BAY OF PLENTY BYELECTION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 309, 23 September 1920, Page 5

BAY OF PLENTY BYELECTION

COMPLAINT ABOUT THE ROLLS MR. MASSEY EXPLAINS THE POSITION The loader of the Opposition (Mr. Wilford)'stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that ho had' received a telegram from the chairman of a public meeting held at Te Karaka, in the Bay of Plenty, district, reporting that the following motion had been carried:— That this meeting emphatically protests ftjainst the Action of the Government, in closing the elecloral rolls without / notice, thereby disfranchising" hundreds of voters, including returned soldiers, settlors, and workers. The meeting, added Mr. Wilford. had urged tliat steps should ba taken to enable unenrolled electors to vote by declaration. He suggested that at least tho returned soldiers should ba allowed to vote by declaration. Mr. Massey: I suppose the honourable member knows that it was a candidate's meeting? Mr. Wilford: The telegram doos not say that. Whtn the House Tesumed' at 7.30 Mr. Massey made a detailed statement, as to the position. He unid he did not need to tell Mr. Speaker or the House that when a vacancy occurred during a session of Parliament, and Mr. Speaker had been ordered to do so by the House, he had to issue the writ for an election forthwith:. He did not often see the Gisborne papers, but he happened ,to know that advertisements had been inserted and locals published calling attention to tho issue of the writ. When the vacancy occurred the electoral officer had aslteu for advice and instructions. He had told him to simply comply with the latf and use his own judgment neither hurrying nor delaying the election. His instructions had been carried out to the very letter. Sir. Massey went on to Tefer to parallel ca?£S in recent years. The writ had not been issued until fourteen days after Mr. Ma'cDonald's death,. as compared with five and six days in other cases. It was extremely unfortunate that som,« would-be electors had not been placed on the roll, but so far as he was concerned he had done everything possible, and it would be exceedingly dangerous and a very bad precedent to agree to Mr.' Wilford's request. He htd never heard of anything of the 6ort having been done during all the time hfe had been in Parliament. Members of course knew that when a death occurred during EfcSßion the position was different from that at any other time. In the recent election at Stratford (he election took place six weeks after the seat had become vacant. He had taken the responsibility of fixing tho date-, himself, because though 6ome of tho best legal talent in New Zealand had informed him that he was not justified in tanging on the election until after the House had met, ho had come to the conclusion that he waa not justified in leaving the seat unrepresented. There was a precedent for that in his own case when ho was first elected to Parliament. He was sorry that he could', hold out no hope of complying with the _ request of the Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Witty: How many soldiers would thiCTO 1)3 P Mr. Massey: I could not say, but there would he very few. Besides, they ap» not soldiers now. They are civilians m tho ordinary sense of the word, and you cannot treat one differently from another, much as one might like to do so. LIBERAL CANDIDATE OPENS CAMPAIGN. Br TeloErftDh-PreP! Association. Gisborne, September 22. Mr P. J. Lysnar, candidate for the Bay of Plenty seat, addressed the electors at Te Karaka last evening. He complained that insufficient timo had been given candidates to traverse the extensive district. He urged the early completion of the East Coast Main Trunk Iteilway, the cutting up of big estates, and closer settlement. He claimed that the Reform Leader had not done his duty in. connection \nth the district; practically nothing had been done in the direction of Native land settlement. The coal minea of New Zealand should be valued, the Govern-m-ent should provide tho money to buy them, and men should work in them on. the co-operative system—then there would be no difficulty about coal. He was a Progressive, and would support the greatest good for the greatest number,' without being bound to vote any way. He looked to the formation of a new National Partv. Young New Zealand blood was wanted in Parliament. A unanimous vote of thanks and confidence was carried.