which could easily have been turned into minorities had not Sir George Grey, by restricting the freehold vote, given the Liberal Party one of its greatest boons. He had often talked empty words, and there were many Liberals who felt that it would have been better if he had talked less and done more. In his last parliamentary days, however, he gave them something that they have every reason to be deeply grateful for. It is hard to say how far the effect of the one-man-one-vote principle has extended, but it is certain that it has been a very important factor in the marvellous success of the Liberal Party, which has passed triumphantly from victory to victory ever since the principle was recognised by Parliament.
The most unexpected result of the election was the return of a contingent of genuine workers, taken straight from the factory or the bench, and sent to Parliament with the sole purpose of attending to the needs of labour. The working-classes were not dissatisfied with the splendid service given during the previous two years by a small band of men, several of whom were cultured students of social subjects; but they felt that they would like to be represented by men of their own class, who would be labour members first and anything else afterwards.
Working-men had sat in the House for years. Mr. S. P. Andrews, a resident of Christchurch, has been given the honour of being the first man who was elected to the House while actually engaged in a working-man’s vocation. He was coupled with Sir George Grey when Christchurch City elected two Liberal representatives in 1879, the year in which Mr. Seddon began his parliamentary career. Mr. Andrews, however, saw only one Parliament, and soon dropped out of politics. Mr. H. A. Leviston, a working engineer, represented Nelson City from 1881 to 1889, and he ranks as another early genuine workingman’s representative.
In 1890, however, the maritime strike called men from the workers’ ranks, and the experiment of labour being represented by labouring men was tried. The successful labour candidates at that election were:—
Mr. W. W. Tanner, a boot operator, elected for Heathcote, adjoining Christchurch City.
