LABOR REJECTS THE RED POLICY.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1921, Page 7

LABOR REJECTS THE RED POLICY.

LESSONS OF THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

PROGRESS BUT NOT DICTATORSHIP WANTED.

The general results of the municipal elections over New Zealand have shown that the working men and women do not want the Reds’ policy of party dictatorship with its evils of outside caucus rule and hypothetical socialistic programmes.

No sane person will dispute the fact that the mass of the electors are workers. If these have largely rejected the Red candidates then we are fully justified in saying that Labor has rejected the Reds’ policy. The League has maintained throughout that party should not come into our municipal affairs, as civic bodies cannot be run on Parliamentary lines with party leaders, party whips and all the elements of party conflict. The attempt of the Red party, misnamed “The N.Z. Labor Party,” to force the party system upon the municipal electors we are pleased to find has been generally defeated. As showing in plain terms how the party candidates have fared, we submit the returns to date of the Borough Qotmcil elections:—

L.R.C. Candidates and Members.— Auckland, 21 standing, 2 elected, 3 previously sitting; Wellington, 15 standing, 2 elected, 4 previously sitting; Dunedin, 7 standing, none elected; New Plymouth, 3 standing, none elected; Palmerston North, 3 standing, none elected; Timaru, 7 standing, 1 elected, 4 previously sitting; Gisborne, 6 standing, 1 elected, 1 previously sitting; Invercargill, 1 standing, not elected; Petone, 5 standing, 1 elected, 2 previously sitting; Greymouth, 5 standing, 2 elected. NOTES ON ABOVE.

It will be seen that taking the above ten boroughs, the Party had 73 candidates, and secured the return of nine, whereas previously it held 14 seats in these councils. In Wellington their Mayoral candidate, on an increased total poll of 3235 votes, secured 670 more than was cast for the Party’s candidate in 1919; so that in proportion to those voting the Party’s vote decreased. '‘The returns for Christchurch are not yet complete as the election was under the proportional representation system. The party there nominated 10 candidates for 16 seats. On the second count they had three elected. The president of the Party, Mr. P. Fraser, thinks they may have four or five on the final count. This would not alter things, as the Party had five on the council befor the election.

One thing notable about the recent elections was that a number of candidates had broken with the Red party and stood as Independents. So far as we have seen all of these have been elected. Mr. P. Fraser argues that the party has increased its actual voting strength, but the whole of the evidence goes to show that, relative to the total votes cast, the party’s voting strength has considerably decreased. THE CHIEF LESSONS. In our opinion the principal lessons to be drawn from these elections are twofold. There is first of all a plain intimation to the Labor organisations that the New Zealand electors do not want any party dictatorship over their municipal affairs. The party of Reds tried every method, such as nominating full tickets, nominating limited tickets, first past the post system, proportional representation, and only in one town, Greymouth, has it made the slightest advance, whilst in most boroughs it has suffered defeat. T'.ere stands the lesson. The other is the Mayors and councillors who have just been elected. An examination of the endorsements show that the people are not for stagnation or reaction, but sound progress, independent of all class and party domination. The electors spread their selection widely, and that we take to be a clear mandate to the elected to administer affairs on broad lines of policy, with a single eye to the collective interests of all districts and of the general body of the public. For financial reasons the progress must be steady, but the people look for progress and betterment in the general welfare. We wish all the elected members every success in their two years’ work ahead of them. (.Contributed by the N.Z. Welfare League.)