A Bungle at the Bay.

Observer, Volume X, Issue 603, 24 January 1891, Page 4

A Bungle at the Bay.

Ab we look out of the broad opening of our big 0 towards tbe ' poor north ' we,' observe ' some strange antics being performed in the ' Cradle County.' The .Returning Officer for the Bay of Islands County by some mishap failed to get the copy of advertisement announcing nominations for county councillors to the office of the local newspaper, so aa to give the notice required by law, and although the nominationa and elections went forward in the several ridings, it was known that all the arrangements were liable to be upset. As expected, some residents of Kawakawa presented a petition to the B. M., and although His Worship expressed his opinion that the said petition referred to the Kawakawa riding only, still the oounty authorities, to disarm criticism, wished the upset to be complete, and so it was made. In three of the ridings the second election did not effect any ouange from the first, but in the Kawakawa riding, where four candidates had been nominated for the two seats, a nice dish of hash has been served up. The Eeturning Officer, a highly-respectable elderly man, being determined to have all things straight on the day of the poll, was in Kawakawa about 7 a.m. He found no ballot-box in, the courthouse (it now appears that a ballot-box had been in the courthouse until the afternoon previous, but by some means had got spirited away.) He utterly failed in getting one, although it was known that there were several near at hand ; in his efforts he met with scant courtesy from pariies who like to pose as gentlemen. The result was that it was nearer ten than nine before the poll opened. When the votes came to be counted, it was found that one of the old members had a majority, the two opposing candidates had an equal number of votes, and the other old member was said to be out of it ; but this decision was found afterwards to be wrong, inasmuch as the three voting papers, declared to be informal because only one name was left upon them, were after. all in order. These would have made three equal. The B. 0., without the aid of the ' toss up ' wrongly attributed to him, gave his casting vote and declared two members elected. He might have saved himself the announcement. Immediately after the declaration, some one could discover that the want of a certain certificate in connection with an insolvency trouble prevented one of the elected ones from taking his seat, or rendered him liable to a heavy penalty. Apart from this the Adullamites at once presented another petition, and so a third election, with all the little etceteras, will duly come on, this time, however, in charge of a Returning Officer it will be dangerous to play tricks on. Some of our readers will be asking why we have wasted so much of their time and our own space in noticing this petty squabble. Why, simply that we may enter a protest against this, another instance of the folly of destroying what little strength there is in

the country districts in useless bickerings. In this case the circumstances would be funny if they were not stupid. It is almost certain that the old members will be returned again. Even should either or both of the opposing members, ' the new blood,' get returned, their influence will be destroyed by reason of the surroundings of their election. A considerable sum of money, badly wanted on the roads, will have been spent in their election expenses, and worse still, works have been delayed that should be done in summer weather. , ' If these be thy gods, 0 Kawakawa '—if these are the men who are aspiring to lead the North, we advise the sensible people in the expiring coal-pit township to quietly give them (their influence) a crack on the head. If there is a whining protest that they ' ha'nt a got no heads,' then give them a little harder crack fon the place where the heads ought to be,' and we will hope that the circulation thereby set up will soon add the necessary attics to their now incomplete make-up.