AUCKLAND ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 820, 18 May 1910, Page 4

AUCKLAND ELECTION.

TO BE KEENLY FOUGHT. POSSIBLE AND PROBABLE CANDU DATES. THE LABOUE VOTE. IDy TeleErapß.—Special CorreaDondent.l Auckland, May 17. The by-election made necessary by the :lcat'h of Mr. F. E. 13auine promises to lie very keenly fought out. Already the preliminaries arc being; entered upon with zest, and a largo number of possible candidates are mentioned. .Mr. Arthur M. Myers who will stand for the seat is undoubtedly the strongest man in Auckland to-day politically, and should he decide to come out in. the Government interest, is looked upon to be the only man who could win the seat for the Ward Administration. The probabilities are, however, that Mr. Myers, who has yet to make a definite pronouncement, will stand as an Independent Literal. Meantime tho Opposition orcaniser has arrived in Auckland and the campaign will shortly be opened. Mr. Massey has three or four strong candidates from whom to select, and in a day or two the Opposition choice will bib made. It is certain that Mr. Myers will have to put up a hot fight to get in against the man nominated by the Opposition, but beytmd these two the chances of the prot able candidates are looked upon as slight. In other words the coming by-election promises to resolve itself into a contest between Mr. Myers and the Opposition nominee. A factor in the election will be the vote of tho Labour party, which there is food reason to believe will be cast on lr. liussey's side. To-day a number of citizens waited on Mr. Myers wid assured him that there was a strong and generallr-espressed 'desiro that he should allow himself to be '■ nominated at the by-election. After referring to the unfortunate circumstances attending the present position, 'Mr.'Myers expressed the opinion that it was • somewhat premature to discuss the sub- \ ject, but he eventually undertook to give the proposal his serious consideration. It is understood that three names are under consideration by the Opposition— namely, Messrs. C. J. Parr (chairman of the Education Board), H. W. Nortncroft (late stipendiary magistrate in Auckland), and E. W. Alison (late member for Waiteraata). Mr. TV. J. Speight, (manager of the Auckland State Insurance Office) is freely mentioned as a likely Government candidate. ; Mr. \V. T. Thompson, a member of the City Council and oue of the late Mr. F. E. Baume's earliest supporters, will come forward as an Independent, with Prohibition and Labour sympathies. Another probable Opposition candidate is the Hon. E. Mitchelson. A name freely mentioned as a possible candidate was that of Captain Rnyvefct, but a "Star" representative this morning learnt, that Mr. Knyvett has no intention of entering the fight. The Knyrett Dtfenc* Committee, however, intends taking a very active part in the coming election, and will support a. suitable ' candidate espousing their case and op-' posed to the Government. Mr. J. K. Kneen has also been freely spoken of as a likely candidate, but he prefers not to enter tho political arena at present. Mr. AV. Kichardson; it is reported, will again contest the seat at the forthcoming by-eleclion. Mr. W. J. Napier nas also been asked to contest the seat. Ho hae promised to think the matter over before giving ■ a definite reply. It is interesting to note that there ivere three candidates for the Auckland East constituency at the last election, : and the voting resulttd as follows:— P. E. Baamfe ' 3358 ' W. Richardson 2262 J. N. Harle 374