THE ELECTIONS.

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 71, 19 December 1911, Page 3

THE ELECTIONS.

PRESS COMMENT

Writing editorial]}' upon the results of the recent elections, various opinions are expressed by the Press throughout the North Island. The following extracts are of interest: — The result of the second ballot shows that the Government is defeated after its twenty-one-years of uninterrupted power. . . . A change will be unquestionably for the benefit of the country as it is desirable that periodically there should be a kind of audit of the Dominion's affairs. This can only be brought about by change of government. As far as Opunake and district is concerned, its bad luck seems to haunt it, for it no sooner achieves the great feat of electing a Cabinet Minister than' it finds itself

again drifting into the cold shades

. of the Opposition jungle. Mr f Massey must be congratulated on the fine fight he has put up, and the splendid success'he 'has achieved against all the power and Tammany ism which the , Government, with the borrowed millions at their command, were able to array against him. — Opunake Times. _ , The general election is completed and the free and independent elector has declared at the ballot-box that he is weary of Sir Joseph Ward's administration. Had the elector been quite wholehearted in the business he would have intimated with considerably •-< greater emphasis that he desired i tcTgive Mr Massey the opportunity of carrying into effect the platform he has so ably placed before the electors throughout the Dominion. . . . Clear-cut issues and well-defined lines of party difference may possibly be expected in the future, but at present as far as the finances of the country and the broader questions are concerned, there is little difference of policy between the rival parties. The chief part of divergence is the land policy. Mr Massey is firm on the freehold j question and may be relied upon to remain firm. Whatever Sir Joseph Ward is personally on the land question there is no doubt his followers are divided. It must be remembered, however, that the labour party stands solidly for leasehold, and whatever action Mr Massey may be inspired to take he will have to count on a Labour vote against him on the land question. It is claimed with much truth that Mr Massey's policy is that of advanced Liberalism, and the party watchwords are progress and reform.—King Country Chronicle. As far as we can read the results of the General elections which terminated last Thursday, we see a position established which gives to Labour a " whip hand" in politics. Those perfervid Oppositionists whose votes contributed so greatly towards "' effecting this end now may be counting the cost a trifle ruefully. In the meantime the Government holds firm possession of the Treasury Benches. It is a good hand to sit behind in the game of politics —the more so when remembrance is had of the present state of parties;' Certainly no stable Government is likely lobe ' evolved from the heterogenous •assemblage now comprising the several divisions against the Government, and the alternative probabilities ahead are a fresh general election soon after Parliament assembles or a Coalition Ministry formed from the more Stable elements of the two parties w*ith a view to circumvent;:,;.; the newer forces that have arisen in the dominion's political arena. As a choice between two evils, most people will prefer the turmoil of another general election. tn the meantime the Government will be quite justified in retaining office.— Horowhenua Chronicle. Thursday's polling lias decided that this Dominion is no longer tp be ruled by a party of sham Liberalism and inadequate Government, but by a party pledged ■ to reform and honest legislation, it is in vain that Government supporters point to the Labour and Maori representatives as friends of the Government or argue a majority by an addition to their party of Independent members, it is evident therefore that Wardism, tolerated by the country and the workers for so long, has at last received its due reward for its reckless borrowing, its unfair distribution of public funds, its flouting of the people, and its • generally inadequate administration If for no other reason than

for its policy with regard to reform in finance and in the administration of native lands Mr Massey's party deserves the support of''the electors —Te Aroha News.

The second ballots have practically resulted in a dead-lock so far as the predominant political parties are concerned and the situation is, in consequence, fraught with more than usual interest. Though the Government may be considered to be defeated it is certainly highly probable that the Opposition would be able to carry on with, such a slender majority as it may secure when the final sorting out takes place, and a further appeal to the country is more than likely. To the people generally the situation is puzzling, and by no means pleasing, for the vista of a series of further elections with all their strife and turmoil will be looked forward to with plearure by very few indeed: nevertheless such prodecure seems inevitable. We must in the mean time await with, patience the separation of I the sheep from the goats. Rej ferring again more particularly i to yesterday's results, they may be said to have bristled with surprises. Why some men who looked certain to be returned were rejected and why others with apparently few claims to consideration should have reached the top of the poll is matter for surprise until one takes into account the fickleness of public favour, and remembers j how very much a factor in an election the personal equation is. Public gratitude is probably more ,: a sense of-further favours j to be conferred" than anything else, and while good deeds are j forgotten, mistakes are long j remembered and repaid—Stratford Post. As was very generally supposed, the Ward Ministry met their Waterloo at the elections, and like Napoleon have gone clown. It is quite true that the bare Government and Opposition numbers, as resulting from the elections, do not give the Opposition a comfortable working majority, but to that majority has been added the known intention of some of the Independents, and the pledged intention of at least three of the Labor candidates, to vote against Sir-Joseph Ward ; so that these added to their election figures will give them the necessary stability to accept and retain the the Government of the country. It is.a very satisfactory sign to find the country so entirely as one in the demand for clean Ad- | ministration, for there is no room ! whatever for doubt that the present state of the poll is in a great measure the result of the disclosures in the Mine charges and the Mokau land deal, as the prominent figures in those cases are the greatest sufferers under the pubiic vordict —inglewood Record. That the government has been defeated is very evident. Of the seventy-si:; European members forming the House of Representatives, thirty-seven belong to the Massey party, thirty-three are declared adherents of Sir Joseph Ward, four are labourites, and two label themselves independent. .. . According to constitutional, practice the leader of a government left in a majority as a result of the polling should retire without meeting parliament, and this is what Sir Joseph will doubtless do when he is satisfied that he no longer holds the preponderance of votes. But he is not satisfied yet. On the contrary I speaking to his friends after the declaration at Wellington on Thursday night, he expressed his belief that his party is still in the lead. A few days should settle this "oint definitely, and we may j expect therefore to find that Mr Massey will soon be entrusted with the task of forming a Ministry.—Te Aroha Mail. The result of the General Elections of IQII is a signal defeat of of the Ward Administration, notwithstanding that Sir Joseph Ward is sti'! clinging to die vovy frail hope that the absent votes may yet give the late Government one, if not two seals -Rotorua Chronical.