THE CHRISTCHURCH ELECTION.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6753, 6 February 1892, Page 3

THE CHRISTCHURCH ELECTION.

ME EDEN GEORGS DEFEATED. (By Telegraph.) CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 6. Judgment in the Christchurch election petition was delivered to day. Itcooimvnced by stating that the Judges were satisfied, both on principle and authority, that Mr George could not claim the seat. The wholo object of (he election laws was to give the constituencies free and fair opportunity of choosing a candidate. The natural result of the mistake in the Returning Officer’s notice

fixing tho day for sending in nomination papers was to mislead^intending candidates, and Mr Sandford and Mr Smith were misled by it. If the returning officer had declared Mr George elected it would have been impossible to hold it as good, as the constituency, by tbe blunder of the Returning Officer in tbe performance of a statutory duty, would have been deprived of the right of choice. In a case like tho present, where a majority of electors have elected tbe candidate they preferred, the court should hesitate to set aside the election, unless absolutely compelled by law to do so. The names of Mr Sandford and Mr Smith wore accepted by the Returning Officer as candidates, and advertised by him, and there was no reason to suppose that by his action any other persons wore prevented from becoming candidates. As Mr George, owing to the mil take of the Returning Officer, would have had no right to tho seat if returned, he was not deprived of any vested right by the acceptance of the candidature of Messrs Sandford and Smith. Without expressly deciding tho point of validation the court was satisfied that the power of validation given to the Governor-in-Oouncil extends to tho present case, and had been efficiently exercised. In the opinion of the court there was an accidental misfeasance in the mistake of the Returning Officer. As to costs tbe petitioner had claimed the seat after a tolerably clear expression of opinion by the constituency that it did not want him, and if under such circumstances a person chooses to make use of what is little more than a technical legal ground to endeavour to force himself on a constituency as a representative and fails, he ought to pay tho costs of tho proceedings, and an order will be made accordingly.