THE GENERAL ELECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7081, 28 July 1884, Page 3

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

CITY NORTH. At one o'olock on Saturday the official declaration of the poll for City North took place at the Temperance Hall. There waa a ■mall attendanoe of about a. dozen electors. Tha elected member. Mr. T. Thompson, attended, hat Mr. - Jo*eph Newman,, the defeated candidate, waa absent. Mr. 8. Y. Colusa, the Deputy Returning Officer, said that it waa now his duty to declare the result of the poll, which had been held in this hall on the 22nd instant, as follows: — Mr. Joseph Newman, 196; Mr. Thomas Thompson, 748: informal rotes, 0. lie therefore declared Mr. Thomas Thompson duly eleoted as member of tho Honso of Representatives for City North in the forthcoming Parliament. Mr. Thompson, who was received with applause, said: I can only regret that thero are so few electors present to hear what I have to say, bat the smallness of the attendance serves to show that they are satisfied with the resnlt of the election. I have to thank the electors of City North for the confidence they have placed in me in electing me as their representative, arid I am especially gratified that the election has been conducted in sueh a fair spirit, and I am quite sare that Mr. Newman and myself part better friends than when we contested this election. I folly feel the responsibility of my position, and farther say that I am the representative not only of thoee who returned me, but of those who opposed me as well, and trust to be able to snow them that I have their interests and the interests of the district at heart. I trust that when the Auckland members get to Wellington they will stand shoulder to shoulder to preserve the interests of Auckland. Hitherto this has not prevailed, and it was often seen tbat nine voted on one side and nine on another, but I hope, that now they will atand shoulder to shoulder where the interests of Auckland are concerned. I trust yon will find that the oonfidenoe you have reposed in me will not be misplaced. I have now only to propoie a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Collios for the fair and impartial manner in whioh he has conducted the eleotion ; and, as Mr. Newman is not present, I will ssk you to pass it with aoclamation. (Applause.) ilr. Collins briefly acknowledged the compliment and the meeting terminated.

NEWTON. i The declaration of the poll for Newton took ' place on Saturday, at two p.m., at the Pon- ' sonby HalL There were only about a dozen 1 electors present. The Returning Officer (Mr. < Hulme) announced that ttie numbers, after : the scrutiny of tho polling, were : —Thomas Peacock, 730 ; C. A. DeLantour, 607 ;W. 1 O. Garrard, 2. The majority for Mr. Peacock was 123. He had therefore to declare Mr. Peacock as duly elected to represent Newton in the General Assembly. (Cheers.) Mr. Pkacook said it was his pleasant duty to express his hearty thanks to the electors who had honoured him with their confidence and placed him in the proud position of representative of Newton. As Mr. De Lsutour said at the outset, both candidates could not win it. It would be admitted on all sides, that the struggle, though carried on with vigour, had been oonduoted'without bitterness or personal feeling, and if the slightest vestige remained, he hoped it would die out. He could assure the eleotors, as a body, that so far as he waa ooncerned, he should not consider whether an elector had opposed him or not, but would use his beet enaoavours to be serviceable to all, giving to eaoh man a courteous hearing, and honestly trying to give effect to the views_ and wishes of his constituents. On one point he desired to be clear and thoroughly understood. He should be glad if the working men of Newton would recognise in him one of themselves^—« true friend—and who, without attempting to impose on them by mere flattery and empty professions of solicitude for their welfare, would carefully guard and defend their interests, and seek in their prosperity a true basis for the steady progress and advancement of the country. It cave him much pleasure also to move a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer, Mr. Hnlme, for the courteous, impartial, and efficient manner in whioh he had fulfilled the duties of his offioe. (Cheers.) Mr. Laiito returned thanks on behalf of Mr. DeLantour. That gentleman wonld have been proud to have represented Newton, as he regarded it as an important electorate, and ho had gone awajr a little disappointed. He had.to express his gratification at the orderly manner in which the contest had been carricd out. There was no disorder, and the relations between Mr. DeLantour and Mr. Peacock had been characterised by courtesy and good feeling. If Mr. Pcacock carried out the programme he had laid down, it was just possible he would have a walk over next time. As to the Returning Officer, and the way in whioh be had performed his duty, he could only endorse the remarks of Mr. Peacock, and had great pleasure in seconding a vote of tbanks to that gentleman. (Cheers.) The Retursisq o*fickr, in acknowledging the compliment, took oocasion to reply to soma strictures whioh had appeared in on# of the evening jonrnals as to delay in recording votes, and in announcing the state

of the poll on the evening of eleotion day. He might «ay, in explanation, that tho constituency was the largest in the province, if not in the whole colony. As to thedelay in annonncing the state of the poll, bad he simply given tho returns of the Ponsonby polling place when made up, most of tho crowd ontside would have gone away without knowing the result at the Newton West and Avondale polling stations, and therefore the issue 'of the contest. He had given instrnotiona to his deputies at those stations to forward immediately to the Ponsonby station the rotnrns as soon as possible, so that he might be able to givo to the people at the earliest possible moment the result of tho oontsst. The delay only involved a few minutes, but he was glad to know that his anxiety to place the electors promptly in possession of tno information was appreciated. _ Mr. Garrrard did not appear to return his thanks to the two electors —" faithful among L the faithless only found"—who had recorded | their votes for him.

PARNELL. There vu a very small attendance of abont half-a-dozen electors present at the Parnell Hall on Saturday on the occasion of the official declaration o! the poll. The Rktdrnino Offiosb (Mr. W. F. Lodge) declared the result of the poll at the three boothn as follows :—Mots : Parnell, 294 ; St. Sepulchre's, 127 ; Newmarket, 101. George: Parnell, 225; St. Sepulchre's. 95 ; K ewmarket, 94. Totals: Moss, 522; George, 414. Majority {or Moss, 108. There were four informal votes at the Parnell booth, and eight at St. Sepulchre's He deolared Frederick Joseph Men duly eleoted to represent the electorate of Parnell in the forthcoming Parliament. < • Mr. Moss said it was evident that the cleotion excitement had worn off, and he was very glad indeed to find that this was the case. It was uaneoesury for him to repeat what he had Slid the other night when returning thanks for his election, But he would again thank those who had so well worked for him, and to say how much he attributed to their exertions the position which he now held. As he would be leaving for Wellington shortly he probably would not have an opportunity of thanking them individually, and he took this opportunity of making public his thanks. He felt deeply grateful for the poiition in which he was placed. It showed not only that the electors trusted him, but it was a complete vindication of his oonduct in regard to wnich so muob bad been said, both prior to and daring the eteotion. However, all that would now be forgotten, and his dnty would be to do his best for the oonstituenoy, not forgetting that he represented those who voted against him as Well as those who voted for him. He would now say no more than, that he was obliged for the position iu which the electors placed him. Mr. Wakehim returned thanks for Mr. S. T. George, and hoped at some future time Mr. George would be more successful than he was on this occasion. On the motion of Mr. Moss, seconded by Mr. Waxehav, a vote of thanks was accorded to the Returning Offioer, and this concluded the business.

MANUKAU. The official declaration of the result of the polling for Manukau was made at the Courthouse, Onehunga, on Saturday by Mr. O'Oaliaghan, Returning Officer. The numbers announced were: O'Rorke, 540; Lawry, 404. A duplicate vote given to Mr. Lawry at Epsem and Onehunga was struck off, making bis total 404 in place of 406, as stated at the unofficial declaration. There were 16 informal votes.

The Bkurkiho Orrioiß declared Sir George Maurice O'Borke elected to represent Alatrakaa in the House of Representative*.

Sir Maobioc O'Robkb said hi* first dnty vu to render his earnest thanks to hn supporters who stood by him so devotedly, ud bore themselves so steadfastly daring the recent contest. Theirs was the victory, not his. Now that the excitement was over, one oonld contemplate tha difficnlties that bad to be surmounted, the dangers to be met, and the schemes to be counteracted. It wonld not beoome them to be immoderately exultant, bnt they were clearly entitled to be reasonably jubilant at the result. They had heard on Tuesday last, at the unofficial declaration of the poll, that the same eontest that they had jnst passed through awaited them at the very next opportunity, unless in the meanwhile he should have sstisfied every demand that might be made. To satisfy all wonld require something more | than human. He was gratefal to Mr. La wry for giving them the timely warning, for to be forewarned was to be forearmed. In the mtanwhile they would aot wisely by taking a lesson of their opponents by diligently enrolling those of kindred sympathies with themselves. Look how rapidly and how legitimately the number of voters could be increased. Two years and a-half ago Epsom had but 36 votes ; this week they had grown to 124. On the previous occasion his opponent mustered a majority of twoat the Epsom polling booth , this year the majority over bim had swollen to 90. He took this lesson to heart. He would probe the reasons of it, and perhaps the other districts too might be stimulated into as active a growth of the electoral rights as this particular district had under tbo nursing oare of _ somebody. However, that majority of 90 did not in the least disconcert him. The roll call of the old guard had to be made and announced, and the temporary majority of 90 soon melted away. A majority of 72 in Onehunga, 17 in Pannfare, IS in Remuera, not only redressed the balance, but turned the_ scale in his favour without the aid of the majority of 120, save one, from Newmarket. He congratulated his supporters that the man of their choice was the representative of their district, and that the representation had not slipped out of their hands through apathy or negleot. He regretted that the complexion of this election was not all of this roseate hue, but tbat death should have cast a funereal gloom ovor the day they last met there and converted it into a day of mourning and perpetual sorrow to the widow and fatherless children of the late Mr. Barton Ireland. That gentleman, with whom he had been acquainted almost since his arrival in the colony, unsolicited by him, expressed a wish that he should either propose or seoond him as representative for the Mannkan district. He expressed a similar desire in 1881. Last week be stood beside the Returning Officer seconding his (Sir Maurice's) nomination. This wet It the two candidates of that day paid the last respect to him by following his corpse to the grave. His friends had lost in him a man of sterling worth ; the district had lost one of its most enterprising colonists. Bnt this was not the only misfortune of the day. Mr. John Brennan, an active supporter of hts, nearly fell a victim to his zeal. Ascertaining the state of the poll at Newmarket, he, hurrying to Onehunga with the news, was ran into by a vehiole. He rejoiced, and he was sure they all rejoiced, tbat the wound had not proved fatal, and that he had been spared to hia wife and family, and to hismany friends who were gratified at hia success, and who admired his benevolence aod upright conduct. He had touohed on these two sad occurrences, which cast a melancholy giooln over the day. He onoe more congratulated them on their victory, and made room for his opponent to minister his consolations to those who had been less fortunate. (Cheers.) Mr. F. Liwbt would take rather • new departure on this occasion, and begin by thanking his opponents. Since the eleotion ho had been almost killed with kindness, not only from thoie who had worked and voted for him, but from those who were bound by old associations to his opponent, who said they did not vote against him (Mr. Lawry), but voted for their old friend. Sir Maurice O'Rorke. When the election was over he felt a lump in his throat as large as an egg, and he was hardly able to bear the kindness whioh was heaped upon him. He was not discounting in any degree the obligations he was under to those who worked and voted for him during the oontest. He had not spent threepence except in neoessary expenses, such as the hire of nails and for advertisements. Hehaa always felt that it was extremely humiliating if a man could not be reached through his intellect, but had to bo reached through his appetite. He congratulated Sir Maurice O'Rorke on the position he held at the present time. It proved that his position was invulnerable, because he (Mr. Lawry) believed if he could not put bim out no man in the colony could. (Hear, hear.) He did not believe Sir Maurice meant it, when he eaid tbat schemes had been brought to bear, and he now asked Sir Maurice if this was so— that he did not mean schemes, nnderhand schemes ?—[Sir Maurice O'Rorke : Oh, noj. Sir. Maurice O'Rorke had the first prize in winning, and he (Mr. Lawry) had the second in defeat. He did not know whether he would fight Sir Maurice again or not. [A voice : Von had better not. Laughter. 1 If he did he would fight in the same way as he had fought this. However, he was glad to hear Sir Maurioe say at the non-official declaration of the poll that he would cultivate Epsom. He could assuro Sir Maurice that the great heart of Epsom was large enough to hold him (Mr. Lawry) first and Sir maurioe seoond. The oltener Sir Maurice came there the better. He thanked those who had generously opEosed him in this contest. The reception e received at Onehunga more than satisfied bim with the result of the election. He believed there was never an election throughout the colony which had been carried out with the same harmonious feeling as that one. He was proud of Sir Maurice O'Rorke's victory, and ne was equally proud of hia own defeat.

(Cheers.) On the motion of Sir Maurice O Robke, seconded by Mr. Lawry, a vote of thanks wu passed to the Returning Officer, Mr. O'Callaghan, who briefly returned thanks. Xbreo oheeri wera giren for Bir Maurice O'Rorke. Three oheeri were alio given for Mr; Lawry by Bir Maurice O'Rorke's au{>porter*, there being none of this gentleman s supporters present. Mr. Lawry called for three cheers for Lady O'Rorke, which were heartily given. Before the meeting dispersed, Mr. Lawry said he thoaght it only jnst to Sir George Grey to say tnat he had no communication with him re this eleotion or coming oat to Onehnnga to address a meeting.