THE GREY ELECTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15821, 21 July 1913, Page 6

THE GREY ELECTION.

A KEEN AND BITTER CONTEST. : GREAT INTEREST AROUSED. (Per United Press Association.) REEFTOX, July 20. Excitement in regard to the election is at fever heat Mr Mills, Mr O'Regan (Wellington), and others are speaking on behalf of the Labour candidate, ft is expected that the contest will be very close. Both sides aTe working extremely hard. (From Ocr Own 'Correspondent.) GP.EYMOUTH, July 20. The second round of the contest promises to be more strenuous and bitter than the first bout. Naturally both sides are making every effort to achieve victory, but so many cross influences are at work that there is a general doubt as to who will win. Mr Michel's supporters, however, are confident. This seems justified, for there are hundreds of people who voted for Mr Hannan who will now record their votes for the Reform candidate. On the other hand, it is admitted that Mr Webb will receive a considerable percentage of Mr Hannan's votes, the exact proportion depending on whether the bitter sectarian feeling at present apparent is maintained till next Thursday. Mr Michel's meeting at Ta-ylorvillc last night illustrated tin inflamed state of the electors, there being constant interruptions aud many questions.

CAN MR MICHEL WIN?

CATHOLICS AND SECOND BALLOT. HOW THE MINERS VOTED. (Fkom Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 20. The respective chances of Mr Michel and Mr Webb in the second ballot at lirey on Thursday are anatysed in an interesting manner by the special correspondent of the Evening Post at Greymouth. He shows that the religious question has been irfiported into the contest to a great extent. He says:—The sectarian issue has been discuesed in every street group from every conceivable point of view. The Grey Star, which supported Mr Hannan, says that t.ie position is "almost mainly due" to the introduction of the wretched sectarian question. The Reformers discount this factor. As usual, the man on top claims to have won on political principle, and the man underneath blames something else for, his defeat An impartial pbserver could not have failed to be impressed with the amount of sectarian bitterness existing, but it probably cut both ways and affected the political following of both Oppositionist and Reformer. To Taise a really virulent sectarian issue requires two sides. .On neither side was the candidate to blame, for both Mr Michel and Mr Hannan fought a clean fight. The main question now is whether the Roman Catholics who supported Mr Hannan will vote at the second ha"ot for Mj Webn and his "'red" plattorm. Numerous Catholics in Greymouth are declaring today that they will. By Thursday next, however, heated feelings" may have cooled down.

The -writer had an interesting conversation with a local Catholic of high standing. He alleged various instances of the use of the anti-Catholic weapon. When asked whether the Catholics holding a substantial interest in the district would go 50 far as to vote for the bearer of the Socialist banner, he replied in the affirmative, and gave various reasons. Firstly, to increase the number of LabourSocialist members in the House from four to five would not be a serious danger to property rights. It was not a question of what Mr Webb would, but what he could, do. Secondly, at the general election in' 17 months' time it would be easier to displace Mr Webb than to oust Mr Michel. It is calculated that the Reformer, if once in the House for Grey, would be more likely than Mr Webb to become a fixture.

The above is not the heated comment of a nobody, but the deliberate statement of a man of prominence. A Catholic block vote given to Mr Webb could hardly fail to put him in the House, for its proportion of the whole vote in Grey is generally accepted as being about onequarto/ A complete red and green alliance would clearly be very hard to boat, but there are people who deny that even Mr Hannan received a Catholic block vote. ' They base this opinion on the figures in Greymouth proper, where Mr Michel polled "1160 votes, Mr Ha.nnan 1092, and Mr Webb 501. They estimate the Catholic vote in Greymouth at 880, and point out that if M"r Hannan polled all these his non-Catholic followers in Greymouth numbered only 222. Many people refuse to believe that this is possible in the base of such an old and personally esteemed man as Mr Har.nan. The correspondent adds:—"lt is not pleasant, perhaps, to discuss these factors, but half Greymouth is discussing them openly, and their bearing on the second ballot is vital. Assuming a total poll of 6300 votes at the final issue, if Mr Webb receives 1078 Hannan votes he will be returned. Of the 6216 votes at the first ballot Mr Webb polled just over onethird. An analysis of the returns from the mining centres' indicates that Mt Hannan received only 25 more votes than were polled lot Mr'Michel. The miners gave Mr Webb 1066, which is more than half his total, and they gave Mr Hannan 240 and Mr Michel 216."