The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 224, 17 September 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1873.

Thb session, it is said, will soon be brought to a close, and colonial politics; will ere long have given way to matters of local importance only, but the interest that will be taken in them will without doubt be far greater than that to which the proceedings of Parliament have given rise. Before two months have elapsed the province will have passed through __the. throes of a general election, and the Superintendent and members of » the Council to whom are to be entrusted our interests for the next four years will have been elected. ; * As yet we do not know with any degree of certainty "to ; .what nnmber the candidates for the S.uperintendency willbe limited, but tbe probability is that it will not exceed two, namely, the present holder of the office and Mr O'Conor. Tbe former has, oK:co.u__e, made many enemies during the time he has been at the head of affairs —as, /who would not ? — and will probably meet with some opposition, but tbat the gentleman who is spoken of as his opponent will meet with any large amount of t support, on this side the ranges at least, we think is scarcely likely, nor can we .conceive that he would be thei elect of residents on the West Coast. He certainly iB not the man to whom the province of Nelson should, look up as its head. But we bave no intention just now of discussing the merits of the candidates for this particular office. All that will come in good time. Meanwhile we would merely state that we fully endorse a remark recently made upon this subject by the Auckland ELefdld, which, in commenting upon our coming election, says :—" Mr . O'Conor's past political life io no way/entitles him to such an honor; .lie is considered as totally unfitted for the .post, in every way, and, sitting in the Superintendent's chair of Neleon, he would fail in adding dignity to the Provincial body— he would .inr-fect be neither ornamental nor useful. ' There is however another matter to which we would call the attention of the electors, as being; one upon which it js high time they began, to bestow their consideration, namely, how and by whom they are to be represented in the Council. .This is a question of the greatest import* | ance, and those with whom it rests to give a practical answer to it should not do so in any light or thoughtless manner, nor should they allow any but the highest motives to actuate them in coming to a decision. Within the last twelve fflonths a great cbange has come over the people of Nelson. Up tothat time they had — to use an Americanism — been content to let things slide. . They appeared to take but little interest in politics, and to be. very disinclined to help themselves in any way whatever. " I eanna be fashed " was the motto apparently adopted by them until they began toidiscover that if they. would^ not be " fashed " in one, way- they • weref pretty certain to be in another. A railway to the Coast was projected by the present Superintendent many -years agb, : but'just then fortune appeared to be smiling upon us voluntarily, and it was not thought worth while to court those smiles that could be obtained without any trouble, and consequently they were taken, aa a matter of course, and wo never bothered ourselves to ascertain how long they were tp last. But Dame Fortune, like others of her sex, has her weaknesses, and is at times alittlo coquettish. She has too a sense of self respect, and will not long continue to bestow her favors on those who slight them, and tbis was just what the people of Nelson did. The consequence is that the face which some few years ago was wreathed with smiles has for some time been overcast with frowns. It is exceedingly pleasant to look at a pretty face and find it always graciously beaming, upon you .it is just as irritating, especially if you value those smiles, to find that tbey have vanished and giyen place to black looks. We.Jhave seen both these expressions, upon' the countenance of the fickle goddess, aod she has taught us that although she has a sneaking affection for us, she will not allow herself to be despised and ignored with impunity. But we have been more attentive of late, we have deemed it politic to kneel at ber shrine once more, and she has given us some slight encouragement, has led us to believe that our suit will not be altogether hopeless, but that there is yet a chance for us, if so disposed, to "go in and win." To drop metaphor. For years past we have been careless and apathetic to a degree, until the conviction forced itself upon us that if any change for the better was to take place, it must be brought abont by our our own exertions. No crying aloud to any god or goddess will be of any avail, unless we show a disposition to put our own shoulders to the wheel. The time has now arrived, or will arrive in the course of a few short weeks, when an opportunity will be afforded us of showing whether we are still content to remain shrouded in apathy and indolence, or whether we have awakened to a sense of our past shortcomings and are prepared to be more careful, more wakeful, more energetic for the future. With the Council it ' will rest to decide whether prosperity or a wearisome stagnation is to be our lot.

With ther people it rests to. say qf what N stuff t^at Council shall be'c#pQ|e.a. \Np' personal predilections, no Ig^l prejudices must be allowed to influence uSf? Every constituency should be guiflld iftlelecting its representative not by theKop <} tfkt he willg use his endeavors to obtain ior hufparticu***' lar district some bridge, or mile or two of road, or by the reflection that he has io previous sessions succeeded ...in .placing upon the supplementary estimates.fan imaginary sum for the conetruc.ibri of some local work, but by the consideration whether he who seeks their. support pos--sesses the will and the ability, to take a .. broad , and comprehensive view . ; of. such " -questions as he ma£ be called upon 'to deal with. The welfare of the Province as a whole, should : be the main object in r vi_ w_ He who cannot grasp this, who is unable to look beyond the limits of _ his own par- ■ tieiilar "district should bei&lllwed lo remain; in t_iat obs.brity for whicb Nature hai : fitted him. It is time the electors were on the alert.