ELECTION PETITION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10541, 18 March 1920, Page 5

ELECTION PETITION

THE STRATFORD CASE FINAL EVIDENCE. AND COUNSEL'S ADDRESSES. DECISION TO-DAY. B v Telegraph—Special to tlia ''Times." STRATFORD, March 17. On the Election Court resuming this morning, it was decided to proceed uo i further with the examination with regard to aliens, as it was held tha't nothing which could bo proved would iufeec the xeault. Mr M. ivlyc-rs (for tlio petitioners) accepted tile other side's eyUmate of 'ho actual majority of sixteen if all tiio votes objected to and allowed in the recount showed 'Hint tweiucy-lwo soldiers' vows had been found without the nece-sKu-y application in writing. Tho main evidence for the respondcnt proceeded. James McAllister, member or- the orchestra which played on October 30tih, stated that he arranged for the music and paid for it out of his own pocket. -Cross-examined, McAllister paid he was not aauioyed when Fox itcld him ho had told Young he thought Gardiner had paid for the music. He thought Fox wag foolish, but witness was nafc annoyed because Fox had admitted that he had "been paid. Witness got tho receipt as he was expecting trouble. He _ oxpooted this trouble owing: to the private inquiry which' seemed to ho Jroing on: Honrv Gardiner, employed nv Masters, Ltd., who acted as secretary of Mr Masters';, -election committee denied authorising; the advertisement regn.rdinc; free pictures, though Ward asked him if he. intended t" do so on December IRth. Witness did no 1 , attend! at the Kins;'s cinema.. reiving on the theatre people, to look after the meeting. MR MASTERS'S EVIDENCE. Robert Masters, in Ids evidence, said that all ho know about 'the music at tlie Town Hall on October 30th was that McAllister told him thero would be music. Tho object 'of the music was 'to keep the people in a good humour, and they were! in a good humour when he started' to speak. He made no payment for music. Witness gave no lnstruotions for the showing of pictures on December 16th. All he said to tho manager was 'that he would he at tho theatre to speak at 8.30. Witness had nothing to do with the free picture advertisement. He did noib regard pictures as any benefit to him, though fle could fill tho' hall without pictures. He did not supply tho rtewspaper with.'a paragraph, in which at was announced that an orchestra, at seven players would perform on October 30th. , This concluded respondent's case. NO CORRUPT MOTIVE. [ Sir John Findlay, addressing the court, said that Mr Myers appeared to have overlooked decided cases m which it had been held that refreshments of a moderate kind must be regarded as innocent. How could it be contended that in regard to the October 30bh meeting that Masters had a corrupt! motive, that his intention was to influence the votes of those present? Entertainment only became an offence -when it was of a. certain degree and was persisted in to an extent that would influence voters. It was not reasonable to presume in a prosperous electorate like Stratford that threepence worth of pictures would cause voters to change their minds. In the Wairau case, there had been something much graver in the way of spending money on refreshments, and thero was evidence that the instances quoted were not isolated.

WiHIAT PETITIONERS MUST PROVE.' Petitioners in the present cage must prove that respondent provided entertainment not only for the purpose or drawing an audience, but also for the purpose of influencing the votes or electors. Mr Masters did not desiro to have pictures. His was the only meeting in Stratford that night. Mr Hme was speaking elsewhere, and Mr Masters was sure that ho could fill the hall without the help of pictures. « Masters was entitled to infer that the Amusements Company put on the pictures; "on their own account. As to tho contention that the orchestras in question amounted to bands under the Act. tho Legislature had in mind hands which paraded the streets and drew crowds which some times clashes. The object of the legislation was to protect the peace. Counsel concluded by voicing the opinion that the Stratford campaign was run on tho hest lines by both sides, and there was no cause for complaint, .if < it was necessary to have justification for !the expenditure at the King. s cinema, it could be found in schedule fivo under the expenses of holding meetings or miscellaneous matters. MR, MYERS'S ADDRESS. Mr Myers, addressing the court, drew attention to tho serious view tho Legislature took of any corrupt or illegal, practice. There was no half-way house. In England the court had power to grant relief, but this power did not I exist in New Zealand. He ventured ] to suggest that it was a good thing j that there was no such power, because candidates should know and recognise , I their' responsibilities, and this would purify our public life as it should be | purified. Candidates were responsible I tor the actions of their agents and tho I relation of agency was different to the ordinary relation of principal and | agent. If it did not matter Fox was paid by McAllister or Gardiner, counsel submitted that McAllie- ' ter was tho agent of Masters, and that Ward, manager of the cinema, also was tho agent of Masters. It was all very well for other witnesses to say that Ward did or said this or that, bait he should have been called. Sir John Fiudlay : He has been hero all the time. You had him subpoenaed, and could have called him. Mr Myers: You could not expect mo to call a witness who was so sure to be hostile. [ "ILLEGAL PRACTICES." Mr Myers went on to quoto authoi- j ity to show that agency could start | long before an election; also that illegal practices were offences, even though no immoral intention were l proved. In onp, case quoted, tho jud(£Q I said that illegal practices wore intend- ] ed to be prohibited, although there was I no bad intent. Counsel claimed that | tho action of Docem'ber 16lh was a corrupt practice, becaueo it. was a i of bribery. j "Sir Robert Stout «iaid he thought!

that common law would not help counsel. Could counsel quote cases where music had been held to bo bribery. Mr Myers submitted that the supply of music might become a corrupt ictico through the supply taking place on the eve of an election. The timo was material. If tho supply had taken place six months before the election it might be difficult to prove it a corrupt practice. Many electors wero just over the ago of twenty-one. Tbeso wero a. class who usually went to pictures, and wero "more liable than others to be influenced. Such electors might think from tho entertainment that was given tha"t it came from a generous m:ui. This the legislation was designed to guard against. Counsel emphasised that it was a close election, tho majority being only Gl out of 6000 votes cast. Masters' had left the manager of tho theatre to arrange tho meeting of December 16th, and that constituted Ward An agent of Masters, and Masters was responsifolo for all Ward did. The court adjourned till 3 p.m. tomorrow, when decision will bo given.