The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1901. A POINTER.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9291, 19 July 1901, Page 4

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1901. A POINTER.

In connection with the Christchurch election the candidate who came in at the bottom of the poll was the Government nominee. Had his competitors been representatives of what, for the sake of convenience, we must continue to call the Opposition, the. result of the election might have been feirly regarded as indicative of a change in public opinion. It is not possible, however, to take that view of the case. To use another word which has to a large extent ceased to have any definite meaning, all three candidates were " Liberals." This will account for the small proportion of votes cast. On the other hand it cannot be disputed that in Mr Smith, who is returned, and Mr C.Taylor, who ran a good second, the electors had men who professed to be Government supporters with limitations, while Mr Turnbull seems to have been willing to be regarded as a Ministerial Jay figure. That he should, the close of the poll have to his credit over a thousand votes fewer than the next lowest candidate, and more than fifteen hundred fewer than those cast for Mr Smith, is therefore an incident of some interest. The support of the Prohibitionists and Labor organisations is said to have been giveri to Messrs Smith and Taylor, which would partly explain the position, but not entirely so. The moral we deduce from "the facts is that hinted at in the telegraphic mes?>ag<* announcing the results, namlekJßiiat Mr Turnbull's advocacy of glj^B^ o denominational schools lost Wmn what chances he might otherwise have had of winning the seat. The comparatively small poll itself is, under the circumstances, testimony in that direction. It may be taken as indicating that in a contest merely half-hearted on general grounds, owing to the three candidates holding similar views on broad political questions, there were not sufficient voters in the constituency who believed in the desirablenes of denominational grants to turn the scale in favor of the only candidate who favored that policy. This is of course but additional testimony, if it were needed, to prove that as a whole New Zealand has male up its mind to have nothing to do with denominationalism. Its system of education has stood the test of time and has given good results. This has been recognised by the people generally, and tbey are not willing to see the system tampered with merely for »he sake of subsidising sectarianism.