THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 190, 20 January 1915, Page 8

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

•' >;'J'OSITiOX LEADER ;> \ JEW. i t !UAT NEED FOR ELECTORAL RE FORM. , i !>LM:C:..ICX FIGURE-; ANALYSED. | The Leader of the Opposition (Sir Joseph Ward) who returned from Auckland on Saturday, courteously but very firmly refused to discuss the party position with a representative of th» N.'Wj | Zealand Times who waited upon him on; I Monday. j "It would be scarcely decent," lie said,| I "for me to express an opinion for pub-1 Ilieation upon tin: elections which are! still in dispute, and which probably will' come before the Supreme C.i,:i't. • Of 1 1 course, I have an opinion, its eyryiie! j else doubtless has, but it is only the. | opinion of a layms'ii, and is :nst as likely to be biased as other people's opinions are." "No," Sir Joseph said, in reply to an attempt to break ground in another direction, "1 don't think at present f can discuss even the causes that led up to the present muddle. There will have to be a searching inquiry into the whole manner in which the election was conducted, if only as a guarantee against the recurrence of the blunders and irregularities which have put the country to so much inconvenience and expense, but this can hardly be carried out while the parties are still fighting for supremacy. When Parliament meets we arc bound to hear a great deal more about the matter." j OPPOSITION'S SUBSTANTIAL VOTE. This was a bad beginning from the in- , lerviev.er's point of view, but a third ' question concerning the voting at the

recent election led Sir Joseph on to a I subject which he felt lie could discuss] without any impropriety ''Yes," lie replied, "T have seen the full official figures, and they shev !vvr:>d all question that the Opposition s.-:rvd a very sulista'i- j tial majority e,' '.vfe* at the polls. Of the 515,501 vot.s polled, 272,025 were cast for the Opposition and 243,470 for the Government, so that, taking the whole cortntry as one constituency. Ministers are now holding' office with a minority of 28,540. "These are not fanciful figures c'on jurcd up to exalt one party or to discredit the other. They are the final ; returns from the seventy-six European constituencies, and cannot be altered l y recounts or petitions or anything elv. i The fact that sonic of the Opposition votes I were recorded for Labor candidates does | not affect the position at all. These I votes were as emphatically cast against | the Government as were those recorded j for Liberal candidates." j BEATEN IX BOTH ISLANDS, j "The plain meaning of the figures is that if the votes had been cast under a system that would have given them all an - equal value, there would b'c forty European members on the Opposition side of the new House of Representatives and thirtv-six on tlie Government side. The Government at the polls was | beaten in both the North Island and tile South Island—its minority in the North being 10.074 votes and in the South 18,475 votes. The election provided incidentally a strong argument in favour of proportional representation, and showed that the reform could be made effective in comparatively small constituencies and without interfering with the country quota As the Lvttelj lon Times pointed out the other clay, the Opposition with 55.550 votes, won twelve 1 seats in Canterbury, while the Governl ment, with 30,371 votes, won only two On the other hand, in the Jforth of Auckland district the Government won the whole of the four seats with fewer than three-fifths of the votes, and i:i j the Ola go Central district the four scats with not much more than half the votes. I These are results that would be impotsI .'able under any nniiifnl.l,. uvol™, r .f ~i..n

| .'.ime under any equitable system of election, and the fact that an injustice in one district, often balances an injustice in another is no argumet why there should be in justice in either of 'them." "A DIRTY ELECTION." . "Oh. yes,'' Sir Joseph smilingly replied to a parting question, "I noticed the statement attributed to Mr Massey 1 by the newspapers to the effect that the recent election was the dirtiest >'C had ever known. _ AH of us, when we • 11 r '' irritated or disappointed, are apt to ! 'J™} j." s "Pci'iatives, but it is diflicult to believe the Prime Minister expressed i himself in this way. There was hard fighting mi Ik,tli s j ( |,, s duvinpr f] u , onll _ test - principally by tlie newspapers, bv t|ie way but nothing that came under j my notice on our side could justify such a sweeping impeachment ' HowMr Massey had wider opportunities Jo pulse of the character of the. election than I had. and as long as he does not nienicio tno Opposition in hjq clornuipVition it is not for mo to complain." Sir Joseph could not be induced to break his silence with regard to the general aspect of tl.e polifieal sitnation. JUit <lo not misunderstand mo," he said, when ai-ain prossod to make a statement, "T shall he delighted to discuss the elections and their results at the proper time, but it does not seem to me this is the proper time. When the way is clear J shall have a good deal to say on the subject, and I shall not hesitate to say it. Tn the meantime, the Opposition is ail absolutely nnM I

-aosoiutely united party I standing firmly to the policy it laid -| down during tl(,e election, campaign. I ' I fV C0ll '" 1, ' lu ' l! i" my supporters, as 1 . teel they had confidence in me, and when ; our opportunity comes T },ave not the Slightest doubt we shall be able to justify ourselves before the country."