DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

HOKITIKA ELECTION. At noon yesterday, a considerable prowd assembled at the , hustings erected. outside the Resident Magistrate's Court-house, the occasion being the official declaration of th« poll. The Returning Officer, Mr FitzGerald, mounted the platform at noon, and said it was his duty as Returning Officer to state the result of the polling for two members to represent the Hokitika District in the House of Representatives. He declared the remit of the polling to be :—: — Barff . . .648 Button . . . 586 Reid . . ; 527 Seddon . . . 343 Uoos , . . 6 He therefore declared Mr Edmund Barff and Mr C. E. Button duly elected to represent the Hokitika District in the ensuing Parliament. Mr Barff said it became his pleasing duty on the present occasion to be the first to return thanks for the favorable position he occupied on the poll. That position was highly flattering both to himself and bis supporters, lie bud to thank those who had taken a large amount of trouble to secure his return and in > working for him, and >>.. t; , u ld assure tlios%- who voted ajaiin: him that huw-iuld reoreueut the district in Parliament to the

best of his ability It , .would be, out of place for him to exhibit any boisterous* exultation. He felt the .responsibility of ffi'e.'ipos^iqh, he had obtained as he had filler* it before years ago. No pains would fee *spared on his part to carry through any measures of benefit not only to the corietfituency he represented but to the whole of New Zealand. Before concluding his- remarks he- wordd-expres^ jgihapf-that* no bad feeling had been left behind by the election. So far as his friends and he had been concerned no undue advantage hud been taken pf the other'candidates, rThe battle had been fairly fought/ It would, now be the endeavor of J;he two members to work together for the interest offtfhe district. He hoped the. hatchet would. B? buried. He had now a' duty to perforni^ that of representing the people, and. hW would perform tfra't duty without fear or fnvor.. He would conclude by thanking" the electors for his return to to Pdflia-

Mr. Button thanked the constituency for his place oh the poll. No doubt the' fact; of his having retired from active political life had injured his popularity. But, 1 consid ring that absence, hU position on- the poll was not to be undervalued. The" past; election was the most important that had ever taken lilace here. Every election of members for the district in Parliament was of far greater importance that elecio'ns for other bodies, and this election was the most important that had ever taken place. He had endeavored to bring before, the people the necessity of expressing:- their' opinion^ on the election. ■• Any man who> refused to take part in a contest such' as that just over, ought to he' deprived of his voice in the election. It was only at elections that the populace felt they were the governing' hc-dy. With regard to tbe candidate at the head of the poll, no doubt he had worked hard for the miners, even when his effort* had resulted in nothing. Ec trusted Mr Barff and himself would pull together. Although opposed to Mr Barff in some things they had not called each other n.ames. He wa« quite, willing to bury the hatchet. Though this, was nor the first occa-ion on which-Mr Barff had slated him, he bore no ill will. He would allude to the principal question which would come before Parliament, a question which dwarfed all others, Education. He was determined to endeavor to deliver the country from religious influence on Educa-, tion. Religion had an internal vitality. He did not want to, give' assistance to religion which wanted no assistance. He wanted to see church and state separated. (Applause).

Mr Seddon was there to thank those electors who had placed him where he was. Ihe people had made a good choice. In his own district which was considered the stronghold of the gentleman who was at the head of the poll, he (Mr Seddon) had headed the poll by twenty votes. Credit was due to those who had achieved victory. He would on a future occasion he hoped go to the poll and meet with more success. He thanked those who had worked and voted for him, although perhaps they knew his chances were not so good as some others. Losing candidates generally had come grievance, but he had none. He begged to propose a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer. (Cheers.) Loud calls were made for Mr Reid who did not appear, after which the proceedings terminated. GBET. VALLEY ELECTION. ■ The closing act in the Grey Valley Election was performed by the Returning Officer, W. H, Revell, Esq., at 11 o'clock on Monday, in declaring officially the result of the poll. The four candidates were present and about sixty other persons. The Returning Officer announced that tbere had been 1846 ballot papers used, out of which 26 had been rejected by the Returning Officer as being informal, and that 10 cases of personation had been detected by the scrutineers. He also slated that a very stupid trick had been performed by some voters, they having torn off the numbers from their ballot papers, but this foolish proceeding only had the result of. destroying their votes, for he had rejected all such. He declared the actual state of the poll to be :—: — Woolcock . , 773 Kennedy . . . 721 Newton . . .689 Guinness . . 612 He therefore declared Charles Woolcock and Martin Kennedy to be duly elected. TOT ABA ELECTION. The Returning Officer (Mr G, G. FitzGerald) said the returns were • all in 1 ,- and announced the state of the poll^ as follows :— Tribe . . 222 Comiskey, ( , . . 81 He therefore declared George Henry Tribe to be duly elected member for the Totara District. Mr Ryan said he had .nominated Mr Tribe, and thought it w,as his duty to return thanks on his behalf, and he did so, concluding by calling for three cheers for the Returning Officer, which were heartily given, and suitably acknowledged by Mr FitzGerald. Mr Cuming complained that Mr Ryan had nominated and returned thanks on behalf of Mr Tribe, knowing full well that Mr Tribe had requested him (Mr Cuming) to do so. He believed Mr Tribe would leave no stone unturned to bring prosperity to the district.