AN OLD-TIME ELECTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19170, 9 November 1925, Page 11

AN OLD-TIME ELECTION.

OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT,

INCIDENTS AT THAMES.

VIOLENT CAMPAIGN TACTICS

[The following account, of an election contest in the early days of Auckland has been furnished by Mr. Andrew Kay. of Orakau. It refers to tbe election to the office of Superintendent of the Auckland Province, in 1869, when Mr. T. B. Gillies was returned by 2531 votes to Mr. Williamson's 2479 votes, a majority, of 5*2. The superintendent was endowed with considerable powers. He presided at council meetings, controlled and administered the provincial lands and public expenditure, and was popularly known as tbe Chief Magistrate of the province.] Sixty years ago John Williamson, a popular Irishman, was in office, and his four years' term was about to expire. He was standing for election for a further term. A certain section of the community was professedly tired of his administration and took steps to terminate his reign by subscribing a considerable sum of money to fight the election. Dr. Pollen, a well-known and tried administrator, was the selected Opposition candidate, and the Thames was the centre selected to begin the campaign. Candidate Howled Down. Dr. Pollen was advertised to meet and address the "free and independent electors" in the Theatre Royal at Grahamstown, a portion of what is now Thames borough. Long before the appointed hour the hall was packed to the doors by Williamson's supporters, who elected a chairman who was regarded as hostile to Dr. Pollen. Hostile resolutions were carried and the candidate was refused a hearing. He was howled down and the unruly audience actually smashed the piano, made matchwood of the furniture and .broke the windows, all of which damage Dr. Pollen's committee had to make good. Dr. Pollen was so disgusted that he retired from the contest. Mr. Gillies, an Auckland solicitor, was induced to take up the running. The Thames was again selected as the "juinp-ing-off ground," but instead of a hall being hired, a platform was erected in an open space near Shortland. from which Mr. Gillies would address the electors. At the appointed hour, Mr. Gillies mounted the platform and called upon the large audience to select a chairman. The Gillies' supporters had arranged to elect Mr. Nolan, and the opposition were equally determined to elect Mr. Cculaghan, as chairman. A free fight was just about a certainty over who should preside, when Mr. Gillies, with great tact, intimated that he would have great pleasure in having Mr. Coulaghan as his chairman, following this startling announcement by reaching down, his hand and leading Mr. Coulaghan on to the stage. Thus the pre-arranged free fight was forgotten, and Mr. Gillies was accorded a very good hearing. During the address there was a company of fullv-armed volunteers being drilled close by. Of course, that was just a coincidence. * Very few people ever knew that those volunteers were there for the purpose of taking part should circumstances require it. A New Ireland Planned. At that time the Coromandel Peninsula, the Hauraki Gulf lands and the Matamata Plains were, with the exception of a fewvaliant goldseekers and a few Maoris, vacant places. Large numbers of Irishmen in the prime of life were, arriving from Nelson, the Grey, Buller and Hokitika goldfields, where a slump was on. Leading and far-seeing liishmen bad visions of turning this empty space into a kind of Irish Catholic federation, somewhat the same as the Scotsmen did with Otago, and the Englishmen did in Canterbury. And they had reason to think that. Mr. Williamson, if elected, would favour the scheme. The bait was certainly tempting, for it was a large expanse of fertile virgin land, splendid forests of the finest tim- | ber in the world, rich kauri gumfields, with gold and silver "by the ton" wait- [ ing to be won, by the profits from which ' the new State would run its own mint j Then there was the large landlocked sea- | board teeming with the most delicious fish in the world, besides the many mineral springs of Puriri, Paeroa and Te Aroha. The boundary of the new province was only vaguely defined. Tauranga, Te Puke and Whakatane were to. be included. There was provision in the New Zealand Constitution for the ceding of territory or for creating a new State. As an example, Westland had seceded from Otago a few years before. Thames had been agreed upon as an appropriate name for the new province, and the capital city to be built within it. was to be named Dublin. The promoters of the scheme were assured of a continuour stream of Irish farm immigrants to break in and occupy the promised land. The respective candidates for the coveted honour of superintendent of the new State did not q;o far afield, but they had agents working in their interests in every centre. There was at the time only one telegraph line in the province, and it was between Auckland and Te Awamutu. The line had been erected by the Imperial troops in 1863 and 1854. The Key Position.

The voting throughout the whole province of Auckland was expected to be verv even as between Messrs. W illiamson and Gillies. The qualification and system was then open voting by property qualification or miner's right. At those oldtime elections there were usually a few free fights at each polling centre. It was generally conceded that the candidate getting 'a majority vote at the Thames would just about win in t.he aggregate. Mr. Williamson's supporters took active steps to prevent known 1 Gillies supporters from entering the polling booth. At the Thames a row of stalwart young Irishmen, lately arrived from the Hokitika goldfields, ranged themselves on the courthouse verandah looking outwards. All were linked arm in arm, with one sympathetic policeman standing behind the row. The writer proceeded early in the day to record his vote, and in trying to squeeze past that row of stalwarts was greeted with "What are you jostling for ?" In the bustle created by the aggressive demeanour of the Irishmen, I grabbed the policeman by his pants, and that official actually pulled me up on to the verandah, otherwise I might have pulled him down. The Gillies supporters called a conference and resolved to remove the obstructors by force, but in the meantime all the pick handles from a near-by ironmongery were procured and handed to the obstructionists. Ou this evidence of a willingness to "mix it," the Irishmen | were left to their own devices, but the Gillies party managed to poll a majority. Each side had vehicles carrying voters •from Grahamstown, and in many instances the Gillies supporters would mount Williamson vehicles. When they arrived at the booth they were welcomed with a cheer and were accorded a free and unrestricted entrance to the polling booth. As to the state of affairs at Thames, it is sufficient to mention that the Fenian flag was flown over the courthouse all that day. When the numbers were announced Mr. Gillies was clearly in the lead—to the great discomfort of the Irishmen. Some weeks elapsed before all the returns were in, and until the last one arrived, the result hung in the balance. Returns from smalf places along the coast kept dribbling in by sailing craft Before the last reurn, which was from aipu, arm Mr. Williamson was leading by a very small margin. W;,ipu gavs a- block %o *| for Gillies and he was thereupon declared elected During the interval of suspense, however the Irishmen were so confident 5? success that they had taken forcible charge of some local affairs and administered them to their entire satisfaction. It took some considerable force o convince them that their side had the election. -