The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1918. LESSONS OF THE BY-ELECTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 March 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1918. LESSONS OF THE BY-ELECTION.

That an absolute impossibility of a candidate like Mr. Holland —anti-conscrip-tionist and extreme Socialist —should have got within 400 votes of the successful candidate in the recent Wellington by,-election is a circumstance which should make the Government sit up and think hard. Surely there.arc not 2506 voters in Wellington North —always the most conservative of. urban seats in New Zealand —who believe in the extreme views of Mr. Holland. Surely there are not that number of people in any constituency who are so unpatriotic as to desire New Zealand to "pull out" and leave the men at the front in the lurch, and dishonor the memory of those brave lads who have given their all for the cause. That cannot be. Is it not that a big proportion of the. 2506 voted for Holland for no other reason than to voice a protest against the administration of the Coalition Government? That is the lesson of the by-election whicli both Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward should take to heart. The public are far froir itisfied with the way the Government is managing affairs. Complaints against its administration are loud and frequent. Admittedly, the difficulties have been, and still are, as enormous as they are unprecedented, but if the Government wishes to regain the confidence of the public it must take stock and alter its methods. Take the railway administration. Here the Government has flown in the face of public opinion, and done its utmost to cause as much annoyance and inconvenience as possible. It took up the position months ago that, in the interests of national efficiency and the shortage of efficient labor, the train services Bhould be drastically curtailed. The cut was made. What happened? Immediately the traffic was thrown on to the roads, as the focal bodies know to their cost. Where one suburban train, with four officers to manage it, could ' carry 500 people, it required something like 100 cars or 20, motor bus.s to do the same work. Where was the national efficiency? It was a stroke of inefficiency of the worst kind. As for the shortage of staff, that was merely an excuse, for if there was a shortage twelve months ago, it is only reasonable to assume that tlio shortage, with the calling up of further , men, is greater now than ever; yet wo know that the Government has lately been able to reinstate several of the services. Then, in regard to defence matters, we have only to read the evidence adduced at the various enquiries that have been held lately to know that the state of Denmark is pretty rotten. Money is being squandered wholesale, mainly because inefficient and inexperienced men are retained in positions calling for business knowledge and experience of the highest order. To-day tiwre are three camps in the Wairarapj. and another at Trentham. For the number of j men we are training, it is the height of absurdity to keep all these places going, especially now when the reinforcements have been very greatly reduced. Either Trentham or F«atherston could be closed down absolutely, and the training of our men would not suffer. Indeed, in some respects it would improve, as the men could be handled by the one set of officers from start lo fmisb, instead of having, as now, to go from 'the one camp to the other. Of course, this would mean that some of the officials would lose their jobs, but the country would be the gainer. We mention the administration of the two departments only as instances of the Government's failure to rise to the occasion, Rnd as causing grave 'dissatisfaction. It is possible that hod vl

strong, "win-the-war, forceful character opposed the Government's nominee on this occasion be would have triumphed, for many voted for Mr. Luke simply because of the fact that :11 of his oppo-. ncnts were quite impossible. Such a result would undoubtedly have produced a political crisis in the country. The Government can obviate this possibility by mending its ways without delay, and, in tho case of other by-elections, bringing forward men of idea* and initiative, instead of men who cannot possibly be of service in solving the many difficult problems looming ahead of the country.