The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, July 22nd., 1913. THE GREY BY-ELECTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1124, 22 July 1913, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, July 22nd., 1913. THE GREY BY-ELECTION.

Excitement is running at fever heat in the Grey electorate in connection with the second ballot, to be held on Thursday, to decide whether a representative of the present Government or an extreme Labour Socialist shall be Grey’s elect in Parliament. Mr Webb has “Professor” Mills and Mr P. J. O’Regan boosting for him, while Mr Michel has the assistance of the Reform Organiser. A study of the figures at the first ballot points to Mr Michel’s success. At the Greymouth, Cobden, and Blaketown booths Mr Hannan polled 1,243, Mr Michel 1390, Mr Webb 679, while at Reefton Mr Hannan secured 302, Mr Michel 388, and Mr Webb 207. Greymouth and Reefton are the business centres of the electorate, and it might be taken that the residents in those centres were not in favour of Labour control. Mr Hannan’s votes were polled largely on personal lines. It might be safely assumed that many of those who supported Mr Hannan would transfer their votes to Mr Michel at the second ballot, and that very little of the support given Mr Hannan would be transferred to the Labour candidate. Looking at the position broadly, Mr Michel's majority at the second ballot would probably be about 500, Mr Michel securing 2,700 to Mr Webb’s 2,200. It was significant that Mr Webb’s figures were largely made up of almost block votes in the purely mining localities, such as Runanga, DunolHe, and Blackball, and at the Greymouth Town Hall, where the wharf labourers recorded their votes. Outside of those places Mr Webb had only polled very lightly, and this gives point to the prediction as to the result of the second ballot.