DUNEDIN NORTH SEAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18120, 19 June 1922, Page 6

DUNEDIN NORTH SEAT.

BY-ELECTION CAMPAIGN. CANDIDATES' PKOSPECTS. WEAKNESS OF OPPOSITION. fBY TELEGBAPH. —OWN COBBESPONDENT. ] DUNEDIN. Saturday. Interest is growing in the Dunedin North by-election, and the polling should be fairly heavy on Wednesday next. Dunedin, however, has certainly had more exciting times leading up to an election In fact, the people appear to have made up their minds that the seat is going to be won by Mr. J. J. Clark (Government), and are quite satisfied that it should be so. The Opposition Party has cut a most disappointing figure in the contest. In the first place the local representatives of the party, Messrs. Statham and Sidey, M.P.'s, gave the favour of their selection to Mr. W. Begg, an ex-Mayor of Dunedin. Quite unaccountably they passed over the c'aims of Mr. H. E. Moller, who contested the Chalmers seat against Mr. J. M. Dickson six years ago in the Liberal interest, but whose health broke down completely shortly after the campaign started and he had to retire. It is not probable that Mr. Molhsr would have won the North Dumedin election on the present occasion, but he had occupied many public positions.in Dunedin, and he has seldom, if ever, been beaten in any election campaign in which he has taken part. He would certainly have put some life into the fight. He has hosts of friends, and they always rally round him. If he ever gets returned to Parliament, and he intends to stand in December for Chalmers or Dunedin North, he will galvanise the Liberal party. The fight on Wednesday is between Messrs. Clark and Mumro (Labour). Mr. Munro's supporter;; made a tactical mistake when they brought Messrs. McCombs, Sullivan, and Howard, M.P.'s from Christchurch to assist in the ejection, and with Mr. Holland, M.P. to arrive, it ia understood, on Monday night. Mr. Munro would have done better without them. He is not of the militant Labour type., and was not very popular in certain Labour circles at the time of the war because- he addressed recruititt£ meetings. Another visitor, to Dunedin is Mr. W. A. Veitch, M.P. for Wanganui. He is speaking to-night on behalf of Mr. Begg. The Prime Minister has telegraphed an indignant denial of the allegation made '"- Mr. Begg that he had only come to Dunedin at winter show time in-order to assist the Reform candidate, and the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society has published the correspondence commencing last December which'"resulted in Mr. Massey's visit.