WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3359, 11 December 1919, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

GENERAL ELECTION. " THE N-OMLNATIYONS. A (Special =Corr~e~spondent.) 4 WELLINGTON, Dec. 10. The day of nomination found both the old parties better prepared for the day of ‘decision than was generally expected. 3Vi*th -sixty—six Liberals actually entering the lists for the seventysix European seats, and sixty-one Reformers, it cannot be said that either party has shirkcd the contest. Of course, there are fifteen Independents and five Liberal-Labour candidates in the list, all adherents of one or other of the old parties, and these added to the 126 pledged supp'or.ters of Mr Massey or Sir Joseph Ward give a total of 146 definitely opposed to extreme Labour. Labour of all, shades of colour number fifty-two-, but many of the I-lollandites have been put into the field merely to embarass‘ the Liberal‘ candidates, a_md with no hope for suc-_ cess. Just why. extreme Labour is diurec-ting its chief efiorts against Sir Joseph Ward itis’ diflicult to see, but that it is the case no one who has been watching the campaign I can doubt. ' =_THE PARTIES. ' _ In the heat‘ and camouflage of" the -eampa'ig'n§'i'tis impossible to get from any of therparty leaders a We'll-com -sidered frank opinion -of" the ‘resalt of ore‘ polling. ‘Both Mr Massey 'a:nd"Sii’- Joseph Ward profess to be confident of success, the latter, being the gl'eatel' optimist of'the two, perhaps with more emphasis than his rival, but judging from the stupenduous personal effoi-.tS theyfboth are making._ ,i_]\lt_ is obvious neither of them imagin_e_"h_‘e is going -to ,VVin‘;by a. big"nl-arg‘in,;__i';'l,‘heA Reformers. always have the great vantage of solidarity which holds them.

I toge‘ther..'in time of stress, while, Ithe Liberalsfin their eiforts to justify their i name a_nd'-traditions are over prone‘ to get ahead of their leaders. On this occasion, "however, they are . ~ better organised than they have been at any .other time since Mr Seddon’s death, and this is ‘bound to largely swell their vote. " ' LABOUR ASPIRATIONS, Labour leaders candidly admit they have no hope of returning anything like a majority to the new House of Representatives. ’l‘h"e’lr most sanguine expectation is the success of. twenty Labour ~c'and'idat*es), fincil-uding’ oflieial and unofiicial, but in the -opinion of Weill-informed people, Jthe exltremists will not secure more than six seats at the goutside . Even with this number, however. if the two older parties were closely balanced they would hope to ¢:rea.te_ trouble and to obtain some benefits for themselves. ‘They appear to be proceeding upon the assumption that either Mr Massey or Sir Joseph Ward, if it came to a pinch, would accept their assistance in retaining or obtaining ofiice. !How far they are astray on this point the Prime Minislter and the Leader of the Opposition have made abundantly cl-ear, but Mr ’Holland persists in iudging the other ‘leaders by his own bushel. L THE PROSPECTS. I It still is admitted on all hands that iit is more difficult to predict the re“suit of the approaching election than I it has been to predict the result of any i other election. that has taken place during the past twenty years . This is due partly to ‘the lengthy period that has elapsed since the last general election, and partly to the peculiar conditions created by th'e"' war and the party truce. The experts have got out of touch with the constituencies, and with the drift ‘of public opinion. But the feeling abroad is that the contest between the Reformers on one side and the Liberals and Independent Labour on the other is going to be a very close one. and that the scale is going to tip in favour lofvthe old Lib-i eral-Labour combination. If the re-i suit is as close as many people expect, another coalition. between the parties; will be inevitable. }