WELLINGTON.
We have papers to the.7th inst., by the Wonga Wonga, being one week later than those previously received. They are overflowing with election matter, speeches, addresses, and comments. The election of twelve members of Council for the town took place during the past week; the nomination an the 4th and the polling on the sth. The following account is from the " Independent :"— " On Thursday at the close of the poll the Beturuing Officer declared the following gentlemen to be duly elected, viz., Messrs. Hunter, Bowler, Varnham, Wakefield, Allen, Toomath, King, Carpenter, Stokes, Barry, McLaggan, and Warburton. "The following is a list of thevotings for the several candidate?, viz.:— Mr. Hunter 352 " Bowler 332 " Varnham 323 ". Wakefield.. 322 " Allen 309 " Toomath 306 " King 299 " Carpenter 298 " Stokes .....' 291 " Barry 286 " McLaggan 271 " Warburton 270 " Clifford 223 " Spinks 203 " Taylor 197 " Fox 180 " Wallace 167 " Woodward 159 " May 152 "Smith 149 ' " Pliramer 146 " Lyon 128 " Fawcett 125 " Holdsworth 116 " Johnson 55 " Fitzgerald ■> 10 "In the evening the elected candidates met at Barry'a Theatre, and thanked the electors for having returned them. Mr. Spinks also came before the meeting, and thanked, those who had supported him." Those acquainted with the politics and the political men of Wellington will recognise at once the revolution accomplished in. this eleotion. Those who are not so well acquainted ■ need only read the following comments of the two journals j premising that there were nine, perhaps ten, supporters of Dr. Featherston's government among the representatives of the ( city in the previous Council. . j (From the 'Independent.') ; The election for members of the Provincial Council for the City of Wellington has terminated much as might have been expected, after the warning given on the election of Saperin--' tendent by the same constituency. The Oppo-
sition has achieved a signal victory—returning the whole twelve men on their ticket, while the Government party has not secured a single seat. The only consolation is that the elections in the rural districts will probably be as favourable to the Government party as they were on the Superintendent's election.
As far, however, as the city is concerned, the Province has been handed over to the Legislative care of Jerningham Wakefield and °his followers. These consists of two classes—lst, men who like Messrs. Hunter & Stokes were' for years the unreasoning and violent opponents of that self government of whose i institutions they now avail themselves to get into power—and 2ndly, men of no political mark or likelihood—mere chips in porridge, like M'Laggan, Warburton, Bowler, or Boanerges Toomath. It is in favour of such men as tliese that the constituency has rejected the old and tried supporters of free institutions—such as Clifford, Fox, Waring, Taylor, Woodward, Holdsworth, and others whose names appeared on the Government ticket.—-Nov. 7. (From the ' Spectator.) "Ourmostsanguine expectations, with regai-d to the result of the city elections, have been exceeded by the zealous and independent efforts of the electors. The largest constituency in the province, and the best informed as to the merits of the questions at issue between the government and its opponents, has replied to Dr. Featherston's defiance by recording an overwhelming majority in favour of twelve radical reform members. By this result, the following Government, officers have been ignoininiously rejected, namely :—Mr. Clifford,. the partizan Speaker of the Provincial Council; Mr. Fox, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and member of Dr. Featherston's Erecutive Council; the Rev. Jonas Woodward, Provincial Treasurer and also a member of the Executive Council; and Mr. J. G. Holdsworth, the Registrar of Immigrants. Mr. James Smith, and Mr. Lyon, the two candidates for the representation of the Black Ball Line, together received hardly more rotes than the one member lowest on the ivform list. The two professedly Independent candidates, Messrs. Spinks and Waring Taylor, together polled only one-seventh more than Mr. Hunter alone. There never was a more complete, unanswerable, expression of public opinion than this signal condemnation of Dr. Featherston and his practices. There never could be a more thorough refutation of the foul calumnies which Dr. Featherston flung at the private character of his opponents. " After the declaration of the poll, and after the members had returned thanks, Messrs. Clifford and Taylor were alone heard in acknowledgment of their supporters' aid. Mr. Holdsworth and Mr. Clifford's '"man Friday " —Mr. J. H. Wallace, each went through a little dumb show, amidst the groans and jeers of the largest multitude we have ever seen assembled in Wellington. Messrs. Woodward and Fox did not venture to show at all. Johnson, the noisy touter, and Mr. J, ames Smith, made illtimed attempts to procure a"hearing, but met with a very indifferent' reception. '"The issue of the election shows the additional utrength given to the cause of reform by the union of the party which remained neutral during the contest for the office of Superintendent. In that contest Di\ Welch polled 229 •while Mr. Hunter on Thursday polled 352 votes. Dr. Featherston polled 223 in the election for Superintendenfc; the same as Mr. Clifford, showing the utmost strength of the Government party. The result of the poll shows also that the engagement of mutual support was honourably carried out on both sides, the candidate of the twelve who was lowest on the poll having 270 votes, or 41 more than the highest number polled at the election for Superintendent, while there was a nearer equality in the votes polled for the twelve, than for the Government party. " Ten of the new members were drawn by the people in a carriage from one end of the town to the other; and in the evening a thronged public meeting at Barry's Theatre recorded its gratification at the result; its determination to leave no effort untried to persuade the Hutt and country electors into following the example; its thanks to Messrs. Atcheson, Rowlands, and other prominent promoters of the cause; its thanks to Dr. Welch for his courage and independence in awakening the people to a knowledge of their wrongs and wants; and the same' to Mr. Jerningham Wakefield for his exertions in guiding the whole movement to success."
For the Hutt district, with five seats, there were three Government candidates (of whom Mr. Fitz Herbert was one), two ' moderate reformers,' and three ' out and out radicals;' the five last mentioned were to be supported on the ' whole ticket' system, which, if carried out as thoroughly as at Wellington, would be not unlikely to defeat the Government men. The polling for this district was in progress when the steamer left.
Mr, Pox, and perhaps another member of the Government; defeated in Wellington, were sure of return at Wanganui, where the election was to take place last Thursday, the 12th. Two votes out of four were carefully reserved by the electors for such a contingency. The schooner Acadian arrived here yesterday from Auckland, having accomplished the voyage in the almost unprecedentedly short space of four days. She brings a cargo mostly of Auckland produce (flour, wheat, maize, and timber), and with her cargo is understood to have been sent het&;fQr^^e.^rSpectator, Nov. 4. *Wonga steamer arrived on ■Sunday jtnorning'last, having on board the August iEnglish mail. Captain Kennedy, on leaving Nelson, observed a smart looking vessel
about 8 miles from tb.3 port, and thinking that she might possibly have on board the English mail, he ran down to her, and she proved to L>o the Active, 12 days out from Melbourne, having the mail on board. Captain Kennedy, notwithstanding the remonstrance of Mr."Cross, the Nelson pilot, succeeded in transshipping it and bringing it on to Wellington. The thanks of the community are certainly due to Captain Kennedy for his exertions in securing the mail. — Ibid, Nov. 7.
The Wonga Wonga arrived this morning from Nelson vid Collingwood. She left Weilington at noon on Tuesday last, arriving at Nelson on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; left Nelson at 11 a.m., Thursday, and arrived at Collingwood at midnight; left Collingwood on Friday morning at 12 o'clock, and arrived here after a passage of 15 hours. Captain Kennedy reports the diggings are turning out more favourable. — Ibid.
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Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 525, 14 November 1857, Page 5
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1,350WELLINGTON. Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 525, 14 November 1857, Page 5
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