SEEKING ELECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 147687, 5 September 1911, Page 8

SEEKING ELECTION.

THE " SEATLESS MINISTERS."

WHERE WILL THEY STAND ?

RUMOURS FROM WELLINGTON.

(BT telegraph.—-special correspondent.] Wellington, Monday. The two " seat less Ministers," as Sir John Find lay and the Hon. T. Mackenzie are now coming to be called, have evidently no easy task in selecting a safo constituency wherein to woo with soft whisperings of roads and bridges the coy elector. Statements received hero from visitors, and also by letter, indicate that in more than one district the electors are being encouraged to promote requisitions both to Sir John Findlay and the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie asking them to becojpe candidates at the general election. A Visitor's Allegations. A recent visitor to Wellington has stated that before leaving home ho saw a letter from a very prominent member of the Government party in which the many advantages the district would gain by having a Minister to represent it were forcibly put forward. The writer went on to say that in such a case the district and , its electors might bo quite certain of being well treated in the way of Parliamentary grants for roads and bridges. The visitor who brought these tidings also stated that some settlers who had been previously inclined to support tho Government considered that the proposal was almost an insult and refused to have anything to do with it. Before many days have passed we shall no doubt be hearing something more about these requisitions. The Wanganui Seat. Meantime, it is stated, on what seems good authority, that Sir John Findlay will be " found contesting the Wanganui seat _ at the next election. If so, this will bo an excellent choice. Wanganui, since the days of Ballance, has always been regarded as a, Liberal! seat, though it was for a time held by Mr. Carson, well remembered still as ii prominent Oppositionist. There has for some time been a rumour current that Mr. Hogan would be asked to stand down in Sir John Findlay's interest, the understanding being that Mr. Hogan would be provided for either by giving him a seat in the Upper House or by giving him a Government billet. Mr. Clark's Constituency. A -Taranaki resident suggests that, the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie would have a good chance of*wiiuiing the Egmont seat, now held by Mr. Dive, an Oppositionist. Others again state that lie would have a better chance Of election for Chalmers, which embraces much of a former constituency that he represented in Parliament. *In the event of his deciding to contest this seat Mr. Clark, the present member, who is very popular in the constituency, would have to be reckoned with. Of course, Mr. Clark might be prevailed upon to retire in favour of the Minister, or to seek fortune farther north in the new Oamarus constituency. It seems doubtful, however, whether Mr. Clark could be so persuaded. Meantime the two wandering comets of the Ministry are a, very disturbing " element in , the political firmament. No doubt, however, we shall soon be able to calculate their orbits with a greater degree of accuracy.