HOME ELECTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3584, 21 November 1922, Page 23

HOME ELECTIONS.

CON SEE'V A TIVES ’ VICXORY. ROUT OF NATIONAL LIBERALS. WOMEN'S VOTE A FEATURE. LONDON, -November 15. 1 he polling in the London areas was quiet. It opened in the murk of a November fog, which prevailed during the greater part of the day. An average poll of 75 per cent, is expected in the 59 London seats. A striking feature is the women’s vote. Many women attended the polling booths an hour before the opening. Some absurdities are reported in Yorkshire constituencies, where the names of boys of 12 and 13 years of age appeared on the rolls. These were allowed to vote. .All the West End hotels were permitted to remain open to provide for the wants of the crowds which thronged the city awaiting tile results. For the same purpose the train, tram, and tube services wero extended into the small hours. November 16. There were pathetic scenes in Tyrone and Fermanagh. The excitement was so

great that the aged, sick and infirm were taken from their beds and carried on stretchers to record their votes. There was a great reversal at Oxford, where the Conservative majority of 5000 was converted into a Liberal majority of 3800. A sensation was caused at Battersea North through Mr Sakiatvala, an Indian extremist, defeating the National Liberal candidate by 2000 votes. Air Devlin, though failing to secure the Liverpool Exchange seat, ran within 3000 of Mr Leslie Scott, the sitting Conservative. Sir Robert Horne was returned for the Billhead division of Glasgow with a slightly-increased majority. Sir Edward Grigg (National Liberal) headed the poll at Oldham, Lady Emmott being at the bottom. Mr G. F. Stanley (Under-Secretary of Home Affairs) was defeated at Preston, a Labourite topping the poll. Mr J. R. dynes, who was not opposed in 1918, was returned lor the Platting division of Manchester through the splitting of the anti-Labour vote, the combined Liberal-Conservative vote exceeding that polled by Labour. The excitement in London increased as the evening wore on, especially when Labour victories at Barnsley, the Hanley division of Stoke-u poll -Trent, and Accrington were announced on .illuminated screens in Trafalgar square and on the newspaper offices in the Strand and in 1* leet street. There were also loud cheers when a popular Independent like Mr J. Ward for the Stoke division of Stoke-upon-Trent was reelected. It is estimated that at least 20,000 gnotors were placed at the disposal of candidates. Many had 50 or 60 employed bringing voters to the poll, the Labourites having more ears than ever before. Mr Leslie Wilson is the second Minister whose defeat has been announced, Mr J. M. M. Erskine (Independent Conservative) winning the St. George s division of Westminster by 3500 votes. Ladv Astor was returned for the Sutton division of Plymouth, Dr T. J. Alacnamara for North-west Camberwell, Mr T. W. 11. Inskip for Central Bristol, and Mr Ramsay MacDonald for the Aberavon division of Glamorganshire. The lastnamed wrested the seat from a supporter of Mr Llovd George. Mr C. Addison was defeated at Shoreditch by a National Liberal Among the Australian and New Zealand” candidates, Mr Percy Harris won the South-west Bethnal Green seat, Mr Lynch was bottom of the poll at Central Hackney. Mr Pownall was returned for East Lewisham, and Lieut.coloncl Frevberg, V.C., was defeated at South Cardiff.

Mr Asquith’s majority at Paisley was under 400, compared with 3CGO in 1918. The women candidates fared badly, those defeated including Dame Gwynne Vaughan at North Camberwell, Mrs Oliver Strachev for the Brentford and Chiswick division of Middlesex, Mrs Eleanor Rathbone for the East Toxteth division of Liverpool. The sitting Conservative, Mr C. James, was re-elected for Bromley, Lord Foster’s old seat. There have been ei-dit Labour gains m Glasgow, where several well-known Concervatives were beaten. WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION NEGLIGIBLE. SOME SURPRISES. LONDON, November 16. Compared with the 1918 elections, the polling in all the constituencies was enormously heavy. Mr Arthur Henderson’s defeat at Widnes was a great surprise. Mr Clayton (Conservative) beat him in a straight-out light by 1782 votes. Viscount Ednam (Conservative) was reelected for Hornsey. Sir M. Conway (Conservative) and Air 11. A. L. Fisher (Liberal) retained their seats for the combined universities of Durham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Bristol. Sir M. Conway led Mr Fisher by-a few votes. Sir L. Worthington-Evans (Conservative) was re-elected for Colchester. Sir John Seely (Liberal) and Mr F. G. Kellaway (Liberal)‘were both rejected, i Commander Burney was elected for Uxbridge. Mr F. S. Jackson (the famous cricketer) was re-elected tor Howdenshire. The voting in Islington was: Sir Newton Moore (Conservative) 13,520: Miss Picton Turbervill (Labour), 7993; Mr X. Sargent (Liberal), 7256. Sir John Simon (Liberal) was elected for the Speii Valley. At Durham, Mr J. Ritson (Labour) beat Mr Hills (Financial Secretary to the Treasury) bv 2672. Air C. A. APCurdv (Liberal) beat Miss Margaret Bondtield by 516 votes for the Northampton seat. Mr Ben Tillett (Labour)- escaped defeat at North Salford 'by 19 votes. Air Philip Richardson (champion rifleman) won C’hertsev for the Conservatives. Mr Harney was elected for South Shields, where Mr Havelock Wilson (Labour) was at the bottom of the poll. Mr Ralph Hall Caine beat Mr F. E. Guest (formerly Air Minister) lor Dorset East. Air E. Sliimvell (Labour; defeated Mr J. Kidd (Scottish Under -Secretary for Health) in Linlithgow. Lady Barlow was at the bottom of the poll in High Peak (Derbyshire). Lord Hugh Cecil and Professor Oman were re-elected for Oxford University by proportional representation. Mr Masterman was defeated for Clay Cross (Derbyshire) bv a Labourite. Air Harry’ Gosling was beaten in Kennington bv a ( ’nnservativo. Air Norman Angell, another of “The Great Illusion." was beaten for Ruehcliffe (Nottinghamshire) by a Conservative. Mr Shakespeare (one of Air Llovd George’s secretaries) was returned for Wellingborough.

Dr Ethel Bcntham was at the bottom of the poll at Islington. Major Tryon and Commander Rawson (Conservatives) were returned for Brighton. Air C. B. Fry (the well-known cricketer) was 4000 lower down the poll. Airs Brodrick was beaten for Denbigh. Air Phillipson (National Liberal) beat Air Runeiman at Berwick and Haddington. Air Westwood (Labour) was elected for Midlothian and Peebles, polling 6349 votes, Air Crawford (Conservative) obtaining 5392, and Sir Donald Aiaclean 5377. Major Lloyd George, for Pembrokeshire beat a- Labourite bv a majority of 11.866. Sir Alfred Butt beat Air J. W. Alolder for the Beiham division of Wandsworth by 9195 votes. Sir John Norton-Griffiths was re-elected for Wandsworth Central with an enhanced majority over a Labourite. Air Si. Baldwin (Chancellor of the I.x chequer) retained lie Dewdley division of Worcester by a na.joritv of 5444 voteover the Liberal can lidate. Lord Robert Cecil retained his seat b\ n majority of 5075 v.r a Labourite a Hitchcn.

Air W. C. Bridgeman Home Secretary’) was re-elected for Oswestry. Airs Wintritigham beat Afi Hutchings lor Louth. Sir Hamar Greenwood (late Chief Secretary for Ireland) has been defeated. Alajor Ormsby Uore (Colonial Undersecretary) retained Stafford l>y a majority of 3313 votes over the Labour candidate. Major J. .T. Astor heat Sir Thomas Poison for Dover by 10.000 votes. Air Dudgeon iLiberal) heat Air Watson (Scottish Lord Advocate; for Galloway. Air Walton New bold (a Communist) was elected for the Motherwell division of Lanarkshire, where two Liberals split the vote. Mr Neville Chamberlain retained the l.adywond division of Birmingham \\ Jf.il a reduced majority against the Labourite. Air Austen Chamberlain beat the Isibonr candidate for Birmingham West by 5500. Air L. C. M. S. Amery (First Lord of the Admiralty) was re-elected for the Sparkbrook division of Birmingham.

Colonel Sir R. A. Sanders (Minister of Agriculture) was returned for the Bridge water division of Somerset. Mr Clayton (Conservative) defeated Mi Arthur Henderson (Labour) by 14,670 votes to 12,897. The liberal candidate defeated Sir A. Griffith-Boscawen (Minister of Health) fm Taunton. Sir Newton Moore (formerly Premier of Western Australia) was elected for Islington Sir Guy Gaunt (Conservative) was elected. Mr Scrymgeour (Prohibitionist) was elected for Dundee, polling 32,587 votes. Mr E. D. Morel (Labourite, author of the “Red Rubber” and “Ten Years of Secret Diplomacy,” and editor of Foreign Affairs) polled 31,292 votes. Mr Churchill was fourth with 20,466 votes. Mr Pilkingtou polled 6681 votes. All the contests in which Ministers were concerned are comoleted. Six Ministers lost their seats. Mr Roberts (Independent) and Mr Hilton Young were re-elected for Norwich, and Mr Philip Snowden (Labour) was returned for Colne Valley. Colonel Perkins and Lord Apsley, son of the proprietor of the Morning l’cet (Oo>js< rvatirns), displaced Sir Ivor Philipps and in- W. Dudley Ward at Southampton. Sir Hamar Greenwood was third on the list foe Suiidoiiand, being 9000 behind the loaning Conservative candidate. Others returned are Mr \\ ill Thorne (l-aivciri, for the Plaistow division of W«t H im; Mr Ronald M'Neill, for the Canterbury division of Kent: Mr George Lansbury, for the Row and Bromley division of Poplar; and Mr J. I. Macpher6on, or the Ross and Cromartv division of Inverness and Ross and Cromarty. Mr Harney (Liberal), who was returned for South Shields, polled 15.760, Mr Lowther (Labourite) 15,735, and Mr Havelock Wilson 8121. Mr Sidney Webb (Cabnnrite) iva? elected for the Seaham division of Durham with a, majority of 12,000. Mr E. Hayward (the retirin''' Liberal) was at the bottom of the poll. With tile exception of the two previous women members, the electorates placed the women low down in the polls It is understood that Mr Leslie Wilson will retain office, and a seat will be found for him. Mr Scrymgeour's victory for Dundee is tile most astonishing of the whole election. lie was previously a participant in many hopeless fights. He is a well-known Congo slave reformer. A Liberal won the seat at Derby from Mr Albert Green (Conservative), who is at present in Australia. Mr Johnstone (Labourite) won the Western Stirling seat from the retiring Conservative. Mr Churchill declared himself devoid cf the slightest sense of anger or bitter ness. Professor Gilbert Murray was at the bottom of the poll for Oxford University. Mr Austin Hopkinson was returned for the Mossley division of Lancashire without the aid of a single helper. He issued

no literature or posters, and had no committee rooms and no vehicles. When it was announced that Sparkes (Conservative) had won the Camborne division of Cornwall, the Liberals mobbed Mr Brown (the Labourite), alleging that his intervention was the cause of Mr F. D. Acland’s defeat. Mr Acland took Mr Brown away in his motor-car. Mr Frederick Martin, the Liberal candidate for Eastern Aberdeen and Kincar dine seat, is the first blind ex-serviceman to be returned to the House of Commons Mr Martin was trained at St. Dunstan's All the unsuccessful candidates for the two seats for the English group of universities forfeited their deposits, amounting to £l5O. The success of the Labour Party in Scotland is largely due to the Labour Party’s legal action regarding the construction of the Rent Restriction Act, which ended in the House of Lords recently deciding that unless tenants were given actual notice to quit landlords could not legally raise the rents. This decision means that tenants who did not receive notice to quit could deduct the excess money paid from future rents. Millions of money was involved m the dispute£l,7so,ooo from Glasgow alone, where many of the landlords are threatened with ruin. The Labour Party in Scotland issued a manifesto urging the tenants to sue for the recovery of all improperlyimposed increases in rents. Mr Bonar Law's majority at Central Glasgow of 13.000 in 1918 was reduced to 2500 over Labour, While Labour and Liberal combined polled four votes more than the Prime Minister. Mr .T. 11. Thomas was re-elected. Mr E. S. Montagu was defeated at Cambridgeshire. November 17. Eight recounts-were necessary m Derbyshire North, reducing the Labourite's majority over Mr Holmes (Liberal) from 14 to iive. Sir W. Sutherland (Liberal) was reelected for Argyllshire. Sir A. Sinclair (Liberal) beat Sir R. A Mr Newbold (who was returned as a Communist) telegraphed to Moscow stating that Motherwell had been won for Communism. Mr Asquith attributes the Labour turnover in Scotland to unemployment and distress. November 18. For the London University seat Sir Sydney Wells i Conservative' polled 3833 votes, Mr Pollard (Liberal) 2180, and Mill. O. Wells (Labour) 1427. The voting for the two members to represent Fermanagh and Tyrone as a single constituency resulted in the return of Mr Harrison (Nationalist) and Mr v. Ilealy (Sinn Feiner). LATEST RETURNS. LONDON, Novemlwr 16. An amended classification shows the following state of parties: Conservatives 346 Labour 141 Liberals 62

National Liberals 44 Various 14 The net party results are: Conservatives, 19 losses. Labour, 58 gains. Liberals, 27 gains. National Liberals, 16 losses. [Eight results have still to come. The new House will consist of 615 members.] TOTAL VOTES RECORDED. LONDON, November 17. Excluding eight polls, which are incomplete, the total of the votes recorded is 13,913,666, being 5,381,413 for the Government and 8,532,253 against. November 18. An analysis of the aggregate votes of the election up to the present gives the following result: Conservatives 5,746,000 Labour 4,356,000 Liberals 2,769,000 National Liberals ... 1,565,000 THE LAST PARLIAMENT. The third Parliament of King George V was elected in December, 1918, and met on February 4, 1919. The issue at the election was between supporters of the Coalition Ministry and its opponents, though, of course, the Labour Party and the, Irish members made their own particular appeals. The supporters of the Coalition were classified as follow: Unionists 334 Liberals 133 Labour 11 Total 478 The nor Coalitionists were:Labour 63 Unionists 48 Liberals 28 Sinn Feiners 73 Nationalists 7 Independents 10 Total ... 229 Since the general election there were, exclusive of South Irish constituencies, 76 contested by-elections, leaving (he constitution of the House as follows: VNIONI STS. Coalition and non-Coalition 374 IjTBEHALNi. Coalition 118 Independent 35 ■— 153 LABOUR. Non-Coalition 75 Coalition OTHER PARTIES. Coalition National Democratic Parly 9 Sinn Fein 73 Nationalists _7 Independent 13 102 Grand (olnl ... 707 'l iras the Unionists, Coalition and nonCoalition, had a majority of 41 over all other parties in the House combined, including the Sinn Feiners.

LABOUR'S MANIFESTO. LIBERALISM DEFINITELY REPLACED. LONDON, November 17. A T-about manifesto says that the Party has strengthened its debating power, and will prove to be the most vigorous Opposition which the House of Commons lias seen for years. The fact that its successes have been most, notable in Scotland and Wales, which hitherto had been Liberal strongholds, indicates that Labour nas replaced Liberalism. A Labour Government V? certain in the near future. Many of the. Labour gains were undoubtedly due to women’s votes. The manifesto declares: “The Party won its sweeping triumph because of the solid support of the great mass of the. electors, who definitely turned away from Liberalism and Conservatism. It is obvious that Labour is the inheritor of the old Radical tradition. It is plain that all the progressive elements of tin; country—particularly the members of the Free Churches —are being gathered ud by the Labour Party, and that the sole alterna tive to a Conservative Government is a Labour Government.” A DISORDERLY MEETING. LONDON, November 14. There were lively- scenes at the first open meeting of Mr Churchill s constituents in Dundee. A dense crowd rushed the doors, forcing the police to draw their batons. Mr Churchill was received with a storm of cheers, mingled with hissing and booing by the Socialists. The singing of “Tell Me the Old, Old Story,” aroused uproarious laughter. Mr Churchill attempted to address the meeting while seated, but he was freouently interrupted. He protested that “a hundred reptiles were spoiling the meeting” ; but, failing to stop the interruptions, he said he “would not submit to the bullying and tyranny of the featherheads or be ruled by a mob of Socialists, who would reduce this great country to a bear garden.” The meeting broke up in disorder.

DAME CLARA BUTT’S ASSISTANCE. LONDON, November 14. Freak election feats are reported in various parts. In a final effort to raise the campaign from the somewhat stodgyplane which has marked it, Mr C. B. Fry’s capture of Dame Clara Butt to sing at his Brighton meeting shows the brightest. Her duet with Mr Kennerley Rumford, “The Keys of Heaven,' struck the major note of the whole elections in which all parties, by press, pamphlet, and platform, are beseeching that unknown quantity, “Madam, will you walk and talk with me?” A section of the Labour Party lias discovered merits in bowling down opponents. The break up of Mr Churchill’s meeting at Dundee was repeated in several London constituencies. The general outlook has changed little. There is increasing confidence among the Conservative tipsters, except in Scotland, where, despite the combination of Liberals against Labour, a note of nervousness has crept in at the eleventh hour. Another feature has been the gradual diminuendo of war cries with which Mr Lloyd George’s party commenced the campaign. DAME NELLIE MELBA’S TACT. LONDON, November 15. The Duke of Northumberland, addressing a dockers’ meeting at Southampton, was severely heckled, and a disturbance resulted. When at its height, Dame Nellie Melba arrived from a concert, and, realising the situation, she sat at the piano and sang “Home, Sweet Home.” The audience were silenced and profoundly affected.