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Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1925, Page 2

It is certainly a matter ol very great regret that the West Coast, is not to be represented at tin* Dunedin Exhibition with any provincial court. At tbe beginning of the year matters were well in train to that purpose, hut the arrangements fell through, and the district will miss the opportunity of exceptional value in the way of advertising. The public men of the Coast are usually alert in matters ol this kind but on ibis occasion they have missed an opportunity of a kind which is not likely to recur again in the life i f the present generation. Such excellent accounts are being reteiveil of the preparations for Otago's greatest effort on behalf of the Dominion, that as folk from the Coast wend their way to the great show, and realise the magnitude i f the exposition, the feelings of regret will grow more and more pronounced. There is to be an effort in tlic way of advertising this particular locality bv a very fine booklet. and mneli useful service can bo done in that dire-tion. In fact the most should he made of it.. It, appears to he the only opportunity there will he of direct intcrest in the Exhibition as a means to advance publicity, and such a chance should le taken the fullest advantage of.

Horn the Lyttelton and Westland parliamentary seats are in the balance. With regard to the official (omit in this latter we notice some complaint lias been made by a northern newspaper as to delay in the getting out of the figures. There dues not ap|>cnr. however. to he any blame attachable to the Returning Officer, who has been bent on checking the returns in such a way that when the poll is declared by him there will be no chance ol a Magisterial enquiry upsetting, the result-. It is well to take the precautions in advance. When the earliest figures available revealed the possibility of a close linish, the work of revision by the Returning Officer was carried out with scrupulous care. The new system of absentee voting wits the cause of much delay owing to mistakes in posting by several outside deputies. On top of that the verification of the declarations by the voters with the cards of enrolment. created much further delay. In the end there is still further delay wailing for the completion of the three outstanding votes which arc to determine the filial result. There can he no reasonable complaint against the delay of the Returning Officer, who has an explicit duty to discharge in accordance with legal procedure defined well hv the electoral law and that task hasbeen discharged with especial care as affecting all details likely to hare on (he ultimate result. Where the contest is such close going it is manifest for the benefit of all concerned that there should lie nothing slip-slod about the conduct of the election, and that material side of the decision—the counting of the votes.