THE DUNEDIN NORTH ELECTION

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 420, 10 June 1922, Page 4

THE DUNEDIN NORTH ELECTION

.Mom; than ordinary interest attachesto the coming by-election for Dunedin North to fill the vacancy in Parliament caused by the death of Air Kellott, who was elected in tho interests of Independent Labour. Mr Kellett won the seat from Mr A. Walker in 1919, that gentleman having held it during the Long Parliament, which extended over [Torn December, 1914, to the same month in 1919. Air Kellett’s majority of 605 votes over .Mr Walker was considerably greater than that obtained by .Mr Walker over Mr G. M. Thomson, in 1914, the latter who won the scat for Reform in 1911, being merely defeated by 322 votes. Three candidates are now contesting tho vacancy; Mr J. .). (..'lark in tho independent Reform interest, but pledged to support tho Government on a no-confidence motion; 51 r W. Hogg, in the Liberal interest, and Mr J. W. Munro in the Labour interest. Mr Munro contested tho Dunedin Central scat in 1919 against .Mr Statliam, but was beaten on that occasion by nearly 500 votes, although be came within 12 votes of Mr Statliam at the General Election of 1914. Tho Labour vote, which in that year stood at 3732, advanced however*to 4272 in 1919—that is by 540, In the Dunedin North electorate, Mr Kellett, standing in the moderate Labour interest against .Mr Walker, received tho support of both the Reform aitd Liberal voters, but the latter lost ground, as his vote was only 3973 against .Mr Kellott’s 4784, and against his own vote of 4073 in 1914. The Labour vote is, however, very .solid and with two candidates splitting the moderate vote there would seem to be a likelihood of Labour regaining the seat, which it won from Reform in 1914 and held until 1919. At the same time Mr Clark is a very popular man, and. as an ex-Mayor of the city, carries considerable weight with the electors. But then, again, Afr Begg is an ex-Mayor and has a good many supporters who will work hard in his interests. Mr Clark is said to have a good chance of winning, and Mr Massey’s recent visit to Dunedin and the South has considerably improved tho Government’s position. But, with the salaries “cut” and wage reductions made and ponding, for which the Government is blamed, he would be a wise man who could safely predict the result. If Mr Munro can hold the 3978 votes polled in Mr Walker’s favour in 1919, it is a moral he must win, as the moderate vote is likely to be split in two. At tho same time, if the electors who abstained from voting in 1919 only 8881 votes wore then recorded out of a possible 11,199, that being the number of electors on 'the roll—there may be a very different tale to tell when the numbers go up. Mr Clark, by all accounts, has made an exceptionally good impression in his opening meetings and is displaying a wide knowledge of political matters which should not bo without its appeal to the electors. If the Government is fortunate enough to win the seat with Mr Clark there can ho very little doubt that it will have the country with it at the December elections.