RODNEY ELECTION PETITION.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 604, 16 December 1871, Page 2

RODNEY ELECTION PETITION.

To the Editor of the Evening Stab. Sir, —A very unfair and incorrect statement of the nature and design of the " Rodney Election Petition " having become current, permit me as briefly as possible to narrate the facts of the case, which are, or should be, of more than common interest to the electors of this colony, merely premising that, tested by results, " The Regulations of Elect'ons Act 1870" has proved totally inadequate to prevent corrupt practices at elections, as the electors of this county know too well, and that it increases ten-fold the facilities for personation, &c, to what existed during the practice of open voting. _ It having become a matter of notoriety after the close of the last Rodney election that at several of the polling places various malpractices and illegal proceedings took place, several of the electors deeply regretting that the newly formed county of Rodney should be so disgraced, proposed calling for an investigation, but on inquiry were astonished to find that the case would have to be tried in Wellington, and entail an enormous outlay—a plan evidently devised to put an effectual veto on at least nine out of ten of all election inquiries that ought to take place. When the Assembly met last August, they imagined that a statement of some of the most glaring of the misdoings, if laid before hon. members, might possibly result in an investigation; and having set about collecting the necessary evidence, wrote out a memorial, and obtained sixtyfour signatures (given with the utmost readiness) thereto. This took longer than was anticipated, so that it was not till the 3rd of November, that Mr A. Clark presented the memorial, which reads as under, to the House :'—" To the honorable the House of Representatives of New Zealand, in session assembled. The respectful memorial of the undersigned electors of the District of Rodney, in the Province of Auckland, sheweth: That your memorialists have ascertained that at the last election of members of your honorable House various irregularities took place, in the district of Rodney, more especiall&at the polling place at Waiwera, in the province of Auckland. That, at the place and date referred to, there were at least thirteen, personations, That one

vote that was personated, viz i q9 Benjamin Gilmer, was known t 0 th Deputy Returning Officer, Mr John S derson, to be a personation; but th i when remonstrated with, the Return Officer stated he was bound to record^ though he kne w it was personated, n t at one time during the polling, there w from ten to fifteen voters in the room6^ once. That one of the scrutij-^ rg j g pared to testify that one man th/ times. That your petitioners, r ]ennahl 6 to bear the expense which wild hay been necessarily incurred in the presenta6tion, and proof of an election petition" but feel it their duty to bring these irregularities, which they are prepared to prove by documentary evidence, before your honorable House, with a view towards steps being taken for the pre vention of such practices in future. You" memoralists therefore pray that there may be an investigation into the conduct of the above election, and that such p ro . vision may be made to prevent the recurrence of such practices as your honorable House shall think fit."

On the 6th November, Mr Farnell, well primed with May's Practice, and other books, drew the attention of the Speaker to the fact that the presentation and receipt by the House of a petition pro. testing against his return for the district of Rodney, was contrary to the forms and rules of the House. He moved that all records of the proceedings connected with the petition, be expunged from the journals of the House." The Speaker said the matter had escaped his attention when the petition was presented else he should have ordered that it be not received, because it had not been presented within the prescribed time after the election. On the following day, Mr. Clark said, "he wished to make a few observations in connection with this matter as he was not in his place when the report of the Petitions Committee was brought up. He thought the hon. member for Rodney when he spoke yesterday must have been laboring under a mis. apprehension, as the petition did not protest against his return to the House. It merely called attention to certain irregularities and asked the House to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such irregularities in the future. The petition did undoubtedly embrace something of the character of an election petition, but seeing that the Election Committee did not make any severe remarks upon it, the pursuance of such as extreme course as that adopted yesterday was hardly warranted. The Speaker said he felt sure no member of the House would suppose the hon member intended any disrespect to the House, but at the same time the course pursued by the House was obviously a very necessary one, and rested on the ground that no stigma should attach to an hon member, unless an opportunity had been g'?en him to refute any such charge within proper time. It must be clear that unless such an opportunity were given the matter would have remained as a stigma upon the hon member for Rodney. Truly an extraordinary and striking mode of vindicating a man's honor. A man breaks into my house and abstracts therefrom all and everything of value he can out of it. For three whole months he eludes pursuit. On the fourth he is detected in the very act too, of endeavouring to obtain a situation of responsibility and trust, and brought before a magistrate; but to the marvel and utter astonishment of the whole sane world his Worship de-" clares, that inasmuch as the man was not discovered and convicted during the allotted three months, no stigma attaches to his character. Verily, our legislators enact laws for the encouragement of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do not well.

I am, &c, A Rodney Electoe.