Page 3 Advertisements Column 5

Dunstan Times, Issue 582, 13 June 1873, Page 3

TO TtlJi PEG PLE OF OTAGO. On Wednesday, the 18tli instant, tlie electors will bo called upon to exercise one of the most responsible and important trusts which have been conferred Upon them—that of deciding who is to be Superintendent of the Province. 1 believe it is the opinion of a large majority of the electors that the office should be held by me for another term. If so, it will’ bo necessary that those who desire to give effect to this opinion should, on the polling day, record their votes by drawing the pen through the names of thS other 'candidates. i I am aware that you are being dosed with statements to the effect that the present political crisis is the result of an undue grasping after power on my part. As Superintendent of the Province—an officer created by the Constitution, aud elected by the people, liable at any time to be removed from office by a majority of the same—l am charged with attempting to subvert the one and to encroach upon the other. This charge is, upon the face of it, so utter'y absurd and improbable, so entirely contrary to the nature of things, that it would bo almost an insult to your common sense to attempt to rebut it. As Superintendent of Otago, I have been elected, among other things, for the express purpose of guarding the rights and liberties of the people : and i will venture to say that no man in the Province has taken a more active share than myself in asserting and vindicating both. I confess that, after well-nigh a quarter of a century’s devotion to promoting tlie interests of this Province, it docs sound strange to be charged with seeking to ride rough shod over the liberties of the people, aud to subvert the Constitution, which, with others, I fought so hard to acquire. I am at a loss to conceive what, possible object could be gained by such a betrayal of trust, and can only characterise the charge as a piece of the most unmitigated flap-doodle —“ the stuff that fools are fed with”—which I hope my fellow-settlers will have sufficient perspicacity to see through. I would most earnestly entreat ot you to investigate the whole matter for yourselves, and to take nothing for granted either on my ipse dixit or on that of my opponents. The Constitution Act passed by the Impei ial t Parliament most clearly provides that the powers of the Superintendent are co-equal with those of the Provincial Council—in fact, to a certain extent, they may he said to he superior, inasmuch as the initiation of money votes is vested in the Superintendent exclusively. The Act also distinctly provides that the practical administration of the Govcrraont shall beat the hands of the Supeiintendent. It provides, moreover, that the Superintendent shall have power to convene and prorogue the Provincial Council—not when the Council shall see fit, hut when the “ Superintendent shall sec fit.” The Executive Council Ordinance passed by the Provincial Legislature provides “ That the Superintendent shall act with the advice and consent of an Executive Council, chosen from among the members of the Provincial Council “ who shall be appointed by the Superintendent and hold office at his pleasure." I quote the exact words of the Ordinance. Of course, it will be obvious that unless the Superintendent and the Provincial Council can mutually agree as to who arc to bo the members of Executive, it is in the power of the Council to refuse supplies, and to bring the affairs of the country to a standstill—or it may petition the Governor for the removal of the Superintendent in terms of the Constitution Act—in either case the only solution of the difficulty is an appeal to the people. Such then being the terms of the Executive Council Ordinance, it is clear that I had a perfect right to remove Mr. Reid from office as the head of the late Executive. In my opinion, the fact that Mr. Reid had accepted an important office in the General Government—an office which involved the whole of his time being devoted thereto, and which involved moreover his residing at Wellington—not only justified but demanded the action taken by me. It was clearly impossible that ho could serve two master*: either ho must have thwarted Mr. Stafford, his Colonial chieftain, or the Superintendent of Otago ; for they were opposed to each ‘other on points of policy in which the interests of the Province were concerned. As to my refusal to convene the Provincial Council when requested so to do, the annexed copy of my reply to the application, sulficieutlyexplains my action in the matter. Had the Council been called together six months earlier, the business of the country would have been, brought to a temporary standstill so much the sooner, and the numerous public works which have been initiated during the past half year, would have been postponed until flic season for prosecuting them had passed. As to my having applied for a dissolution and an appeal to the people, I cannot See by what process of reason ing this can be set down as being either despotic or tyrannical. Most assuredly, it is neither pleasant nor profitable to subject oneself to an election contest with all the abuse and vituperation which it involves—and, if consistently with my duty to _ the Province, I could have seen any other