CATHOLIC PARTY NEEDED ONE MORE SEAT

Dutch General Election a disappointment
"Catholic Herald" Correspondent in the Netherlands.
IHE result of the General Election in the Netherlands was somewhat disappointing for the Catholic Party.
The party won three more seats in the Second Chamber, raising its total to 33. But it lost the race to lead in the House. The Labour Party un• expectedly gained four more seats.
A somewhat alarming aspect of the elections is the slight increase elf the Labour vote in Catholic Limburg. Further analysis of the voting will be needed for a clear picture of the situation, but first impressions point to a ".leakage problem " rather than to a definite preference for the Labour Party.
The Communists lost two Seals. Immediately after the war they had ID seats. By now the total has dwindled to • I he incre,ise in the number of votes for the Catholic Party is accounted for partly by the merging of the Catholic National Party with the Catholic People's Party, and partly by the natural growth of the Catholic population.
A commentator in the Labour Party's daily paper Vrife Volk remarks that there must have been a slight change-over of votes from the Labour Party to the Catholic Party.
It had been expected that the Labour Party would gain one or two seats from the Communists, hut it came as a surprise that the Protestant parties lost three seats. The Labour gain of four scats is no doubt due to the shift of Protestant votes and to the attraction of the popular Prime Minister. Dr. Drees, leader of the Labour Party.
COALITION
The N.C.W.C. correspondent at The Hague reports: A continuation of the present Labour-Catholic coalition Government is expected. Queen Juliana has asked Dr. Drees to form the Government. The two parties at present hold I 1 out of the 16 posts in the Cabinet, Over 93 per cent, of the electorate voted. and the total poll was 5,727.355.
Under the Dutch system of pro
portional representation the Labour Party received 1,871,990 votes, the Catholic Party 1,815,242.
The Communists received 272,167,
Two years ago the Hierarchy issued a pastoral letter calling upon Catholics to vote for the Catholic People's Party and advising them against becoming members of the Labour Panty.
In the election campaign the Catholic Party called for more houses for larger families. contending that most of the houses now being built are not large enough for families with more than three children.
MI the parties had urged increased housing.
The Catholic Party wanted a corporative structure of industry, with control and profit-sharing by workers. The party said that the Labour Party went too far in its plans for nationalisation.