New Zealand by-election
The April 1865 Bruce by-election was a New Zealand by-election held in the multi-member electorate of Bruce during the 3rd New Zealand Parliament on 8 April 1865. It was triggered on 9 January that year by the resignation of separationist Thomas Gillies and won by prominent settler Arthur John Burns. The more liberal businessman William John Dyer was the sole other contester of the by-election, finishing with 43.33% of the vote.
Five candidates were nominated but two of them had their nominations rejected by the Returning Officer. Both rejected nominees had nominated other electors earlier in the meeting; the Returning Officer believed this behaviour was childish and contrary to the "serious duty" of candidacy. A third nominee—Henry Clapcott—was proposed but withdrew prior to the election. The by-election was one of three by-elections in the electorate that were also in the 3rd Parliament, the others being the July 1865 by-election and the 1862 by-election. 11 months after the by-election came the 1866 election.
Background.
Thomas Gillies was a cabinet minister in the Domett Ministry (August 1862) and then the Whitaker–Fox Ministry (October 1863 – November 1864), and had served as a Member of Parliament for Bruce since 1861. He was a strong advocate of the separation of the North and South islands, but did not get majority support in the ministries or from parliament as a whole, and he resigned his parliamentary seat in early 1865 as he could not achieve his goal. The question of separation was also not universally supported by his electorate. The first mention of Gillies having resigned came on 9 January 1865 and the resignation eventually took effect on 3 March that year.
His resignation eventually triggered the by-election. Some of the electors near Lake Wakatip—the contemporary spelling of Lake Wakatipu—were sorry to see Gillies retire because of "some infatuated idea in regard to separation". The loss of a 'suitable representative' generally displeased the electorate, including those who were against his views.
Campaign.
The "Otago Daily Times's" Tokomairiro correspondent reported on 23 March that a writ for the election of a replacement was issued, and that the dates for a nomination meeting and election were set for 31 March and 8 April, respectively. As of 23 March, no candidates had come forward and the newspaper stated that their reporters had not heard any rumours about potential candidates either. On the day prior to the nomination meeting, still no candidates had come forward, despite discussions of Frederick Moss as a suitable representative. Moss had declined becoming a candidate due to private engagements.
Nomination meeting.
The meeting for nominations for the by-election was held in the Tokomairiro Court House in Milton—which in those days was called Tokomairiro or Tokomairaro—on 31 March 1865. Up until two years previously, the Court House in Dunedin hosted the nomination meeting, and this was the first Bruce election with the nominations held in Tokomairiro. The Returning Officer John Dewe—having read the election notice and the writ—called upon the various electors to declare their nominations of candidates. The number of electors present was approximately 30, yet for a considerable time no elector announced their nomination.
Finally, John Hardy gave a speech in which he expressed his astonishment that despite Bruce being one of the most developed parliamentary constituencies, no candidate had yet been nominated by the electors. He then announced his nomination of Henry Clapcott, the Treasurer of Otago Province at the time, as a person who he thought would be a suitable representative for the electorate. M. B. Power seconded that nomination. Some speakers opposed Clapcott's nomination, as the provincial superintendent (John Hyde Harris) and the provincial speaker (John L. C. Richardson) were already members of the House of Representatives, and Clapcott as the third-ranked provincial executive member would leave an ineffective executive behind to run Otago.
E. Marryatt proposed William John Dyer, seconded "pro forma" by H. Clark. Before he announced his nomination, John Lillie Gillies signalled that he was about to propose someone who was well known among those who lived in the electorate. After a speech, Gillies announced his nomination and stated that he was sure that the electors could not find a more honest candidate than Arthur John Burns, who he then announced as the candidate he would like to propose. James Smith seconded that nomination.
No other candidates were proposed and the Returning Officer called for Dyer to give a speech to the electors regarding what he would advocate for and his goals if he became the Member of Parliament for Bruce. However, before Dyer made his speech John Hardy stepped in and asked if he could say some words as Henry Clapcott's representative, an action opposed by other electors. Hardy said that in reply to some observations by J. L. Gillies regarding the state of the province of Otago without a treasurer— he would then also like to nominate Marryatt—who himself had nominated someone. The observations were concerning the fact that Clapcott would be forced to resign as Treasurer to take up his role as MP for Bruce. Marryatt had opposed the stepping in of Hardy, without a clue that he would be nominated for the role. Laughingly, J. L. Gillies seconded that nomination. However, Gillies said that an elector may only nominate one person for a role at an election. The Returning Officer then justified that an elector may nominate as many people as they like. Returning the compliment, Marryatt nominated Hardy for the role, seconded by George E. Brown. However, the Returning Officer took no notice of the nominations, stating that it was immature of the electors to make a joke on such a serious duty. Multiple electors then said that some fun at an election was expected, a stance which the Returning Officer disagreed with.
After the interruption, Dyer came forward and delivered his speech. During his speech, Dyer explained that he was a separationist, though not to the extremes as some of the Separation League, a supporter of the elimination of the House of Representatives, and could see no reason why the Chinese could not come to New Zealand like any other people.
Burns said in his speech that he had no idea that he would be a candidate for the electorate, and therefore did not have enough time to prepare a speech, so he made it up along the way. He stated that if he became a Member of Parliament for Bruce, he would endeavour to act in a straightforward manner. In response to questions, Burns stated that he was an advocate for free trade. He also stated that he was against separationism, the act of dividing the North and South Islands, and that although he supported the use of income tax, he was against a stamp act or newspaper postage.
Henry Clapcott was not present at the nomination meeting.
After the speeches the Returning Officer called for a show of hands. The results were as follows:
The Returning Officer then declared the results to be in favour of Burns. Supporters of Clapcott demanded an election on his behalf, which was held on 8 April 1865. According to reports, Burns was deemed the most likely candidate to win the by-election, an interpretation which turned out to be correct.
Election and results.
The election was held on 8 April 1865. Clapcott placed an advertisement on 5 April in the "Otago Daily Times" stating that he had withdrawn from the contest for the seat.
Aftermath.
On 11 January 1865 there was a meeting of the Separation League, in which J. H. Harris was elected president and T. B. Gillies, whose resignation of the seat caused the by-election, deputy president. Burns lasted as a representative for Bruce until the 7 March 1866 election when it was transformed into a single-member electorate. That election was won by John Cargill—who had contested the previous election—unopposed.
Footnotes.
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References.
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