THE DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1036, 16 December 1881, Page 3

THE DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

DUNSTAH DISTRICT. The official declaration of the pill took I place ofc the C o. chouse, Clyile, <m Wednesday, the I'4th lust., at noon. Major Kedclell, the .Returning Officer, announced that the total nu.n’oer of votes polled for was 1,02.4, oi which eleven, however. were informal. Upon a scrutiny, he had discovered that three of the votes accorled to Mr pyke and one to .Mr Fraser had to be deducted from their totals. The official return stands thus— Vincent Pyke 520 William Fraser 430 Vincent Pyke was therefore declared duly elected. Mr Timm is Sims rose, and said he had received a. ie’ter from Mr Pyke addressed to the electors whieu he would real : Dijnedi.v, Hue. 12, 18S1. To the electors of the H'instan dhv.iot: Friends and Follow Citizms, — I must ask yon to pardon my absence upn the occasion of the declaration of the poll. Relieve me had 1 not been prevented by unavoidable circumstances from atteudI mg, nothing should have hindered me from

being present to thank my friends and suppo t rs for the warm iitarest they have taken in my election. I have not been able to canvass the district so thoroughly as I could have wished ; hut I trusted to the g'-rat heart of the People, and I have not so trusted in vain. The numberless calumnies and misrepresentations industriously circulated respecting me have not, I am proud to say, deprived mo of your confidence. It shall bo my stndy to show that such confidence Ims not been misplaced. In the.hour of Victory I can afford to be generous, and therefore ,1 am willing .to forget and forgive all that .has been said and done against me.

I enter upon my -fourth term of Parliamentary office in New .Zealand with a deep sense of the weighty responsibilities devolving upon mo. The two great issues, initiated by me—namely, the Otago Central .Railway, and the true settlement of the land question—have attained national importance. Yon may rest assured that I will labour with pen and voice, in season and out of season, to secure their duo accomplishment. To all who wrought and voted for me I tender my warmest .and most grateful acknowledgments ; to those who honestly opposed me I extend the hand of amity, hopefully desiring their better understanding of me in future ; for those who otherwise sought to.mar my election 1 will earnestly pray that they may be enabled to see their folly as Tsme rolls on. I have not —I never had—any object in view bub the public good, and that I will do my very utmost to foster so long as I draw the breath of life. I am very sincerely Your Friend and Advocate, Vincent Tyke, M.H.R. Ho then sai l, as the proposer of the successful candidate, he had to cangratulate the electors on the result of the pell, and while the majority was not quite so great as he could lia'.’s desired, or in fact expected, considering the opposition to be contended with, which had left not a stone unturned to gain a victory, it was a something to he proud of. Mr S. Welsford said as there was no one to speak on behalf of Mr Fraser he desired to propose a vote thanks to Major Keddell, Returning Officer, for the hiehly satisfactory manner in which he had conducted the election, and for the extreme courtesy extended by that gentlemen to all parties on the day of the poll. No hitch or unpleasantness had occurred throughout, which he thought, considering the importance of the elec.ion, was highly satisfactory. Major Keddell acknowledged the compliment paid him, and the proceedings terminated.