The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET AUCKLAND THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1930 A HYPNOTIC SPELL BROKEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 966, 8 May 1930, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET AUCKLAND THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1930 A HYPNOTIC SPELL BROKEN

'THERE are occasions when prophets have the right at least to ■* claim some honour in their own country. On Tuesday evening it was declared definitely in this column that the order of favouritism in the Parnell by-election poll would be: Endean, Donald, Bloodworth. And it was so.

The only flaw in an otherwise perfect forecast was an expression of the general anticipation of a close contest between the Reform and United candidates for first place. This did not come about, A relatively light poll gave Mr. W. P. Endean a comparatively heavy majority. He was placed first at twenty-two of the twenty-five polling booths. Nothing could have been more emphatic as to the choice and political mind of the electorate than that sustained and firm run of marked favour. Mr. Alan Donald was a weak second, while Mr. Tom Bloodworth, representing the roan horse in polities, whose outstanding individual merit should have given him a better reward, was numerically a had third. He reversed an old rule and made it read, “the first shall be last.” Tlie philosophy of Socrates, a phantom ally in Mr. Bloodworth’s able campaign, should easily provide a solace. What are the lessons of the Parnell poll? These are many, all instructive and bearing much significance as to the fate and futilities of the three rival parties. The first and perhaps the most significant lesson is the jarring truth for the United Government that the hypnotic spell it cast on the Parnell electorate as, indeed, upon the whole Dominion, eighteen months ago has been broken. It has not yet been dispersed altogether, hut the mist is clearing. Reform not only recaptured a lost stronghold, but its candidate, without having displayed many impressive political qualities, fell short just by 600 votes of an absolute majority in a poll of over nine thousand voters. On a percentage basis—the figures, of course, must only be approximate—Mr. Endean polled extraordinarily well. This is demonstrated by comparison. At the' General Election in 1928, with a poll of 12,096, Reform gained 39f per cent, of the total votes, and lost the seat to the Party of Dazzling Promises. Yesterday Reform’s percentage of the poll was 47—a noteworthy gain and the writing on the wall for the Government. The United Party slumped badly on this later occasion, its 1928 percentage, 46fhaving dropped violently to 32 per cent. Thus it was made clear that the discontented Reform supporters who yielded to illusion at the General Election and voted for Mr. Jenkins, then a follower of the gleam in the United Party’s promises, had rid themselves of the influence of political hypnotism and, seeing with the open eyes of disillusionment, reasserted and recorded their former loyalty to the Reform Party.

Many people have expressed surprise, not lacking in sympathy, at the decisive manner in which Mr. Bloodworth fell to the bottom of the, poll, but it was not, however, an ignoble fall. Indeed, he increased the Labour percentage of the Parnell vote in 1928 from 13J to 21 per cent. This increase, however, in itself, was not great enough to give Labour any hope of wresting Parnell from its rivals. Indeed, taking into consideration the fact that the party challenged the electorate yesterday with the strongest possible candidate for the test, the result was a plain and exceptionally blunt lesson for Labour. It has to be noted with regret that nearly five thousand eligible electors did not take the trouble to go to the poll. Their sense of duty is a poor thing, and more applicable to sluggards than to good citizens. If their indifference and indolence were due to an apathy that is only too characteristic of Auckland, their defection in duty may be dismissed with a shrug of contempt; if, however, it can be attributable to bored disgust with a campaign that was arid as the desert and destitute of originality and political merit, they may be pardoned for ignoring a hopeless business. The most vivid lesson of the campaign and its decisive result, Jiowever, is the disconcerting truth that none of the parties nor the candidates raised politics out of the morass of mediocrity. There is much need of a serious study of political affairs and the art of governing men. As a final word, which includes congratulations to the new Reform M.P. for Parnell and comfort to those rejected, but not despised, the winner’s party should not preen itself too pertly on its triumph. Parnell holds distinctive advantages for Reform. It does not follow that these now obtain throughout the Dominion. A better policy than has yet been disclosed will he required to capture the country. That lesson should not be neglected. Meanwhile, the Government has had another nail hammered into its coffin.

TRAMS IN ALBERT STREET

VESTED interests will naturally greet with some hostility the proposals that trams should run in Albert Street to relieve congestion in Queen Street, but the days have passed when the distribution of Auckland’s transport services could be measured accurately by those with sentimental memories of the days when horse-trams and other primitive conveyances had Queen Street to themselves. Any proposition to develop Albert Street as a supremely logical tram route is unlikely to interfere with the pre-eminence of Queen Street as a shopping street for a very long time. Even •when it eventually does promote extension of the shopping area, it will simply be accelerating an inevitable movement. The progress of Auckland cannot follow its proper course while tlie City shopping area remains so congested as to throw traffic into confusion and disorder.

Tlie present situation is attended by expense, difficulty, and even danger. With trams, motor-cars, horse-drawn vehicles and heavy motor-trucks combining to flood Queen Street, the traffic authorities have little prospect of maintaining an ordered system, and they may even be charged with aggravating the position by permitting turning in Queen Street, haphazard parking, and other irregularities which would he much less dangerous both to pedestrians and to motorists themselves if the volume of tram traffic could he reduced. Elimination of trams from Queen Street altogether is one of the ultimate remedies proposed by the Chief Traffic Officer. Mr. G. R. Hogan, but in the meantime it will he sufficient if the development of an alternative tram ronte close to the main shopping street brings about a more even distribution of the traffic. When some such alternative scheme is considered, critics- of the Albert Street route could be challenged to name a better one. There is no other route which offers anything like the same possibilities, and as the proposals now under consideration will save £'5,000 a year in running expenses, apart altogether from the benefits brought by the relief of Queen Street traffic, it is unlikely that the opposition of sectional interests will he allowed to stand in tlie way. Some stick development was foreseen years ago, and provision was made for it when Albert Street was permanently paved. Users of the trams affected will hardly find the new route inconvenient. They will be able to step on the ears at handy points, and a great number will probably find the proposed arrangement more convenient than the existing one.