NOTES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12364, 1 December 1905, Page 9

NOTES.

A report of en address by Mr Moslin. Opposition candidate for Waitaki, will bo found on page 5. * Tlie total number of voters on the Kaiapoi roll as issued for the election is 4/12. At last election, tbo number was 4725, of whom 3986 voted* On his return from Lawrence on Saturday (trays our Dunedin correspondent), the Premier will vi it Waiho'a, at the invitation of a number of resWJents. According to the amended .Hurunui roll, 4G21 persons are eligible as. voters for the present election. At the last triennial; election, tho roll comprised 4519 electors, and tho total votes recorded were 3577. Sir W. J. Steward, Sir William Russell, and the Premier, have been members of nine Parliaments. Sir W. J. Steward lias attended 33 sessions, Sir William Russell 82, and Mr Seddon 31. Mr J. W. Thon'wn, elected in the same year (1871) as Sir W. J. Steward, attended 30 sessions of nine Parliaments. Sir William Russoll was elected in 1876, and Mr Seddon in 1879. Thus Wednesday's Wellington 'Tost":—The nominations for the General Election closed at fivo o'clock yesterday evoning, and those who misled the chance will have to wait another throe years before it comes round ogam. From the electors' point of view, however, it would havo been well if a good many more of the candidates had reserved their claims for some future ooenfiion, for the competition of 205 candidates for the seventy-six seats means a decided embarrassment of riches in many constituencies. By an odd coincidence the field is limited to only two candidates in thirty-eight electorates, being exactly half the total number; and this leaves tho remaining thirty-eight with 129 candidates between thorn, wliich gives an average of nearly three and a half. Wanganui is the top scorer for the wholo colony, with no less than six candidates offering themselves, four of them being supporters of the Government, and two of the Opposition. A plurality of Opposition candidates is a very rare thing, Parnell and Waitaki being apparently tho only other cases. Four constituencies —Auckland Central, Pnrnell, Taranaki, and Waitaki—havo five candidates each, and no lens than eight constituencies have four each. A very noticeable feature of tho campaign, and one whioh hao largely conduced to the plethora of candidates, is the large number of tha»e who, under one title or another, take ud a position of absolute detachment from both of tho regular parties. There are New Liberals, Independent Literals, Independent Latour Liberals, and Independents inclining to the Opposition, or unclassified; and in a few cases it is not easy to distinguish between the latter class and tho Opposition proper. Our estimate of tho totals of all classes is:—Government 89, Opposition 60, and Independent 56.