HOW TO WORK AN ELECTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2398, 13 September 1886, Page 2

HOW TO WORK AN ELECTION.

Mr Labouchero, one of the inombern of tho House of Commons, is a parliamentarian who is to bo envied. He writes in his paper, Truth, as follows: "Mr Hansen puts down the cost of contested olections at £BOO to each candidate. The average cost is, I believe, about £6OO. But this is far too much. What is done in Northampton might be done elsewhere My coßts thore (exclusively of tho returnmg officer's charses) are about £3O. ] iasue an address. U appears once or twice iu a local newspaper. I have no posters and no placards; for I cannot conceive anyono being such a fool as to be influenced by them. My agent a i/eutloman of position iu the town, gives his services gratis. My canvassers are givou email books with tho uameß of the voters they are to look up in them, and thoy look them up gratis. The central committeoro'ini is witheut furniture. The working men send in tablos aud chairs. I have no personation ageuts. I hand a card to each elector, telling him where his polling-station is. But 1 do not put the number of the elector on the card. It is the business of the poll-clerk to look this up when the elector comes to vote. On the day of election most of the electors vote early, and theu go off to their work. Some vote during the dinner hour: a few later. Iu the evening they assemble round the Town Hall to hear the roaulfc. Tho result is that my colleague aud I are elected. Having learnt this they go away satisfied. All this is the consequence of thorough organisation. • The Radical army at Northampton is always.ready to take the fiold. An election no more disturbs or disquiets them than their dinners. My colleagues and I make few Bpeeolies, as our views aro known, aud the electors are satisfied with us, because thoy are aware that if at any timo a majority of thorn disapprove of our course of action, and signify this to ns, they would recoivo our resignation by the next pOßfc. Tho Conservative* of tho borough are nearly as sensible in olectoral matters as the Liberals and Radicals, and I doubt whether tho Conservative caudidate ever spends much more than wo do. Their candidate is defeated for tho plain .and simple reason that the electorate contains more Liberals and Radicals than Conservatives. I recommend the Northampton system to .other conßtifcuencw." ,