The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1876.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 5, 6 January 1876, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1876.

" O'CoNOE's jbeaf en -at the Buller.": Such "was" the that spread Uike wildfire^ thr^gh^ jse -town .yesterday evening^ People looted "incredulous,; and no wonder, for the bare, possibility of ; such an t eyenfe had -scarcely ; been dreamed ; of in Nelson.-. It was known that Mr O'Qonor was to be opposed by one. who had ,hith'er ; lo been ; a stranger 'to. politics ; it had l even_ been hinted that the contest would be a : ;close one, but that 1 defeat was ,ih store for the, late member was.a prediction that very few, if'any, Vhigd ventured to utter, while its realisation was hardly hoped for by his opponents, little feared by his friends. In fact. the expulsion of ;Mr O'Conpr from his seat was regarded, as "pext door to an impossibility. But that whichiwasibeliexed to.be impossible is proved to have been feasible, the regarded as so improbable 'has become a real, fa^ct. And fdr two 1 reasons, which we will ' statej we are heartily- glad of ifc The first is that for the second time has an electoral district of- Nelson administered a " facer "to Provincialism." It is a fact, Eot^surprising perhaps, but well worthy of noticej that the only two candidates in this province who have sought to enter the Ijlouse of [Representatives through the narrow gate of Provincialism are -members of the Provincial Executive. But the electors, alive to their own interests, have slammed the gate in their faces. With a slight variation they have adopted Dante's celebrated superscription, and have nailed over, the gateway through which the Provincialist candidates, would fain have passed in the ominous words " Who strives to enter here leaves hope behind." . However, the Provincial Secretary and the Provincial Treasurer heeded not the warn- , ing,: but endeavored to iorce an entrance.' With what results? .Majority against Eout> 27. Majority against O' Conor, 35. In vain were the Provincial G-overnment offices closed for ten days to the inconvenience of the public ; tp allow the members, of the Executive' to undertake a personal canvass among those they desired to call their constituents. In vain was every effort i^ed: to sepiuer. their own election by

those .who were favorable to the continuance v of:ProvijQcial institutions with all the benefits they [conferred: '/itpon^ : thmri two champions. ■ (En v&iii did- Mr j P'£/Qno£ $ndejiv;or t<^stnke|!a l[cpmiprpmise^bieibjween^his; ,osn .predilebftons^ 'anil the fwJßhe^^ttiejpe\>ple^y ;^fping that he was in favor of "Provincialism -inva modified form." Provincialism in any form whatever stinks in the nostrils of the people of Nelson, and hot one , who 7 w|is tainted fi with rits odour could hope |or success.; Sb.s'ai&the electors? of the Suburbs ; so said the electors of the Buller, and both have acted upon their convictions. Our second reason for ' hailing Mr O'Conor's defeat with satisfaction is that we look upon him now, as we always have done, as one of the most determined and dangerous enemies thatf the eastern side of the Provinceof, Nelson has ever had to contend against. We are not now going to reiterate such proofs of/', this as we have adduced tiefore, but "would acquaint the people of Nelson and the surrounding districts with a fact of which probably they have not hitherto, been aware. The agitation in favor of - the extension of our railway t» Foxhill at one end and to the Port at the other, and 'the petitions that were signed mgihg the G-overnment to undertake this necessary work are still fresh in .their memories, but they may hot know that while our representatives were striving hard to obtain this act of justice to the province^ the late member for the ißjiller— well, indeed, is it for us thai: we can now speak of him as the "late " mem--ber—was doing his very best to counteract' their efforts, and this conduct of his was turned to account by the Minister of Public Works, whosereply to their arguments was, " But you are not unanimbusj Mr O'Corior fis using all his influence to prevent the extensions you .advocate being proceeded 1 with.'' Now Mr O'Conbr's influence as a private member iiiayjiofchave been very gr,eat,. but by some strange and unaccountable lurch of the Provincialpolitical ship he had been tumbled into the Provincial Secretaryship, and in that capacity he s was regarded as to some extent representing the views, not only of the Buller District, for which ne was the member in the Assembly, but of i the people of Nelson generally. And so he was afforded an opportunity of giving some effect to his inimical : feelings towards this (portion of the province.. Therefore, we are exceedingly glad that his place in the House of is to. know , Kim no more. 0f his successful opponent, Dr Henry, we know nothing either personally or politically, but we feel convinced that n,o one could be more .hostile to the interests of Nelson and its surrounding districts than Mr P'Conor,whom he has succeeded. Him we may now regard as deceased, politically speaking.; Violent as has been his death we would in all kindliness and earnestness give expression to the wish' that he /may rest in peace, and,, further, should any friendly b,ufc injudicious mourner . place over i his tomb the motto " Kesurgauv'" we sincerely i hope for the sake of Nelson- that the prophecy therein contained may never be verified. .. From the absence of any telegrams from Wellington to-day, we conclude that the weather must ; have been too bad to allow of the steamer Tui crossing the Straits. ; . . „ „. >? ; , W^ i iare requested to -call' attention to.-ap. alteration- in the time table of *th6 Lady Barkly,. which* wjll, be found in our advertising columns. _ _ ... . A TEi.-MEETiNa in celebration of the : commencement of the. Bay. J. Beckenharn's pastorate will be held in the Congregational Church^ HSidy--street, this evening at half-past six. .A children's service of song, commencing at halfipast seven, wjll be held at the Wesleyan' Church this evening. Mb OVConob, the Provincial Secretary, waVapasseiiger, by l ..tK"e' v "Wallace., which arrived from Westpdrt.^ this afternoon. •. .- T v., , „,; . ,