The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1867. THE SUPERINTENDENCE NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 53, 5 March 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1867. THE SUPERINTENDENCE NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES.

Mr. Curtis was warmly and repeatedly cheered on rising lo address the electors. When the cheering h-id subsidi d. he said lhe sudden retirement of Mr. Blackett called for a few remarks from him, as reports were current that that gentleman's supporters intended to •>(> over in a body to Mr. Barnicoat (cries of" no" and " who said so''). He was not aware if it was the intention of all to do so who signed the requisition. It was stated that Mr Biai'kett's principal supporters wished they should do so, and he would asK them if it was consistent on their part to allow themselves to be influenced hy Mr. Lnckie in this way ? They had just been reminded by the Reluming Officer ot their duty to exercise the elective franchise in a free and independent manner, and if they supported Mr. Barnicoar, they should do it of their own free will, and not at lhe dictation of any man or body of men He would endeavor, as briefly as possible, to make some comments on some recent statements of Mr. Black ett's, made principally in allusion to his (Mr. Curlis') own remarks. Mr. Blackett had cxpresse i surprise and remarked on (he absurdity of the inference that he was opposed to railways beeause he had on a former occasion opposed the making of one on the ground that .be was ignorant of the place to which it was to be carried. He was wrong in stating that it ■was to be taken to the Lyell, and the committee who reported in favor of it recommended it should be taken to the plains of the four rivers at the confluence of the Matakitaki, the Matin, the Maruia, and the Mangles. The Lyell was not mentioned by the committee, nor by Mr. Blackett, that he remembered, in his answers to the numerous questions that were put to him. it was surprising, therefore, that Mr. Blackett should have assumed ignorance of the intended locale of the railway If he referred to the terminus, it was possible he might not know the point of that ; bur he must have known that the confluence of the four rivers flowing into the Buller within a few miles of one another, was the spot then fixed upon. A township would have been established, successful diggings opened in addition lo the old ones, and population settled, had the work gone on. It was foreign to the question to talk of the Lyell and the Western Ranges, as, whatever difference of opinion existed respecting the terminus, which he proposed should be made to the Western Ranges, subject to the approval of the Government, the terminus was definitely fixed in the plain of the four rivers. Mr. Blackett had characterised the Railway Act as bald and unattractive. It was an Act that was obtained not without great difficulty, and for his part he had labored to get one as broad and comprehensive as possible. He had managed to secure the principal point, which was to empower the Superintendent of lhe province to exchange the land for railway purposes. No arrangements of a detailed kind would have been consented to, and an Act previously brought in by the Attorney General provided that the land should not be parted ■with except in proportion of one acre for every pounds worth of valued work, a provision which it was unnecessary to say would have rendered the Act useless. As to the suggestion of Mr. Blackett that the railway be divided among several contractors, such a. plan would be found to be surrounded with difficulties equal to those found in adjusting the proporlionatu sum to be received by the Governments of Canterbury and Nelson, from the miners' rights on the provincial border, which had been admitted to be of an almost insuperable kind. A number of contractors with separate stafts of engineers, surveyors, and clerks, would not be likely to agree more readily with the Government on their respective claims, than the officials appointed to settle the provincial dispute. Ne doubt a company could sublet the work to as many us they liked, and if this was the object aimed at there was no objection to it. It seemed only fair that, he should make this reply to the statements referred to, not indeed with a view to attack Mr. Blackett, l>ut in vindication of his own views the soundness of which had been ques • tioned by that gentleman. The difficulty of letting the work to a number of companies would be increased, if the proposal which the late Superintendent made to the Council, were acted upon. This was to lease the line for a number of years, at a mere nominal ren'al. But it was to be feared, notwithstanding the approval of this pJan by Dr. Irvine in the Colonist, that great difficulties would arise from the various companies making arrangements which would clash with each other and prove inconvenient to the public. He had been wrongly charged with wishing to spend £5000 or £60<!0 on an elaborate survey, whereas it was a rough, preliminary survey that he had advocated to meet the views of Lhe contractors who had corresponded with the Government. Mr. Ynw-g .had madea suggestion of this kind, which had not met with a very flattering reception from the Government. It was a proposal to furnish a rough survey of the country and such information respecting it as would enable contractors to und rstand the bargain they were making. It was his impression that something of this kind must be done, or capitalists and contractors would bs unable to entertain the matter, and examine the country for themselves. This was his reason for proposing in the Council that the £1000 should be increased to £5000. His idea was that detached parties should be sent to surrey the lancl in separate blocks, describe its peculiarities and report on its agricultural, pastoral, and mining capabilities, a result that would be satisfactory to both the Government and the capitalists with whom negotiations were likely to be entered into. It would be admitted, he thought, that £5000 /was not an unreasonable amount .lor

the Government to pay for such an important purpose, a sum which bore so small a proportion to ilie revenue drawn from tlie district to which the Government were hound to make some adequate return. He differed altogether from Mr. Biaekettin his estimate of the probable advantages that would accrue to town and province from railway cnmnitmicaiion. If the West Coast ports could compete with us in the places to which they have eas-y access, they could not in those places near the line. It was admitted that prices were higher here than in the A ustralian colonies, which arose from the long time it took the ships to load, and by which the owners sustained a considerable loss. Etoent advices from England had shown that the rate of freightage from Kngland to Nelson was (scs. per ton, whilst to Wellington it was only 455. The diminished cost was owing to the largeness of the trade, tlie raie being about that charged from London to Sydney, whilst to Melbourne freight was only 40s. per ton. This state ot things would not always continue, and there was no reason why under improved'circumstances, freight to this port should not be equally low (cheers). 1-Je admitted tlmt the railway question was a party question, and the parties were those who represented activity and progress on the one hand and stagnation on the other. The battle of the Superintenclency would no doubt be fought on this question, and it wouid now be decided whether inaction or progress should characterise the affairs of the province. More than that, the battle in favor of jirugress hsid bei-n partly won. and if the electors did their duty it would he completely so (cheers). '1 he fact that ihe supporters of Mr. Blackett vere rcrr.rtcd to be about to transfer their support to ilr. B.irnicoat, proved that they thought it wouid be easier to obtain the railway under his superintendence, than they wouid it he (Mr. Curtis) were elected Superintendent. He thought this a Suing time to comment on a letter thai appeared in the Kvening Mail some time ago, in which the writer charged bin) with being unfriendly to the working classes. He admitted that he had never supported the interests of individuals or classes, in contradistinction to those of the province, and justified his conduct on the ground that it was better to promote the interests of the many, than to legislate on the narrow basis of those o< the few. lie had always advocated public works on those broad and general grounds, and he asked his opponents which policy was most conducive to the interests of the working-classes, thnt which proposed to carry out works that would benefit ail classes in the province, or that of their pretended friends who systematically op-po-ed all works of the kind, which could not fail to produce great and lasting benefits. The act of his which was censured by the writer of this letter proved that he was the real iriend of the working man. No act could he more opposed to the interests of ihis class, than that which he denounced in the Council, in 1862. There Mr. Saunders we are told, moved a resolution to amend the Country Roads Act, so as to exclude buildings, fences, drains, and oilier artificial and industrial improvements. , The effect of this measure would have been to exclude all large buildings mills, manufactories, &c. , from taxation, and Mr. Saunders' own mill would have been free (cheers). He opposed this measure on the ground of its injustice, in proposing to tax the poor man to relieve the rich man (applause). This letter contained internal evidence to show that Mr. R. Burn was the writer, although he would not confidently affirm that he was. The writer in the same letter very strongly accused him of opposing the waterworks, because he had opposed jMr. K. Burn's resolution. Kow he had introduced the question, and it was manifestly absurd to charge him with opposing it. Having fought in its favor during a period of six years, and at length seen it carried notwithstanding the opposition of the Government, lie could not reasonably be charged with opposition to it. What he did uppose was Mr. K. Burn's proposal to give n bonus of £500 to any company that would furnish a capital of £20,000 to carry out a system of waterworks — an absurd proposal, and one made to defeat him in the Council. (Mr. Burn : No. no.) An equally absurd proposal was made by a former Editor of the Colonist to supply the town with water by water-tanks carried on tlie Dun Mountain Railway (a laugh). He would now come to the qualifications the electors expected in a Superintendent, and ask them what they were? So far us the railway was concerned, he would do his best to get it carried by making such negotiations with capitalists as were calculated to ensure success. JHe could not of course make a railway himself, but he could set others in motion who could, and although making no pretensions either to surveying or engineering skill, he would do his utmost in that direction in which his qualifications and position would enable him to excel. In reference to the best mode of obtaining the money, of which something had been said, it was not money but land they had to offer in exchange for a railway. There was no lack of money either in England or the colonies, and all that was wanted to ensure the necessary capital was to show the persons willing to furnish it that we had a profitable investment to offer them for their speculations. He denied that he was opposed to public meetings, and his conduct in meeting the electors on numerous occasions was a sufficient refutation of the calumny. His words had been misrepresented. He said the proper places for the definite settlement of difficult political questions, were the General Assembly and the Provincial Council, and not public meetings influenced by excitement and party feeling. If it were not so those institutions would never have been founded. He was of opinion that the Superintendent had stood too much aloof from public meetings, and was too much in the habit of acting like the Governor, being satisfied with sending a periodical address to the Council, instead of frequently meeting his constituents, &s elected Superintendents ought to do. If he were elected Superintendent he should consider himself us much responsible to the people as he would in his capacity as member of the General Assembly, and should as he had always done, meet his constituents, at least once a year to explain his past conduct and indicate his future policy (cheers). There was no constitutional objection loan elective officer meeting the people. It was true he could not reply to the attacks or misrepU'sentd--1 tions of newspapers, but he could attend public meetings occysioually aud explain Ms conduct, as

well as defend himself from the iittacks which sprung from the opponents of his policy. Were he elected Superintendent he would think it liis duty to meet the electors occasionally for the purpose previously explained. As regarded the education question, a question hud been raised re-spec-tin <i"t lie disabilities to which Roman Catholics v\ - ere .subjected by the Kducalion Act. He had expressed his readiness to make concessions iu matters of detail, but he would not consent to depart from the principle of the Act, which secured, its secular character and refused grants of money for sectarian purposes (cheers). He was sorry to see in a local paper a letter from the luad of the lioinau Catholic Church in this place, reeomending the members of that body to subordinate all the other important questions of the day, to that of forcing concessions or grants for education in conneciion with the Roman Catholic community. It was deplorable to find such a doctrine inundated by such a high, authority, a doctrine us dangerous as it was to be regretted. If any ■ ne tiling was calculated to cause him to decline moving in the matter, it was such a letter as this, the sum of which was, that Roman Catholics were to forget every duty but that which could be made subservient to the advanceir.ent of t heir creed (cheers). lie regretted to have to allude *o a report which had been circulated with a view to damage his election, lie had been informed by Mr. Clements that a member of Mr. Blacket'.'s committee told him that his firm had returned to Mr. Louisson an account for work done to the steamer Kelson, in order that it might be cooked. Mr. Clements said he did not believe sf, and was reftrrod to Mr. Loui%son. tin ii.4;ii'<; Mr. Louisson, he said there was no truth in the statement, but Mr. J.nekie had been to him and tried to make him say something of the kind (cheers, hisses, and groans). Eg (Mr. Curtis) wished it to be distinctly understood ihat Sir. Blackett was not respond' le for the acts of a member of his committee, and would disapprove of such discreditable conduct (hear, hear). Now was the time, he thought, to notice other accusations which bad been made, for years, in the Colonist, respecting the Trust Funds and the Nelson steamer. It had been insinuated that he had managed the steamer for his own advantage. He wouli now, once tor all, say that these accusations were entirely false,jieitjifcr he nor the firm to which he belonged having profited one single shilling, either directly or indirectly, by the Trust Funds or the steamer. As agents" for Lloyds, they received the usual fees from the underwriters fur protecting their interests, but the charges were entirely false in reference to the funds (cheers). He would remark on the recent discovery of coal at Pakawauand Collingwuod. that he was hopeful of the success of the undertaking. He was the only member of Council who opposed the vote for £400 for Pakawau, moved by Air. Saunders, because he thought it was throwing money away, and the sequel had shown that his opinion was correct. He had also urged the Provincial Government when Mr. Doyne, the engineer, was in Kelson connected with the J)un Mountain, to employ that gentleman to examine the harbor with a view to town drainnge and reclamation of the mudflat, but the Government refused to pay the fees that would be required for the necessary work, a fact greatly to be regretted when such fin eminent engineer was here and willing to undertake the work, which he still hoped to see done. Air. Baigent, in proposing Mr. Barnictiat, spoke of his being an old settler of 25 years' standing, fie (Mr. Curtis) was only of j<a ytars' standing, be he was not sure that he "could not ground si eliiim on this fact ; as he was on the one hand free from that slow and cautious feeling which long struggling with early difficulties had implanted in the minds of early settlers, whil.-t on the other, he was equally free from the rashness and recklessness peculiar to new comers (laughter). He thus laid claim to the medium qualification which included the merits and advantages of both classes (applause and laughter). Ibis was, however, a question for the electors to decide, and should they make him their Mipirintendent, they might rely upon his best services being placed at their disposal (loud applause). Mr. Akersten asked if Mr. Curtis would be in favor of a dry dock.

Mr. Curtis said he would endeavor to see it and a patent slip carried out to the extent of his power. Mr, Akersten asked, how Mr. Curtis, if lie were against provincial instituiions, endeavored to be placed at the head of them. Was it for the purpose of upsetting them, and if so, let him now answer the question ?

Mr. Cun is replied tliere was no fear of the Superintendent doing anything derogatory to the dignity of his office, he would uphold it to the nest ot his power. He had already explained his views in relation to provincial institutions, that a time would come when municipal institutions ■would be substituted for them, as was the case in England and Australia (cheers). Sooner or later this double Government would be done away •with. He had said that this was no more necessary in New Zealand than other. countries, but he would not support a sudden change. Municipalities would be first established, the island being divided into counties, each having its ownself government, revenue, land fund, local board, etc., and thus avoiding the scramble for money -which now took place under Provincial Councils, each district having its local government and receiving a fixed proportion of the revenue In reference to protecting the interests of provincial institutions, as he was a member of the General .Assembly, the electors could not take a better course to do so than to elect him their Superintendent (cheers and laughter).

Mr. Haddow asked the candidate if he would feel justified in hreaking his p?cdges to his constituents, if occasion required ? Mr. Curtis said it was not a fair question, anil he would not answer it.

Mr. Haddow asked if Mr. Curtis would cany out his pledges in reference to the railway ? Mr. Curtis replied, it was a most unnecessary question. Eor the lust four years he bad been endeavoring to carry it out. It was not a question of an hour, he hail ever supported it to the utmost, and it was one thing which had caused him to come forward as Superintendent (cheers).

On being asked if lie would support the ballot, Mr. Curtis replied, that for a long time he considered it unnecessary in a colony where all were

"' free, and employer and employed were independent of each other, but when lie saw the late Superintendent, who was not a voter, interfering in the Motueka election, and bringing intimidation, and coercion to bear upon the electors, and bringing the influence of the Provincial Government to bear unfairly on such occasions ; when he heard of persons refusing to vote for certain reasons, he felt disposed to alter his opinion. The present system of voting was neither open nor secret. The elector sneaked in at a door to a place that was half dark, and yet all could see ■which way he voted. "Without giving a pledge he would be gJad to see the whole question looked into, and an alteration made, either to open or secret voting. The Rev. Mr. Garin put a series of questions to the candidate, to ascertain in what way he proposed to relieve Roman Catholics from their present disabilities, in relation to the Education Act. Mr. Curtis replied he would reduce the number of ratepayers from 50 to 20, or any lower number, he would allow the liuiniui Catholic Committee to choose their own books, sul ject to the approval of the Insneetor and the Central Board. If any oiher plan could be shown without diffusing sectarianism and introducing denominational peculiarities, he would be g!ad to adopt it. He would not consent to destroy the vital principles of the Act to suit individual cases.