THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1289, 16 September 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1872.

The impending election of a new Superintendent for the Province of Nelson has already been referred to as an incident in which the West Coast electors should take more than ordinary interest, if they desire eii-her to resist the pretensions of utterly unsuitable men, or to elevate to the early vacant chair* a man who will take an opposite course of action to that which was taken by its former occupant, and which is still certain to be taken by him as an adviser of his Excellency the Governor. When this reference was made to the subject, there was no gentleman upon whose acceptance of any friendly overtures from the electors we could rely except Mr Joseph Shephard, the present Provincial Treasurer, and, in the absence of any " superior person," we ventured to bespeak for Mr Shephard a favorable consideration of his claims. We did not hesitate, however, to state that, so far -as it is possible to judge from outward expression, the prevailing popular sentiment on the West Coast would not favor the candidature of anyone with Curfcisian sympathies, and these Mr Shephard had too palpably exhibited both by his speeches regarding the Premier and by his vote by means of which it is the fortune of Mr Curtis, to the country's misfortune, \o be transferred from the position of Superintendent to that of Postmaster-General. Sinco those remarks were written, we understand that residents on the West Coast Gold Fields and residents of Nelson City and its surroundings, have taken action to induce another candidate to come forward — one who may be expected to represent the antithesis of the Curtis policy, while unmistakeably recognisable as opposed to the party with whom Mr Curtis has got into power. That gentleman is Mr Diwid Mitchell Luckie, editor of the Nelson Colonist, arid the successful candidate in the election for Nelson City iv which Mr J. C. Richmond, and Mr Alfred Saunders, a former Superintendent of the Province, were rather ignominiously defeated. Mr Luckie, we understand, has thus been communicated with, and we believe wo may confidently mention him as a probable candidate. It will, no doubt, be a novelty in Nelson politics — or it will, at least, be a change in their recent experience — to have Mr Luckie and Mr Shephard opposing each other. If our estimate of circumstances does not mislead us, it was owing to Mr Luckie's sympathies with, and exertions for, Mr Shephard that the latter was placed in the position of Provincial Treasurer, with the rather v n willing assent of the Superintendent, and, if our recollection does not mislead us, Mr Lnckie was also a strenuous supporter of Mr Shephard on the occasion of his being returned to the Assembly. While, however, Mr Shephard became very speedily after his return a shy supporter of the Ministry, and this session aided and abetted the side whose success favored the possible realisation of his own ambition, Mr Luckie remained firm to his first love, and stood by the Ministry to their fall, as he still stands by them in the not as yet very "cold shade " as an Opposition. In these times, when there are at stake questions both of policy and party, there is therefore sufficient reason for the two gentlemen becoming rivals for 'the Superintendent's vacant chair. They can do so honorably, and as representatives of two very widely distinct parties among the population of their Province. That Mr Lnckie's party possesses greatest numerical strength, we feel assured, and he has also, by his action in past years, and in matters which will bo familiar to mining readers, recommended himself to the favor of the Gold Fields community ; but, as it happens, the Gold Fields community is very slightly represented on the electoral roll, and his reputation, although it may recommend him, will not materially assist him on the day of the poll. So far as their influence can go, however, the influence of the West Coast voters U more likely to assist his causa

than that of Mr Shephard, and any contest which may take place, with two such gentlemen in the field, would certainly bring out the voters in considerably greater numbers than on previous occasions of Snperintendental elections, for, however divided they may be as to politics or parties, there is a unity between them in one particular— they are both good men and true.