DUNEDIN ELECTION NOTES.

Press, Volume XLVIL, Issue 7716, 22 November 1890, Page 6

DUNEDIN ELECTION NOTES.

■' ' fVKOK OtTB COBBIffIPOHDBWr.] " Vi .' DUNEDIN, November 2L As the election day comes nearer the excitement increases, so that by next'week it will nearly approach fever heat The city seats require & great deal of picking, and- sporting men- may well oner long odds againsc the order of their return being correctly placed, as I believe that at the -eleventh hour the education question will form the main issue, and I incline to the belief that Mr Allen; who is soundest on the educational goose, will heal the polL as he had the strongest Committee, He has behind him the Temperance vote, and will poll strongly with the Secularists, as well as with the Anglirama. Mr. Eish should be next, if half of what one hears is correct. He has the united publicans' interest at his back; is the right hand man of the labor leaders; and the champion ol the local uisrarefcrenchera. Nevertheless, there are forces at work which must prejudicially affect bis prospects, fhose are the suspicions in which he is held by many sections, bis known antipathy of the "hupper suckles," and the enmity of temperance reformer?. Mr Pinkerton, President of the Trades and Labor Council, besides making; a good platform deliverance, is much liked in Unionist circles personally, and will get & good many votes from among the moderates in, the other camps. If he had not trimmed on the licensing question, I should have considered his chance second to none. As it is, I expect a large number of U&ionists will plump for him, and it may not improbably happen he will, split Messrs Allen and fish, Mr Hutchison

reckons oa Retting the £o«gfcfntsj&epi peraace and labor vote, him in, but I doubt-whether eefve a tall measare of support from ettaif section. The Catholic role will be divided between Messrs Fish, Lee Smith,, art Leary, but the two last mentioned arg practically on» the same ticket, and I So not expect either to be retaroed, though both will poll well. Despite the strong Unionist support that Mx Earashaw will receive, I thiflk his extreme Socialist views will more than counterbalance Mr Laraach'a pronounced opinions against the education system, and chat there will be no change in the representation. The suburbs will provide an interesting fight. Mr Roes Is now prettyv safe. Mr Wilkinson, Chairman of the Kaikorai School Committee, comes forward as a Labor candidate, and will have a fairly large following among those who disapprove of Mr Dawson's platform and proclivities,evidentlyregardine him as a dumb vote, controlled by Mr Fish. With Messrs Snow and Burns dividing Ministerial Hupporc, I expect Mr Cairncroas to have an easy win for the Taieri, with Mr Barron a respectable second. Mr Thomson will wlu Bruce, though the result might be different if Mr James Smith, lawyer, were more liberal with his views and money. Mr Thom&s Mackenzie and Mr Fergus will have a walk over. Mount Ida Furnishes a stubborn fight, but I fancy the younger man by reason of the ease with which he travels over the district, and his record on behalf of the agriculturists, will prove more than a match for the veteran Yin* cent. Tuapeka will go to Mr Valentine, and John Mackenzie have no difficulty in winning the Waitaki. The Minister for Education, will have a tough fight for Oamaru, but, to use a sporting phrase, I expect him to win on the post. The fight of the Otago district will be for Port Chalmers, where the organised forces of capital and labor meet in battle array Mr Mills has not improved his chances by hurrying slowly from Melbourne, and many cockatoos resent his indifference. But though they are sullen just now, I expect them to rally round their late member when they find his seat endangered, as I think it is, by such an arch-apostle of new Unionism. Mr Millar will poll heaviest in Ravensbourne, and should poll a block vote of nearly one hnudred from those holding seamen's rights. - -