OUR HOME LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 305, 23 December 1896, Page 5

OUR HOME LETTER.

AUCKLAND, N.Z.,

Beeetnber 23, 1596.

The elections on December 4 resulted in a large, although reduced, majority for the Government. At the last general elections the Opposition as a party, was almost swept away, the estimates of their strength varying from 13 to 16. The present results, classing among indepeadents every candidate who did not give a clear declaration for the Government, give the Government at least 39, the Opposition 26, and Independent 5. A. telegram from the South stated that the Premier estimated the result as Government 40, Opposition ''24, Independents 6. The election of four native members of the House of Reprcseutatives took place on Saturday last, and here again the Government had the best of the contests. Whichever estimate we take, the Government have a good working majority, and the fact that the Opposition is stronger and better organised will tend to facilitate the business of the House. A huge, unmanageable majority, such as that which the Government had in the last Parliament, is always a source of danger to the Government itself. It is not therefore to be regretted that an Opposition has arisen once more from the wreckage wrought by the whirlwind of popular disfavour at the last general election.

In the City oi Auckland the result of the polling was a decisive victory for the Government. The Hon. T. Thompson, Minister of Justice, polled the highest number of votes ever recorded in an Auckland election, and headed the poll by a majority of 3,183 over Mr Button and 3,591 over Mr Mitchelson, ths two Opposition candidates, upon whose return tbe National Association concentrated all its efforts. The defeat of two gentlemen who are so desservedly popular personally is very significant of the strength of the political feeling in favour of the Government" This is all the more strongly emphasised when the splitting up of the Liberal vote is considered. Messrs Fowlds, Fawcus, and Shera polled 4,660 votes, and as the greater part ot these would otherwise have been distributed , among the Liberal candidates, it is probable that oa a straight-out issue Mr Rosser, the Labourand Government candidate, would have beaten Mr Crowther (Independent), who headed him by 1,319 votes. Mr Rosser's defeat was due to two causes —first of all, the intrusion of the prohibition question into the selection of candidates; and secondly, the splitting of the Liberal and Labour votes by a multiplicity of candidates. As it is, the victory achieved is" one upon which the Liberal party may be heartily congratulated.

. Taking the province as a whole the Government lose one seat—they gain one in Auckland and lose Franklin and Bay of Plenty. In Eden and Waitemata Oppositionists merely replace members of the same political colour.

In Hawke's Bay thepollinghasproved rather disastrous to the Govern' men., two seats, Napier and Waipawa, having been lost there. Taranaki has supplanted its irrepressible and devoted E. M. Smith with a member of the Opposition. In Wellington city and suburbs, the Governmeut have made substantial gains—two Government supporters have replaced Messrs Duthie a»d Bell, and the vivacious Dr. Newman, a pillar oi the Opposition, who counted on a seat in the next Cabinet, has disappeared from the legislative chamber.

Canterbury has deprived the House of its patriarchal "father" Mr Saunders, a rather hypercritical friend of the Government, and sends an open enemy in his slead. Christchurch, in relation to parties, stands very much as it was, and the replacement of Mr G. W. Russell by the Hon. W. Rolleston can hardly he counted as a defeat for Ministers, Mr Russell's fealty latterly having been of a very uncertain character —indeed Mr Reileston is hardly likely to give Ministers so much trouble as did his predecessor in the Riccarton seat. We are glad to see Mr Rolleston once more in the House —his sympathies, if not bis voice, being largely on the side of Liberalism.

In Dunedin a sweeping change has been made ia the representation, the three ex-members, Messrs Pinkerton, Earnshaw and Hutchison having shared a common defeat. The Government lose two seats by the polling, Messrs Hutchison and Pinkerton being replaced by the redoubtable Scobie McKenzie and H. S. Fish. Mr Earnshaw has met the usual fate of political " rats." Deserted by his own party, the other side would have none of him. While Mr Miller, the Labour candidate, was elected with 6,20 c votes, and Messrs Pinkerton and Hutchison were very close up, Mr Earnshaw receivci, only 2,421 votes. The Awarua distract has manifested its sympathy and unabated confidence in the Hon^ % G. Ward by again returning hSm to Parliament.

In its general characteristics Mhe new Parliament will mt be very ("fecns

from the one that has lately passed away. Its talking power, notwithstanding the disappearance of Mr G. VV. Russell, is increased by the reappearance of Messss Scobie McKenzie, Fish, and George Fisher. We doubt whether its public usefulness will be proportionately greater. It is a more Conservative Parliament, but still the Government have a majority which should enable them to carry through their more important policy measures.

Although the vote for prohibition was large throughout the colony, in no electorate has it obtained the majority necessary to' secure its enforcement. Even Clutha disappears as a prohibition district, because the one license which came into the electorate thtough the redistribution of seats will remain, in consequence of the number recorded for prohibition being less than threefifths. . A bare majority is sufficient to secure a reduction in the number of licensed houses, but the polling has, almost without exception, gone in favour of maintaining existing licenses.

The Premier, in an address at Wellington on December 5, stated that during the past session the Government had not a majority of more than eight whom they could depend on, while now he could rely on twelve, and probably one or two mere. This estimate differs very litile from the party classifications made by Opposition journals, snd it gives the Government a good working majority. As we have already pointed out, the elections did not prove so disastrous to the Opposition as they were three years ago, when 52 avowed Liberals were returned, but it became manifest during last session that the Government party were almost unmanagaisle. No doubt the decisive expression of the will of the country in 1893 enabled the Government to pass some advanced Liberal measures, such as the Lands for Settlement Act, which they could not have carried otherwise, but there is always great danger in a huge disorganised following like that which ranged themselves on the Governmen side at the beginning of the last Parliament. Among the fifty-two there were advocates of every species of doctrisaire nostrum aod political Holloway's pill, warranted, if taken early and often, to cure every ailment of the body politic. No Government could satisfy all the exponents of these fads without ruining the country, and so there were elements of disintegration within the party, which steadily developed themselves as time went on.

The existence of a well-defined Opposition wiil harden yp parties, while making the Government more vigilant. The losses in the election, the Premier remarked, had mainly fallen upon the middle party — that is to say, a group of members who, although nominally Government supporters, were just as likely to go with the Opposition as with the Government at any time. The new House is undoubtedly more Conservative than the last one— not merely because the Opposition is stronger, but also with respect to the component parts of the Government party. This is no doubt partly due to the influence of the licensed victuallers, which stands essentially on the side of a conservative respect for vested interests, but it is also, we think, indicative of a more general feeling in favour of a season of political rest, in order that time may be given for the further development !of the large measures of reform, some of them experimental, which have already been adopted. We believe that this feature of the election will not have been lost on the Premier, who is quick to note the signs of the times. The defeat of the Labour candidates in Dunedin was chiefly due to the splitting of the labour votes, Mr Earnshaw having detached 2,421 votes that would otherwise, in all probability, have put in Messrs Pinkerton and Hutchison, and placed Mr Millar vat the head of the poll. In Auckland, Mr Rosser polled 528 votes more than were recorded in favour of Mr Tadehope, the Labour candidate at the last election, and this notwithstanding the fact that in 1893 the Labour party wene united in promoting the election of one candidate, while this year there were two in the field.

The address delivered by the retiring Mayor at the annual meeting of the Council on Dec. 16 gave an interesting review of the work done in this city during the past year, and alluded to some important questions which must occupy the attention of the Council and ratepayers at an early date. We think Mr Holland may fairly, take credit, on behalf of himself and the Council, for the efficiency with which the services of the city have been performed, on the whole, during the three years over which his occupancy of the Mayoral office has extended. With regard to the reduction of the overdraft, upon all accounts, by as compared with the position of those accounts on the 20th of December, 1893, when Mr Holland took office, we are hardly iv a position to judge how far this represents a real improvement in the position of the city finances. The penalty which is bow imposed upon ratepayers in arrears has had the effect of hastening the collection of rates, and we think it probable that the 1896 - 7 rate teas now been collected pretty closely ap, and the Council will have little besides the licenses to sustain its services during the ensuing six months. Of course a very large amount of the rates for 1893-4 must have been collected on the date when Mr Holland entered upon his Mayoral duties, and there was then an overdraft at the general account of £8,612, while now that account is in credit ;£ioo, so that

there seems to be evidence that' the retiring Mayor has left the finances better than he found them, although to what extent we have not the necessary data to determine. We observe that the Mayor of Wellington, dealing with a similar question, bases his figures upon an estimate to the end of the financial year, which offers a more reliable guide than the position of a fluctuating overdraft on any specified day.

We think that, taking one thing with another, Mr Holland has made a very good Mayor indeed, and he has received the best of all testimonies to the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the citizens of Auckland, in the splendid position which he obtained by their voles at the poll for Parliamentary representatives ten days ago. His successor, Mr Boardman, is a citizen of long standing aod ripe experience. Much is expected of him, especially with regard to this pressing matter of city finances, and we heartily reciprocate the kindly feelings towards him so gracefully expressed by the retiring Mayor.