The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, February 24, 1855.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 242, 24 February 1855, Page 3

The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, February 24, 1855.

As the time approaches for the election of twelve members of tlie Council under the provisions of the Provincial Council Extension Ordinance, the Journals' of the Province begin to teem with the addresses of rival c.-indidates. These addresses are now public property : and the electors must try to discover from them, in default of other means of immediate information, some clue to the probable policy of their »utheirs. We are afraid, however. Out it will he but a vain attempt. There is not much information in any of them. . We know already that nobody comes" forward as a candidate* unless under the most urgent compulsion: and, however painful it may be to our feelings as inhabitants of a free country to. see so many men obliged to do what they dislike, .we cannot attempt to ignore what v? patent to everybody. That every candidate is solely influenced by an anxiety for the public welfare, which will prompt him to support none but useful measures, is equally well known,—or at least taken for granted. Setting- aside, therefore, as recognized propositions the pressure which urges them forward .and t he public spirit which is to guide their future career, let ns see what we" have to expect from the new half of our Legislature. To begin with the Metropolis, "including Mr. Case's, there are four seats to be contested. Four candidates are in the field. The a idresscs of Iwo of thtni are mere applications of the second proposition to their own case, one rather amplified, the other neat and npproptiate. The third address is not very long, but it is terribly suggestive : —R«d Cross. Knights unfurling the banner of ChrUthuity, «n«l

-'hewing down innumerable infidels preachers in^Genova gowns reaehint- sixteenthly or seventeenthly amid the ;ili-•repressed snores of a congregation reserved for, and appropriated to the -weekly infliction—lawyers in dusfy chambers pulling down volume after volume to find an authority for splitting a hair—students poring over knotty algebraical-problems in all of which an unknown quantity X + V + Z endlessly perplexes them—such visions startle the 'imagination/- of the doubting elector. He may say possibly, with the selfishness inherent in human nature, that he .would prefer practical and practicable measures, to the theories of an imaginative' representative. The -fourth'address.is rather ingenious. It is longer than the others, but by a good use of the lirt of address-writing, it binds its author to Dothing. It contains the two propositions alluded to above as granted to all candidates, and particularises, the Waste Lands' question especially, as one to be dealt with in the best possible manner. 'If it were not for the confidence we have in the author of the address, we should be-.tempted, .'when he tells us that he will enter on his duties "with a single eye to the public good" to ask him what he intends to do with the •th'er-:;■; of fcourse we know;that the expression is .only meant to intensify the language of public spirit. The Chris'church electors will be glad, we have no doubt, to know a little more of the political principles of the candidates for their suffrages. We are rathe r, afraid that one of them -;Vgenerally Boars above their comprehensions. ;

In* the Christchurch Country District there "are five -vacancies, and eight candidates in the field: One of them says that, if others wjUv superior pretensions come forward, he will retire. We shall becurious to see what his opinion is of the candidates -already, before the public. The second address is certainly the most satisfactory of all; The opinions of the ''"candidate; putting it forth with respect to the subject now of the ; greatest interest before the public 7are plainly and honestly stated. He will vote for the price of £3 an acre for land, including the Provincial rate, and for the appropriation of a portion 6i" the land fund to the purposes of Religion and Education, to be ..■distributed among; the different Christian sects in the Province. Electors can at once make up their minds as to Whether they; agree or disagree with this gentleman. ; The third address which we not ice must, we are afraid, be classed in the vague genu*. Both Echication and Waste Lands are to be dealt with in the; best possible manner^ We have no doubtthat the candidate from \vhom this address,, emanates-; wil' explain- himself1 yB the further opportunity he alludes to. A fourth . address is inthe virtuously—we might almost have said savagely independent".style. Ko friends have asked the author of this production to come forward ; had he no friend to solicit him not to stand? We beg to assure this gentleman that Governments in these days have no means of torturing those who disagree with;-them, bo that his fearlessness wiil not be put to the proof.* The.degree of pressing inflicted by his friends upon the next candidate who appears in the columns of the " Standard" must have been very crrrdL He seems, however, to have succumbed theerfully enough to his fate, and promises to visit the -different parts of the district, just as if he came forward of his own free will. The next address' is an official performance, short and sweet, .ending;, however, with the standing promise of all addresses. The next candidate advocates the Government Land Regulations generally, modifying his approval by a proposal that a portion of the Land Fund ..•■.should-be set apait for the purposes of religion and f'ducalion. The last candidate who > addresses;-the electors in the paper before us ; is another of the desperately independent

men He intends "to resist uncontrolled action upon the part of lliose entrusted with the Executive Administration." He stands up valiantly for the "working voter," and 'finishes .. by stating. his disapprobation of making a representative a delegate. We can assure this candidate also that there is no probability of his being bullied by;any body. '■■■■„

Lyttelfon hangs back with' a due sense of its own importance. One address lias just reached us; the author of it throws himself confidingly into the arms of his constituents. Next week we have no doubt will see others following his example. Electors of Canterbury,—Remember that you have been appealed to directly on the subject of the Waste Lands, Do not promise your votes without knowing more about the.different candidates than their addresses or promises can teach you. Above all be careful when an)* one offers to defend or protect' you.

We believe that it is not generally understood that the election of members to fill the seats vadated by the resignations of Messrs. 'Hall and Cass will take place under different writs from those 0f... the members elected under the provisions of the Provincial Gouncil Extension Ordinance. The elections for the vacant 'seats will therefore precede the other elections which are to take place on the same day.