The Waikato Times FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1939 OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20733, 17 February 1939, Page 6

The Waikato Times FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1939 OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN

“To educate and inform public opinion” on political and economic developments in New Zealand—that resolution by the Opposition party should be welcomed by everyone in the country, for after all, every man or woman, no matter what his or her political affiliations, has the eventual good of the country at heart. It is the highest duty of the Opposition to keep the public constantly informed from the other point of view, for a fully informed public opinion is the most valuable political asset the country can possess. In these days of education and highly developed reasoning powers, all the public needs is the truth. If the people have access to the plain truth not the seeming truth established by propaganda and nurtured b y a ppeal to the emotions—there is little need to fear that the electorate will choose aright.

Since its last spectacular reversal at the polls the Opposition in New Zealand has been unusually silent, but events of recent weeks have roused it thoroughly. It now proposes to undertake a campaign throughout the country. If that campaign is devoted to enlightenment on the facts of the situation it should be welcomed even by the Government party. As Mr Hamilton says, the electors’ votes govern the country, and it is desirable that those votes should be based on a true appreciation of what is best for New Zealand. The campaign will have missed its most desirable objective if it is moulded on lines purely destructive of the platform of the present ruling party.

The National Party declares there is reason for grave apprehension at the drift of affairs in New Zealand, while Mr Savage has said, in refusing to call a session of Parliament, that there are no special circumstances and no drift to-day that would warrant the summoning of the people’s representatives. These two directly opposing opinions are confusing to the average elector, who will base his estimation of the position either on unquestioning faith in the political party of his choice or upon the evidence that either party can submit to the country in plain, unvarnished terms. Obviously it is desirable that the appeal should be made to reason and not to party bias. If he is sincere in his desire to promote the welfare of the country the voter will remember that he is not bound to any political doctrine but is happily a free agent with a vote with which he may strike a blow in a really patriotic cause.

At a time when the whole economic system is in the melting pot there is need for clear thinking. The Labour Party has brought about a spectacular change, and the policy has now developed sufficiently to give a reasonably clear indication of the goal and the results of the present form of administration to those who take their politics seriously. But there are still many who are not yet fully aware of all the implications of the national trend, and if the Opposition’s campaign can reduce a complex political problem to plain facts and figures it will have performed a valuable national service.