THE CITY ELECTION.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2361, 26 October 1870, Page 2

THE CITY ELECTION.

The nomination of candidates to represent the City in the Provincial Council in the room of the lion. F. D. Bell, took place today on the terrace of the Government buildings ; Mr John Burnside the returning officer presided, There were about 12b persons present. The following nominations were made : Mr John Bathgate, proposed by Mr J. W. Jago, seconded by Mr A. ."Sligo, Mr Thomas Birch, proposed by Mr Jas. Milner, seconded by Mr Job Wain, junr. Mr H. S. Fish, proposed by Mr E. Dc Carle, seconded by Mr John Barnes. Mr Bathgate, in addressing the electors, said he ha<l no intention of detaining them long, and promised to put the few remarks he had to make in as concise a form as ho could. He had explained bis views to a crowded meeting of tire electors on Monday evening, ami before the day of meeting should take the opportunity of making his sentiments known at other places in the city. He came forward, as he had stated, not so much for tho personal honor, although lie valued that in itself, as from an anxious desire that the principles he supported, and was prepared to vindicate should bo prevalent in the Provincial Council. They all felt that tho maternal interests of the Province were in a state of depression that had never been seen before in the history of Otago, and if he went into the ouneil as their representative, he should go auimatpd by the desire

he had already referred to. Their interests were his ; he was here with his family ; they had made it their adopted country ; and it would be his earnest endeavor to adopt such means as should lift tho Province out of the very deep slough of despond into which it had fallen They had been promised a great deal at the opening of the present Council, but at its expiry, the results were altogether different. He had no hesitation in attributing as part of the cause of the present depression the bad legislation which had taken place, both in the Council and the Assembly. Through bad legislation, settlement was absolutely put a stop to. What was the proposal to bring bach prosperity? To import immigrants ; to spend Ll-4,000 from their own earnings for the importation of more laborers. He had been told by working-men that the last winter was the first winter for seven years that they had been out of employment ; until this time they had had abuuda ce of work. Was that tho way to ensure further prosperity, by the producers of this Province to import men who could not afford to pay their own passage ? He would give them his views. He would make the place attractive by proper legislature, by reducing the burdens of taxations ; he would have brought out men with money in their pockets, who would bo of benefit to the community at largo. The basis of all that would come before the present Council for consideration. We must have attractive land laws, and he for one would not rest until past steps in our land legislation were retracted, and the obnoxious acts which now cover tho statute hook were repealed. Wh-t was wanted was, that any man could go and select a homestead, and have five or seven years to pay for it, as was the case in America, and he believed in Victoria. The present agricultural system should bo extended. The candidate then proceeded to explain his views on rctr nchment, railways, &c ; bus it is not necessary to give bis remarks, as his views on tlr-'gc matters were reported yesterday. He was glad to say that since he had come forward he had received many spontaneous offers of support; the contest was really between Mr Pith and himself. Mr Birch would be nowhere (laughter) ; he didn’t deserve to be anywhere else. He talked of free sanction in his address ; the electors had only to turn to Hansard to find that he had always voted against it. M r Fish rowed in almost the same boat as h’mself (Mr Bathgate) ; his principles wore for the most part the same ; and he was glad to see that he had contradicted tho statement that had been made that he was the nominee of a clique or party. If lie had been, it would have been a mistake on tho part of so young a man, and a mistake that would have been fatal for life. The electors wonhl have-if he might be pardoned fur saying so—two good men to choose from. It would bo a pleasure to him (Mr Bathgate) to lie their representative; and he would act as such with all the earnestness he was capable of He concluded eluded by expressing his entire disapproval of a personal canvass, A few unimportant quo ti ms were asked Mr Fish had no desire to detain the electors, as he had addressed a meeting last night, and his meeting had been pretty fully reported ; besides, lie did not think the bust ngs were the proper place to make speeches. There were one or two things ha had spoken about which were not reported in the Daily Times. One of them was immigration. He stated lie was in favor of immigration, hut only when profitable era ployment could be found for the persons brought out. He looked upon the immigrant as representing so much wealth ; he must eat, drink, and be clothed, and thus wrs a source of wealth to the community. Therefore he was a strong advocate of immigration ; but under present ireumstances—in the depressed state of affairs, and the difficulty of settling on the land—it was desirable that immigration should cease for a short time. But so soon as the legislation of the country was carried out in such a manner as would enable immigrants to settle on the laud, then, he said, get as many as many as we could; it would he better for all On one point he was very much in accord with Mr Bathgate. He would like to see the land law of the Province made so that men with small means might be placed upon the land. He would like to see th m get their 340 acres on deferred payments, and that, he believe!, was tho true way of settling the land ; it was the only way of bringing to our shores a population that would do good to themselves and be a source of productiveness to the wnolc Colony. He was therefore in favor of a liberal laud law, and also of a liberal education scheme. He was in favor of retrenchment, but not if it impaired the efficiency of the service Mr Bathgate led them to infer that the votes of L 372 000 were for unproductive works. On the contrary, they were for roads and bridges and for opening up the land, and, but for that expenditure, the working men would have nothing to do. But where departmental expenditure could be cut down, lie would have it cut down. Ho should bo extremely sorry to seo the day arrive when, from sheer exhaustion of means, expenditure on roads, bridges, &c , must cease. If the revenue would allow of it, we should spend L 400,000 instead of L 300,000, and we should be m re prosperous. So that to Mr Bathgate’s cry they should not listen He had been a public servant in the City Council for four years, and as he had done nothing to forfeit their confidence he considered he was justified in coming forward. Whilst their representative, he should take an unprejudiced view of Provincial affairs. It became his particular duty to look after the interests of the citizens, and as the population of Dunedin was so great in comparison with the rest of qhe population of the Province, it was necessary that au energetic man, and one intimately acquainted with the interestal affairs of the City should be elected to represent its 10,000 inhabitants. Ho should like to seo mo-c of the City Councillors elected to the Council ; it would bo very much to the interest of the citizens, and would not be to the detriment of the Province. A show of hands was taken with the following result : Fish 50 Bathgate .... 5 Birch 0 Mr Bathgate demanded a poll, which was fixed for Wednesday, the ‘2nd prox.