THE PENINSULA ELECTION.

THE POLLINfi.

The polling in connection with the contest for tho Peninsula seat took place yesterday, and in the city,'as well as the district itself.

the proceedings attracted the greatest amount of interest. Probably no contest for the representation of a single constituency has ever in this or any other part of the Colony, caused such general excitement as the election which has been such a pronounced victory for Mr \V. J. M. Larnach C.M.G., and the primary cause of interest was no doubt the fact of the Most Kov. Dr Moran coming out to vindicate the Catholic cause in the matter of education. Many gentlemen had been mentioned as likely candidates in the first instance, but Mr M. Donnelly, who contested the seat previously with Messrs Seaton, Cutten, and jp-wis, was the only one who ultimately camo forward, As Mr Larnach's name has been so long and intimately connected with the Peninsula, his election was generally deemed pretty certain, so that comparatively little attention was thon attracted by the contest. When, however, Bishop Moran —in consequence of the views expressed by Mr Donnelly on tiie education question in his first address—lntiuated his intention of coming forward, a singular amount of curiosity ' was centred in the course things took, and the electioneering tactics which "have been resorted to were •keenly scrutinised yesterday. rhe friends of each candidate during the whole ot the day busily engaged themselves in the cause which they had espoused. A largo number of vehicles in Mr Larnach a interest made a most persistent canvass of the city for the purpose of earryingevery probable supporter to the poll, and a number of friends of the Bishop also saw that the Catholic party and their adherents did not have to walk to the booth, though the supporters of the other candidate, Mr Donnelly, we believe, did not have any cabs at their service. Most of the working men on the Flat recorded their votes between 12 and 1, having in view, no doubt, the fact that there might be a crush at the time of closing, and therefore those entering the booth about G o'clock were not more numerous than at other times throughout the afternoon. Contrary to the expectations of some few predicters of evil, proceedings genorally.were of a thoroughly orderly character, and to the credit jf the free and independent electors of the Flat be it said that not a single disturbance of any kind occurred. s About 7 o'clock a large number of people, 's including several persons from Dunedin, is" surprise fliacih'e" View's was "received, a l> quarter of an hour aitenvards, that at South io Dunedin Mr Larnach had a majority of 237 ts votes recorded in his favour above Air Dond nelly ; for the Fiat was very generally regarded 3- as the latter's stronghold. It was then pretty it well understood that the results from the other i, [lolling-places would only increase the victory d of Mr Larnach, and therefore when, shoitly jf Iwfore S o'clock, Mr A. R. TJre, the returning--1 officer, announced the total numbers of ;e votes to be : Mr Larnach CC7, Mr Donid nelly 182, and Dr Moran 138, the overl- whelming majority of tho first-mentioned ;e was in a great measure looked for. Of le course it was not supposed by many that the it Bishop would occupy any other but a third it place on the list, his candidature boing re;h garded simply as a protest against the present j- educational system, but there were some who s- expressed their expectation of seeing a pretty it close contest between him and Mr Larnach. ;o Altogether close on 1000 votes were polled, out ;o of 1340 names appearing on the electoral roll, is At the last general election tho strength of the in roll was 1101, and 841 votes were recorded, as s. follows:—Mr Seaton, 20S; Mr Cutten, 284; vt Mr Donnelly, 205; Mr Lewis, 54. There ts were about 1000 people present when Mr to Ure declared the complete returns to be aa a, follow :— 13 . £ ' £ ie - Si d ■1, . S g | to ,3 Q S 2 . a a q South Dunedin .. 393' 101 126 Purfcobollo .. ..SO 5 3 Hiahciff ~ ..37 1 1 S.mds mount ..48 1 1 Norfch-Ea^t Harbour .. 24 !! 0 Andcraon'sßiy ..8-.' 1L 7 Totals .. ..007 182 138 Majority for Mr Larnach, 455.

Two votes were recorded at Sandymount in favour of Mr Wells, who had retired, and there were some informal votes, but these latter were not mentioned.

It was announced that the formal declaration of the poll would take place to-morrow at noon.

Mr Laenach was received with loud cheering. He said: Gentlemen, —(A Voice : " Hurrah for tho Chinamen !")—your fiat has gone forth, and you have used your intelligence in putting me at the top of the poll— (hear)— against all factions and sectarian dispositions. You have exercised your rights as free men, and your intelligence has kept you in the right direction—(applause),—for you send me to the place that L. ought to occupy as a representative of the district in which I have lived so long, and for which I have done so much. Jacta aha cut. The die has been cast by you, aud I am the first impress of it—an impress that has met with your favour. Notwithstanding all the factious opposition that has been exercised to persuade you from doing what was right, here is the best evidence of a man who has done well for the people meeting with that gratitude and that reception —("Ayah!")—that such aman deserves, i have lmd no ordinary opposition here.—(A Voice : "Who paid for the cabs?") Kennel up, you curs ! kennel up ! I have too much regard for the intelligent, honest, and real working man and mechanic—(cheers)—to care one jot for the miserable ejaculations—(interruption)—and the hootiugs of a most damnable.lot of curs. lam not afraid to meet men, but it is those wretched individuals who demoralise a great nation by their vile acts. —(Cries of "Donnelly.") I have been opposed by a miserable faction.—(lnterruption.) I am not alluding to his Lordship the Bishop, whom I respect with all my heart—(Cheers, and cries of "Let us hear Donnelly")—l am alluding to that miserable faction that has been exercised thronsrh the influence of certain members of tho Assembly, to their shame. A new blend has come among you—(A Voice :" It managed to get you in")—tho blend of Fish, Barron, and Bracken. Do you mean to tell mo that the respectable electors -of their constituencies returned them to the House of .Representatives to take part in an election such as this ? No; I say no. I say cry for shame ! Do you mean to say that those men have not exercised more than their privileges and rights by taking part in an election of thin kind? For these men I care nothing.—(Cries of " Donnelly.")—for lam armed so strong in honesty that I let them pass me like the idle wind, which I respect not. Gentlemen, tho battle has been fought and won. I have nothing to say in respect to the other candidate beyond what I said at the nomination : that 1 respect his supporters for trying to do their best.—(lnterruption.) I ask you to hear me ; I am your representative.— (Cheers.) Lot bygones l>e bygones. I will do the best I can for your interests. I thank all those gentlemen who have worked for me; I thank tho electors who have used their intelligence by recording their votes in my favour. Por the interest .of those who did not vote for me I will do my best as I will for those who did.—(A Voiok : " Your own.") You will tind in me a man whom the poorest can appeal to, and I will do my best to find redress for their wrongs. Gentlemen, I thank yon.— (Cll BUI'S.) Mr Donnelly, .who was received with applause, said : Mr Returning-officer and gentlemen—(lnterruption)—l cannot talk to you unless you keep quiet. I will say a few words if you keep quiet, Mr Returning-officer and gentlemen, if I for a moment thought that the result of the poll'this evening indicated the state of political opinion in New Zealand, or in this constituency, I would be very much afraid

that tlic outlook for the future would not be a very hopeful one.-(Chears, jtud A VOIOE: It wfis the .split vote.") lam perfectly aware ;i know the fouling of public raußtings thoroughly -the feeling of the meeting which 1 mldressed hern on Saturday night, and ot tee other meeting* which I have addressed at cne dilfurent places on the Peninsula, aud I can interpret that feelinsr as well as any man in Now Zealand, I think; and I am quite certain that the result of the poll this p.voniiif-th.nigh i do not supposn that imdur 'any circumßtances I. should have been returned: I never oxpocted to be— would have been different had it not boon foi the undue influence that was brought to bear. Gentlemen, I have here in my note-book a circular that was issued this morning, fuf?ncd by Mr M'lndoe, the clerk of Mr Larnachs Oom-. mitteo, and it opens with a suggestion to the electors that yesterday .if; the last hour Bishop Moran had withdrawn in my favour, or at least had given permission to the -Catholics to vote for mo.-(A VoiCB: "Where is the circular ?") I hold the circular here. ifou know it has been over and over again suggested to tne electors of this constituency that there was some secret understanding or some compact between Bishop Moran and myself for the sake of putting myself in, but the result of the voting this evening shows. - (Interruption.) If you will keep quiet I will speak; if not, I will stop. I say the result of the voting to-day shows that five out of every six Catholics on this Hat voted for-Bishop Moran ; and therefore, whatever my views were, they were bom fide on my part, and thero was no understanding between him and me.--(Hear.) He did his best as I told you, to keep me out, and the result of his appearance—(A Voice: " You will getmnext time." Another Voice: " Never !-)-the result of his taking part in this contest was to inmort into it a sectarian strue, which caused the election to be decided rather upon religious adonted —(Interruption; andaVoicK: lkeep m v temper " What I wish to point out to you is this I"S to refer again to that circular I say Mr LarZch knew perfectly well the stateinen with which it commences was not ti ue and JJi n\VuthfulStatement as that being put before Hib Plpctors from one end of the J. eninsuia to Xr with the view of prejudicing my can--1 l ~..'tliis morninj? ?—(lnterruption from allowing me to say a few word. I will dt^ so and I will not care for the interiuptions behind If you do not wish nw to address you then I hav^eno wish to address you. There a c a fewßentlemen behind mo who will no trewiTs further on your time, but simply thankthose gentlemen who supported me on th Mr >CM'l° N n DO E ; What did you say about

m%TT tvwkintv Mr M'lndoeis in front of ife 1*- $&•$•& Jesuitical plot between him and mo! »c J*id ho replied he did not. MrS^Vf ¥hen iTold him, "Well now if yon do not believe it is true you ought to^Sd to the electors and tellthemyou know it is not true." But he did not follow that course, and this morning, knowing there isAt.'tssrJsiLSit false statement. Now, gentlemen I have to thank all of you who have voted for me, and the' South Dunedin electors for^the, patient hearing they have always accorded mp(°Mr rN Moloney here stood up to address the assemblage, and was greeted with hisses and groans. He could not possibly make himself heard to any but those immediate y near hi n He said: Bishop Moran requested me to apologise for him for not being present owing to a business engagement He asked me to return thanks on his behalf to.those> who kindly voted for him. Ho will at the official declaration of the. poll address the electors at length. I return sincere thanks on his benait to those who voted for him. , The crowd of people assembled shortly afterwards dispersed.