The Sun. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1928. THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 344, 3 May 1928, Page 8

The Sun. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1928. THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

11/ H A TEVER may be the outcome of the Parliamentary " elections this year, it is already clear that the campaign will be an exceptionally keen fight for political power. Even the Government party with its overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives obviously is determined to leave nothing to chance. Its scouts have seen the banners of the enemy flaunting in the country and have heard the mutter of unrest in every camp. This has been demonstrated by the early and efficient manner in which the Reform Party has secured a standard-hearer for the Raglan electorate, formerly and for years a Conservative stronghold- that scarcely needed defending, now a citadel of Labour. A brisk assault is to be made upon it with a view to its recapture. It is very evident that the Reform Party has not forgotten the painful lesson that was thrust upon it last year, when a precocious experiment in representation resulted in disconcerting failure. Nor has the party overlooked the fact that Labour in the electorate is anything but a weak force, and represented by a competent combatant, with a full knowledge of the agricultural interests of the district. It is to be hoped that the election campaign there will be confined to a straight-out contest between Reform and Labour, free from the clamour of other parties with neither cohesion nor a coherent policy, so that a clear-cut test of main parties’ strength may be experienced. There is no necessity in the meantime to comment on the balloted choice of Mr. Walter Seavill as the Reform candidate. He has secured the confidence of the majority of his party’s supporters in the electorate, and should now be given all its support. The onus of proving his mettle and merit as a platform campaigner is upon him alone, bxit in all probability he, too, has noted the lesson of the futile by-election contest, and will not depend entirely on the party label. Elsewhere, generally, prospects indicate a confusion of parties and pleas, to say nothing about the certain Babel of ideas. This prospective feature of the forthcoming general elections is already so marked that politicians themselves have deplored it, and emphasised its bad influence on active politics. The Minister of Finance, for example, has pointed out the political instability that is inseparable from a horde of different parties, and has expressed a yearning, naturally, for an ideal division of forces into two well-defined camps—Reform and Labour. That simplicity of political rivalry, of course, is a dream based upon a counsel of perfection. Passing reference only need be made to Mr. Stewart’s merry tilt at the appearance of new parties, ‘‘cutting across the political sky like a shooting star, but without a star’s lustre and brilliance.” But politicians should not forget the significance of fading stars. Then it has to be noticed with some interest that a Labour politician in this district has urged a combination of the Opposition parties for the purpose of overthrowing the common enemy. This is Mr. W. J. Jordan’s remedy for confused fighting. The idea has been hailed enthusiastically by a Liberal journal. May it be inferred that there is so little difference between Labour and Liberalism, together with all the other new elements, that they might merge into one body without loss of identity or policy ? A fusion without a common principle would lead nowhere.