THE BYE-ELECTION.

The bye-election campaign, for the Christ* church seat rendered vacant by tho resignation of lir Charles Lewis opened' yesterday evening, when Mr C. Taylor addressed a meeting ci electors at the Canterbury Hall Air Taylor is not an unknown fiamre in politics. It will be remembered that at the general ejection, 0 f 1899 hs waa a candidate for Christehurch, and that, considering on that occasion he. came forxrard -practically an unknown man, ho did very w*ll\to finish so close as he did to the/successf-ul candidates. At the general election Mr Taylor stood in the Labour interests, and he is again seeking election as a representative of this party. But the (address which he delivered last night shows tbat, although primarily he is a Labour candidate, he possesses other qualifications I which entitle his candidature to a certain amount of sympathy irom other sections !of the electors. His address covered a great deal of ground, Ifc touched on the most prominent political' questions of the \ day, and it touched- on them in a manner which indicated that the speaker had bestowed upon the siu-bjects a great deal of patient and earnest study. If it were not for one reason, we should be inclined to acknowledge not only that Mr Taylor wjas a fit and proper person to represent the electors of Christchurch in Parliament, but also that he stood an excellent chance of being selected for that position. This reason may be found in the form of his candidature. Mr Taylor has been chosen to represent a section of the workers in a manner which is calculated to excite the hostility not only of the capitalists, but also of those workers who, although they do not owe allegiance to any labour union, are workers none the less. His supporters aopear to forget that the political issues of the present day are not restricted' solely ■to Capitail and Labour, and they seem also to have overlooked the fact that labour is not confined to manual Wil. In disregarding these two very obvious facts they have set up their representative as a Labour candidate, and they are urging his candidature in a manner which is not at all unlikely to arouse a certain amount of antagonism not only from Capital, but aleo„from that section of the community which, although it does not earn its living by manual labour, believes that it works quite as hard as those who do. Had. Mr Taylor stood as either a Liberal or a Progressive Liberal he might have counted on the support of all his labour friends and of a very large following besides. Oonr sideling, the line he has seen fit to adopt, ha must not be> surprised if he finds 'himself left to rely almost entirely on the vote* of that portion of the electors, for which he stands as the acknowledged champion.