THE SUPERINTENDENCY.
The official declaration of the poll took place to-day at noon, in the presence of about 500 person^. Mr Burnside, the prim ipal returning officer for the Province, stated that after scrutiny the total number of votes polled by each candidate the result was as follows
Maeaudrew * 3,242 Reid - - • 2,950
Majority for Maoandrcw 292 Mr Maoandrcw was therefore declared duly elected Superintendent of the Province of Otago Two infoimd returns had been sent in. At Marcwheuua two persons v .t'-d, and at Newcastle Hire ; persons bad voted ; but from neither place lists sta'ing the number of votes given wore forwarded. Those five votes were not therefore included in the number of votes above mentioned. Mr Macandbew, on coming forward, was received with applause, tie said it devolved upon him once more to return thanks to those present, and through them to the 3242 electors throughout the' Province, who had placed him in the proud position he now occupied—a position which, c msidering the influences at work, and the tactics which had been adopted by the oiher side, it was almost little short of a miracle that he did occupy.—(Hear, hear.) When they reflected that his opponent was the chosen man of more than half the members of the late Provincial Council (chiefly country members), all of whom had influence in their respective districts, and that that influence had been silently and s crobiy at work for some time past—when they reflected, moreover, that the Executive had worked in the same direction, and when they refleo’fd further-, that the whole influence of the Government had been at the back of the Executive—that there was scarcely an officer of the Government but who had worked openly against him—(applause),—it yvas, as ho had already said, little shqrt of a miracle that ho occupied his present position, ije said that in many parts of the country the very roadmen were driven to the poll for his opponent, and in some places they were told if they were to vote at all, they Were to vote for him (Mr Reid.) He repeated, when they reflected upon all this, it ■was somewhat miramiens that ho was where Ire was—(Hear.) He had no fault to find with Government servants who conscientiously exercised the franchise*; he thought they were eu'itled to do so, but when it came to canvassing it was another matter, and he thought the Provincial Council would do well at its next sitting to look into the matter. He should be very sorry to sm the American system introduced, by which the Civil Service went out with its parky; that was a state of matters very much to be deprecated. When they reflected that not only the majority of the Provincial Council, the Executive —and, with on r or two exceptions, the press throughout the Province, which had been abasing, calumniating, misrepresenting, and distorting, and list, but not least, the celebrated letter from Driver to Treweek, he thought it was somewhat miraculous that he was in his jreamt position. That letter gave to his opponent pOO votes. I le had not the slightest hesitation in saying that, had there been time to counteract the effects of the publication of that letter in the outlying districts, his majority, instead of being 292, would have be.n 1292 (Laughter.) He had been severely taken to task by a portion of the press, for some observations he had made at that p'ace recently, wherein he characterised his rc-clection as a triumph over ignorance aud narrow-mindedness—-(Hear.) All ho could say was this : ho had not the slightest intention of applying either the. one term or the other to thoeo who had opposed him on this occasion. Ho had used the words on the spur of the moment; and under the circumstances the use of themmighb have been pardoned. He had not the slightest intention of r fleeting on the large minority that had voted against him. Wljat lie meant by tjie term “ignorance” was this -It would be ignorance for the veriest tyro in politics to assert that this Province, which was cap ddc of supporting a numerous population, without that population was fulfilling its mission. That was the ignorance to which he referred. His own opinion was New Zealand was destined to become mistress of the Southern Hemisphere ; but. in order to become so, it was quite clear that the most essential requisite yvas a population equal to its resources aud its position. With regard to the term “ nar-row-mindedness.” ho meant that narrowmindedness which was content to do without those public works which the Province stood so ipuph > n need of. It was within the last few minutes that he hfpl got the survey of the Mataura and Invercargill lino, which could bo constructed for L 2300 a mile. Therefore, when he spoke of narrow-mind-edness, ho meant that narrow-mindedness which was content to do without those public works, such as railways, water supply, and other reproluctive objectwhich he ■was aiming at. He could not impress upon tin >se present and the public too strongly that they had not yet triumphed. That could only be accomplished when they returned to the Provincial Council a majority of men who were progressive and not obstructive. -(Ucar.)i The future of the Province depended very much on the oha-
racter of the Provincial Council. There was not the slightest doubt that hitherto our best men had sneered at, and had looked down on the Provincial Council, forge'ting that upon it depended in a great measure the we dor woe of the Province. He sincerely hoped that for Hie future it would he reyarded as equal to if not more importance than the General Assembly, and that the very best men would find their way into the Council. He trusted that in the next Council there would be none of the practical imbecility, if be might so call it. and obstinacy of the Province. He hoped the intelligence and capacity of the Province would reign instead. He would not detain them further, but would thank them once more for 'he very great honor they had conferred upon him. He thanked bis friends and especially his committee, who had worked so earnestly and arduously on his beha’f. Ho concluded by stating that the position of the Province was .an uncomfortable one, view it as they might; and tlie only way of relieving it was ta send the very be it men to the Council.
Mr Reid said he appeared before the electors for the first time as a defeated can idate, but ho might inform them, as the successful candidate had done, that it was not surprising to him that ho was in the p isition of a defeated candidate. He might safely state that considering the influences which had been at work (laughter), the fact that the bankers, the moneyed influence of the Province (oh, and bosh), the squatters, and squatters’ agents had been against him (interruption) —those statements, no doubt, were not pleasant to the majority of those present; but they were true, nevertheless — considering the fact that the Licensed Victuallers’ AfSociation formed themselves into a body to oppose his return, also that a great many working-men in Dunedin were L d away by the false cry of 2s 6d per day—considering also that the General Government had so far stepped out of its way as to give instructions to one of its officials to write to the newspapers that ho (Mr Reid) had done everything in his power to injure the prosperity of Otago—(a Vo’ce : It’s true)—when all these things wore considered, it was not surprising that he was in the position of a defeated candidate. B it he had to say that in every district through which he had passed, as well ns iu Dun d : u, cries lal p'ecvded him which evokwi iuflueniei against him in each particular district. On the goldfields the cry was got up that he was a Tai ri farmer, and in Southland there was the boundary question, iiivcu sectarian animosities and national jealousies were evoke I against him. Notwithstanding all this his defeat was not a digraccful one. He thought it was a victory instead of a def at. Personally he had no desire for the office (laughter) ; it might appear very amusing to many present, hut the fact nevertheless remained that personally he had no desire for the office.—(Renewed laughter) It was simply a matter of duty that he came forward to contest the election, and the fact remained that out of twenty seven districts ho had a large majority in twenty over his opponent. (A Voice: What was the reason?) The reason was his policy -was understood in those parts of the Province. In the districts where it was not understood, the contest was decided on merely personal grounds.—(A Voice ; Who had the majority m the Clutha district?) He had a large majority there. On beginning the contest he had said that whatever arose he would so conduct himself tljat he need not be ashamed. He was there to state that he was not ashamed of anything that he had said, and it was with sincere regret that ’he heard the Superintendent elect say that vituperation had been levelled against him. —(Several Voices : —So it w&s.) It was not l-.y him but the inference intended was that he had said what was derogatory to his opponent. If they would refer to the report of Mr Macandrew’s speech at the Masonic Hall, they would see he stated that he had been intentionally and systematically thwarted in his measures w t'i a view to that election, and that he (Mr Reid) should take a leaf out of his book. But, however unsatisfactory to the electors, if he c <uld not bn returned by expressing candidly the policy he intended to support he would not be returned by becoming all things to all men, and then when blame was incurred making his Executive the scapegoats. He considered lie had a right to show in what the Superintendent’s conduct ha 1 been inconsistent, and why he should not be supported. He thought it was fair ground to take up, aud he had urged it with groat success iu the districts through which he had passe 1. The election was set forth as atriumph over narrowmindedness and ignorance. Ho did not know whether it was intended to apply the assertion to himself personally. If so, he had invariably found that those gifted with superior intelligence took care never to prefer such charges against their opponents. If it was intended to apply it to those who supported him, he should be sorry to remove the flattering unction from the mind of the successful candidate that he was the representative of the intelligence and liberality of Otago. He thought, however, ho was mistaken in his idea that those who voted with him (Mr Reid) were narrow-minded or ignorant. Were he to designate it after a like manner, he should say it was a triumph of selfishness and grasping, and had succeeded for the time being by deceiving a portion of the electors.— (Laughter.) He hoped they would not find out they had been but tools of others iu that election. He looked upon it as a perpetuation of a policy of deceit over one of candor. —(Laughter.) Ho had no wish for the continuance of the feelings evoked during the contest. It was t me they should subside, aud he should do everything he could to forget the past; but it was the duty of every elector to do all iu their power to secure a fair and liberal represenl ation of the Province. Their duties must be fulfilled with discrimination aud moderation. He hoped it would not go forth into the country districts that men should be returned to support Mr Macaudrew. That was the great mistake at the last election of the Provincial Council. Ru he hoped the present election would ha with a view to measures, not men. Tie trusted men pledged to give effect to a liberal land law would be returned ; for. however his opponents might sqeer, he held a liberal land law to be essential, He trusted it would be a Council who would insist on retaining the advantages enjoyed by the Province in connection with its educational scheme. Such a Council would do justice. By some it would helooked upon as a misfortune if he ever entered the Council of Otago again. Personally he was as careless about it as he was about the last election.— (A Voice : “A pound a day !”) It mattered nothing to him about the pound a day. He lost more than that every day he entered that Council. In conclusion, he thanked all who had voted for him, aud especially
those who had acted on his committee, nnd who individually had exerted themselves on his behalf. Many of those were entire strangers to him, so that it was not himself hut his policy they supported. For their sakes he regretted the election was not successful, though personally he was glad. If during the, contest he had said anything to offend, it must have been in the beat of discussion and not with a view of offending. Thtrc might have been matters to which his opponents might take exception. He considered unfair means had been resorted to. For instance, he was told it hvd been said up the country by a gentleman, that he (Mr lleidj, was justified in his course, if be could “gull” the people. For his part he did not think so, but that every thing should he fairly said and done. As or the employees of the Province, no pressure had been brought to bear, nor any intimation how they should act. He considered them justified in doing what they thought best, and had as much right to do so as any other men. He again thanked those who had supported him, and hoped the result of the election would be to secure present and permanent prosperity to Otago.
The returns published by us on the 23rd were correct in the main. The only alterations are in Miller’s Flat and Alexandra, where the numbers have been reversed, reducing the totals to 3255 nnd 2973. From them have to be reduced the informal votes—for Macandrcw 13, for Reid 23, which give the grand totals as above. We have been requested to publish the following protest by \.'r Bernard Isaac, of Princes street;—“l hereby protest against the declaration by the Returning Officer of the election of James Macandrcw, Es <., to the office of Superintendent of the Province of Otago, upon the following grounds : —l. That a large section of the voters was disfranchised by reason of the refusal on the part of the Returning * ffficers to receive votes under miner’s rights. 2, That many of the polling booths were not supplied with ba'lot papers in time, sad several booths were uor. opened until ten and eleven o’clock respectively. 3. That the rolls have not been compared with one another as required by law, and that there* fore the ofScial declaration of the poll cannot lawfully be male.” /
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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2507, 28 February 1871, Page 2
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2,541THE SUPERINTENDENCY. Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2507, 28 February 1871, Page 2
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