THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2131, 2 November 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1875.

If what has" been " whispered " (by the proverbial little bird we suppose) to the Southern Cross be true, and as the whisper—so the Cross tells us—is current in " well-informed circles" it should be true the dissolution of Parliament will be proclaimed within the next ten days, and writs for the election of members returnable immediately, and if so, as the Southern Cross sagely remarks, the whole of the elections will be over before Christmas. Now whether this whisper be authentic or not there-is no doubt that preparations, and in some cases active preparations, are being made on both sides —Government and Opposition—to secure or demolish the great Bill which was almost the sole fruit produced by the last session. It is true that with the exception of killing oxen'and fatlings in the Southland the speeches made thereat, none of the great men on. either side have come much before the constituencies which they hope in the future to call their own, but the daily reports and items of electioneering news—moreover, daily increasing in the papers —show us that the partisans of either side are already busy with their electioneering duties, whether self-imposed or remunerative. Already some of* the smaller fry have shown themselves, and already rumour points to the names of men—some eminent, too—who are going to stand for various constituencies; and though rumour in this, as in other respects, will very likely be ten times wrong for every once it is right, still there is sufficient probability attached tor some of the rumours to make it likely they took their rise from more solid ground than that of mere conjecture. Hente it was rumoured that Mr F. Whitaker was going to stand for the Thames ; it turned . out that he had been ashed to do so, and perhaps would have done so had he not been previously asked to stand for the Waikato, to which he had consented. Whoever gets him as a member will get one of the ablest and most experienced lawyers in the colony, 'a man thoroughly conversant with parliamentary forms and usages, and one who has drafted some of the most important statutes in the colony. We now hear it rumoured that *Sir George Grey will be asked to represent us on the ground of his persistent efforts to get.justice done to this district. There can be no doubt that Sir George Grey has deserved well at the hands of the Thames, and were he to stand he would probably be elected. It is rumoured that Mr A. Cox is to be asked to stand for the Waipa district; how much of truth there is in the rumour, we know not. Rumour in the South is even more ripe than in the North, and we are told that the Hon. E. Richardson, E. J. Stevens, and S. Andrew have announced themselves as candidates for the three Christehurch seats ; it is not likely however they w:ll be allowed to walk over the course. For one seat at Coleridge we

have had already the names of five candidates as probable contestants, viz., Messrs Bluett, Watson, Enys, Jebson, and Gr. Holmes, junior. These we fancy will melt away considerably in number before the polling day actually arrives. ,-Ifc is rumoured that Mr W. s Montgomery; will not again contest the Akarpa district, but will oppose the re-election ;of Sir Cracroft Wilson at- HeathcoteV'-The place left desolate at Akaroa, should Mr W. Montgomery act as is rumoured, will, rumour asserts, be filled or endeavor to be filled by the Hon. G. C. Boweni whoj doubtful of some of his Provincialist supporters, rumoured to have gone over to his old opponent, Mr Beswick, will leave the representation of the district of Kaiapoi to that gentleman as far as he is personally concerned. Of course, if Mr Parker intends to visit England he will be unable to contest Gladstone, and at present we are told that it is likely that Mr W. M. Moorhouse will be returned for that seat unopposed. MrE. W. Stafford will again solicit the suffrages of TjUnaru, and that constituency, grateful for the additional seat his powers have procured for it, will have to decide (at present) as to who wi!'. be returned with him between Mr Wakefield, the editor of the Timaru Herald, and Dr Eayner, who will oppose. The contest,, we are told, is to be a warm one. These are some of the rumours now flying about: there are of course many more, perhaps equally true — perhaps of no value whatever, neither as far as we know, may these be, but still these are rumours and we give them to be read with, that amount of interest which is generally assigned to things such, as these. The contest will no doubt be severe throughout the entire colony, and.the two great parties will use every legitimate—that we'say not illegitimate —means to promote -the success of candidates' favourable to their views. Time alone can show how much truth there is in what may be after all mere assertions.