AUCKLAND EAST SEAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17909, 11 October 1921, Page 6

AUCKLAND EAST SEAT.

FOUR CANDIDATES STANDING

MR. RUSSELL AS LIBERAL.

LABOUR SELECTS MR. LEE.

The Auckland East by-election, occa- ! sioned by the resignation of the Hon. i A. M. Myers, promises to be keenly con- ! tested. There will at least be four candidates in the field, with a possibility of i a fifth. Those announced so far are: Mr. Clutha Mackenzie (Reform), the ] Hon. G. W. Russell (Liberal), Mr. J. A. : Lee (Labour), and Mr. G. H. Foster ! (Independent). In announcing Mr. Russell as the official j Liberal candidate yesterday, the leader , of the party, Mr. T. M Wilford, MP., ' issued the following statement: —' 'Having ; learned that the Hon. G. W. Russell is i now a resident of Auckland, and has ; entered into business here, having j perused the numerously signed. requisi - . tion received by him, and having also ' consulted a large number of representa- , tive Liberals in Auckland, I have accepted, on behalf of the Liberal Party,; Mr. Russell as the Liberal candidate for Auckland East. For over 30 years the . Hon. G. W. Russell has been a prominent ■ Liberal, and for 17 years of that period he has sat in Parliament, where he has always been recognised as one of the experts of the House on finance and labour questions. His return to Parliament will be a benefit to the Dominion in this time of stress, when ripe experience and a i matured judgment will assuredly count for much. I therefore recommend his candidature to all Liberals who have in ; the past supported the party. The Hon. G. W. Russell is a broad-minded man who possesses the very qualifications so urg- ; ently needed at the present time." A ballot of the members of Labour ! unions affiliated with the Auckland Labour Party, held yesterday, resulted in Mr. J. : A. Lee, president of the party, being I selected to contest the seat. The other ! Labour political aspirants nominated to go i to the ballot were Messrs. HL G. R. Mason, R. Way, and J. Purtell. Mr. Lee ] is a New Zealander and a returned soldier. ' He went on active service with the Fif- j teenth Reinforcements, and was awarded i the D.C.M. for conspicuous gallantry in j the battle of Messines. When the advance \ was held up by machine-gnn fire he went on alone, and, capturing the position, he , enabled the advance to be continued. Mr. Lee had his left forearm shot off at the I sugar refinery at Mailly Maillet on April j 12, 1918, and he returned to New Zealand I on Peace Day, 1919. He is a member of j the executive of the Auckland Returned j Soldiers' Association. I Mr. C. E. Statham, M.P., leader of the j National Progressive and Moderate Labour ! Party, is due in Auckland this afternoon j from Wellington. It is understood that • he is on business connected with the by- 1 election.

Mr. G. H. Foster announced last evening that he would be a candidate for the Auckland East seat as a straightsaut independent, and not as the nominee of any particular party. The enrolment of electors is proceeding apace, canvassers going from house to hoiise for the purpose of placing names on the roll. In addition, within the past few days a number of applications for registration as electors have been made to the registrar. MB. MACKENZIE'S CANDID ATTIRE. APPROVAL BY MR. MASSEY. Th« Auckland executive of the New Zealand Political Reform League has received intimation from the Prime Minister endorsing the acceptance of Mr. Clutha Mackenzie as the official Government candidate for Auckland East.