THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, Novemeber 21, 1908. SUMMARY NOTES.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12405, 21 November 1908, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, Novemeber 21, 1908. SUMMARY NOTES.

The Elections. The .general elections, the all absorbing topic of conversation for the last- month or so, eventuated on Tuesday, and may be said to be still in progress, as second ballots will be taken in twenty-two electoral es. under the Second Ballot Act/ of last session. On the figures as at present complete" the Government goes back with a following of thirtysix; there . are sixteen Opposition members, and three successful candidates describe ... themselves as Independents, one of whom will probably find his way to the Opposition benches. Twenty-four Government, sixteen Opposition and four Independent candidates go to tho second ballot. . Among the Government candidates who failed to score a decisive victory at tihe first ballot was the Hon. J. Carroll, Minister of Native Affairs( who has to settle the issue with Mr G. Darton (Independent). The Minister's, return is by no n:eans certain, as the vote was split by a number of other' candidates, a large proportion of whose supporters will now doubtless give their allegiance to Mr -Darton. The Hon R. McNab, Minister of Lands and Agriculture, suffered defeat at the hands of Mr Anderson (Opposition). Mr McNab's retirement from tho Ministry means the country's loss of the most capable Minister of Agriculture it has over had. All the other members of the Cabjnet retained their seats. The Nelson Seat. As for the Nelson seat, its occupant is not yot decided, a second ballot being necessary hero also. The returns are. not yet completej but* at present Mr Graham is, leading by 188 votes from Mr Atmore, their respective totals being 2899 and 2711. The third candidate, Mr Moffatt, has . secured 314 votes, and there arc still 46 ballot papers to be accounted for. These are all absent voters and seamen's rights, and they cannot of course affect, the result. At the second ballot the result will depond - upon two factors, the readiness of tho electors to record their votes again, and the leanings of Mr Moffatt 1 s supporters. I* is by no moans certain that country voters -trill take kindly to an order of things which requires them to relinquish their work and sacrifice their convenience by travelling long distances and voting twice in order to effect one object Hosts of electors all over tho Dominion, moreover, will doubtless welcome the opportunity of showing their objection to a measure which was placed on the Statuto Book in the face of the almost unanimous protest of the Press and people, and which nobody asked for. An Absurd Position. . The position with regard to the second ballot in this district is ridiculous in the extreme. The ballot is to be taken "on tho seventh ( day after the closo of the poll on . the first ballot" and the fifth section . provides that "when 'the Returning Officer finds as a result of the first ballot that a second ballot is required he shall thereupon make a public declaration to Ulat effect in the form contained in the second schedule hereto, and shall as soon as practicable thereafter give public notice, in such newspaper or newspapers circulating in tho electoral district d he thinks - fit, of the day. on whici tho second ballot is- to be taken; ataa 1 of the' names of the candidates at that ballot." The second sehedul^ referred to provides that in the de) claration there shall be shown the votes polled by each candidate, thY total number of valid' votes polled] , the absolute majority required, etc} Tho Returning Officer here had inforC mation on Thursday evening tha'/ made it absolutely certain that 4 second ballot must be taken (tbi leading candidate was then 123 b* hind the combined totals of his op\ > ponents and there wero only eirty) six permits to com© in) yet ho could • not giva the statutory notice because . ho cannot insert the figures required in the declaration, and it is very improbable that he can give them before Tuesday (the day of the teeohd . ballot), if then, for theje are still > forty-six permits to come in. The paper which circulates in the Sounds *. portion of . the electorate published yesterday and will not_ publish again ' 7 till Tuesday, so that no public, official notice will be able te reach electors in tha Sounds before tie polling . day. -Mr Glen is acting tinder advice from headquarters but it "is perfectly plain that insufficient official notice will be given in any pari~ of the electorate, and in a considerable portion no notice can be given. Moreover, any notice given will probably- . have incomplete . figures and there- ; ■ fore no more correct than if the notice had been given yesterday as it ' should have been. '

Fhe Local Option Polls. The result of the local option poll in Nelson has been fatal to no license, ( but it may still l>e possible that reduction has been carried. The Re- , burning Officer has not yci) made his : official declaration of tho poll, and until then Ihe number of valid votes , cast, . upon which the carrying of reduction depends,- will not be known. In all seven electorates adopted nolicense on. this oeca>ion, bringing the number of "dry" areas in the Dominion up to thirteen. Several hare, carried reduction and one or two others are still in doubt. A noticeable feature of the no license extension is tho number of North Island, electorates carried, namely, Wellington South, Wollngton Suburbs, Hutt, Masterton and Ohinemuri. It is possible that no license may also" bo carried by Manukau and Eden. Bruce has followed tho example of neighbouring electorates in the South, and . no license will prevail there also after June next. All the electorates previously under no license have reaffirmed the principle. The New Parliament. There will be abssnt rfrom tha legislative halls when Parliament next meets, many familiar faces. Among the defeated candidates, Messrs McNah, Kidd, Izard, Major, A. L. D. Fraser and Symes have held their seats for several sessions, and their removal from the House will leave a gap. Gone too from the political arena is tho bitingly sarcastic but withal genial and kindly member for Courtenay, Mr Charles • Lewis, r who did not seek re-election. The courteous and industrious Minister of Public Works, the Hon W. Hall-Jones, will be in London as High Commissioner, and iiho Hon C. H. Mills' next appearance in the house will be in the capacity of an auditor, he also having retired into private life, after fighting the battles of Wairau for many . years. Others that will be missed are -Mr A. ~W. Rutherford, of Hurunui, and Mr E. W. Allison, of Waitemata. In all ten members of the last Parliament, five from each party, did not seek re-election.