The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE THURSDAY, DEC. 18, 1919. AFTER THE BATTLE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3365, 18 December 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

THURSDAY, DEC. 18, 1919. AFTER THE BATTLE.

With which iisjncorporated “The Taihape Post. and Waimarino Newn.” ’

The results of the ' oiection-s held yesterday have furnished many surprises to all parties, for the opinion that it would prove a very close con‘itest was quite universally held. Mr 'iMa-ssey has cause to be satisfied with ‘the mandate that appears to have ibeen given him, that is, if figures not ~yet to band do not materially’ alter the strength of parties. Out of sev-}cnty.-six European seats he already ‘- fills thirtyeight, and of the four Maori Jseats his supporters have been returned to three, giving him a total of iforty-one seats, which, if he lost the ‘six froin which no returns have yet icome, he would still have a majority [of one in the House over all other . parties. From returns at _'time of writ‘ing the state of parties may fairly be stated as thirty-eight for Reform, } twenty-three for Liberals and nine for Labour. The returns from Bruce came lvery late, and their incompleteness indicates that Sir James Allen is none too safe of election The rejection of Sir Joseph Ward by Awarua will not ‘only cause New Zealanders to marvel, but the Whole Empire,‘ and a. good part of the eivilisedworld will wonder what can have happened to warrant rejecting the services of such a man in a country that is notably ill-endow-ed with statesmen of such a nature, and of so world-wide a celebrity. This icountry cannot afford the loss, and ithat will become apparent as time dislcloses the future. It is claimed that the power working against the elec[tion of Sir Joseph Ward was what is known as the Protestant Political Alliance; if that claim is fairly based it _is time intelligent people should take steps to curb the bigotry and wantoness. of superstition weilded by lmen'of the Howard Elliott type. Ag [British people can never go back toi "ithe days when a ;mar.q’s patriotism and § loyalty is to be judged by his religtious professions. It goes without say- 1 ‘mg that this militant religious. body I uvill invoke resentment amongst edu-I cated people, who think less of the‘ age at which a child should be christened than they do of the welfare and‘ progress of the community as a Whole for all -time. It is regrettable that re- I ligiousgperesecution of any kind, from whatever source. should be permitted‘ to work havoc in the government of any country. It is quite safe to say that the electors of Awarua have rejected a statesman that would _be glad1y welcomed as a member of the Brit-I ‘ish Parliament, and a constituency would soon be found for him were his services available. It is such happenings that will bring this little country much nearer’ to revolution, peaceful or otherwise. than it could otherwise ever come_ It m.ust be rea.li~sed"‘that only about one-third of the people 6:? the | country will have any representation in the Government, should Mr Masseyl be successful in forming one, and it[ Imlstalso be realised that the people are more and more aware of this disildwmtage, and are sequentially liable to chafe very considerably against 13811198 governed. by What can only be a truly miserable minority. Our eyes cannot comfortably be closed to the fact that the masses are succe-srsfully displaying their determination for 3 Change; in ‘Auckland Lelbour can'didates have gained seats with huge majorities, displacing old Members of the‘ House. In Wel-’ lington ,Labour has won one seat and

bcccule.pol‘ilously near to Winning all the others; Chl'iStchl'uch. has returned the notorious Mr Howard, and Mr Holland is sent Iback to Parliament by Buller. Dunedin has furl}ished another Labourite and another was. within »t'en'votes of wrestin'g‘a seat from an"-‘gold politician of Ml‘ Sidey’s stamp.’ Labour has DollC<l strongly wherever seats ll€lVe been contested, but ‘many people will ‘See nothing further in Labour-’sV polling other than the fact that only 501119 nine or ten have secured electionNevertheless, it would be well to consider if some policy could not be evolved that would ween the people from voting for extremists, but the need for -something of this kindwill be more forcefully brought to attention in the sessions of the Parliament that: has just been elected. -We congratulate Mr R. W. Smith on being selected by the electors of \Vainlarino as their representative, and we more especially congratulate those electors in having such an able, experienced, energetic and honest man to represent them. We are inclined to think that the people of Waimarino do not yet realise the value"rhat Mr Smith is going to be to them, but they most assuredly Will do so-.- Mr R. \V. Smith’s win is all the more meritricious in the fact that he neither had committees or Press to aid his candidature; he achieved success. and gained the confidence of his new constituents without help from any ('lu«ai'ter_ - The man that will deliberately set himself such a task is going to prove a very valuable asset to his constituency and to the whole Dominion. Rangitikei furnishes only a moderate instance of the utter unfairnessof the “first past the post,” system of electing a supposedly, representative institution, for out of nearly 7000 e"iec—tors Only— 2751 will have representation; such a system is so obviously unjust that it is sure to bring about its own destruction. Were it not for very nearly a Reform block vote at Marten, Rangitikei would, lby this same, system, have been represented by Mr Brady, an Official Labourite. The collective results are not regarded as unsatisfactory, except for the misfortune of losing the services of Sir Joseph Ward, which most fofeseeing ineinbers, of our little community will admit are irreplaceable.