FEDERAL POLLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1919, Page 5

FEDERAL POLLS.

THE NATIONALISTS LEADING. labor close behind. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Dec. 15, 10.15 p.m Sydney, Dec. 15. The latest returns in the Federal elections show the following position:— Nationalists 33 Labor 28 Farmers' Party 14 The voting on the referenda is:— Legislative Powers. Yes 187,573 No 216,897 Monopolies. Yes 167,692 No 203,108 [ln the last Parliament there were 49 Nationalists, 23 Laborites, and 3 Farm' ere' Party.] Mr. Poynton secured a slight majority over thp Labor candidate, and his return is regarded as almost certain. There seems little chance of Mr. Webster and Senator Russell recovering their seats. — Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. A feature of the elections is the apparent heavy defeat of the Nationalist Laborites, who left the Labor Party three years ago to support conscription. They 1 include (unless later returns cause a swing back) the following prominent men: Webster, Chanter, Poynton, Archibald, Russell. Another prominent man who appears doomed is BruceSmith.

HUGHES AND RYAN. BOTH ASSURED ELECTION. Sydney, Dec. 15. Excepting where there are straight-out fights for the House of Representatives, all the figures are still so incomplete that sweeping changes are possible. So far as the Senate and Referendum votes are concerned, the present totals are a mere modicum and give no reliable indication. It will be days before the results are really settled to anything like finality, and a couple of weeks or more before the results are, completely known. Of the 18 Senate sejits to be filled, at present 10 Nationalists and 8 Laborites hold the leading positions, but'in several cases others on the list are well within striking distance.

For the House, Mr. Ryan romped in at West Sydney with a thumping majority, j Mr. Hughes has a lead in Bendigo which apparently puts the issue beyond doubt. Mr. Russell, the only Minister who holds a seat in the Senate, appears in a bad way, but three other Ministers—Messrs. Webster, Glynn and Poynton—have fair fighting chances, and may recover later on. On the whole the new system of voting worked apparently without serious difficulty so far as the House is concerned, but for the Senate, with longer lists of candidates to deal with, greater difficulty I was experienced, and probably a good many votes have been spoiled.

Taking the bulk of the returns as thjy stand, whatever later returns may disclose, they certainly to a considerable extent modify the Nationalist leaders' predictions. There have been and will be surprises, but the Laborites consider that on the whole their expectations are largely justified.

With few exceptions polling everywhere passed off quietly. At Bendigo a prominent Nationalist supporter had to take refuge from the crowd. Under the new voting system a good number of in-ter-State visitors were disfranchised owing to the erroneous belief that they could vote as absentees. This was not so.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.