THAMES ELECTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 450, 6 February 1909, Page 3

THAMES ELECTION.

Result of Second Ballot.

Thames, February 4

The second ballot in connection with the Thames by-election took place to-tjay and excited considerable interest. The two candidates are both supporters of the present Government. Mr E- H. Taylor, who topped the poll in the first ballot, leads by 518. Mr W. H. Lucas is the other candidate. The complete returns are not to hand. Eight returns have to come, but the result cannot be affected. The totals so far are:— Taylor ... 2188 Lucas ... 1669 The result of the first ballot was as follows: —Taylor (Government), 1305 ; Lucas (Government selected candidate), 853 ; Deeble (Opposition), 573 ; Rhodes (Government), 565 ; Haselden (Opposition), 493. The Rev- . Edmund Harvey Taylor, the new member for Thames, vice the Hon. J, McGowan, has been a resident of the Thames tor 27 j r ears, and has during the whole of that time identified himself with the public affairs of that town. He is a prominent prohibitionist, and has stood for the constituency in that interest several times. He was the first Chief Templar in New Zealand, and for about 20 years he was the leader of the 1.0.G.T. in the Dominion. He makes periodical trips lecturing through the country on behalf of the New Zealand Alliance- Mr Taylor is a son of the late John Taylor, of Roos Manor, Cornwall, and in. a community of miners, a large proportion of whom are Cornish, he has been immensely popular during the whole course of his residence at Thames, his unorthodoxy in matters of religion and his strongly democratic tendency appealing strongly to them. Mr Taylor frequently undertakes building contracts, and is himself a practical carpenter and cabinetmaker , having early in his career taken a particular fancy for a hobby that he afterwards used to amplify his income as a clergyman.