HOME ELECTIONS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXV, Issue 12982, 25 January 1910, Page 7

HOME ELECTIONS.

THE PARLIAMENTARY DEATH- ’ RATE. ' Of the 670 members elected in 1906 to constitute'the British House of Commons 77 died before the dissolution of the House took place last month. One was dead, in fact, before he could know o, his ■ election-fMr Higgins, M.P. for Galway. At the' time of the dissolution there were three seats vacant by deaths—Ports- ■ mouth, Uxbridge, and Ipswich. If the history of the 1906-9 Parliament wen an average one, one could conclude, tha in four years 111) per cent, of the mem hers elected on Saturday and, still to be elected, will be dead in four years. The strain of parliamentary labour makes heavy toll on the life and health of thosi who devote themselves to it, and this fact is made all the more manifest in a country like Great Britain, , where the aged and experienced are still the repositories of the confidences of the public. COST OF A GENERAL ELECTION. “Financial experts estimate that from beginning to end the election will put into circulation nearly .£1,600,000 that otherwise would have remained undis-turbed-in the banks of the country,” says the Daily Mirror. In 1906 the wetua expenses of the candidates, of whom there were 1273, totalled ,£1,166,858. A candidate is allowed by law to spend £IOO in personal expenses, but as a matter of fact the actual expenses of each is estimated at between £3OO to £SOO. The of the candidate’s personal friends, who accompany him and heln him in his campaign, and the cost of the posters, handbills, and literature circulated by the various political and trade organisations, have to be added to the sums disbursed by the candidates themselves, or their direct and indirect agents. “THE COCKPIT OF THE FIGHT.” “The only factor which admits of any doubt or qualification is London. There lies the cockpit of the fight.” So wrote Mr H. W. Massingham in the Morning Leadei at the beginning of December, in the course of a, most optimistic article on the Liberal prospects. London contains 58 Parliamentary constituencies, each •of which returns one member, except the City of London, which is represented by two. The sitting members for the City are Mr Balfour, the Unionist leader, and Sir F. G. Bunbury. There is a great disparity in the voting strength of some of the divisions. Wandsworth, for instance, has 37,000 electors, and the St. George division of the Tower Hamlets only 3340. The City of London, although returning two members,' has over 7000 electors less than Wandsworth, which returns hut one. Among the measures passed by the Commons which the House of Lords rejected during the currency of the last Parliament was one for the re-distribution of the London Parliamentary seats, and a more equitable distribution of the voting power.

The Weather Bureau reports:—Westerly moderate to strong winds freshening, probably squally. Expect unsettled and cloudy weather, rain probable, glass fall, but unstead} 7 ; tides high, sea rough. An inspiring spectacle was witnessed by those on board the Federal-Houlder-Shire liner Everton Grange when she was rass ing the Peak of Teneriffe on the 20th of November, bound from Liverpool to Mel- 1 bourne. The mountain was in vigorous eruption, and the whole scene for miles around was lit up by its lurid glax*e. There were a large number of passengers on the vessel, all of whom naturally watched the imposing sight with keen interest. Dr. Alfred Agassiz, who died on the 6th inst., in a Sydney private hospital, had an adventurous career in New Zealand and Australia. He was born in, Devonshire in 1840, his father being Dr. Lewis Agassiz, late of Bradiield, Essex, took his M.R.C.S. in 1863, and came to Australia, intending to return. In Melbourne he met Colone 1 Pitt, who was raising a militia force to take part in- the Maori war in New Zealand. He accompanied the force to New Zealand, and Sir George Grey appointed him assistant surgeon, in which capacity he served with the 70th Regiment, joining the flying column under Major Ryan. During the war Dr. Agassiz had many narrow escapes, one being on the occasion of the massacre by the Maoris of Dr. Grace and several missionaries. On another occasion Dr. Agassiz was captured and tied to a tree. He managed, however, to convey a message to a. chief whom he had cured of typhoid, and! who rescued him. After the war the doctor, who had married a daughter of Dr. Devlin, of Whangarei, came to Australia, and was for a time medical superintendent of Bay View House, Cook’s River. He went to Cootamundra. after this, and was there when the great railway accident occurred in 1885, being for a time the only medical man attending the sufferers. After he returned to Sydney his health failed. Death took place from diabetes.