BAY OF ISLANDS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 212, 15 February 1915, Page 7

BAY OF ISLANDS

THE ELECTION PETITION. FCLL TEXT OP CHARGES AGAINST -MR. V. H. HEED. Tin' following is tlie full text of the ' 1 'titinn lodged by Edward J'-vans, of ; \. :iipiipakauri, and Edward Parsons, > of Waipuna, against the election of Odr. i Vernon Rcced for the Bay of Islands] seat:—

1. Vour petitioners state tha# the above election was liolden on the lOtli day of December, IDIJ, when Vernon Herbert Reed, of Kawakawa, solicitor, and Peter Henry Buck, of Oliaeawai, medical practitioner, and George Wilkinson, of Oruril, farmer, were candidates; and tile returning officer lias returned the said Vernon Herbert Keed as being duly elected, 2. And your petitioners sav that the said Vernon Herbert Heed, by himself and through his agent, -T. C. Johnston, of Kauri, did make ail oiler or promise to induce th ( . said George Wilkinson to procure the return of the said Vernon Herbert Reed to serve in the House of Representatives, such offer or promise being an appointment to the Legislative Council (which offer or promise, the said Vernon Herbert Reed and the said .T. Johnston represented to the said George Wilkinson they were authorised by the Government then in office to make) on condition that the, .iivid George Wilkinson would retire from tile said election, and so procure for the said Vernon Herbert Reed the votes, or a substantial number of the votes, which would he cast for the said George Wilkinson if lie the. s ai i George Wilkinson went to the poll. o. And the said Vernon Herbert Reed and 1,-s agent, J. C. Johnston, made the further offer or promise to the said Gtc.igo '»Vi)k'i.F'->! ;n :ir<iei to induce him the said George Wilkinson to procure or endeavor to procure the return of him, the said Vernon Herbert Reed to serve in the House of Representative?., that if he the said George Wilkinson would retire from the said election to enable the sa ; <l Vernon Herbert Heed to b 0 elected, he the said Vernon Herbert Reed, woall resign his seat in the House of Representatives at the end of tweive months from the date of his election, and would then use all his influence to have the said George Wilkinson elected in his the said Vernon Herbert Reed's place as a member of the House of Representatives.

'•4. The said Vernon Horbort Hoed, by liis agent, one J. Jccentho, senior, of Peria, offered and promised the said George Wilkinson to induce him to procure or endeavor to procure the return of the said Vernon Herbert Rood to serve in the House of Representatives a cheque of an amount equivalent to all the expenses he the said George Wilkinson had been put to in preparation for his candidature in the raid election, and in connection with such candidature, on condition that tbe said George Wilkinson would retire, from the said election for the purposes aforesaid.

:">. That on the date of the said election the said Vernon Herbert Reed, contrary to the provisions of section 45 of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910, was present in. the office of tbe returning officer at Kawakawa throughout the whole time the votes recorded for each candidat<y(vere being counted.

(5. That in the Pokapu booth, when a voter named Cross applied for a voting paper, the deputy returning officer, D. Ragnall, said to the said Cross: "You are voting for Reed; this is the one to strike out," meaning thereby to strike out the name of file said C!corgi* Yvilkinsoi\

7. The said Vomon IWljwrt Hwl offered and promised one Thomas Richards, at Waipapakauri, that lie the said Vernon Herbert Reed would procure him an appointment as a country postmaster if ho the said Thomas Richards and his family voted for him the said Vernon Herbert Reed.

8. The said Vernon Herbert Heed, or bis agents, also promised certain pcrsrms, whose names your petittaner-H fifty® not yet been able to ascertain, to procure for them certain areas of gntn land, on condition that such persons voted for him the said Vernon Herbert I! cod. '

!!. Tlie returning officer did not give the said IM-er Tlenrv Ruck or the taid Cenrgo Wilkinson any notice, ov any sufficient notice, of the date of the scmtiny of the rolls under section 4S of the Legislature Amendment Act. IAID. to enable them to appoint scrutineers, as a result neither the said Peter Henry Ruck nor the said George Wilkinson was present or represented at the counting of the votes, as provided by section 43 of the said Act.

10. That the said Vernon Herbert Reed, or his agents, offered certain persons believed to b e Austrians, who had been naturalised in New Zealand,_ and who were entitled to vote (but whose names your petitioners have not yet been aide to ascertain), certain sums of money if the said persons would vote for the said Vernon Herbert Reed. Wherefore vour ■petitioners pray that, if may be determined that the said Vernon Herbert Reed was not duly elected or returned, and that the said election was void.

The. petition was received by the Registrar of the Supreme Court at Wellington on Wednesday.