THE HARBOR POLL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7067, 20 January 1885, Page 2

THE HARBOR POLL.

The poll which will be taken to-day, and which will decide the future of Hawke's Bay for many years to come, is altogether unique in the procedure provided. Not only do dead men, absentees, and those who refrain from voting count as having voted against the proposal, but the poll is so complicated that unless great oare is exercised many of the votes polled will be useless in consequence of errors. The poll may be called a " two-horned one." Each ratepayer has at least two votes — one for himself as an individual ratepayer; the other for his property. No man can give more than one vote as an individual, however many he can give as a property owner. Two kinds of ballot papers are provided. One— the smaller — is for the individual vote ; the larger ones are for the property vote. No man must fill up more than one of the small papers. To make this clear we will suppose that A. owns property in four polling districts— say he has two votes at Napier, three at Clive, five at Hastings, and four at Waipawa. At the first booth — we will suppose he votes first at Napier— he will ask for one small paper and two large ones. At the other booths, when questioned, he must say that he has voted before, and he will then receive only large papers— if a small ope should be given to him he must not use it. To repeat, a voter, however often he may vote, must not use more than one small paper, but as many large ones as are given to him. Each ballot-paper will have two prominent lines, as follows : — I vote FOR the proposal. I vote AGAINST the proposal. If the voter intends to vote for the harbor works, he must strike out the BOTTOM line; if against, he must strike out the top. line. Should anyone be in doubt as to the right way to vote let him ask the presiding officer for instructions. That the poll will be a large one today is a certainty, but if the harbor is to be made it must be almost unprecedentedly large. Once more we say that he who is not for us is against us, and that every man who refrains fr6m voting counts as voting against the harbor. The opponents need not trouble to vote at all, as they practically register their votes by staying at home. Therefore to every man who wishes to see the future prosperity of Hawke's Bay we say "POLO; poll no matter what trouble and inconvenience you have to inour to register your vote. On your vote alone may depend the issue. Act, therefore, as if you knew that on your one individual rote rested our future prosperity." To-night the issue will be decided, and we look confidently forward to a favorable verdict, notwithstanding the tremendous handicap in favor of the opponents of future prosperity.