EDEN ELECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5558, 9 September 1879, Page 6

EDEN ELECTION.

DECLARA.TION OF THE POLL. The declaration of tho result of the recent election for a candidate for tho representation of the electoral district of Eden in the General Assembly was made yesterday, at 1 o'olock, by R. C. Barstow, Esq., Keturning Officer, at tho principal polling-place of the district, Newmarket Hall. Both caßdidates, accompanied by friends, were present, and there was a good representation of the general public.

The Rbtdrnino Officer, on ascending the platform, was received with applause. He said it was now his duty to declare the reeult of the poll which had taken place on Friday, and to congratulate one candidate and condole with the other. 731 ballot-papers had been returned ; of these nine had been informal. In some no name had been struck out, and in others both names had been erased. Two individuals had voted twice, once at each of two polling-places, so that both votes were void. The correct returns,

The Returning Officer having read the numbers, declared Mr. J. A. Tole duly elected to represent the district of Eden in the General Assembly of New Zealand. The re«ult was received with loud cheering. Mr. Tole was received with cheers. He said, now that the contest was over, and the poll declared, they bad met for the last scene in the drama, to return thanks. They had done a great work, which would live long in the pages of New Zealand history, and this election would go down to posterity aa noteworthy. If he were to regard tbis victory as a personal one he could not, in the course of his life, repay the compliment to them, but he regarded it, not as a personal victory for either candidate, but rather as an expression of tho triumph of great Liberal prin-

ciples over individual interests. (Cheers.) It was, therefore, on behalf of these principles! and the great national cause that he had to thank them for his return as thfeir representative. He thauked especially those districts which had worked so cordially on his behalf, who had so nobly fought for hiui. He hid frequently told thtrn t!i*t the question lay between the rights of the people and those of individuals, and, as he had predicted, the people -won. (Cheers ) With regard to the conduct of the contest, it was said that all was fair in war and politics, but there were certain limits which had in this contest been transgressed, not by him, but by the opposite side, and that waa the introduction of religious discord. He simply mentioned this matter to them, and was proud to say that tbi", instead of damaging his cause, waa of advantage to him, by making his supporters mora united. (Cheers.) On that account he wished to record his thanks to his Protestant friends, who had fought nobly to stamp out the principle of religious distinctions. They were determined that the peace and harmony which prevailed at former elections, so far as this question was concerned, should not be disturbed in the present instance. (Cheers.) He had with him the sympathies in this election of the majority of the mtn and the blessings of the women, and one vote obtained with these good wishes was dearer to him than a thousand votes obtained by him under intimidation or pressure. Notwithstanding the efforts that had been made, the will of the people and the Liberal policy had prevailed, and individual interests bad to succumb. He had little more to say. He was aware that 309 votes had been recorded asainit him, but he would treat those who had voted against him with the same consideration ae those 409 who had voted for I'im He belived if there was a glass over the breasts of those 309 who had voted against him, they would see that they now rejoiced in his victory. He could only assure them that his services and energies would, as heretofore, be at the disposal of all his constituents, and he would endeavour to vindicate the great and solemn responsibility which had been entrusted to him, and now he could only thank them from the bottom of his heart. (Loud cheering.)

Mr. F. Wuitakkr was received with applause. He said he was there to exercise the privilege of a defeated candidate—to thank the electors for the very liberal support accorded to him. He Bhould first of all thank his proposer and seconder, and the 309 electors who had voted for him. He was very much obliged to them, and of course they only regretted that their efforts were not more successful; but thoogh they were beaten they were not disheartened. It had been his practice after elections to forget all bitterness and bear no man ill-will, but to meet them in the same friendly spirit he did before. His opponent had not been actuated by the same spirit. There was one objection which he had to make, and that was that after the election Mr. Tole should have gone to Howick, imported the Eden election there, and made statements regarding him which had no foundation in fact. It was qcito competent for Mr. Tole to have gone to Howick and Bpoken in support of any candidate in that district, but why Bhould he introduce the Eden election in order to throw dirt on his opponent ? fie regretted that Mr. Tole had made those statements, for it devolved on him (Mr. "Whitaker) to refute them ; but Mr. Tole had thrown down the gauntlet. He bad made statements which were untrue, and it was his (Mr. Whitaker's) business to refute them. As far as any of themselves were concerned, he bore them no ill-will, nor did he bear any ill-will to his opponent i but he did think, looking at the course he had pursued, that it was very unbecoming. He felt placed [in the position tbat he could not allow those statements to pass uncontroverted. Ho felt that they placed Mr. Tole and himself in false positions. There was no ill-will on his pait, but Mr. Tole had thrown down the gauntlet. He was not the man to challenge, but if he was challenged, then he would He did not call Mr. Tole a boy, or a poor boy, he had called it to himself, and his conduct in this instance was that of a very poor boy indeed to rake up old stone* as he had done. So far as the constituency was concerned, he would still retain the same cordial relationship towards them. There waa Mr. Lawrie, for instance, who, told him honestly he would rote against hiin. Now, the most cordial relationship existed batween them. His only regret was that a candidate after the election should htve raked up these stories. That was highly improper. He thanked" his supporters for th» »upport they had given him, and his opponents for the consideration they had shewn him. He had been patiently listened to at every meeting he addressed, and he never saw less rowdyism at any election. He had nothing to find fault with, and his only wish was that every disagreeable feature of th« election might be forgotten. It was only with the candidate he had a bone to pick, a*d he hoped they would pick it with the bvm good humour in which tho elections had been conducted. (Cheers.)

Mr. Tole proposed a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer, and, in doing so, said, in speaking to them that day, he had intended to be moderate. He might have

been much severer, but he fought a good fight with a veteran. Anything he had stated was perfectly true. He wished he could say the same for the other side. Mr. Whitaker seconded the motion. He was not now going to renew the contest. That would be a matter for the future, and and he would only now second the vote of thanks to the Returning Officer. The motion was carried with cheers. The Returning Osficbr Baid, in these elections he had _ introduced somewhat of an innovation in refusing to allow questions being put to the candidates. The reason was that on the occasion of the last election, when four candidates were proposed, they had first the epeeches of the proposers and seconders of each candidate, then the speeches of the candidates, and afterwards people came with long strings of questions, so that the proceedings laated from 12 o'clock till half-past 7in the evening. This was rather too much of a cood thing, and lead to unpleasantness, which he tried to prevent on the present occasion. He had now to thank them for their vote of thanks, and for the kind and friendly way in which the contest had been conducted. The meeting then terminated.

after a careful scrutiny were :— Tole. Whifcriker. Newmarket... ... - 142 142 Eden... ... ... 183 33 Whau 34 36 Paumure ... ... 50 48 Totals 409 300 Majority for Tole 100 —