MAORI ELECTIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 October 1938, Page 5

MAORI ELECTIONS

LABOUR PARTY GAINS ONE SEAT THREE SITTING MEMBERS RETURNED. MR TAU HENARE DEFEATED. (By Telegraph —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Maori elections held yesterday resulted in the return of three Labour candidates and one Nationalist. The sitting member for Northern Maori, Mr T. Henare, was defeated by his Labour opponent, Mr P. K. Paikea. Sir Apirana Ngata (National) was re-elected for Eastern Maori, and Messrs E. T. Tirikatene (Labour) and H. T. Ratana (Labour) were re-elected for Southern and Western Maori respectively. The Labour Party thus gained one seat from the National Party. Although a secret ballot was in operation for the first time in a Maori election, and although the poll was larger than on any previous occasion, the returns came in with almost record speed. The result in all four electorates was no longer in doubt after 9 o'clock last night.

Seven of the 16 candidates will lose their deposits because they polled less than 25 per cent of the number of votes cast for the successful candidate in their respective electorates. Detailed results are given below, together with the returns for the previous election. Sitting members are designated by an asterisk. Parties are signified by the following abbreviations: L, Labour; N, Nationalist; I, Independent; 1.L., Independent Labour. In the 1935 election results, D'signifies Democrat, Ra., Ratana. NORTHERN MAORI. P. K. Paikea (L) .• 4646 *T. Henare (N) 2672 H.' Taretana (I) 115 M. Tawhai 79 ' Majority for Paikea 1974 1935—T. Henare (N), 3303; P. K. Paikea (Ra.), 2320; L. W. Parore (D), 414; H. W. Witehira (I), 214; D. W. Taylor (I),. 202; M. Otene (I. Lab,), 90. Majority for Henare, 983. EASTERN MAORI. <: ’a. T. Ngata (N) 4160 R. :,T. Kohere (L) 3088 T.' Omana (1.L.) 2150 M. Rangi (1.L.) ' 347 H. D. Dansey (I) 332 Majority for Ngata ; 1072 One small return to come which cannot affect the result. 1935—A. T. Ngata (N), 5678; T. Omana (Ra.), 2454; R. T. Kohere (I), 406. Majority for Ngata, 3224. • WESTERN MAORI. *H. T. Ratana (L) .’. 6509 P. Te H. Jones (I) 2219 T Te Tomo (N) 1378 Te R. Hopa (1.L.) 176 Majority for Ratana 4290 One small return to come which cannot affect the result. 1935—H, T. Ratana (Ra.), 3433; T. Te Tomo (N), 3395; J. A. Asher (D), 996; H. te M. Hawera (L), 644; T. Tatena (L), 165. Majority for Ratana, 38. SOUTHERN MAORI. *E. T. Tirikatene (L) 714 T. K. Bragg (N) 229 P. McDonald (I) 84 Majority for Tirikatene 485 1935 —E. T. Tirikatene (Ra.), 362; T. K. Bragg (I),’ 319; E. T. W. R. Love (N), 217; T. Makitanara (D), 68. Majority for Tirikatene, 43. An analysis of the voting shows that three successful candidates were all returned with bigger majorities than were shown at the 1935 election. Sir Apirana Ngata’s majority in Eastern Maori was reduced. The vote showed almost the same proportion of increase over the 1935 figures in each of the four electorates. The. total for New Zealand was 28,898, as against 24,680 in 1935. The first return was received at the Chief Electoral Officer’s headquarters in the General Post Office, Wellington, at 5.30 p.m., half an hour after the polls closed, and the final result available last night was in by 9.30 o’clock. MAORI VOTERS COMMENDED. The Chief Electoral Officer, Mr G. G. Hodgkins, commended the speed with which the results came to hand and said it was particularly noteworthy in view of the fact that Maoris for the first time were voting by secret ballot with printed voting papers. It was a tribute to the intelligent manner in which the Maoris had adapted themselves to the new conditions, he said. Shortly before 9 o’clock, the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon M. J. Savage, visited the General Post Office, accompanied by his chief private secretary, Mr C. A. Jeffery, and made arrangements for the results to be cabled to the New Zealand High Commissioner in London, Mr W. J. Jordan. THE ELECTED MEMBERS. MR P. K. PAIKEA. Mr P. K. Paikea is 42 years of age and is a member of the Ngatiwhatua tribe. An ordained minister of the Methodist Church, he followed that calling for ten years until taking up work ; with the Ratana movement. Among positions he held with that movement was private secretary to the founder and also editor of the official organ. He now holds the position of secretary to the Maori Advisory Council of the Labour Party. He contested the Northern Maori seat in 1935. but was unsuccessful. SIR APIRANA NGATA. The Hon Sir Apirana Ngata was born at Kawakawa, near East Cape, in 1874. He was educated at the native villageschool at Waiomatatini. Te Ante College and Canterbury University College. He obtained his B.A. degree in 1893, and was runner-up for the senior scholarship in political science. The following year he took his M.A. degree with honours in political science. He then studied law, passing his final LL.B, examination in 1896. The following year he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor. He has done an immense amount of sociological and scientific work on behalf of the Maori race and has had a distinguished political career. He was a member of the Executive Council in the Ward Government and Native Minister in the Ward and Forbes Ministries. He was knighted in 1927. MR H. T. RATANA. Mr H. T. Ratana is a son of the Maori

prophet and faith-healer, Mr T. W. Ratana. He .went to the Great War in 1914 and served with the Maori Pioneer Battalion. He travelled around the world with the Ratana party in 192425. Mr Ratana belongs to the Ngatiapa tribe, well known in Wanganui. He successfully contested the election three years ago as a Ratana candidate, but joined the Labour Party soon after he became a member of the House of Representatives. MR E. T. TIRIKATENE. Mr E. T. Tiriketene was elected for the Southern Maori seat at a by-elect-ion held in 1932, following the death of Mr Tuiti Makitanara, and he was reelected as a Ratana candidate three years ago. He joined the Labour Party immediately after the last election. For a time he was-well known in the North and South Islands as a rider at agricultural and and pastoral shows, and was also prominent in athletics and Rugby football. Mr Tirikatene left for the war with the Second Reinforcements, and served in Egypt and France as a medical sergeant in the Maori Battalion. On returning to the Dominion he took up engineering, and after obtaining his marine engineer's certificate he became proprietor of the Port Levy-Lyttelton ferry service. For seven years he was foreman at the engineering workshop at Ratana Pa, near Wanganui.