THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY, 9, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 75, 9 February 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY, 9, 1877.

The nomination cf candidates for the Hiding of Antonios will take place at noon, on Monday next, at Antonios Though it is, we believe, the intention of the Returning Officer to appoint two polling booths, namely, one afc the Little Grey Junction, and one at Antonios, nominations will be taken at the latter place only. Thus far it is not definitely known whether the seat will or will not be contested, the name of one candidate only being as yet before the public. In view, however, of the possibility of a contest, it may be as well to clear up, as far as it is possible to do, the doubt which by a peculiar process of reasoning has been cast, or rather sought to be cast upon the question of the adraissibility of miners' rights as a qualification at the forthing election. In order then to compress our remarks as much as can be conveniently done we will set out with the assumption, which we do not think can be questioned, that clause 51 of the " Counties Act," is the nne under and in accordance with which all " first " elections are to be conducted. The wording of the clause in question is as follows : — For the purposes of the first elections to be held under this Act and of every election in a County in which the whole of this Act is not in force, the following persons shall be deemed to be county electors within each riding:— (l.) Every person who is entitled for the time being to vote at a Road Board election in any road district in the riding. (2.) Every person not so entitled who is for the time entitled to vote at an election of a member of the House of Representatives upon a qualification in any outlying district of the riding. (3.) Any legal holder of a miner's right which shall have been issued Within the electoral district in which the tiding or part thereof is included not less than three months prior to the election. Now to our mind the only question to arise upon the foregoing is, are these what they purport to be—" Provisions for First Elections," or are they more than the Act states, and to be gov" erned and qualified by preceding and subsequent sections ? If, as we contend, they are what the Act proclaims, they must stand alooe, and be regarded as independent of the rest of the measure. Taking this to be the case then, there can be no exclusion of miners' rights issued anywhere in the electoral district of the Grey Valley. If it were otherwise, if the provisions just quoted were to be read with and qualified by the other sections of the 11 Counties Act " and the " I-ocal Elections Act." wou'd they not be reduced to so much surplusage, in short, would their real significance ag " Provisions for First Elections" be des* troyed ? We are fortunate in being able to adduce an authority in support of our contention which will not fail to carry considerable weight. We have before us the printed instructions issued by the Under-Seeretary, (which no-doubt were drawn up under the direction of the Attorneys General) to the different Returning Officers of the Inangahua. These instructions, omitting that which has no bearing upon our present contention, r/ere as follows : — This being 'fixed you will proceed under •'The Regulation of Local Elections Act, 1876," as if the election were to fill up an ordinary vacancy, and give notice under section ten. * * * The qualification of electors for first election is fixed by section fifty-one of Counties Act. It is, every person entitled to vote at a Road or Highway Board election, or if not in a Eoad District, every person qualified to vote for members of House of Representatives, or any legal holder of a miner's right, issued not less than three months previous to election within the doctoral district which comprises the riding or a part of the riding. Thus it will be seen that while _ the elections were to be regulated in a general' way by the "Regulation of Local Elections Act," specific direction were giyen as to the qualifications as set forth in the " Counties Act." Upon the point of the morale of thus permitting persons beyond the jurisdiction of the Council to vote, we have nothing to say ; that is an abstract question outside the range of our present object. The aim of the Legislature was no doubt that in such au important matter as a change in the constitution of the country the fullest latitude- should be given for the ex" ercise of the franchise at the first elections. As to the definition of the term " district " there can be no manner of doubt fin to what it means, but should the Returning Office shore the perplexity on that head which appears to agitate some great minds in our midst, we recommend him to banish it at once, as being altogether beside the

question of qualification to vote. At I all subsequent elections it will be a part of the Returning Officers duty to put certain questions to voters be* fore accepting their votes, but for the purposes of the coming election nothing of the kind will be necessary, or even warrantable. The matter as here put appears to us incontestable