The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1914. THE ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2344, 29 December 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1914. THE ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES

The suspense in which the public 'and the leaders of the rival political parties are being kept as to the final outcome of the recent Parliamentary elections seems likely to be long drawn out. At the moment the Government has a majority of two votes, 41 to 39, but we are told today that Mr. Btatham does not intend to- take advantage of the muddle"ment in the conduct of the DuhedTn Central election that appears to have told against his opponent. It is understood: that Mb. Statham had not exhausted the means at his disposal of testing the accuracy of the poll when the error of a deputyreturning officer which placed him in the lead was discovered, but having been elected on what he regards as a technical error he, in a very sportsmanlike spirit, has decided to give the electors another chance to make a choice between himself and Me. MtiNRO. A good_ many people may regard this as. being in the exj isting condition of parties a some--1 what quixotic step to take, more especially in view of the fact that his opponent appears to have determined to seek a win through the Election Court. In any case, however, whether tEo matter is decided through the , Election Court or by another election, or by both of these means, there must be a delay of some weeks before the final result is made know_rn In Hawke's Bay . the magisterial recount is stated to have been productive of yet another surprise. _ There, according to a message which we publish this morning, the magisterial officer has rejected a substantial number of votes on the ground that ballot papers bear pencil marks through the Christian name ofone or other of tho candidates, while the name of the. opposing candidate is wholly struck out, as provided by the Legislature Act. The inference to bo drawn from this is that a number of electors intending to vote for one candidate have started out to cross out the name of the wrong man, and discovering .their mistake corrected their error. It is rather curious, however, that so many .electors should have done this, and the matter should be worth further investigation; The final result of this election, however, has yet to bo determined, and will no doubt form the subject of inquiry by the Election Court.

With the Duriedin Central and Hawke's Bay seats in a state of suspense, the Government still has 40 members on which it can rely for support oh a waht-of-confidence motion, whereas the combined forces of the Wardists and Labour-Social-ists only total 38 votes. In the circumstances there is nothing to bo done but 'cb wait the final result of the investigations into the voting in the doubtful electorates. The recount for tho Ohinemuri seat also has yet to be taken, and although the Opposition candidate there has a lead of 100 votes, the experiences where recounts have so far taken place suggest that there are possibilities of the Government gaming a further addition of strength trom this quarter. The errors which have been brought to light as the result of recounts in connection with the rticeht elections may seem to suggest that there has been less care exercised than iisual oh such occasions: On examination of the facts, however, such a suggestion is open to doubt. For one thing, there have never been recounts of this nature on previous occasions. The special circumstances of the closeness of some of tho contests and the importance attached to the result in such cases in consequence of the equal division of parties have led to a keener examination of the work of the officers of the Electoral Department than has been customary. As a matter of'fact, all the returning otiicers employed at the previous general election (with three exceptions) were employed at the recent elections; aacl in every case where errors have been found the returning officers were experienced men appointed under the Seddon-Ward regime. So far as the de-puty-return-ing officers arc concerned, with so many required, and for a task which comes round only once in '■ three years, it is not surprising if amongst the number there should be some not ftilly conversant With the wholo of the details of their work. It is ho fault of the Electoral Department that errors have been made for the instructions issued for the guidance of deputy-returning officers were most clear and complete.' No doubt mistakes occur in all elections where tho polling is heavy, and it is only when the final result is close that they are likely to be discovered by some process v of investigation.