BACK ON THE PAY-ROLL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 635, 11 April 1929, Page 8

BACK ON THE PAY-ROLL

THE tumult and the shouting—or at least, the former—have died down in the Bay of Islands, leaving- Mr. H. M. Rushworth triumphant in a fight that excited purely local clamour. His tenure of a seat that for six months since the General Election has been the centre of protests and appeals, is now secure, and free from the anxiety that marked his earlier elevation, he will be able to go to Parliament in June and add to the modest contribution he managed to insert in Hansard last December. People with the acutely developed sporting senses of New Zealanders often cherish a secret resentment against the beaten man who appeals against his fate. This sentiment becomes evident in Rugby football, cricket, cycling—all sports, in fact—and evidently exercises an influence in politics as well. Not otherwise can the quite pronounced swing-over in Mr. Rushworth’s favour he accounted for. He was substantially aided, as The Sun predicted he would be, by the votes cast for Mr. Hornblow at the General Election, but his total gains exceeded these, so that he must have even won converts from the enemy’s camp. The mysterious political truce which has been declared with such engaging conviviality by the party leaders robs the lone Country man’s success of its strategic significance. The result has more of a personal interest. A cultured and accomplished member, with r-are potentialities for service if he can forget some of his unprogressive notions, has been added to the strength of the House. On what side he will eventually range himself is uncertain. The scattered units of the Country Party may regard his success as prophetic, but it is certain he will rrever have many companions of his own colour as long as the tariff ideals of his party remain out of tune with the ideas of more progressive elements in the community. For himself, Mr. Rushworth may regard the result with complete satisfaction, as a fine tribute to his personality, and perhaps as a mandate to remove some of the factors which make “decent people keep clear of politics.” Alternatively, he may forget these horrors of the campaign, and settle down to the usual unobtrusive habits of a back-bencher in the House. Memories of arduous canvassing, strenuous touring of the electorate, and coarse interjections—even the peculiar charge of be put aside for another year or two. There is nothing like victory to lave the wounds and bruises of combats