PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTION.

Evening Star, Issue 3440, 2 March 1874, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTION.

THE NOMINATION. The nomination of-candidates to fill the vacancy in the' Provincial Council, caused by the retirement of Mr John Bathgate, took place at noon to-day. A couple of hundred people were, present j and Mr Returning Officer Street presided. The following were the nominations and the order in which they w§re Charles R. Chapman—Proposed by-Mr E. J. Sanders, seconded by Mr John M'GrEOOB.

Bernard, Isaac—Proposed by Mr William M'Laren, seconded by Mr D. Sampson." Charles C. Reeves—Proposed’ by Mr G F. Reid', seconded by Mr W. Gregu. Edward B. Cargill—Proposed by Mr James Rob in, seconded by Mr James MolLISON. . ■■

, Mr Chapman said he had not intended i coming out so early in life to seek snob a , high honor," but at" tpe earnest solicitation of his friends and many other electors he had 1 been in a manner compelled to come out at . the present time. it was his intention to have worked on in the same way that he had done for the past few months—doing all the good he possibly could—and then to have come forward and sought return to the Provincial Council. He had not intended to ; have troubled those present with his political views; but at the solicitation of his friends he ; had jotted them down under a few headings. He believed to a certain extent in the Public . Works and Immigration scheme which had been initiated, and so far successfully carried , out by Mr Vogel. Ho believed in it to this - extent—he believed in the construction of | njany of the railways now going on, while i in others be did not b djeye. Referring, to the Province, the Clutha and Northern trunk lines would pay, but the side lines would not. These side lines, at the present time, would be a great mistake. With reference to the land laws—there had been a great deal of talk in the Provincial Council in regard to selling land in large blocks Now, he was entirely against selling land in large blocks. It was unfair to the people and unfair to the State The land should be put up to fair competition, by auction if possible, in the same manner as was being done now, by which means the State was gaining, according to his calculations, L2l2a an ncre, over what would have been obtained by selling it in large blocks. With regard to tolls, he woiild be in fayor of having tollbars removed to at least two - miles from the City boundaries. He bad been in all the different towns in New Zealand, but in no other place had be. seen the tolls as here, at every opening of the City itself. If money required to be, raised for the purpose of keeping up the would have to be‘raised ifi-jsome; more 'equitable manner.: boon tq the City if be car. led tonnage could be to- ’thief of Traßifciat eubrmonVVums of -mU&ok to see' joay they had present. . ‘At aoy Mpp^W-be v until tVy whetnet^?^-favorable tV harbor iinproveof the High leave dyer, for the present. great ,importance, which hy our legislators, was kip(jf shpuld be put totWpfe•,; tome eshew§ the

out should, ho - .init&tear - nue subject: to which hewbUid, givepfull attention, ifc elected. > Lastly, there .was the question of the extension of the franchise. Uor present Constitution Act was twenty* two years o|d, and in looking over it he found great defects in it. The present franchise was unfair,, and he would, like' to See see it extended. In answer to questions, the candidate said he could not say anything about the Permissive Bill because it wds not in force yet, n e was in favor of extending the suffrage to all unmarried females who hold property of their own. Mr Isaac said his earnest desire was to servo his fellow citizens, and having been requested by many to do so, he had decided ,to offer himself a candidate for representing the City in the Provincial Council. He had always consistently tried to carry a liberal law, in order that people might be settled on the land throughout the Colony, and he therefore held himself to be the only champion of the land question who offered himself for election. If the calling of one gentleman opposed to him was V examined, it would be found the firm were • 1 landholders’ agents—agents of people who were grasping at the land—trying to rob them of their birthright.— (Cries of “Keep your temper’.) A gentleman told him to keep his temper who most probably did not know what he meant by it. He (Mr Isaac) was quite cool, but it was necessary to raise his voice so as to be heard in so large a space. This evening he should address the constituency at the Odd Fellows Hall, on the pas't, present and fqtupe aspect : of the Prqviaqe, and hoped lq see them poqncj. Uiip. ’ Eta; trusted he would be correctly reported, and that when the votes were taken he would be at the head of the poll. • t: 1

M.r Beeves said he came forward as a " candidate in fulfilment of a pledge given by • ■ him at the last election, that when,- opportunity offered he would again ask the suffrages of the electors, and he might add he: r did so through respect to five or six hundred _gentlemeu who voted for him atthe latt ; election and many others who promised to ' support him. It was difficult just at 1 present! to know what to speak* abqiitj as matters wefft going op so smpothjy ju thq 1 Colony that all seemed tq he of one nfindr=. all parties appeared to have merged into bnq —the party of progress, Ever since he took • part in politics be had identified himself with the party of progress, and advocated public works and immigration. It was with no small amount of diffidence that he opposed; one gentleman who was a candidate. He >. had been associated with the Province in its infancy, and was entitled to great respect• ■ from the electors of the City.. But he (Mr ' 1 Reeves) took leave to think for himself, and he considered the interests which Mr Cargill advocated were sufficiently represented in " the Provincial Council, A stream ; of im--1 migration such as had never before been 7 ' Known was flowing into the Colony, and it was the interest of the PrdvitiW to " settle them on the land. It was necessaryj therefore, to adopt liberal land laws to pt4prevent monopoly, and he thought that, no,» one should be allowed to purchase more than" 640 acres. The land was the people’s birth- ; right, and should be placed beyond the grasp | of capitalists who, if allowed to buy it with- • i out restraint, would, in a few years, become i an aristocracy. -, if some remedial step was* uot taken, as soon as the money, yras fa/ pended that ; had • been, borrowed,, an ebb , 1 would as perpe a.a $ po\y experienced the flow of pvospefity. If, My Chiapipah 1 did not occupy the hall toq long in the even, iug, he would endeavor bo explain his views on the politics of the Province. In view o£ the number of times he had been before the electors, and with the feeling that he had been growing in their good graces,although some friends of- Mr Cargill had- asked him not to come forward he had felt it his duty to do so, and he cqnv sidered himself »t liberty to say tbaV if elected, they would elect one who Vrdnlfl not pander to any party, but do that which he believed to be the best for the people. In ‘ reply to a question, Mr Reeves said in his opinion, it was one of the greatest errors' ever, made to part with the freehold of a single acre of land in New Zealand. , Mr Cargill remarked that at the last! general election the electors did him the' honor of electing him as their representative in the Provincial Council and of plaoing him - in a very respectable position on the poll. Unfortunately he was not able to reuder f tho: services which no had hoped, to place ip: the Coipuph‘ because .^inw the Council met bp found hiqmm^w^|/-thft ; ' necessity of going to ' could only attend during session. His , intention-^was ; Return within a few months and remain herb—(Mr Sherwin : Undoubtedly-found him- .. self—(Mr Sherwin ; You took, your aeatr Home with you in your pocket.) He (Mr Cargill) did not understand Mr ‘SherwinV references • he was not;inthe habit of saying; in priyate or pqbliQ ; anything rbxit what hq. believed tp be-fapt, however much he hiigM . be in error. Finding that he cofild not turn so soon as he had expected he ooald dp ; nothing other than resign. The remark that; came from Mr Sherwin reminded him (.Mr Cargill) that he had heard it etated in Dunedin that he had been making a convenience of the Council, and. that he went away with his seat in his pocket. He could safely say that that not the case. His first visit to Europe was undertaken on a very few minutes’ notice ; and the second time he resigned bis seat in good time to allow of the election of another representative. In doing so he considered he was consulting the interests of his Constituents. Now he was requested by his previous supporters to come, forward again, and he could not dq otherwise than plage ijis 'at their disposal. His political views had b%ep pretty well explained iu times past. It Was well known that he was among the first to welcome the change that came over us in the way of immigration and public works. He looked upon it that one of the most important functions of the Provincial Council Just now was to give the utmost co-operation in carrying out that policy, and to use the utmost 1 vigilance in seeing that we got a fair share of what was being done, and the works in the Province carried Oh in an economical and proper manner. , He was glad to see that the efforts in the way 1 of promoting immigration were successful to a larger extent than vp one time was anticipated. He anticipated good results from a large influx of people to the Proving' ’ ltd wad ticularly pleased with. One - part : immigration 801)0106,- wiz.. ! .tb'k -1 ' number of nominations by petodhi^^ > vHd considered that the method of eelooMdfi by Agenrs-General, or any other agents, would not .stand comparison with "selection by friends already m the place,' The'settleiq r here were entitled to the first voice in nomu' nating those who might come ovit, and snob was a great safeguard against our getting improper people. He was not so contid«S about those picked up indiacriminateiy, at ' home. Education was a very impbrthhtr matter, and if there was to be any ch&nkA he hoped it'would be in the direction*©! makmg our system more comprehensive, bo as to bring it within the reach of every per- • spa in; the Province. The Dunedin harbor was a mattematWght J engage the attention of thp Frqvinc&l&un, > «“•“«>•'<**** at «*«t’ meet. ‘ iqg , called for the’ purpose of taking that l ? to co^erataon; : and it WasTpne his earnest; jympaitW and altehtion.' 1 J-lt -W& kt with: thn sanatory V

with advantages : toita hothtberce. : With regard to theland question, one candidate had ■aid ; that. :he (Mrv Cargill) was entirely in favor of one class; _ That; Was a poor cry, for so far as his individual efforts wei'a conit, was well, known- that he. had always advocated the utmost liberality as regarded facilities for settlement on the land. If he had his way, whgrever there was a piece of land suitable for settlement it should be thrown open, and any man allowed to take l a? U P* introduced resolutions to that effect, but they were not carried. It was prefered to limit the extent.to 640 acres. A great deal of mischief was done setting the agriculturalist and squatter in antagonism, when they should work hand in hand. Each in its own sphere was eminently fitted to develops the resources of the country ; only mischievous intrigue and maladministration had brought about- any other result. The show of bauds was Cargill, 35; Reeves, 13; Isaac and Chapman, 4 each. Mr Isaac demanded a poll, which will he taken on Friday. ■