DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

I STANMORE. 1 The official declaration of the .poll took. ' place at noon to-day, at the , Richmond. Schoolroom, in the presence of; a, large at-, tendance of electors! The Retuenin -^officer (Mr Beatson) announced the rasult of th© voting— the. numbers being tiie same' as. those already published — and declared M*. Daniel Reese to be duly elec'jpd member., for Staniaoi-c. (Cheers.) Before calling, upon the candidates to address them, he wished ty refer to one or twe^things whiohhad ocqurred in, connection -with the ehx-tion. A letter had. appeared i|a the paper,, from Mr Pilliet stating that he had forwarded a letter to, him (Mr Beatson),. That looter ho had; never received up, do, the present moment. He hq4 never had any communication, either- verbally «* otherwise with Mr Pil*. liet.. The letter was ou its way, for Mr Leo totat him he had received it. It was in that gentleman's office on. the day of tho Section, and ho posted it to him (Mr Beatson) yesterday— this wotest of 'Mr i Pilliet's— -but it had not been received. With regard to Mr Wausey's letter which ; appeared in the paper that morning, he thought that if Mr • Wansey had been at the head of the poll, he would have upheld that the seconding of his nomination byMr Pilliet was right. i | 'jit Wakbsy » No, lam too straight f©^

that. I would have had it over again. (Laughter and cheers.) The Retubning-Officeb referred to the orderly manner in which the election had been conducted, and thanked the | Chairman of the School Committee for the use of the school. Mr Reese, the successful candidate, then came forward and was received with cheers. He thanked them from his he *rt for tho honourable position they had placed him in. He could assure them that it would bo his earnest endeavour, as long as he held the seat, to represent them in a manner deserving of such a constituency. (Cheers.) In this contest he had been placed in opposition to his old .and respected friend, Mr Ruddenklau, and he thought that the manner in which he had entered the field against that gentleman in no way reflected upon his candidature for Stanmore. (Cheers.) Mr RuddenJdau was in the field before him, but it was only when a statement in the papers that that gentleman had withdrawn was pointed out to him that he j acceded to the wish of a deputation, j and decided to stand against all comers, j Mr Ruddenklau left Christchurch, and in j his absence his friends allowed his name to i stand against his (Mr Reese), and thus forced him into the electorate against him. He was very sorry indeed that Mr Ruddenklau was a candidate. He had served a sort of political apprenticeship under that j gentleman, and for that reason did not like j to see his political god-father standing ■ second to him on the poll. But he thought | the explanation ho had given was sufficient j to show that he entered the contest in no | antagonist spirit to his friend, but, on the \ contrary, had fought the election with ! every spirit of fairness. He had met Mr Ruddenklau freqaently, and they had always been the best of friends, and, he had not the least doubt, they would still remain friends. He again thanked the electors for the honourable position in which they had placed him. (Cheers.) Mr Ruddenklau, who was well received, said he stood before them a defeated candidate, but he could assure them he was not ashamed of lis defeat. (Hear, hear.) He confessed he would like to have Leen at the head of the poll, as much for the sake of his supporters, who were anxious to see him returned, as for his own sake. If he Tiad been elected he would have endeavoured to do his duty, as he had done in every public office he had ever occupied. He had always tried to do his duty honestly and truly. As far as his friend Mr Reese was concerned, he could not gainsay the explanation which that gentleman had given; there hud been to some extent a mistake. He (Mr Ruddenklau) went up •country for three days, and did not know that Mr Reese was going forward, Or anybody else except Mr Dorney Mr Badger who were announced. When he came back Mr Reese was in the field, and his (the speaker's) supporters .said, "Very well; you stand as good a chance aa you did before," and he left matters in their hands. However, he had been defeated, and he hoped Mr Reese would do justice to the constituency ; he was sure, at any rate, that he would do his best. Another thing that went against him was that he had not a persuasive "tongue like some other people, and was not a very ready speaker. He hoped the power of persuasion would be as beneficial to the constituency as it had been to the candidature of Mr Reese. (Cheers.) Mr Dorney also addressed the electors. He said that he came before them not only .as a defeated candidate, but as one who .stood very low on the poll. At the same time he considered, taking all the circumstances into account, that he secured a very great victory. The candidates who headed the poll were gentlemen of more influence and more wealth than he was, and they used their wealth and their influence ten times more than he did, and therefore if they polled four times more than he did, he considered that, in reality, he had six times the victory. They were aware that neither at Bingslaud nor Phillipstown had he any friends working for him. From the fii st evening when he addressed them he said he would throw himself honestly on the hands of the people. He attempted to use no influence, and no one could say that he had knocked at his door and asked for a vote. He had no carriages, four-wheelers, or hansoms to bring them to the poll, but he simply relied upon the bone and sinew of the working men. There was a report ourrent that the Working Men's Political Association gave him assistance, monetary and otherwise. Now, he said most decidedly that though a representative of the Association he did not receive one solitary farthing, nor did he ask for anything from those gentlemen. He stood boldly on his own feet. He certainly must return thanks to the members of the St Albans and Stanmore Working Men's Political Association, who lost their time, at great inconvenience to themselves, to give him a lifting hand. Instead of being downhearted, he believed that he had secured a great victory, and the time would come when he would stand in a better position on the poll for Stanmore Mr Wanset then stepped forward, and was received with cheers. He said " Good morning, gentlemen." (Laughter, and "Good morning") Whatever they may say I wasfirstinthefieldforthis contest. (Laughter.) I'll swear it. There is no gentleman for whom I have a greater respect than Mr Beatson. We have known each other for a great many years. But we are all fallible at times, and I will tell you this fact : In this race I do not consider myself licked or disgraced; because I have not had a fair run for my money. (Laughter.) Mr Beatson, acting as political starter, left me at the post. Some rumours have been afloat about my seconding the nomination. I went to Mr Beatson's office, but did not find him at home, I followed him to his house and he gave me an interview. He said, "It is all right, what I say is law." I asked him to write two letters to the papers to Bet me right with the public, but lie said the Press had no voice in the matter, it was for him to say. Didn't you say so, Mr Beat3on? Mr Beatson : No, I have no recollection of saying so. (Laughter.) On the day of the election Mr Pilliet Btood about there. I could not find a seconder, so he said, " I will second you." Well, I wouldn't take the rat ; that's about the size of it. (Laughter.) I looked about for somebody else, and Mr Beatson told me I could either nominate or second myself, and I did so. (Mr Beatson : " If you were on the roll.") You never said anything about the roll. So, don't you see ? I have been left at the post, and if tho race were run over again, I would come in " flying." (Cheers and laughter). I thank you for your votes, gentlemen. I shall put myself quite straight next time. I propose Mr Reese's good health. He is the gentleman I should have voted for if I had had a vote. (Cheers.) The Returning-Officer did not think there was anything more to be said. Cries of "Where's Pilliet." "Where's the rat." Mr Reese then came forward and moved a vote of thanks to the Returning-officer, which was seconded by Mr Ruddenklau, and responded to by Mr Beatson, after which the proceedings terminated.

[SPECIAL TO THE " STAR."] AKAROA, July 24. The official declaration of the poll gave the same numbers as telegraphed. Both candidates returned thanks to the voters, and each acknowledged the courtesy of his opponent.