WELLINGTON NORTH ELECTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3338, 6 March 1918, Page 20

WELLINGTON NORTH ELECTION.

MR LUKE RETURNED.

MAJORITY OF OVER 400 VOTES.

WELLINGTON February 28. _ The following is the result of the Wel« lington North bye-election :

(From Oua Own Correspondent.) _ WELLINGTON, February 28. ' The victory in Wellington North has been a biff personal triumph for MrMassey. Thosa of the supporters of Mr -Herdmaxi who refused to follow Mr Luke did their very best to persuade Mr Massey to withdraw Mr Luke, but the Prime Minister never the slightest reason to hope- that ho would agree, so they persisted: in the fight against him. Mr Brandon has always declared that ho stood as a protest against the introduction into New Zealand of the political boss methods of America. His protest was worth 816 votes. What Mr Brandon. did not say was that the people pulling the strings when they brought out Mr Brandon as a candidate have'nevor been supporters of Mr Massey. Mr Brandon's nominators were Reform supporters of" other days, but the arch conspirators were not Reformers. The liquor trade declared that Mr Brandon was their man. The "trade" vote has never been assessed at less strength than 1200 votes in Wellington North, but Mr Brandon got only 816 votes. Tho action of the trade in this fight will not be forgotten, and when the demajid comes, as it) -will come, for the retention of 6 . o'clock closing as a permanency, it is certain now that the proposal will not be resisted by the Reform party. Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward both, spoke to Mr Luke's*-committee to-night, congratulating it on the victory. Both spoke of tho importance of the win as a sure indication of the constancy of Now Zealand in war effort and as an indication —very important at this time—that this virilo young country is still of a mind to stay by .the Empire in the fi<rht for. liberty. Tho vote for Mr Holland —big as it is—need cause no apprehension. It is not an indication of the growing strength of Bolshevik sentiment in Wellington North. It was made up of the steady 1500 Socialists in the electorate, reinforced by several hundreds of trade voters, several hundreds of men crowded into boarding-houses to comply with the one-month residence qualification, and a few craven men and women who hoped Mr Holland might retard or stop the sending of reinforcements to the army. The announcement of Mr Luke's election was made by the president (the Rev. T. Af Joughin) at" the opening session of tho Methodist Conference in Trinity Church on the 28th," and was received with loud applause. This was renewed when the president added that Mr Luke was a member of the Methodist Church in Wellington, and was also a prohibitionist. Mr John Pearco Luke was born at St. Just, near Penzanee. in Cornwall, on July 16, 1858 and arrived in Wellington with his parents in 1874. He entered the service of tho late Mr E. W. Mills and completed his engineering apprenticeship at the Lion foundry. Later on he served under the Government, being one of the first engineers employed at the Petono Railway Workshops. In 1879. .with his father and brothers, ho founded the firm of S. Luke and Co., and during its existence he has been associated in the construction of many important engineering works. After serving for many years on the City Council, Mr Luke was elected Mayor of Wellingtons a position which he. sti!L»holdi?. He received tho distinction of C.M.G. in the New Year honours. The following was. the result of the polling for the seat at tho general election in 1914.—H0n. A. L. Herdmari, 4550; W. H. Tumbull, 1895; H. E. Holland, 1688:

Votes J. P. Luke ... 2986 H. Holland ... 2566 A. de B. Brandon ... 816 A N. Poison ... .,. ... Informal AG. ... 720