The Awarua Election.

Southland Times, Issue 4987, 26 July 1884, Page 2

The Awarua Election.

DECLARATION OF THE POLL. The official declaration of the poll for the Awarua electorate was made at the Appleby meeting house yesteiday, some 15 electors being present. The Returning Officer, Mr W. Kussell, announced the result of tiie poll to be aa follows :— Joyce, 444 ; McDonalJ, .339 j Kinross, 94 ; Mitchell, 74 ; Hodgkinaon, 54. He therefore declared Jameß Parker Joyc6 duly elected. ' (Applause.) Mr Joyce said that after a contest, which had been short, sharp and decisive, be once more occupied the proud position of representing Awarua. This he attributed^ not to any merit of his beyond those .of the other candidates, but to the exertions of the friend 3of the Liberal cause. Throughout the whole district men, some of them his friende, but some of them entirely unacquainted with him, had given their time and their influence to return him, and bo. had rendered services to Liberalism that he would not be able to repay. H« might have had more pleasure m being success* fui were his case less s'ngular. He was the only one of the ol J Southland members" who had been returned, and throughout New Zealand the supporters of Sir George Grey had been defeated almost along the whole line. A change had come over New Zealand, which* he could not clearly account for ; perhaps the Yogel delusion had had something to do with it. He felt confident, however, that the country would again ioturn to Liberal* ism. In the meantime to represent Awarua was to represent one of the most important electorates m the colony, an electorate with varied and valuable interesta. In the e'ectorate was the chief port of the South, and besides its agriculture it had a very important industry m the sawmilling business. Any man might well be proud to represent such a district. In the Parliament to which he was' going the position of parties could only be compared to a kaleidoscope, m which the various pieces took many combined forms. For some time that would be the oaee, but no doubt ultimately something like order would be evolved from the present chaos. His first duty would be to support the' leader he had- always followed, and asbist Sir George Grey m an endeavor to form a paaty. Having done that, if Sir George were not successful, he would form an independent judgment as to what would be best for the district and colony, and the nearest approach to the advanced Libera'ism that Sir George Grey represented. In conclusion, ho would say that throughout the contest the utmost good feeling had prevailed. If he had said any little hard word during the fight he had not spoken it m a personal sense, and if be bad caused, any ill-feeling h« was sorry for it. So far as his opponents were concerned, be felt sure that any one of them would have honorably filled the position he had been so fortunate as to secure. Mr J. L. McDonald had ta thank trie electors who. had supported hiai m the contest. His position on the poll justified the anticipation of his supporters that he was the only man who bad taeblightesfc chance to win the election against ftjr Joyce. He had made it a- rale m his public life not to traverse the footsteps of his opponents m selections. Tf he could not succeed' on his own merits he had no right to build himself up on the demerits of the other candidates. He had studiously avoided referring to the other gentlemen who had come forward ; he had only spoken of them when obliged to do so. He qnita conenrred with Mr Joyce that Awarua was" one of tho most important electorates m the colony.- \\fuhin. it there was a very large tract of '^cicultural country, and the iioyorianft bdsujtgha of South InvercargiU and Gain-oHelftoyß-n. There was no, doubt ihaK.'agriealtjire^&r its greatest interest, and he point otitasoneof tim features of theeleotibtt, '

cerned, he Had scored fully higher the winning candidate. There had^been oo ill feeling m connection with the eo^st : and the operation of the Corrupt Practises Act was being generally felt. He hope* to see the time ere long arrive when there would be no committee's and no canvassing; when the electors would be allowed the opportunity of hearing tho various candidates, "of reasoning things out in.their own minds, and then going to the ballot box to record their convictions. Canvassing he 'ook«d upon as an insult to tine intelligence of -.the. electors. ' (An elector : You are protty good at it yourself, Mr McDonald.) He had had no coramittee, no one can vassiug for him, and the two papers were against him, so that it was creditable to him to .b.i second on the poll.l^ie.Jittie^expjenso^he' lir»d been to he had paid oui of his own pocket : he had had no honorarium to fight the election with. If tho two hundred guineas had been m h's bonds to work upon, it might have had some effect and produced a different result. (.Mr Joyce : You jshould have got an overdraft.— Laughter J Mr Joyce had j §*t the block- vote, and no doubt it told, c had to thank the schoolmasters for the courtesy and kindness with which they had treated him at the various centres ; he had nev^r been charged for the use of the schoolrooms. The contest had been carried oaf m a very friendly spirit, and the candidates wouJJ part with the best feelings between them. He WasJ much indebted tr electors for .the courtesy with which Tlie had been treated, and the support he had received. Mr A. Kinross hoped the electors would agree witti him m thinking that these elections were sometimes decided as much by luck as by merit. Those who had watched his past career. would admit that .-■ many<gentlenien .-would go up to the new Parliament who were less deserving than -he. He agreed with Mr McDonald m regard t^ canvassing — be had not asked for a single vote during the election— but he was surprised at Mr McDonald stating that he had no committee. Ho (Mr McDonald) might not actually have- had a committee, but several influential gentlemen were working for him, and it was to their exertions he owed liia position on the poll. He (Mr Kinross) believed that if the' election had been left to a fight between Mr Joyce and. himself he would have been victorious. It was entirely through other candidates being brought forward, and filse issues prat before the electors, that Mr Joyce had been elected. The only unpleasant element introduced into the election was the religious one, which should not be allowed to interfere with politics. Deny it how they might, and gloss it over as they would, the fact remained that the election had beeff influenced by their Catholic fellow colonists. It was a great pity that the Catholics should continue to try to upset the national system of education. It wa« solely on that question that he differed from Mr Joyce, and he had - therefore enquired into it more fully than any of the other candidates. The result of his enquiries he announced at his meetings, but m do'ng so he had had no intention of hurting the feelings of the Catholics. The determination of thst religious body to vote m a block had had a disastrous effect on the cause of Liberalism m Awarua. He would not detain the electors longer, but would jaerely say that whether or not he would have the. pleasure of*again addressing them depended greatly on themselves. jThose who hadjwatched his pnblio career could not deny that he had always been an advocate of Liberalism, and always consistent. — (An elector : You're too honest for them ; that's what's the matter with you.)— The time might come when honesiy would be appreciated, but even if he retired completely into private life he would have the satisfaction of knowing that no man could point to a blot •n bis name. He thanked those electors who had supported him. Mr J. W. Mitchell said be was not so %igh on the poll as he expected to be, a sircumstance for which there was no doubt a cause. The fact to his mind was that he occupied the same position m regard to. Awarua as Mr Lumsden had m regard to Invercargil'. The word had been paa3ed round that Mitchell had no chance, and m order to' squeeze Joyce out the electors should vote for McDonald. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Mr McDonald prided himself on being sohigh up on the poll, but if it had been a question of -McDonald against -Mitchell, and what each had;done for Awarua, they would have seen how he would have topped Mr McDonald. (Applause.) Mr McDonald might be able to do something *at Riverton, as he was a Riverton man,* but he need nat come V blowing" to Awarua. He Mr (Mitchell) was fourth on the poll only by accident, the same accident as had put Mr Lumsden at the bottom for Invercargill. In regard to the contest he could say that the other candidates, excepting Mr McDonald, had treated him courteously 'and behaved as gentlemen. This was specially true regarding the winning candidate, who, like a "brick," on one occasion after addressing a meeting kept the people there until he (Mr Mitchol) arrived to meet them. Because of t!>i.s kindness and courtesy he had voted for Mr Joyce, and he believed Mr Joyce hid voted for bim. (Applause.) During the election he had|advanced idens which he hoped the electors would ponder over. If they fully considered what he had said they would afterwards say that much as he had been called a Tory he really outHsroded Herod m regard to Liberalism, and would have been a tru# representative of the people. He was sure the time would come when the electors, especially the working men, would recognise that fact, and would return him at the top of the poll by a large majority. (Applause.) He.moved a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer. The motion having been seconded by Mr Joyce, and carried m the usual way, the proceedings terminated.