THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1676, 30 September 1887, Page 2

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Tbe official declaration of the poll for tho Ashburton district took plaoe to day at noou, Pouotually at 12 o'clock, the Returning Officer, Mr J. R. Oolyer, announced that the number polled by each of the candidates was as follows : — Walker 878 Purnell ... 323 Maj >rity for Walker, 555. He declared Mr Walker duly elected. Mr Walker mouoted the atapa of the Conrthouss amid much applause. He said there wia not mnch neoess'ty for him to speak at greNfc length, and ha had J only to return them h's hearty thanka for the support which they hnd accorded him, and for their Laving returned him as thfir re resentative with such a convincing majority. He could not tufficlently express his gratitude for the confidence they had thua expressed m him — he could only Bay that, if possible, it heightened hiadeaire to faithfully cervo them m the forthcoming Parliament, and do all that ho couM to farther the intereßta of the district, and of tha colony as a whole. Ho desired to express a hope that nothing he had said or done had hnrt the feelings of those who had been opposed to him. Hiß opponents had, m the most handsome mauner possible, mada it understood that they went against him, net on personal, but on political grounds. They had avoided, as far as possible, giving anything 'hit might have seemed (ike offence to his supporters, and he hoped that anything he had said or done had not hurt the feelings of hia opponents, foi he oould c nsiientioualy 3*/ that he had not inteuded to do so. Bis opponents oonld rely on htm as faithfully serving them as the most ardent of hfs supporters. Looking at the events of last Monday a'though thero was very much on which they oauld ooagratulite themselves Btlll they must all foal sorry at the defeat of the Premier for Duoedlo Eist Whether or not they accapted Sir Robert Stoat aa a politioal leader they must give him credit fcr conscientious attlon and for being a faithful B3ryant of the public The colony could ill afford to lose the .services of such a man, especially at the present tima when they wanted strong man m Parliament—men able to graßp the poeitioa of the colony and devise measures to cope with their present diffioul'y. It was a great misfortune for tha colony that Sir Kobert Stout bad been deeated and that misfortune would be intensified if the Premier peraiated m hia re f usal to acoept one of the many seats that had bean iff ired to him W leu a man eot3red publio life he had put his hand to tha plough and ha ahouid not go back. Ha hoped that the Premier would not go back and th*t he w.uld yet do good service for tha colony. Canterbury had proved true to what eha believed was the best oourae for the colony to undertake, and had returned a compact, united band to Parliament He waa not inclined to put too m<:ch emphasis ov a spirit of provincialism, and he did not approve of eaoh province sending up a band of men opposed to every other provkca. He, however, agreed tbat, it waa desirable that, as m the oft-repeated Btory of fie Scoch thifctie, no one could touch us without fealicg that they had mide a great mistake. Mr Walker a^a'n exp eased his thanks to the electors and concluded whh the hope ti«*t he would never do anything that would either dißgraoe himself or the electorate which he repreaeuted.

Mr C. W. Purnell, who was reoeived with applanee, aaid that bo far as le was personally concerned ho did not regret the result ot the election, but as regarded Canterbury he was torry that it had ao emphaucal y pronouuced a verdict m favor of increased taxation and a continuance c£ a vicious Bystem of financaH we?*-r, although that waa the cube hb regarded this constituency and the provincial dis rict he had to express his pleasure that tho result of thd ooctionß throughout the oolony were favorable to a eybtem of economy and Bound finance. Although Mr Walker Tvas to be congratulated on the reßulcof the election, atill, to some extent he web to be ooramuerated, Mr Walker had gone about tha district urging that if he were returned he would ba a supporter of the StoutYogel Ministry. Now the elections showed that the Stout- Vogel Ministry had " gone up the spout/ the Premier was wiihont a seat, and, therefore, Mr Walker waß very much In the position of a lamb bleating for its molhar. He (Mr Purnell) had to consider the large amount of wealth and influence that

bad been directed against him, and not always m a sorupnloua manner. Then, too, the opinlonß of thoao who thought liko he did, were totally unrepresented m the local preHS. It was a great misfortune that both papers were echoes of Sir Julius Yogel, and although they were feeble echoes, atili they did not give expreEßion to the opinions of the other Bide. He trusted that before long some man of enterprise would start an independent journal m Ashburton, that would consider other matters than the interests of Sir Julius Yogel. There waa another matter to which he wished to refer. Shortly after tha polling booth was open the inmates of the Old Men's Some were driven down. They were received by the Master and driven into his opponent's tent, where, doubtless, they received their instructions how to vote. One of these old men had the audacity to apeak (p one of his (Mr Purnell'u) supporters, but he was immediately and peremptorily called back by the faster. His (Mr PuroeU'e) opponent waa a member of the Oearl table Aid Board and also of the looal Committee, and as such exerciaed a good deal of influence over the Home. It was a mons rous thing that the institution should be used aa a maohine to Bupport anyone's candidature, and the Muster converted into an eleo tioneering agent. He had felt it due to himself md to his supporters to take action In this matter, and ha had »ocqrdingly lodged a formal complaint with the Oaaritab c Aid Board bo that body might enquire into the clroumstan'oes of the case. He thought that it might well come within the Bcope of the Board's functions to also enquire into the fact of these old men's names being pot on the roll at the last possible minute, so that there was no time for any objection to be taken to them It wrb also to be borue m mind that a groat majority of these men coma from other parts of the colony, and it was a very serious thing if the votes of the inhabitants of this district— the me a who had a stake m tha country — were to be swamped by those of sixty or seventy inmates of an institution of this sort. Mr Furnell concluded by saying that he had fought the battle fairly and equarely and although he had been beaten he had uot been dishonored. Mr Buxton was called for and delivered a speech, expressing his determination of aoiug to tho best of his ability for the good of ihe Raug J tata constituency and the colony at large. Major Steward, who was also present, m response to repeated calls delivered a speech. Although the Premier had been defeated, tho Oppbsition had not much to crow fib, out, 'for five 'of llieir moep prominent men hud bpen uua"ble to $'ad seats m the House. He spoke at soqi'e length, and said that m the judicious eucoursgement of locil industries and the settlement of the land by the right class of men was the hope of thefuure prosperity of tho country, We have been compelled to hold ovei the speeches of Mr Buxton and Majoi Steward, A vote of thanks to the .Returning Qfli .Pj moved by Mr Wajlker, aid seconded by Mr Pumell, was carried, uuauimoqely.

Cheers fcr Messrs Walker, Purnell, Buxton, and Steward, concluded tbe prcc edings.

Auckland, September 29. The scrutiny of the Newton electoral roll, as demanded by Mr Tole, waa held to day by Mr Beale, Keturnlng-Officer, and scrutineers They found that four casea of doable voting ocoarred m connection with the Newton election. Should Mr Tole persist m bis request the votes will be examined. The declarations of the poll at Auckland North and West and Ponsonby were made to-day at Oily North. Mr Yaile made a trenchant attack on the Press and its I action towards him m connection with the election, and made a grave oharge as to the manner m which the oonteit wai oondacted. He refaaed to shake hands with Mr Thompson when the latter offered Kirn hiß hand. Hokitika, September 29. Mr Bevan has received the following telegram from Sir Robert Stont : — " I *»m so Borry at your defeat. The House hai lost one of its beat speakers aad moat straightforward men: I hope rre both m private life will do our doty as oltleans." <VTr Bevan has aleo received telegrams rom Sir J, Yogel, Mr Larnaoh and many members of the late Parliament, and people throughout the colony expressing similar sentiments. • Oambridsb, September 29* It ia aliened that at the Waikato election the corners of the voting papers were not gummed down but merely turned down after the number had been written on them. Proteßtn were reoorded at nearly every booh. Mr Russell the defeated candidate, has laid the faot before the Cilonial Secretary, claiming that the Returning Officer's action is illegal and the whole election invalid. He has also wired for the best legal opinion obtainable on the Bubjeo*. Wellington, September SO. The ramaining declaration of the polls for the town constituencies took plaoe to* d»y. The figureß were not altered m any case, and a few short speeshes were only made. Blenheim, September 30. The poll was official ly deolared to-day. The figuraa were unaltered. Mr Dodson In returning thanka expressed tha opinion that m the present state of the colony what was wanted waa a strong coalition Government. It was no time for party fights, m faot party linea had been obliterated. Mr Maoalieter expressed regret of Sir Robert Stout's defeat, whioh friends and emeni y. alike regretted from one end of ' tha colony to another. About 100 peraona were present. The proceedings only lasted about 10 minutes. Gheymouth, September 30. There has baon some tali of Mr Petrle's supporters trying to upset the eleotion bat it is understood that Mr Petrie dliapprovo3, and no action la likely to be taken though some money was collected for tha purpose.