THE GENERAL ELECTION. POLLING IN THE RAIN. QUIET PROCEEDINGS IN THE

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 136, 6 December 1905, Page 5

THE GENERAL ELECTION. POLLING IN THE RAIN. QUIET PROCEEDINGS IN THE

CITY. The general tendency of election legislation has been to rob the triennial conflicts of their ancient pomp and panoply, and to substitute a dull, drab, and drearily businesslike calm. Everyone remembers l.he inimitable Mrs. Battle's opinions on whist, and her austere distaste for the pretentious blazonry of the Court cards, and Elias's gentle objection to the conversion of the game to the unembroidered prose of mathematics. In much the same way, one is tempted to adopt an £!ia-n attitude, and regret the disappearance of the preposterous and riotously adorned hoarding, the importunate canvasser, the storm of pamphlets and tracts, and mock-bal-lot papers, the ancient tent-rooms of the candidates, and the buzz and stir that made an election a rejoiceful and strenuous day to our forefathers. It has all gone — the posters and placards have disappeared in the pight, the elector is left to record his vote unhampered, and the city as a whole has been so sternly dull through the drizzle that one would hardly imagine that the fate of the nation was being decided. During this morning there was no great rush to vote, but there was hardly a< polling-place which did not have its 9 a.m. elector waiting on the doorstep. For the first three hours the votes drizzled in gently, and returning officers, questioned as to ihe progiess, unanimously replied: "Very slow." At noon, however, there was a sudden rush of business, and until one o'clock there was a steady stream of voters at all the booths. During this afternoon polling has been fairly brisk — the wretchedly dull weather seems to have kept no-, body away. As the factories have not been obliged to observe any half-holi-day, there is a prospect of a great proportion of the voting taking place after 5 o'clock this afternoon. The idiotic voter and the foolish person who laboriously fossicks out the one way of going wrong and making his voting paper invalid appear to be growing scarce, and returning officers report little trouble with the voters. The proceedings have been very orderly, and the only signs of haste and urgency have appeared to be confined to certain people, not prohibitionists, realising just in time that the hotels were to close at noon, and that provision must be made for a seven-hours' drought. Candidates have not been very much in evidence to-day, and the electioneering vehicle has been a practically absent quantity. Here and there, it is reported, indignant electors have proceeded to the nearest polling booth, only to find that they must record their votes at booths in their own electorates. "Some people are mad on politics," said one of these unfortunates to a Post reporter, "but I'm not. Yet I was prepared to give my voto this morning, but on going into a booth was told that I must record it in my ward. My vote is losti as I do not intsDd to go out of my way to Tecord it, and I believe hundreds of others are in tho same box." Special arrangements have been made by. the proprietors of the Evening Post in ■connection with the displaying of the results, to-night. A huge board has been erected on a decked balcoriy in front pf the Evening Post office, and the results of each election' will be posted thereon' as they come to hand. A powerful searchlight will be directed on to the board, which will enable the results to be clearly seen from far down Mercer-street, and for a considerable distance up and down Wil-lis-street. It is expected that the results will begin to appear about 8 o'clock, and thenceforward they will be recorded at short intervals. As soon as the result of lie polls foT the City and Suburbs are made known, addresses will be given by candidates from, the Post balcony. 1 ' WELLINGTON NORTH. The closing night of the triagular contest for Wellington North Electorate wns marked by no special incident. Candidates' addresses met with tho appreciation of v -.their supporters, and sofar the imperfectly fertilised egg has not made ids appearance. To-day the polling started quietly. At Tinakori-road, and the outlying booths, nothing much had been done by midday. At the more. central places, such as Sydney-street, the Drill Hall, and Shortt's (Willis-street), polling was more steady. This afternoon the rush, is setting in — which, of course, is a truism. Many electors of Wellington North are, if anything, more interested — that is, in a sporting sense — in the fight for Central. But they are not forgetting to put in their vote in their own locality. WELLINGTON CENTRAL. The Central candidates made their final appeals to tho electors, who, in some instances attended in large numbers. Mr. O'Regan, at the Skating Rink, and Mr. Fisher atl His Majesty's Theatre, weie listened to by large crowds, -whose enthusiasm was beyond comment. Mr. Cooper also had a good meeting. An unpleasant incident was a cowardly attack on Mr. Fisher by an invisible assailant, who, while the candidate was addressing an open-air meeting, threw a large piece of road njetal at him, striking him on the .baok of the head. Foiltunately Mr. Fisher's hard hat saved him from serious injury. In the earlier part of the day the interest felt in the contest for the Central seat was greatly affected by the weather, and it was lifticult to realise the fnct thut an election was in progress. Outside 6ne or two of the polling places a small group of voters gathered and discussed the merits and demerits ofl tho candidates, and jn&ide the deputies and poll-clerks had a very easy lime. Ou the whole, however, there was a steady stream of voters except during the middle of the mornin, when the rain fell thickest. When the shops and offices relieved their hundreds of employees at noon the work of the poll-clerks increased very quickly. Election incidents were lacking. There is, however, one that can be vouchf/! for: "Who are you going to vote for?" asked a Wellington Central elector of a weatherbeaten old veteran. "For 'Our George,' " ho replied. "Oh, but he died many months ago." "I don't care," said the old man. "I see his name on the bal-lot-paper, and he gets' my vote." WELLINGTON EAST. The three candidates for Wellington East each addressed sympathetic audiences last night. There is an absence of interesting incidents in connection with to-day's polling. Polling was meagre during the morning, but between 12 and 1 o'clock there were large numbers of electors at each booth, but no congestion occurred. It is likely that a fairly heavy poll will be recorded by 7 p.m. NEWTOWN. Newtown was in a lively state last, night, when all the candidates were 'out giving electors their last word. Mr. Barber gave his final address in Victoria.

Hall, but Messrs Hislop and Hindmarsh and Dr. Chappie addressed gatherings in the open air, and there were large attendances at all the street-corner speechmakings. There was a great deal of rowdyism at Dr. Chappie's meeting, but tho noise, in the way of cat-calls and boohooiugs, was mostly caused by some youths, several of whom had to be pulled, out of the crowd by the constable, and warned against further misbehaviour. The other candidntes had good, hearings. Air. J. T. Brown, the no-license advocate] from Kentucky, spoke at length upon tho prohibition question, and, kept a very large crowd in lively spirits right up till 10 o'clock. A FALSE ACCUSATION. Commenting on the "reasons why they should be elected^" as supplied by candidates published m our issue of yesterday, our morning contemporary, m its vulgar eagerness to discredit the Post, endorses with approval in its issue of today a statement by Mr. Field, the Government candidate for Otaki, that "tho Post had mutilated his statement, ap. parently with the deliberate intention of injuring his candidature." Our contemporary goes on to say: —"ln the matter supplied Mr. Field included a statement of his views on the licensing question — viz., that he approves of a cpntinuance of the popular control of tha liquor trade. This statement the Post failed to publish " Our readers, we feel sure, will accept our assurance that there is not a word of truth in these allegations. If Mr. Field or any of his friends are disposed to question this denial, they can see the original document on application to the sub-editor of the Post. JOTTINGS. It is reported to us that at his meeting at Petone last night, Mr. Wilford stated that the editor of the Post had personally assured him that his empathies were with him (Mr. Wilford), but that he (the editor) had to write according to the views of his paper. Tha candidate also gave as a reason for not publishing a final fifteen-line manifesto in our issue of last evening that he was asked to pay for its insertion. Both statements are absolutely untrue. At half-past 9 o'clock this morning Mr. W. J. Parsons rang up the New Zealand Alliance office by. telephone, and reported that ballot papers from the No. '2 booth at Brooklyn were being issued without the official stamp. The officer in charge, while he had the stamp for the election ballot papers, had not tho stamp for the local option papers. The Rev. F. W. Isitt at once communicated with Mr. Mansfield, the Registrar of Electors^ who said he would immediately look' into the matter. To a Post reporter Mr. Isitt said that the Alliance was greatly' disappointed that this should occur after all the trouble over the Newtown local option poll. He said that if the No-license Party win or lose by a narrow majority the incident may be sufficient to upset the poll. This, ho said, is very disappointing, but it is not so bad as it could be, now that provision has been made by the Legislature for the taking of a second poll. Mr. A. R. Atkinson has expressed the opinion to the Alliance that the incident will not affect the poll. It is an offence to leave a voting booth with a ballot paper in" one's possession, and at one of the booths this morning a lady discovered that the election officials are keeping their eyes very wide open, and are taking pains to prevent irregularities of t-his kind. Sho secured her two ballot papers, and retired) to the voting compartment. On emerging she handed in one paper only — the election voting .paper. She was asked to produce the local option paper." She declared that she could not find Jfc, and she was then informed that she. would not be allowed to leave the booth until she had handed' in the paper.' Sho had no • intention of taking, the paper away, sho , declared, as she wished to record her vote. A search was instituted, and at last the missing paper was found in her umbrella, where it had apparently slipped while she was dealing with the othet paper. The number of electors enrolled on tho various rolls throughout the colony totals 489,340. In previous years the" totals have been:— lB93, 302,997; 1896, 339,230; 1899, 373,744; 1902, 429,385. The enrolled electors in, the three Auckland City electorates number 21,718, Wellington 24,890, Christchurch 24,240, and Dunedin 21,628. The Newtown roll j contains 9559 names. . POLLING AT OTHER PLACES. [BY TELEGRAPH. — PBESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, This Day. Fine weather favours election day, and both the parliamentary and local option polls will be heavy. The absence of placards and candidates' boxes, which, formerly enlivened the proceedings in front of booths, gives to-day's polling a, quieter aspect, but vehicles of all kinds have been pressed into service as usual. The, contests, especially in tho city and subiu-ban electorates, are expected to ba very close indeed. 1 Later. The polling proceeds quietly. As tho time passes it seems more difficult to estimate the chances of the rival candidates in the city seats. At no previous election has bo many of the contests borne such an open appearance immediately before the declaration of the poll. The Prohibitionists are working hard, and express confidence in securing some successes, but it is impossible to forecast with any degree of certainty. DUNEDIN, This Day. Election day is favoured with glorious weather, and there is every indication of a heavy poll for the citynnd suburban seats, as well as the local option poll. Owing to the provisions of last session's Electoral Act, no canvassing or placarding is permitted at the polling booths, which gives the proceedings there a, quieter aspect, but every vehicle obtainable has been pressed into service for the purpose of " beating up " electors. INVERCARGILL, This Day. The weather is perfect, and a record poll is anticipated. Sir J. G. Ward addressed a large meeting last night, and was enthusiastically received. It is anticipated that No-license will be carried in Invercargill and Awarua. DANNEVIRKE, This Day. A light rain is falling hero, but unless it increases the polling will not be affected. Both sides are working vigorous. I ly, and the result is expected to be close. PALMERSTON NORTH, This Day. Feeling is running high over the "elections. Both candidates addressed meetings last night. Tho Government candidate had an audience of about 500, and Mr. Pirani, the Opposition candidate, had , the Municipal Opera House crammed from floor to ceiling, fully 2000 facing present. An attempt was made to prevent Mr. Pirani getting a hearing, but by persistence and telling repartee ho wore down his interrupters, and at the conclusion received a big ovation. Heavy polling is expected to-day, the roll number being 8200, and both «ides are working strenuously. It is anticipated * that a large" 6ilent voto will be cast for Mr. Pirani, NAPIER, This Day. The weather 5s tlull find threatening for. thQ .^octjODj, jvhicli j/j pjocesdjng

quietly, although there is every evidence of a record poU. WANGANUI, This Day. Interest in the election is very great, both for the Parliamentary and local option polls, and the polling is expected to be a record. HUTT. Election matters were animated at Petone, and the polling will be very heavy. A large number of cabs, expresses, and brakes are being used to bring electors to tho polling places. An unusual amount of interest is being displayed by the supporters of the No-license movement as well as by those who oppose it. There has been a steady flow of voters, and, it is not expected that there will be anything like a rush towards the closing hour. Mr. Mothes, the Returning Officer, hopes to be able to announce the Result of the election shortly after 9 o'clock, but it may be later before tho result of, the local option poll is known. , Complaints were made in Petone to-day that" some of the'deputies were very tardy in giving the local option ballot-paper to electors, with the result that in several known cases electors voted only for the Parliamentary election. In other cases ■the local option papers were only given ■when asked for. Messrs.. il'Ewan and Piper interviewed .the Beturaiug Officer on the subject, made a prdtest, and asked that the matter should be remedied. It is understood that he undertook to give it his immediato attention. The results of the poll will be declared much earlier this year than was the case in 1902, the separation of the city into three electorates having reduced the total of the votes to be dealt with by each Returning Officer. An additional reason is the- multiplication of polling-booths, these being in greater number than at any previous election.