Prorogued by the Queen in Person

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1139, 22 January 1903, Page 4

Prorogued by the Queen in Person

Oil Urn J7tii of .Inly, scarcely a month after her accession, the Queen prorogued Parliament iu person. It was said that the Duclrcss of Keni and her Majesty's physician endeavoured 10 jiei\suado her not to undertake such an exciting ordeaJ. In fact, the "old folks" about Ihe young Queen undoubtedly showed a disposition lo keep her away from great, public ceremonials, thinking it not " ijnite nice" for a young maiden to be exhibited to a tlhroaging populu.ee. They had counted without their host. Victoria had made up iter mind to be a Queen in fact, and not a mere figurehead, and she quickly proved that she could perform the duties of her high estate without losing anything of her delicacy and modesty as a woman. As for the excitement afl'ectitig iter health, she laughed merrily at Hie idea, and bade her physician remember that after her vwy'tiuiet life she found pageants and ceremonials most diverting. So a splendid new throne was set up in the House of Lords, and around it was blazoned in gold letters, " Victoria Regina." The Queen was dressed for the ceremony in a white satin kirtle, embroidered in gold, ever which was a crimson robe of velvet, irimmed with ermine. Tbe robe was confined at the waist and shoulders with a gold cord and tatwels. Her stomacher was a mass of flashing jowdlh, and she wore diamond bracelets and the armlet I of the barter. On her arrival at the ! House, the upper part of her dress was exchanged for the" Parliamentary robes of crimson and eiinine. She laughed and chatted gaily with her ladies as they robed her. . I'reowled by rhe heralds ODdf lords-iii-waiting. and attended by all tb* great officers of St;:'-, she entered tbV House, wearing for ;ne tir.xt time a dfc* dem upon her brow. She ascended the ' throne with a linn step, and remained' .standing and smiling as the- lords-tn- j waiting completed her attire with the j mantle of purple velvet. Then in inimical accents came the words. " My lords, be seated." and Hie time-honoured cere-' inonial began. The reading of tt*e Queen's Speech was the event of the day. " I never heard anything better j read in my life than her speech," wrote j (Jnarles Sumner, who was present; and tiie Duke of Sussex, when she bad to- : ished, wiped his eyes as be exclaimed, " Beautiful! beautiful!"—"TUe Woman at Home/

Mr Hosking addressing the Court said that Mr Adams in the early part of his remarks stated that the matter "was one of grave importance. The implication was intended that it was a matter in which his friend eonsidered that the people had carried out their determination, but that on the other hand the other party were equally entitled to a view in the matter. In one sense it was a matter of importance because a large body of people conceived that they had carried prohibition in the electorate, while on the other, others had considered they might be depiived of liberties they had hitherto enjoyed, and that property might be affected in value. It was thought that the matter should be handled with the greatest car", hr.t no greater aire could be demanded of ut I'ei.cli than in n.y other question which would be decided under the same Act. The question was whether the determination of the majority of the people had been carried out in accordance with law, and he contended that it followed that different principles were to be avoided. The first position his friend dealt with in the later stage of his address was in regard to matters arising under sub-section (1 of the Act, and in reference to it be advised that they were to be guided by the Parliamentary decisions. It was perfectly clear that the principles they were to be guided by were not the same as prevailed in the electoral law. That was clearly set forth in the Akaroa case. The question was, whether the result of the determination of the people had been aileeted. The effect of adjacent subsections to tubsection 5 of the Act went to define a new case unknown under the common law, because the invalidating act was an irregularity which in the opinion of the magistrate tended to defeat him. Cases which dealt with the result of the election could be introduced for the purpose of determining whether the fairness of the election was found to be defeated. The question had nothing whatever to do with any supposed desire of the Legislature to assist in guarding the liberties of the people in any way ; but it was imperative that the law should be faithfully carried out in ascertaining the will of the people. The object of the regulations of the Act war, not merely for the purpose of determining whether an election was properly carried out or not, but the clauses were put*in to show the officials and the candidates where to look to in conductirg an election, and the object in introducing clauses was without doubt for the puipcse of Riving people interested in elections knowledge to enable them to have before them clearly a list of the various matters which they must be careful to attend to in conducting an election. Counsel cited portions of the Act relating to the time the poll should commence and inferring to the carrying out of an election. He pointed out that sections lO'.t and 110 of the Electoral Act corresponded exactly with the Licensing Act in this respect, ahd he submitted that when the nature of the invalidating irregularities was considered they could then consider what the other irregularities were expected to be. There was a highly technical point in the question referring to the notice, of the time of the election and of the situation of the booths. Tben they bad No. 2—that the poll was not open at the time required. A batch of evidence had been given on the subject of the ii-rfgnlurities, and one was regarding want of privacy, and he ventured to submit that in the face of evidence from witnesses the voting was not conducted with secrecy at Kdendale. As his friend bad said, even assuming that there was some license in the booths in consequence of their being too full, it was impossible to get anything in the shape of evidence to pr.:ve all that bad occurred at Edendale through want

of secrecy. The witness Pope had said that he saw one person voting, and even the witness called by the ether side admitted that unless the voter stood with his hack to the wall there was danger of his voting being observed. The schoolmaster at Edendale, an expert in constructing booths, was so successful that when his colleagues came on tha scene they advised, and had a change made in bis arrangements. Another charge made referred to the Gore booth in regard to the opening of voting p;pers. By the evidence of Mr Steans it was shown that he refused to allow his paper to be opened by the scrutineers. It was impossible to say what effect that sort of thing might have had upon voters outside. It might, indues them not to vote at all. and this might have had the tendency of iniluencing the election. These irregularities had to be guarded against, and when they » happened they were invalidating acts. All sons of dodges were resorted to in the excitement of an election, and the law had said that these irregularities should without any question invalidate the election. On the question of the evidence he was not going into details. Mr Smith's evidence was quite in accord with that of Messrs Miller and Boyne. The latter was evidently an energetic officer with ideas of his own us to when the doors of a booth should be opened, and who did not see anything wrong with the arrangements, but evidently he had not been there all the time. Other points stood out regarding booths. More people than required by the Act were frequently engaged in voting at one time; it was admitted that at times more than six people were present in a booth. Mr Adams stated that the Act contained a number of useltss things, but he tork it that any breach of the Act, directory or mandatory, would tend to make an election void. It was at small booths that ths most glaring irregularities occurred, and the case of the

scrutineers taking charge of papers was an infringement, as the Act said that instruction was only to be given by the returning officer. There was another irregularity in the opening up of the parcel of voting papers to ascertain the Diierc results. Jlr Boyne should have ignored the telegram, however, as the Act distinctly provided that there should be no tampering with the papers. He would pass from that point which tended to defeat the fairness of the election, and come to the question of time. His friend sought to impress the fact that the poll meant a process cf voting, and not taking the place into account; and he also stated that according to the Act no particular booth was bound by the hours prescribed, as this only meant the poll throughout the district. Counsel submitted that this reading of the Act was wrong, and that the poll had not been held wholly within the hours prescribed, and that the Act had not been complied with. His friend's statements tended to prove that if the operation of polling was going on in the district during the whole time, then the poll was not illegal. His contention led to this : that if the poll was closed at Gore but was.open for half-an-bour somewhere else the poll was still open at Gore. The case of Hedgehope proved that the deputy-returning officer was not present at the time appointed, being half an-hour ». late. The witnesses had not all baen drawn & from his side, and the only evidence brought, B against them was the feeble evidence of Wilson, who probably thought that he would not like to see the faith of the returning oilicer called into question. Wilson had not kept within the limits of strict accuracy. There could be no question of the time of starting at Hedgehope, and they closed at 6 o'clock. Regarding simultaneous voting, he thought the word might be taken in a reasonable sense. The Act provided that voters must perform both operations at the same time. Three voters at Hedgehope waited until the poll was opened ; but it was fortunate that they had waited for some time, being unable to vote. His friend contended ihat°it was not necessary that McKay should have waited for Wilson to bring the seal befor,3 commencing voting—that an " official aiark " on the ballot papers was sufficient. The Act provided that the same official mark should be placed on both papers, and that they should be given simultaneously. That was impossible in the absence of Wilson. He submitted that the case of Hedgehope was absolutely fatal to the poll. As his friend had observed the law was an a=s and be had no doubt Mr Adams was ea"'er to have the law amended. There was al"o the case of Waikawa Valley, where the pollit'g bnoth and dwelling were under the same roof, and the former had been locked on two occasions for 20 minutes during meal times. A man came and was seen by the servant and he said he would call again. The inference could only be that he had come to record his vote. Others may have come whom the servant did not see. Another person was captured there and taken in fci tea. On the whole counsel thought his Worship could not have the slightest difficulty in coming to a decision. ..,,,-, 3 -n. The Magistrate said he had listened with

agreatdealof pleasure to the addresses of both counsel, but on account of the nature of the question he would reserve his decision in the meantime, but would inform them as soon as he had arrived at a decision. He complimented both sides on the admirable conduct of the cuse. Messrs Hosking and /.dams having acknowledged the complini'it the court rose.