TO THE ELECTORS OF THE PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 472, 13 May 1857, Page 3

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY.

■ V^T; having • announced; His "•tii'tf n < .ion;■; of resigning''the; office of 'Superiiiteiicleiit or this .Province; I. Have the-honour to shite; that I ;shalPpreserit- niyself to:you as:a C; 1 ndidnte, for lit when the perio'd'of Election shall 'ari'ive/ ' 1 .': It;iiiayfperhapsjbie^/thought presumptuous in.: ;nie 'to; "takp' this- step without having had the :;way'prepa'yed by ; the .customary;'requisitipri.''Biut the &ct:ifcHat I':;shbuia ; be■ a, Cahdidate f in; case!;Miv':Jiti;iGerald.did not;desire againrto be.'; elected,■:'&i£.:been;:so long;and. v'so' generally known; tliat:lt%buld have' been afFefctation'in ■me to have waited for one; I liave : thought it the less; necessary too,; because the ; means ;by 'which'sign'atuve's 'to: such doctiments are now top : often- obtained have -tended to invest them: witli; almost as nrach'of disrepute*as credit. At all^ events "they have-deprived'Hiliem 'of much of' tliat V,aiue in public estimation which: such ttestinioiiials once possessed,: ••- ■:, ■'••■.''".' . ;I feel it to be my duty. Gentlemen,'to:state'

at the outset of tins address some, of the considerations which have led me to offer myself to your notice and to ask at your hands the highest civil appointment it is in your power to bestow., I have been a resident among , you almost from the foundation of the settlement, and have ever taken a more or less active part in the public affairs of the province. It is now two years since I had the honour of obtaining a seat in the Provincial Council. Since then my time has been wholly engaged, in the public service; and there ia scarcely an office under 'the Provincial Government, if I, except that of the Solicitor and that of the Provincial Engineer, the duties of which I have not for some period ; discharged. I mention this not to found any present claims on your confidence, for I feel too conscious how great the distance is between the most important of the offices I have held and - that to which I now aspire, but to show that I have had considerable experience, in the administration^ of the affairs of the province, and thub, I hope, establish the presumption, that I possess some of the qualifications required for the discharge of the administrative duties which attach to the office of Superintendent. . You will. Gentlemen, probably expect from those who may present themselves to your notice on this occasion some general exposition of the views they take of the nature of the office for which they are candidates, and the leading principles by which, should they succeed, their conduct of affairs would be guided. To that task, therefore, I now address myself. Had this been the first election of a Superintendent, this task would liave been one of very considerable difficulty. In no part is the Constitution Act more defective thaii where it defines the duties of the Superintendent. It -would almost appear as if the framers of that Act. unable to determine with anything like precision the status the Superintendent should occupy in the Government of the country and the functions he should discharge, had confined themselves to simply defiuing his legislative duties, leaving it to time and circumstances to develop the amount of executive power he should exercise. Gentlemen, that which the Constitution Act left so vague and unsettled, time and experience have to a great extent determined. The Superintendent is now recognised not merely as the legislative but also as the executive head of the province, endowed with very ample powers. Within his juiisdiction the Empowering Ordinance has, in some cases definitely, in others provisionally, invested him with a large proportion of the executive authority of the Governor himself; and the recent legislation of the General Assembly, while it appeals to lean towards a restriction of his legislative, shows no disposition to inteif'ere with his executive functions. The necessities which have led to the investiture of the Superintendent with these important powers have also suggested the means by which he should be guided in their exorcise. Thus, in this Province as in others, an Executive Government Ordinance has teen pas&ed by which the Superintendent is bound to have an Executive Council, by whose advice he is to be guided in carrying on the Government of the province. I do not consider it necessary in this place to discuss at length the advantages or otherwise o: this order of things. I simply lay before \uu the nature of the office as I find it, and the ciieumstiinces that have led to its present form of development. Nevertheless, I will not shrink from avowing my opinion, that not only theoretically is the exiting arrangement to be approved and de-fendi-d. but that, in practice aLo. it supplies, under the present physical peculiarities of New Zealand, the scantiness of its population, and the difficulties of inter-communication, the best and most efficient means by w Inch the affairs of the vaiious provinces can be at present administered. In it too the great principle of self government is fully recognised. The power you possess, and which jo\\ have periodically to exercise, of electing your Superintendent, ouyht to secure you the services of an active and intelligent officer. That offieeriuvs the assistance of an Executive Council whose nets must be suppoited by the approval of the Provincial Council. Throughout the whole arrangement the principle of responsibility is bought to bear. The Superintendent is responsible to the province, the Executive Council to the Provincial Council, and the Provincial Council in its turn to the people. Whilst then the Constitution Act remains unaltered, I am unable to imagine a system of Provincial Government under it

combining more of simplicity, efficiency, and economy. I say while the Constitution Act is unaltered, for you are not unaware that many persons are of opinion that it can be amended. It would, however, be an unprofitable occupation of your time and altogether beside my present • purpose to consider on this occasion possible^ changes. My duty is to deal with facts. If changes are introduced it can only be by an authority to which Superintendents in common with all others affected by them must bow. I take it, then, that the Superintendent in his Executive capacity is simply the head of the Government and'not the Government itself, an officer charged" with the execution of certain duties committed to him by law and-for the most part defined by law. and that in all original and discretionary acts of importance he is bound to proceed in conformity with the advice he may ' receive from his Executive Council. Gentlemen, I accept this view of the office as much from choice as necessity. No consideration could induce me to undertake it if the responsibility of Government were not shared in this way. You will then, I have no doubt, concur with me in thinking that it would be inconsistent for a candidate holding these views to express himself dogmatically on particular subjects, or labour to produce what is termed ' a policy' by which he should be considered bound during his tenure of office. I have shown that the law compels the Superintendent to act under advice. I haye1 also shown that he can .only retain such advisers as the Provincial Council will support. "It is obvious, nay certain, that those advisers mayj at one time, be persons holding one set of opinions, and at another time persons holding opinions directly opposite. It is equally obviousthat the Superintendent could not agree with both. Should he unfortunately"differ with those who have the confidence of the Provincial Council, he must either attempt to carry on the Government with an adverse Council or modify his views in deference to theirs. I think the cases can be very few indeed in which doubt can exist as to which course should be pursued. But'while, for these i-easons, I abstain from placing before you a policy which shall imply a rigid adherance to particular views on particuilar subjects, as being both indiscreet and lit variance with the spirit of our present law, I have no hesitation in expressing my oj)inions frankly on some subjects of general interest and importance, which I believe are being at present discussed by you.' It is said, but with what amount of accuracy I am unable to state, that there are some persons who do not approve of the price that has been fixed on our Waste Lands and 'who will make it the subject of appeal to you. It must be unnecessary, Gentlemen, to insist on the fact that nothing can be more objectionable amongst our,own selves, or more calculated to discourage persons in other countries from settling here than uncertainty on this point. I could 'almost say that it" would be wiser to adhere to an airaiYgement having some imperfections in it than by frequent changes to create the impression that no settled law on this'subject will ever prevail amongst us. But I venture to assert that the question has already received as ample deliberation as under any circumstances it could receive. When the price of land was under deliberation in the legislature of this province, every reasonable sum, and almost every imaginable mode of payment was * proposed to the Council and discussed. I should probably he within the mark were I to say that more than a dozen divisions took place on this point. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty shillings were all separately advocated and proposed. The mode of payment} too, whether by money down or by instalments, was equally the subject of diftVence of opinion and division in the Council. -J; length, however, by almost universal, concurrence, the present price of £2 per acre (prompt payment) was determined on. That price has not yet been tried more than a twelvemonth, and even if there were no experipTxw in its favour, I should still, for the lensons I have given, be indisposed to change. But I tlii'ik the experience o! the brief time during which £2 has been the established price may be g:ix!y appealed to in its support. The sales of I?i:a,without being in any way forced, have been fr.-o md continuous ever since. Nor is there .it pt-'v jii', any indication of falling off. A".I «! ioiild there be no falling off, the estimated rev ,M 3.- fro:n this source during the coming year is iTIO^OOO. But what appears to me to be th e

most satisfactory fact connected with those sales is this—that the large majority of them have been made to persons of the working classes and to bona fide settlors and cultivators of the soil. It may be fairly asked, how much of this land would have found its way into their hands had the price been materially lower? It is matter of notoriety that, within two or three days of the present regulations coming into operation, some large capitalists arrived here for the purpose of making extensive speculative purchases, even outside the original Canterbury block, and at a distance from the cultivated districts. How much land worth having would have been left inside, and especially in the neighbourhood- of your towns, had the cheap land policy prevailed, I leave you to conjecture. But -there are also extensive interests to be considered in this question of price. On the firm belief that it was definitely settled a veiy large amount of capital- has been embarked in pastoi al pursuits; and I think the faith of the legislature and the Government is pledged to its protection—that is, protection to this extent— that the order of things under which that capital was invested and the stockowners induced to eriler on their separate enterprises should not be liable to frequent change. But I am disposed to maintain that regard for our own interests, no less than good faith towards others, should prompt us to resist any alteration in the price of land. The produce of- our pastoral districts now constitutes a most important item in our commerce. Whilst agritulture is at present languishing, and its prospects are much clouded, the pastoral interest is happily flourishing as much as could reasonably be desired. Alrendy, wool is our main export, the clip of 1856 being valued at £70,000; and in a few years it will acquire a magnitude that will abundantly justify all which legislation has done towards encoura ging its growth. Nor is this all. While the pastoral interest is contributing to the progress of the country, as every interest does which materially increases its export trade, it is also yielding "largely to our territorial revenue. Within a year"or two the rents derivable from that source will be alone sufficient, not only to pay the large contribution annually required from this province towards the extinguishment of the New Zealand Company's debt, but will leave a considerable balance available for the use of the province. The present price of land, Gentlemen, constitutes the main, almost the only protection of the pastoral interest; and I ask you seriously to reflect whether it is expedient to withdraw it—whether it is wise to kill - the goose for the goTden egg, and interrupt this steady and satisfactory progress for the sake of a sudden influx of money into the Treasury, which our resources in labour may not permit us profitably to expend, and the possession of which might tempt us to extravagance. My own conviction is that it would not.

Another subject on which I desire to say a few more words is our form'of Government. There are some persons who regard the present mode of administering the affairs of the province as too cumbersome and too pretentious, and who talk of conducting the Government after the model of a corporate town in England, of which a Mayor, Aldermen, and Council are the presiding geniuses. Never having been a member of one of those select societies, I am perhaps unable to appreciate properly the advantages of such a mode of Government. It is, however, not long since that the jobbery, peculation, and corruption, which had grown out of the old corpovate N system in England, led to a sweeping measure of reform, by which the whole of those model Governments, excepting that of London, were swept away. And now it appears that the days of the corporation of London itself are numbered. Experience, therefore, does not appear to justify the preference shown for corporation rule, and, personally, I can feel but little attachment to a system which has produced such results. But in truth, there is no fair analogy between the circumstances of a municipal corporation in England and a province in New Zealand. To no cor-, poration has there ever been committed anything like the power conferred on the Superintendents and Provincial Councils of this country, namely, the power to legislate for the entire people of a province—or, in the words of the Constitution Act—" to make and ordain all such laws and ordinances as may be required for the peace, order, and good government-of the province." This alone destroys all parallel ill the cases. ,

J It is said, however, that even if the analogy fails, it will be more economic to do away with I the existing departments and have the business of the Government conducted by the Provincial Council divided into committees. I must sar that I disbelieve in this altogether. ,It assumes that these committees will do their work without remuneration. I know not on what ground* gentlemen can be expected to devote their time to the public service without return. Nor do I think the public desire that they should do so. But there is no warrant for believing that any persons could be found who would so act, Certainly the practice of the Provincial Council at the present time does not justify the expectation. Every member residing - beyond a certain distance from Christchurch is paid a certain sum per diem for every day he attends the Council. If, then, the members of committees are all to be paid their expenses merely, the system will not only be cumbrous and clumsy, but more expensive than i the,,,present one. If ,they are not- to be paid, my belief is that the attendance will be so irregular as to make the system obstructive of the business of- Government. I yield, gentlemen, to no man in a desire to see introduced into all the departments of Government a rigid economy. It must, however, bo one consistent with'efficiency. It is not economy else. My conviction is, that the plant put forward is as fatal both to efficiency and economy as ingenuity could devise. There is one further subject to which I will allude, for though it does not come within our control and is not a question of domestic policy, it is one, nevertheless, on which the efficient Government of the province is so dependent as in my opinion to demand notice in this place. I refer to the seat of the General Government. -Every day's experience shows how seriously the administration of our affairs is embarrassed by the great distance of this General Government from us. lam anxious therefore to state my desire, in whatever position I may be placed, to co-operate with thosa who will strive to bring it to a more central spot.

There are many other subjects, gentlemen, to which I might direct your attention, but this address has already, I fear, exceeded convenient length. Opportunities, however, will doubtless be presented in which such subjects may be discussed between us. It will be my business, so far as may be practicable, to wait upon you. With regard, however, to a canvass, I must express my great regret that one should bs necessary^not on the score of trouble, nor be- , cause it may expose a candidate to inconvenient questioning, but because I entertain a strong conviction' that the highest office of the province should be conferred by the people rather .than won from them by the ordinary means of an electioneering canvass. Motives more or" less impure will be attributed to the candidate, which cannot fail to disturb those feelings of deference and regard which should attach to the person filling so high an office. By some he will be looked upon as an adventurer practising on the confidence of his fellow-citizens for some unworthy object—by some as stimulated by inordinate vanity and ambition—and by others as impelled by a love of official power ; whilst it can hardly be possible in an active canvass to avoid rousing feelings of animosity and hostility which it is most desirable should not exist I can only say ' for myself that it will be my anxious desire to keep the canvass as clear of these evils as possible. And now, gentlemen, it only remains for m« to assure you that, whatever the result of this appeal, I shall be perfectly satisfied with your decision. While I admit in o»t freely that the office [of Superintendent of this province may * well be regarded as an object of laudable amMtion.'yet J feel so conscious of the labour, anxiety, and responsibility of the office, as to regard it with much more of apprehension than desire. I have, however, endeavoured to show that tha Government-will not rest solely on the Superintendent, but on him in conjunction with advisers. With this view of the nature of the office, and with the hope that, should you' confer it upon me, 1 shall not fail to secure" the assistance of good and able adviser*, I re&pectfully offer myself to.you as a candidate for it. I have the honour to be, "Gentlemen, Your very obedient and humble servant, JOSEPH BRITTAN. ' Linwood, April 3, 1857.