THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED DAILY-(MORNINGS). NELSON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1887. SUMMARY NOTES.

Colonist, Volume XXX, Issue 5024, 6 October 1887, Page 3

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED DAILY-(MORNINGS). NELSON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1887. SUMMARY NOTES.

THE ELECTIONS. The New Zealand Parliament was prorogued on the 10th June last, and the dissolution followed in due course, but from the time the House rost till last Monday week, a period of some fifteen weeks, political strife was rampant from one end of the. Colony to the other. On no previous occasion was such a determined endeavor male to defeat a Ministry, and one has not to seek far to find that there were in certain quarters strong and interested motives for combining to bring about the downfall of tbe Stout-Vogel administration. Undoubtedly tbe most severe blow sustained by the parly was in the dc/cat of Sir Bobert Stout. Whatever may be the party feelings of individuals, no true man,-whether Liberal or Tory, can deny that Sir Bobert has done good service to the Slate, and Major Atkinson, who in the last Parliament led the Opposition, and who ii now considering] thY possibility of forming a Government, hai

in a fair and geneions manner nrled Sir Kobert to reconsider his determination not to accept one of the seats offered him: Lacking the manlineps of their leader, many of the Majors followers are gloating over the defeat of the late Premier, and so wildly jubilant are. they that they plainly show that it is not the good of the country they have at heart, bnt their own miserable motives of/self interest. The Opposition have soored a .temporary victory, for they have secured the return of 46 pledged opponents to the Government, whose supporters gained but So seats. There are, however, ten members returned as Independent, and these hold the balance of power.. It must be pointed out, however, that tbe 85 form a compact body, whereas some of the 46 are certain to find as much fault with any new Administration that iraybe formed as they did with the last. The voice of the people is not accurately shown by the result of the polling, for setting aside those members returned as doubtful or Indepen- i dent, we find that 43,446 electors recorded votes for Government supporters, and 50,652 for Opposition candidates, thus if we divide those who voted for Government supporters by the number of Government candidates returned after a poll, we find i the quotient to be 1816, while those who voted for the Opposition only in like manner give a result of 1151. A very large proportion of the Opposition candidates have, however, been returned on the cry of no further taxation, a very effective ticket no doubt, but seeing that their leader has admitted tbat increased' taxation is necessary — and of the trnth §f this there is no doubt — many of those who have mialed the electors will find themselves in a very unpleasant position. The members of the present Government have sent in their resignation, and Major Atkinson was thereupon sent for, and he has obtained till Friday to consider whether he can form a Government. No doubt he will find his task more difficult owing to the defeat of Messrs Bryce and Eolleston at the elections, and there is little chance of his forming a stable Government. The House meets to day, but nothing can be done for some days, and of course there will be no speech from the Throne till affairs have assumed a more definite shape. The results of the elections in the Nelson district were virtually unanimously in favor of the Government, for though an Opposition candidate was returned by the Waimea-Pioton electorate, still he had two Government supporters opposing him thus splitting the votes, both of. whom ran him very close, and it was the Marlborough part of the constituency that secured the return of Mr Seymour. The hopes of not a few in Nelson at the present time are Bet upon the development of the gold-bearing reefs at the Owen. Of the several claims and the prospects obtained from the stone found in each sufficient has been said, —what we are now awaiting is the actual result obtained after putting the stone through the battery. In face of great difficulties, a battery has now been erected, the machinery having had to be conveyed over roads feet deep in mud at places, and the mere fact that all obstacles have so far been overcome speaks highly for the perseverance and enterprise of those who have accomplished the task. Then an aerial tramway from the Wakatu mine to the battery has been constructed, and this is doing its work admirably. Already the battery has been started, and found to work well, but on Monday next the actual work of crushing the quartz will commence, and- then the yield of gold will be most anxiously awaited. A very great deal depends on the success of this field, and ii it turns out as well or nearly as well as some competent judges anticipate, it will not only add greatly to the prosperity of the district, bat wil be of incalculable benefit in giving encouragement to tht opening up of other mineral districts.