West. Samoan

Election

O. F. Nelson Tops The Poll

Apia, Dec. 1.

AN election for two European mem bers of the Legislative Council, for three years, was held on November 26, and resulted:—

Elected

O. F. Nelson (former leader of the Mau) 332 Dr. C. M. Dawson 270

Not Elected

A. G. Smyth (retiring member) .. 216 A. Stowers (prominent in local Labour Party) 152 E. T. Pleasants (a solicitor in Apia) 135 P. W. Glover (Apia business man) 28 The other retiring Councillor, Mr. I.

H. Carruthers, did not seek re-election.

At the last election, there were 111 on the roll—the voter’s qualification be ing property or income worth £2OO p.a.

This election, there were 705 on the roll, of whom 98 per cent, voted. The N.Z.

Labour Government changed the voting qualification from that stated, to “every European male or female, over 21 years of age, provided he or she is either the legitimate child of a European parent or registered as a European”.

This new rule gave the vote to the large community of European-Samoans, who have European status. Of the 705 on the roll, 194 are Europeans, and 511 are European-Samoans. One-third of all the electors are women.