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TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1001.
TBL-ELECTIONS IN SOUTH
* .USTRALIA.
TUE principal feature of the contest in
South Australia is the comparative
excellence of the choice of candidates
for the Senate. A company including
Sir R'cbard Baker, Mr. Charleston, Sir
J; H. Symon, Mr. Copley, Sir John
Downer, and Messrs. Kirkpatrick,
M'Gregor, and Playford must be
regarded as strong. Another feature is
. that there is no " tail" to speak of.
There ia not an unknown, or even a but
little known, name in the list. It has
already been suggested here that the
superiority of the South Australian list
of Senate candidates by comparison with
the lists in the eastern States ÎB due to
v. the fact that in South Australia it is
just as expensive or just as inexpensive
: * to contest a seat in the House of Repre-
sentatives as one in the Senate, because
in both cases the whole State votes as
s ? - - one electorate. The absence of a " tail"
is probably due mainly to the fact that
the South Australian State is small in
.. numbera and that, all its leading politi
*;. cians being known from one end of it to
v the other, the chance of au outsider
\ creeping in is minimised. Moreover,
there are no woll-defined parties in South
Australia ; for very many years poBt the
State Government has been virtually a
coalition. This of coarse still further
rod a ces the chance of the outsider,
because thousands and tens of thousands
of the electors, especially among the
women, will vote for leading men without
regard for party tickets.
Tho less populous States no doubt do
well in their own interests to send strong
men to the Senate; for it is in that
Chamber that they will be able to fight
their special battles with the best chance
of tacceflF. New South 'Wales will have
2G members in the House of Repre
tentatives and Victoria 23 ; Sont
Australia will haye bat sereu. Yet i:
the Senate each will hare six. There
fqre South Australia ean pat fortran
?ny spécial claims it may at any tim
hare with far better hope of success ii
the' Senate than in the other House
Hence the wisdom ia the State's interés
of sending to that Chamber men wh
will command influence. On the othe
hand, remembering that the. small State
are to hare the Bame number of member
of the Senate as the larger States, i
is particularly desirable, in order tha
friction and dissatisfaction in the ' large
colonies may be . aroided, that th
Senators from the small States sha!
not be bigoted or selfish State-righters
always fighting for their own hand.
' It is found very difficult to separat
the' South Australian candidates fo;
either House into freetraders and pro-
tectionists. Eren the Register ii
despair drops the term " freetrader" ii
cataloguing them, and adopts "non
protectionist." Any dirision of the sor
is, however, worth very little ; and thi
people of the State will show their gooc
sense by refusing to adopt this tickotinj
of candidates. What, for instance, ii
the nse of bracketing Sir John Downei
and Mr. Copley with Messrs. M'Gregoi
and O'Loghlin ? In the State Parlia
ment these two pairs hare been opposée
tr> one another, and so, sooner or later
they will inevitably be in the Federa
Parliament. The Freetrade and Libera
! Associationrecommendsfivecandidates
Sir B. C. Baker, Sir J. H. Symon
and Messrs. Addison, Burgoyne, anc
Charleston. But it is extremely im
probable that Sir J. H. Symon wonk
follow Mr. Reid, and Slr R. 0. Bakei
hopes not to hare, to follow either leader
but to preside over both. And, on thi
other hand, though Messrs. Kirkpatricl
and M'ßregor are nominated by the Pro-
tectionist Association, they will be pre
pared to follow Mr. Reid if he offers anc
shows a sincere desire to carry inti
effect a better programme of sooia
legislation-7-that is, if they are reallj
Labor members and not simply disguised
thick-and-thin protectionists. Thi
Liberals and Radicals could, if the]
pleased, make what Beems to be a ven
fair ticket for the Senate-Sir J. H
Symon, Messrs. Charleston, Kirkpatrick
M'Gregor, O'Loghlin, and Playford
But on no better ground than that the;
bare been Conservatives for a long while
Sir. R. 0. Baker and Sir John Downei
will almost certainly be returned witt
the help of Liberals. Their inclusioi
will probably mean the exclusion o!
Mr. Charleston and either Mr
O'Loghlin or one of the Labor! candi-
dates.
There are 17 candidates for the aeren
seats in the House of Representatives
And in this contest there is a mon
conspicuous tail-Mr. H. 0. Baker, whe
ia only the son of his father ; Mr
John O'Connell, who has been i
suburban mayor; Mr. Cranford
Vaughan, who .remains faithful tc
absolute freetrade when so many are
trimming, tbe Edward Pulsford of Soutl
Australia, though without Pulsfords
commercial experience; Mr. J. H.
Cooke, a patents agent, brainy bul
untried in State or eren municipal
politics; Mr. T. H. Webb,' a free
trade enthusiast ; and Mr. G. A. Wy ld,
For the rest there are Messrs. Kingston
and Holder, who, though now inclined
to eit opposite to one another, will
certainly be returned at the head of the
poll ; Sir Langdon Bonython, who will
probably occupy the third place ;
Messrs. Batchelor and Price, who,
though they should still be returned,
will probably suffer a good deal (as Mr.
Robinson did in the recent Legislative
Council election) through the temporary
unpopularity of the Early Closing Act ;
Mr. Solomon, tho leader of the Opposi-
tion ; Mr. Glynn, who won a place in
the Convention, and is a more uncom-
promising freetrader than any of the
other leading men ; Mr. Poynton, who
committed the awful mistake of joining
the Solomon Ministry, which was
wedged in for a few days between
the Kingston and the present Holder
Administrations ; Mr. Wood, a free-
trader, who left the party at an earlier
date ; and Mr. Caldwell, who no doubt
relies upon the country rote.
The difficulty of forecasting the result
IK' all the greater in .South Australia
because of tbo large woman-vote. Of
153,268 persons on the rolls 69.411 are
females. Generally speaking, the best
known men will gain by this ; for,
though thore are a few female political
enthusiasts, the majority appear to
assume that whoever is best known is
best. Mr. Kingston and Mr. Holder,
the latter especially, will thus gain, the
latter on account of his close connection
with church and temperance movements.
Mr. Charleston will also be a heavy
gainer in the Senate contest, mainly
through his association with the Effective
Voting League, which has women at its
head. The fortunes of the Labor candi-
dates are in great doubt. Somehow the
party seems to havo fallen back a good
deal in South Australia lately. It may,
however, he an advantage that its men
are included in two'or three " bunches"
-the Protectionist Association, for
example, includes them, whereas in New
South Wales every other party's hand is
against the Labor men. Whether,
though, it ¡B a good thing for such
Labor candidates as may be elected to be
bound even loosely to one of the great
parties is quite another matter.
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