THE GENERAL ELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14381, 26 November 1908, Page 8

THE GENERAL ELECTION

DUNEDIN NORTH, ACTUAL POSITION UNCERTAIN. Tho result of the Dunedin North election k still in tho balance, yesterday morning Mr Thomson had a majority of two votes, but thrco seamen's votes which, camo to hand went to his opponent, arid Mr Barday was thus placed in tho lead by ono vote. Eive other seamen's votes aro on tho way, also an absent voter's permit (which was unused in tho first ballot). . A scrutiny of tho Toll was commenced yesterday afternoon in the presenco of representatives of both parties. It is expected that this dreary task will bo finished this afternoon, and a, recount of the votes will then ho entered upon in tho presenco of a J.P. Several voters, it is rumoured, orossed out Mr Barclay's name and placed a. 0r05.. ; against that of Mr Thomson.' If these votes were counted as informal it scema open to question whether they should not now bo registered in' Sir Thomson's'favour, notwithstanding tho cross, A definite announcement of tho. result may bo looked for to-morrow. NELSON.' (Tib United Press AssocuneH.) NELSON, November 25. Of 12 seamen's votes Mr Atmoro and Mr Graham get six each, and Mr Graham's teturn; is now certain, as Mr Atmoro required 15 of the 17 permits to win'.. There as. some talk of a recount, irregularities being alleged. Returns received to-day . .reduce Mr Graham's lead to 18. Only firo rotes ore now outstanding. ''•" . , ' CHALMERS. ■; MR, CLARK'S HOME-COMING. j ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION AT. • , PALMERSTON. f Mr E. H. Clark,' M.P.,' line successful dandidato ; for tho Chalmers seat, was accorded a very cordial reception on his return to Palmerston yesterday. There was ■". great deal of excitement in the township when it became, known ithat Mr Clark, who has been Mayor of Palmerston for soven years/ had' successfully contested tho seat against Mr E. G. Alton. A largo number of townsfolk and peoplo from the surrounding. districts crowded togother at tho railway station to record a hearty welcome.to ; Mr Clark->after his successful campaign. .Tho driver of the engine on the incoming train, apparently realised the importanco of, the occasion, and sounded blasts from tho whistle when tho train was yet within half a mile of Palmoreton. , ''On arrival Mr Clark was greeted with a deafening salvo of cheers and tho lusty Btrame the Palmerston- Band playing • See, the conquering hero comes." Tho successful candidate then came in contact with the, crowd, who boro ihim slwulder, high through tho streets of Palmerston.' r ; his , 'over ) a fresh.ovation greeted tho new member, and through .the din Mr R. W. Wheeler was heard-.to 6ay,that thoy had .a&effihlod to welcome Mr Clark homo after tfn arduous, but, he was pleased to be able to say, a successful contest. At the outset it had seemed to them that Mr Clark's chances were very slight. Then their hope ,tyw almost ceased, but when tho second ■ballot,commenced hope had revived. On the previous .night (Tuesday) that hope had blossomed into certainty when thoy heard with, ..rejoicing that Mr Clark had been returned by a large majority. As most of them knew, Mr Ulark had occupied many proiiiment positions, in all of which he had commanded the respect of tho public. Thev were all proud of Mr Clark and of his achievement. He was, however, just' commencing his life's work. On behalf of the residents of Patoerston he (tho speaker) had the greatest pleasure in sincerely and affectionately congratulating Mr Clark on Chappy results of a great contest, , Mr Clark, who was received with a fresh outburst- of enthusiasm, said there were times- when ho found it difficult to express , his feelings and this was one of them. He l»d.deoided at the commencement of the contest to contest'the seat honourably, and though doubt ess a good deal of mud had heen thrown, he had not been responsible; and this had been recognised by Mr Allen in.his address to the electors of Port Chalmers on the Nprevious night.-(" Hear hoar. It had been a hard fight, but he WOuloV M y that throughout thl campaign ho hadreosived nothing but kindness and courtesy, even from his opponent's' supporters When he heard that the Hon. J. ~ A. Millar was to address Mr Allen's committee at Port Chalmers ho had regarded it as the greatest compliment a siftm" (Cheere.) Mr Clark went on to say that he must heartily thank them' for the enthusiastic and.affectionate manner in which they had reoeiyecl him. He need hardly assuro them that rpm his seat in the" House ho would dol, ls best for New Zealand in general, Chalmers in particular, and for his own little homo. Mr Clark concluded his address am,d cheers, the band'playing - Iheres no place like home." Mr Lofevro, who accompanied Mr Clark on his electioneering 1 tour, said that as far as he. was concerned the" work had hecn one of tne greatest pleasure he bad ever known. Mr Clark had had a hot fight, and Jiact on one occasion addressed no less than tour differant, meetings in one day. He ccud no thi n g more t , han endorse f , well-expressed opinions of Mr Wheelerbut he rait (hat y T Clark , s cam] . l ; ture had been so popular that, when the result liad been announced at Port Chalmers roar after roar of, cheers had arisen/ H« tm I,e"1 ,e " P^'ted-the priy.es at tha -Palmerston athletic evening sports meeting and, thus the most enthusiastic «,'.-: ception that Palmerston perhaps had ever witnessed for many a long day was brought At •,night an impromptu banquet, was given m honour of the successful candidate and among the toasts honoured were those of Mr Clark and Mr E. G. Allen. THE OPPOSITION STANDPOINT. MR MASSEY INTERVIEWED;.'. •.■(PKt 'United Press Association.) ,"• n • £, November 25. On being interviewetriiy a Standard reporter to-day, Mr'Massey said that at the recent election, the Opposition had done as . well, as they expected. They had WO n nine seats, .including Dunedin -North,' about which there was .some little doubt,-.and six of thom-Palmerston,,'Manaw.atu, Ashburton, Tuapeka,, YVollington North, arid DunWill Aorth-wnro wrested ' from tho Government; while Egmdnt-a new seat-had been won for the Opposition. "Sir Joseph Ward has expressed nimself as being proud of jthe Government victory, but the fact is ; said -Ur Massoy. "we havo captured the outworks, and it remains to lie seen whether the Government will he able to hold the citadel at- our next attack. Nothing ia more significant than tho fact that the large Government majorities of three years ago have in neariv every case been reduced to insignificant, proportions." T>. plying to a query as to whether he had seen a statement made by the Hon. Mr Fowlds, that f.h<j Opposition had been' conadorably weakened in the Auokland (listrict, Mr Massey said he had read the Ministers remarks, but, like many other statements-made by tho lion, gentleman it was grossly misleading. Tbu fact was that there were no Opposition candidates for the three city seats at Auckland, and Mr Fowlds apparently counted the whole'of the votes recorded in tho citv as voles for the Government, whereas the Opposition at Auckland had no opportunity of recording their votes in favour of a candidate on their own side; and in such cases they simply voted for the Government candidate thev considered would make the best renresentative. • ' "Sir Joseph "Ward referred to unfair methods in his speech at Wellinclon last night," said,Mr,Massey; "but I think one of the meanest things I have ever heard of ill connection with politics in this country was the reflection upon the memory of Sir Harry Atkinson, by the distribution throughout the Dominion of pamphlets cont.ainiivg the schedule of wages paid upon relief works during a depression for which ho. was not in any way responsible, out which was brought about by tho reckless finance of tho Liberal Government whioh had preceded him. , "With regard to tho 'second ballot, Mr Ma6sey said tho relative strength of the two parties' had practically not been' altered ■from what it would have been had there been only one ballot. The principle of the second ballot was bad. inasmuch as it was artended to provent minorities from having any representation whatever, and it would be for Parliament to say whether or not it would be continued. Any change from tho old system should ho in tho direction of what ho (Mr Mas6ey) himself repeatedly advocated—proportional representation. 'Mr Mossey said.he believed that the new Parbament would bo a great improvement oh the old Parliament, in the way of being much more independent, and ho imagined that most of the new members on the Government side of the House would have greater freedom than thoy havo had in tht gast

MR JAMES ALLEN'S OPINION. Mr James Allen, one of the- foremost members of the Opposition party, was asked by a Times reporter yesterday for an-expression of opinion on iho results of the'general election from the Opposition point of view. "To, try to estimate the effect of the elections by counting up the number of votes east by each party is," Mr Allen said, " more or less stupid. It is almost' imcome to any satisfactory con-1 elusion in that way. One can, however, arrive at a conclusion as to general results from actual fads, and there can be no doubt, from a perusal of these facts, that there has been a very, considerable change in public opinion, That is clear from the largo increase in tho number of' Opposition candidates who have been returned, and, generally speaking, a very largo majority has been secured. On the other band, tho Government lias lost a number of 6oats, • and some of their most faithful followers have been defeated. One has only to instance what has . taken place in Otago, where. Mr Macphcrson (Tuapeka), Mr E. G. Allen (Chalmers), ant 1 the Hon. Mr M'Nab (Mataura) have been . rejected,, and' one could widen that by going further afield. Again, Government members that have in years past been returned by .very large majorities have now only secured their seats by comparatively small ones. It'seems to me -that the country districts especially have awakened to' the proper situation of the affaire of the Dominion. But I am persuaded that there is still in existence a fear that has been generated among electors over the past 10 or 15 years of voting as they would like to vote. What. I mean is that a big section of the people has been terrorised during that period against voting as they would like to, and that same feeling still exists, though nothing Jike to the same extent as formerly. I can only hope that New Zealand will be set free from suchinfluences as fhis. I am also persuaded that, men in some electorates are still influenced by votes for roads and bridges, and it will bo a bright day for New Zealand when we are sot free absolutely from these minor 'influences which operate so much at election time, and when every member can devote himself to the Teal interests of the whole of the Dominion as well as his own constituency. I am also satisfied, from my knowledge of elections, lipw great an j influence the license and no-license question has, oftentimes overshadowing completely the general election question.. This, I think, is very harmful, and the two questions should.certainly,be separated. The Opposition accords its gratitude to the country for the improved position it.hae placed us in, and. with every modesty, I am sure it will find that we shall set ourselves to try to influence legislation in tho .best interests of the country itself, and that we shall endeavour to keep the finances of tho Dominion on safo lines." Questioned as to the second ballot. Mr Allen replied: " Although we have benefited by. the second, ballot, .. I still maintain what I previously said about it, and that is that I, do not believe, in ■ the principlo of it. It involves an, unnecessary expenditure to the country, and it 6imply serves those, men right who voted for it and knew it was wrong. It will serve as a lesson to men in Parliament to vote as they think is right, and not simply as they are asked to do, / AVON. . ■ (From Our Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCHUKOH, November 25. Both papeis point tho obvious moral from the Avon flection— nuimely,'that the intervention of the extreme JNo-license party on Mr' Tanner's behalf kilted his chanco or'reelection. The Atc-dea-a-to party (says tho Piess) 'resented this attempt to subordinate all general political issues to secure the introduction 01 the bare majority veto in the licensing polls, and a largo number who probably would not have voted at all -in. the second . ballot irave th&ir suffrages to Ml' Ru-se'll. If the Prohibition party aro jwisa they, will drop tho bare majority out of their programme. On the otner. hand, if the brewers and licensed victuallers think that tho dislike to the introduction of tne bare majority implies any slackening of the movement towards .the gradual extinction of the trade by the relent-ioss steam- roller of local option with the three-fifths majority they are woeiully deceiving themselves..: Nothing is more certain than the fact that unkss they at once make sure of'tho great Moderate party by practically reorganising the trade the no-license vote will go on steadily increasing each trieimiel poll, adding more electorates under the iio-lieonso ban. ■ • , . ■J,lie Times says that the contest between Mr Tanner and Mr Russell/resolved itself very laTgely into a trial cf.strength between tho supporters of the '• ha«s majority " si K \ , the -supporters of the' " three-fifths majority,'■' and, as might have been expected, the supporters of tho three-fifths majonty won. The lesson for the No-license party to learn is that any attempt to force the bare majority upon the countrv will be sure tp tascn the popularity Of its "cause. A. great 'majority of the electors,. includiV nmny •■■prohibitionists, feci that the maintenance of the three-fifths majority is'al:=o. utely necessary tor the safe progress of' licensing reform. This certainly is a raso in which 't; is wise to hasten slowfy.. ' PRESS COMMENT. ,J .' The Press says that the Opposition party has every reason to feel satisfied with, t,ho result ,of the-second .ballots. Not one of tne Opposition members in the last House who .stood for election has lost his seat, and die j quality of the representatives by, whom thev ;'nave been-reinforced leaves nothing to be desired. The «,tum to (he House of sucli • able ex-members as the veteran Mr W G Buehanan, aw) a brilliant debater like M> Heraman is a. matter for general ccngratulation. those members of the Opposition who enter the House for the first time are also men of an unusually good-stamp, who will do credit to the constituencies by whom they have been eleetsd. The Government on the other hand, apart from the las in numbers have substamed some very severe Diows. lherc is strong evidence that the country a .beginning, to tire of the "Coninuous Ministry,", and that it shows manifet .signs of ft cksiro for a change, inq Upposihon victories - have been achieved m spite of the fact that there has . been no proper ■ system of organisation, and that many districts were loft without any Opposition candidates. at, all, partly from the absence of organisation and partly, we fear, from want of public spirit on the part of some HnL m,e n • WCH a f l)h '° ' t0 6eate in *•"> ?:.-, , ls not bevond the grounds of possibility that had the Opposition party been animated by more confidence and •more determination to break the political monopoly winch has held the country in thrall for the last 18 years, the Government might 'have been displaced. If only the Opposition party will begin to organise and educate: the public in view of the next election, there is the strongest reason for believing that when the next appeal to the country is made a still more striking and gratifying change mav be made. Referring more particularly .to the second ballots, the Press comments on the return ot an unusually -large number of new members, No fewer than 16 of the 22 candKlates elected yesterday did not sit in the last Parliament, while 14 have never before represented a constituency. Altogether there will be 26 men in the House next year who were not in it last session, and of these 21 have never vet met the Speakers oye. At the last deci ?i y i new menibei 's were elected, j™ the largo increase of' absolutely now blood this year is a strong indication of the general dissatisfaction with ■ the Government s policy and administration. I Opposition candidates stood for 53 seats and have won 26 of them, and Ministerial candidates stood for 75 scats, arid have! Won 16; or, in other words, tho Opposition won 49 per cent, of tho contested seats and tile Government 61 per cent l'he Times, in reviewing the result of the elections as a whole, declares that the Progressive majoritv is overwhelming, lo our mind, it says, the Liberal party is fortunate to bo able to mnke so good a showing. The. party went "to the country without anything in the shape of a constructive policy. Sir Joseph Ward's speeches and , his final manifesto were a sad disappointment to the Progressives The electors had to choose between tho impossible "13 policy" promulgated bv the Leader of the Opposition and the established principles of Liberalism. Liberalism won, of course, but if the Prime Minister faces the position squareiv he must recognise that tho National Annuities Bill and the nebulous and dangorous special settlements fchemo are the only measures for which he has the direct approval of tho constituencies. In all other matters his. prolamine has been taken on trust, and ho must not be surprised, if the country adopts an attitude of critical indept-idonce towards every new proposal that is 'introduced, In these circumstances wo are ourselves bound to be perfectly frank. After referring with regret to the defeat of Mr M'Nab and. Mr Tanner, the Times unkindly says that "for the most part the rejected members were men of no'marked ability, and

tho constituencies have in general chosen better types of men. even whero they havo blundered politically. Canterbury, at least, has sent no nonentities' to Parliament, and'the general level of ability in the new House will be high. Wo shall watch its proceedings with interest, of course, ahd with some' anxiety,, but the Government has so substantial a imajority that it will have, no great difficulty in carrying through a thoroughly progressive programme. Dealing with' the second ballots, the Times points out. that the fear that tile electors would not take the trouble to record their votes was not justified, but it adds: "Wo do not think that the experiment of taking a second poll has proved a success generally speaking. - It is evident that the Opposition candidates received heavy sympathetic votes'. The electors no doubt regarded the Literal position as secure, and cast their votes in' many cases with the idea of strengthening the Opposition in Parliament." , SECOND BALLOT JOTTINGS. .V----(From CoRRESPONnENT.) WELLINGTON, November 25. • Two of the candidates in the Wellington district seqm to havo taken-their defeat badly. One was Mr Bolton, who corfplained of unfair reporting. Under the heading "A Peevish Loser" the Post shows conclusively ' that ih© "has no reasonable ground for complaint; indeed, it is a matter of general knowledge that the Post staff, whatever their private opinions may be,'are absolutely impartial in'their reports of tho utterances of public men. Mr Wood, of Palmerston North, seems to be in even worse case than Mr Bolton. At. all events he was not very happy in some of his remarks after the announcement of his defeat. For instance, ho said he had been defeated " by a dirty subterfuge." Kvery' power on earth had been brought lo defeat'him, and-they had done it. "But," he said, "I*will take my defeat like a white man, and if any of you say I can't I am still man enough tft come down among you ami • show you that i can." . . ' l I Mr P. J. O'Regan is another who has j complained of the unfairness of the local | press, but the editor'of the Dominioijij demolishes him easily. That Mr O'Regan's interference in tho second, ballot campaign at the last moment was deeply rescnttd was clearly shown by the reception he received from the great throng assembled in Lamb-1 ton.quay in Jront of tho Times Offico last! night. .Ho was received with a roar of hooting and/yelling. The crowd absolutely | refused to give him a hearing, and he deBisted after speaking a few words into the ears of tho reporters. - i Of the 22 scats decided yesterday contests between the Government and the Opposition took place.in' 16 instances. ', In Wellington East (says' the Post) it was a battle, j between Independence and Labour, at Gisborne an Independent opposed .the Hon. MrCarroll, and in Wellington Suburbs two , Government supporters fought to. a finish. The same applies lo Nelson and Avon, and in Chalmers an Independent opposed Mr 'E. G. Allen. 'In -the first ballot, m the 16 electorates referred to the Government candidates were • leading in nine instances and the Opposition in scven. : Four,. Government -candidates• and two ' Oppositionists failed to "get home" in the "run off," Although the Government led by nine to seven in' the first lap, the final gave the Government seven' seats and,.the OppositiYl nine. ' i.-\ '_...■',..:■'. ;v| ;■;,. . Several of the ■informal ballot papers had written across I hem tho word- "Socialist." One womai; of 90 years oaine- down to a Wellington Central booth to vote for Mr Fisher. She was. so intent on doing the tiling properly that she. signed her name at the foot of the. ballot/paper." This made her vote informal. , SIR W. R. RUSSELL AT HASTINGS.. (Pn Unimd Pkjsss Association) ! • , ' HASTINGS, November 25. .After the result had been made known,°i Sir Win. Russell, speaking to about .400 persons assembled, said lio-assured thorn that he did i.ot stand.'for Hawke's Bay from' any special desiro of his own, but because ho felt he had a special public duty to perform. He felt he had been beaten on his own merits 'of /" No"),'— because his comniittees had worked energetically ■■on his behalf,whilst .the Ladies,' Committee had treated him in such a manner that, though defeated, he .felt a proud and happy man. It had been said that ho was too old for political life, but he took this, tho earliest, opportunity' of 'asking them to hack him at- the next Section.. He hoped .that, when Mr Dillon retired from public lifo he.would ;bo able to say. ho had served his constituency, as "faithfully and as well as lie-.-fSir, William) had done. He thanked those who voted for him, as well us i hose who voted against him, although' many of ( the latter had worn his colours. Three cheers for Sir Wm. and Lady Rus-. tell were heartily responded to, < 1 ELECTION NOTES.' ''' -.• ,' ..S.ir.W. J. Steward,'M'.P. (Waitaki)-.is the "father" of the House. • Ho was sworn, as a member on August 14, 1871. Ho has been elected for 11 Parliaments, and has attended 37 sessions. - Tho Hon.T. ,Y: Duncau, M.P. (Oamn.ru), comes next in-length of service. IHe has been elected for 10 Parliaments, and has seen 32 sessions. Tho Hon. A.. R. Guinness, M.P. (Grey), has attended 29 sessions; Mr T.-Parata, M.P., 28; the Right Hon.; Sir J. G. Ward! M.P..' the Hon. Mr ;Carroll, M.P..- and Mr F. Lawry, M.P., 25 sessions each; Mr J. Allen, M.P., 23 sessions; and Mr T.- Mackenzie, M.P., and Mr A. W. Hogg,M. ; P., 21.sessions each. Mr W. F. Massay, M.P. (Leader of (he Opposition), and tho- Hon. J. A. Millar, M.P. (Minister of Labour, ■Customs, and Marina), have been elected for six Parliaments, and have attended 17 Isessioiw. They beiamn members of the House on June 21/ 1E94. Mr E. G. Allen, ■ ox-M.P. for Chalmers, saw four Parliaments and sat for 14 sessions. He was sworn as a member on April 6. 1697.' j Three members 'of last Parliament who did not seek re-election sit in the House for long periods—the Hon. W. Hall-Janes, seven Parliaments, 21 sessions; Mr R. M. Houston, six Parliaments, 21 sessions: and the' Hon. C. H. Mills, six Parliaments, 21 sessions. Mr Charles Lewis, whose electorate was wiped out, and who, did not. stand for another seat, sat in five Parliaments; and Mr John. M'Laehlan, who did not again contest the Ashburton seat,, was elected for four' Parliaments. Mr W. W. Tanner, who lost the Avon seat, had been a member of the House since 1891. Mr John Stevens, who was defeated for: Manawatm, first saw the House in 1882, but did not sit oontimioii6lv as a member. He has tho work of fivo Parliaments (17 sessions) to hia oredit, • Mr F.. R. Flatman, who unsuccessfully contested the Ashburton electorate sat in five Parliaments. , Fifty-three members who sat in previous Parliaments will again find seats in tho House. Twenty-two arc neophytes in. parliamentary life. The member for the' Bay of Plenty will be elected on Tuesday next, and subseciuontly the election of four Maori members will take place-.