 24 November 1931, Page 4

A NEW OUTLOOK

As the election campaign progresses it becomes inereasingly evident that aspirants for political honours of all shades and creeds are feeling, for once, the weight of an established public opinion which it wonld be unwise to attempt to meddle with in the time-honoured manner. Usually the several political parties go to the electorate with a clear-cut policy worked i out in detaii and stake their fortunes upon • their ability to secure its acceptance by the majority. Their candidates' appeals ■ are made unequivocally upon the policy of the party and they do not hesitate to make in its support the most extravagant claims and promises, quite regardless of their ability latdr to justify the one and f ulfil the other. Humanity in the mass being by nature extraordinarily gullible, this method has been f ound to be quite the easiest for the candidate as its success depends upon verbal rather than mental qualities. On the present oecasion, however, as we have previously indicated, there is a marked change of procedure, both the parties and' the individual candidates placirig far more em'phasis than usual upon the country's needs and far less upon the inspired liature of their own abilities and proposed methods. Such claims as are advanced are far more modest than usual, and such- promises as are made are almost invariably qualified. This time there are no magnificient promises of cheap millions or the early introduction of Utopian conditions for everybody, especially the gentleman somewhat vaguely described in a country -such as this, where few are anything else, as "the worker." Instead, the widespread and by no means inarticulate public demand for a strong Government capable of guiding the country th'rough its difficulties, courageous enough to see the job through, no matter how difhcult or unpleasant and yet moderate in its outlook, is being made the focal point of the campaign.. The Coalition parties claim that they are such a Government; the Independents almost to a man admit the truth of this, with one or two reservations such, for instance, as the necessity of their own inelusion on the comfortable benches in Wellington, while even that inveterate promiser of millennia, the Labour Party, is not uninfluenced by the public's knowledge of what it wants. Unfortunately for the Coalition a failure in tact and discretion over the selection of its official candidates bas created for it a problepi from which its opponents are practically free, namely the strong independent supporter of one or other of its member parties. This, in the majority of cases, is due to the decision reached without consulting the party organisations in the electorates, to endorse sitting members in all cases. It must* be admitted that the question was a difficult and delicate one; but it should have been clear to all concerned that the somewhat high-handed method adopted wduld in many eiectorates raise a new and no less complex difficulty. The object, of course, was the avoidance as far as possible of vote splitting, and though a large measure of success in this direction w&s achieved, it would be difficult to deny that a little "more tact would have resulted in a' great deal more success. This is a time for sacrifice, a f act which has been emphasised again and again by the Government. Sacrifices have been made by the le'aders and leadihg members of both parties. The question asked in a number of eiectorates why members of the fank and file of the parties should not have been required in their turn to make a sacrifice is ther efore a natural one and vefy difficult to answer . As a result of their indibcretion, the leaders of the Coalition parties have not only increased their own and their candidates' difficultiesl in | certain eiectorates; they have also 'in some cases greatly enhanced their opponents' chances of success.