THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 101, 20 January 1871, Page 3

THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

(To the*l£d"d6r of the Mo'tjnt Ida Chronicle.) Who is to. be our next Superintendent is a qpestiori'of-sbme interest at present So much, depends upon the fitness of the gentleman occupying that, position.that it is scarcely possible, too. much importance t<?. it. < j Our Superintendent seems on, this the favorite, and will probably the. other Gfcoldi of thV^rovi'nce Heis not in-'these places tlieVman b£ 4lfe"people b.e was when last returned, and if returned again it w,ill be b.Y;the party who then opposed hhn. To enable the residents and your renders to understand, this change in public opinion I would like-to mention a few facts connected therewith. Mr. Macandrew's prosperity in the. early days, and the reverses he afterwards met, with, are generally knp-yyn. How much, or how. little blame, can be attached to him.it is needless.to.discuss. He was, according to his o>yn showing, a " child of circumstances." One great objection to him still is that he continuea a ehjlcjL of circumstances. Many of his old admirers, regret it, and would much rather see him a child,of principle j but desires cannot alter facts.

In liis great stumping torn*., previous to. his election, hise strong point was. his misfortunes; and his secondary pohi,t the. misfortunes of his country. The country was badly governed — he \£puld rectify that j public money was wasted —lie could rectify that; official salaries were too high and/official.men too numerous — that could he rectified also ,- land was villainously withheld from sale and settlement, retained by squatting influence—that wanted'a deal of reel ikying. lie made his small climax of this, matter. Here was .the reason of their hostility to him ; here was the exploding apparatus that set the Otago press roaring; here was the Becret iff their pious horror, that a public defaulter should sit in the seat of the Superinr tendent, and defile it for ever. He would cut up. their runs ; he would open the country for, sale ; he would declare conir monages, and sheep would vanish into small paddocks, and runholders cease to exist.. All this was very fine, and it tickled Cockneys in a small way with small freeholds and starving cattle, which they wanted a run for, amazingly. So much for number one. My country, Oh! my country! But climax number two drove the nail home and., clenched jt. It was his own. misfortunes—the child of circumstance —business. He bad been insulted, reviled* abused,.lacked..out of office, and shift in a gaol for Otago's safee. w Ungrateful Otago had kipked and: insulted;; the best friend she ever had ; but, he believed her generous —she, would yet -wipe the tears from Ins eyes, and exalt him whom she had so unjustly cast down. Who could resist such eloquence, at once so practical axjid so pathetic ? Certainly not the working men. They exalted suffering virtue, and, like other people, having done a virtuous action, they commenced looking for their reward. But, alas, in this case, unless virtue was its own ve' ward, it got none. The extended commonages were myths, the runs to be thrown into the market a delusion and. a snare. The only thing that did get thrown open was the unsold -land within hundreds, at an upset price of 10s. per-acre ; thus solving the commonage question by selling them off. Things went on gloriously ; the commonages got slimmer, the cattle thinner, the runholders extended leases, and the man of the people, when forced to show in public, as on two occasions at Balclutha, came the child of circumstance dodge. Unfortunately, a dispute occurred between an auctioneering firm in Dunedin and a runholder at Tuapeka. The runholder, with the laudable desire of taking it out of them, published a letter that had been written Mm by a.partner of this .firm, about the time Mr. Macandrew was stumping the country ; the tenor of the epistle being that he was to be under no ap-. prehensions about his run, &B.the friend of the people and the squatters understood each other perfectly. Rather a'damaging'publication.. Hundreds Regulations Bill, which 6atised-great indignation, Mr. ■ Macandrew was the "prime mover. This Bill was. hustled through the Assembly^without having been introduced into the Provincial Council, and before the Province heard of it it became law. It provides that only small hundreds of good agricultural land cam ibe proclaimed, and that runholders are entitled to full compensation for improvements, yirtually giving them the country : because, if runholders choose to fence and lay down _ the best portions of their runs in English grass, Government—allowing

them valiuM.oti, surveying into mnull section-. and opening it tor sale--would .sell it at a heavy loss, and, of course, being unable to do this, they are unable to open the land for settlement.

In regard ro the sludge channel, telegraph, and road diversion, questions of such yital importance to this district, have not several deputations waited on Mr. Macandrew ? and what did they get but promises and Mr. Yincent Pyke's report. I am at a loss to understand any intelligent man (not being a squatter) supporting, the same dodge of injured innocence that he is now trying again. Your readers will see from the above statement what Mr. Macandrew has done for Otago for the last four years. Mr. Beid, on the other hand, although he has not the glib tongue of him who formerly beguiled us, he at any rate is esteemed for good sound sense and thorough honesty. He has worked his way into public estimation, never by elap-ti'ap, but by a steady pursuit of whatever he conceived likely to benefit the Province: —I am, &c, John P: Armstrong.