WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1919, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

GENERAL ELECTION. THE NOMINATIONS. {Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Dec. 10. The day of nomination found both tha old parties better prepared for the day of decision than was generally expected. With sixty-six Liberals actually entering the lists for the seventy-six European seats, and sixty-one Reformers, it cannot be said that either party has shirked the contest. Of course there are fifteen Independents and five LiberalLabour candidates in the list, all adherents of one or other of the old parties, and these, added to the 120 pledged supporters of Mr. Massey or Sir Joseph Ward, give a total of 146 definitely opposed to extreme Labor. Labor of all shades of color number fifty-two, but many of the Hollandses have been put into the field merely to embarrass ' the Liberal candidates, and with no hope of success. Just why extreme Labor is directing its chief efforts against Sir Joseph Ward it is difficult to see, but that it is the case no one who has been watching the campaign can doubt. THE PARTIES.

In the heat and camouflage of the campaign it is impossible to get from any of the party leaders a well-considered and frank opinion of the result of the polling. Both Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward profess to be confident of suceeess, the latter, being the greater optimist of the two, perhaps with more emphasis than his rival, but judging from the stupendous personal efforts they both are making, it is obvious neither of them imagines he is going to win by a big margin. The Reformers always have the great advantage of solidarity which holds them together in time of stress, while the Liberals, in their efforts to justify their name and 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. LABOR ASPIRATIONS.

The Labor leaders candidly admit they have no hope of returning anything like a majority to the new House of Representatives. Their mo3t sanguine expectation is the success of twenty Labor candidates, including official and unofficial, but in the opinion of well informed people the extremists will not secure more than six seats at the outside. Even with this number, however, if the two older parties were closely balanced they would hope to create trouble and to obtain some benefits for themselves. They appear to be proceeding upon the assumption that cither Mr. Massey or Sir Joseph Ward if it came to a pinch would accept their assistance in retaining or obtaining office. How far they are astray on this point the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition have made abundantly clear, but Mr. Holland persists in judging the other leaders by his own bushel. THE PROSPECTS.

It still 13 admitted on all hands that it is morn difficult to predict the result of the approaching election than it lias been .to, predict the result of any other election that has taken place during the past twenty years. This ig duo partly to the lengthy period that has elapsed since the. last general election, and partly to the peculiar conditions created by the war and the party truce. The experts that got out of touch with the constituencies and with the drift of public opinion. P.ut. the feeling abroad is that the contest between the Reformers on the one side and the Liberals and Independent Labor on the other is going to be a very close one, and that the scale is going to tip in favor of the old "Lib-Lab" combination. If the result is as close as many people expect another coalition between the parties will be inevitable.