Page 6 Advertisements Column 5

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 150, 22 December 1911, Page 6

Air. T. WaJhhe, tho Poneke Club and Wellington repiesontative footballer, has been advised that he has passed in four subjects of hifi law examination The Postal authorities advice that the e.s. Victoria, which left Sydney at noon on tlie 20th hist, for Auckland, ha« on board an Australian mail. Tho Wei- ■ iingu>u portion is due to arrive hc^e by ! the Main Trunk vram on Monday next. ' Four village settlement kcclioiif* ware offered for selection by the Crown LatiJs Wellington District Office. One of -thorn was at Mataroa, for which there were Ino applicant*. Tho others were at Ohakune, and were drawn .as follow : Capital \alue £200, Mrs. Sowerby; capital ! vllue £70, Mrs. Nafctrass: capital value £45, M. W. Johnson. I It is interesting to note from figures supplied by the Government Statistician that nearly 70 per cant, of the- population of Now Zealand (exclusive of Muoiie) consists of persons bom in th^ Dominion, and that nearly 90 per cent, of tho total pppulation were born within the British Empire 98.80 per cent, of the total population aro British subjects Tho following were the death rates vcr 1000 of the population in the four dfiei cities of New- Zealand ;— Auckland. 0.83 j Wellington. 0.82; Chmtchureh, 0.70 j Dunedin, 1.06. If the suburban boroughs ure included, the rates arc as follow (with the rates for November, 1910, shown in parentheses for comparison): — Auckland (0.72), 0.88; Wellington (0.69), 0.82 ; Christohurch (0.65), 0.71 : Dunedin (0.78), 0.88. The total births in the four chief cities and their euburbim boroughs amounted to 630 against 675 in Octobdi . The accumulation of beaches hi the bed of tho Hutt River has been commented upon during tho last month or so. Reporting on this matter at last night'e meeting o f the board, Mr. Fisher (overseer) said that tho trouble was occurring in various parts of the bod, and as a result tho nvor channel had been greatly ccrntractcd, and the ! protective works were liable to be detrimentally affected. At one spot, at least, tho bank was being gradually scoured away. To ensure the efficiency of the works, tho main current should be deflected by means of boom groynes, which it was desirable should be put in -this season. The chairman of tho board stated that he had made aa inspection of the spots mentioned, and he had come to the conclusion that Mr. KieWs recommendations were omply justified. At Melling the position was becoming serious, and the need for groynes wae very noticeable. The banks in places were 111 great danger of being washed away. Other members supported the chairman. The secretary stated that the finances ,of the board would stand the erection of two new groynes. Finally it wae decided to make a thorough inspection, and in the meantime to order the necessary timber for the work. "It is a really serious matter," commented tho chairman, "and I think these groynes will be the firet of a series which will, in time, extend from the mouth of the river up a* far as Melling. " A correspondent has written to The lost, questioning the absolute secrecy of the ballot. On enquiry from the Electoral Department, tlie following explana tion of the system adopted to secure eecrecy was made : —The elector'e roll number only "appears on the counterfoil, and not on the ballot paper, as formerly, thus making for the greater secrecy bf the ballot. On the back of the ballot paper a consecutive number is placed, and a corresponding number is, ehown on the counterfoil The consecutive number is merely used for tracing duplicate or plural voting when suspected. By this means only the handling of the counterfoils from the particular booths where the votes were recorded is necessary,, and not the ballot papers themselves, as under the old system. The counterfoils bearing the roll numbom of ?u Ct v r ?i are Bealed U P in a P ftl>( - >el kefoK* the ballot box is opened for the purpose of counting the ballot papeie after the poll, go that no opportunity is given to compare tho counterfoils with the ballot papers. It may be suggested that a deputy-returning officer recording only a omall number of votes could take v mental note of the consecutive number given to a certain elector'e ballot paper, and that when counting the papers after the poll he could ascertain the manner in which the elector voted. To do Uub, however, the deputy would require' to deliberately turn all the ballot papere face downwards, and examine the consecutive numbers on the back, remem benng all the time the consecutive number which he had taken a mental note of when preparing the particular ballot paper he desired to find. Such a deliberate infringement of the secrecy of the ballot in the presence of scrutineers is inconceivable. When counting the voles, it must also be remembered, the front of the ballot paper, allowing the candidates' names is uppermost, 4,0 that the consecutive number on the back of the paper is not seen, and any attempt to turn the papers face downwards would be immediately noticed by the scrutineers and poll clerks. Some interesting remarks were made by Mr. T. M. Wilford. M.P., at the complimentary "social" at Petone la-st evening, in acknowledging the congratulations of several speakers. q Earlier in the evenina Mv R. Fletcher, chairman ot the Harbour Board, remarked, "The time is now approaching when furtlicr honours will be 'leaped upon him,'-' while 3\lr. W. F. Shortt had said in his speech. I " In the Dear future we will' have the pleasure and honour of seeing Mr. Wil ford at the top of the political tree." (Applause.) Ifc wa» t6 the foregoing prophecies that Mr. Wilford referred to in his reply. > as follows: "The worst part of my public lifo comet, to-day, ar.d t am aboiit to miike an aiinouneemcn!) with which many -will be disappointed. I am informed by my medical advisor* that I am not ablo to take omce- if I am offered ,1 position. It comes hum. 1 have beon > eighteen years getting where I am politically. 1 believe, however, that betore a few mouths have packed I will be able to regain the fttrenirth that. 1 have lost." Mr. Wilford. who was obnotiEly affected, went on to nay that there ( were two_ alternatives : oh the one side was his health, and on the .other h,is main ambition. Regretfully ho would have to place the latter aside, and inform his constituents tint ho would nol bo an aspirant for "an office which in hie pivscnl state 'of health ho could not do justice to. A few months' absolute rest and quiet, however (exactly where ho would £</he did not jet know), should enable him— with Ilio people behind him-- 10 come into, that which he had to lose temporarily that daw (Loud applatifo.) , To him "the sacri/ico was hard. He had, indeed, hesitated" whether to rL'sign his seat or not, but before he went on his trip abroid. h<> would leave hie nomination paper, signed, behind, and leave him^lf in tho elicU/fj,' hanoV. (Applause.) tf. as many s' emcil to think, anoiher, election evoutuaivd wiiiio he wa<; away, ho , would rciy upim the district which ho had s-'eiv'cd po lonjr to rally voimd liib standard pin) secure his fe-elcetimi. Concluding, Mi- Wilfovu said h« Weeirt'd U> make a^ublic avowal that if he returned without ins health he would resign ln« scat. A* a matter of fact, he would say straight out now that, if so desired, he would take that t.tep now. (Cn'ee of " No, no ! '' and thwriny,.) The audionce then rose and sang. " For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and subsequently reaffirmed by a show of hands that it would " stick to Mr. Wilford through thick and thin." Kirkcaldid's wili be open all day v.omorrow (Saturday) fiom 9 n.m. 'to 10 p.m., and tho lea room will alao bo kept open until 10 p.ni.—Aslvt.