WAIPA-ELECTIQN. Declaration of Poll.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1475, 15 December 1881, Page 2

WAIPA-ELECTIQN. Declaration of Poll.

The official declaration of .the poll took i place on Tuesday at 'the Court-house, < Hamilton, in presence of * goodly num» ber of the .- electors,; some of .'Whom > attended from distant parts of the!dii« trict. The returning officer, Mr Kirk, stated that a total of 1073 votes had Unrecorded. Of c that ■ number,. ; ten i were * informal, and one rejected. For Major Jackson, 394 formal vote 3 had been polled, Mr Johns 236, and for Mr Whitaker 432. 1 The majority for Mr Whitaker over the * number polled by Major Jackson wai 38, and over those polled by the other candi* date 196. In that case he declared Mr Whitaker to have been duly elected member for the district. (Applause.) Mr Whitaker, in a few brief remark*, thanked the electors for placing him at the head of the poll. ■ It was the first occasion upon which- the constituency had returned a member to serve in two consecutive Parliaments, and as such he accepted the fact >as .additional evidence that his past services had been acceptable to them. (Applause.) He know quite enough of political contests to know that his enemies of to-day might not improbably be found ranking amongst his friends to-imorrow. It therefore behoved him to assure them his best services would be. en. listed on their > behalf, indedendent altogether of anything which might have taken place in the late or any other contest in which he may have been engaged. Alluding to the electious as a whole he said there was good reason for assuming the Ministry, of which ihe was a supporter, had polled a large majority in the late election, which was conclusive evidence that the policy they had pursued was acquiesced in by the country. That was a matter of marked significance, see* ing that in virtue of the late franchaise some 13,000 or 14,000 additional names i had been added to the electoral rolls of the colony. (Applause.) The' contest had been a. sharp one, still he had to acknowledge the courtesy he had met with at the hands of the other candidates, as also, the good natured manner' in which the election generally had been conducted. (Applause.) Major Jackson also thanked the electors for the liberal support that had been accorded to him. Had the contest rested between him and the previous speaker and himself it would be apparent to them all that their positions on that Occasion would have been reversed, and that instead of appearing before them in the character of a defeated candidate he would have headed the poll by a larg* majority. (A voice : Qnestion.) He thought there could be no question at all about it, and if anyone studied the returns fairly they could not but acquiesce in that opinion. His chief motive in seeking election was to do more mibstantial justice than had hitherto been done to the natives in the transfer of their ' lands, and he counselled the successful candidate to see that that object was attained. He repeated that the election had been lost to him 'by a side-wind, for which he held the third candidate alone responsible. ' ' * Mr Johns also returned thanks, con* tending, despite the insinuations made by the previous speaker, that he was quite justified in contesting the election. He complained bitterly of the unfair newspaper criticisms passed upon him by ft print published somewhere in the vicinity of Cambridge. - ')".•■.! In further explanation, Major Jackson stated that he did not impute unfairness to Mr Johns in having contested the election. All he had intended to say was that but for his candidature, ' he (Major Jackson) would most assuredly have won the day. Mr Whitaker disputed that assumption, adding that had Mr Johns not entered- into the 'contest, a very different course of tactics would have been pursued by him. As it was, he did riot see the necessity of' putting forth any very great energy, seeing that the other two candidates were doing a large share of the hard work for him. (Laughter and applause.) ' ' > Cheers were given for Mr Whitaker, and on the invitation of Mr Macgregov Hay, a similar compliment \yas given to Major Jackson, and, on the invitation of Mr Whitaker, to Mr Johns. The gathering dispersed, having re- 1 corded a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer. ■ i . ')■ , ■ ■'