CITY ELECTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 28, 31 January 1879, Page 2

CITY ELECTION.

The nomination of candidates to represent the City of Nelson in the House of Representatives took place at noon yesterday in the Provincial Hall which was well filled during a part of the proceedings, though towards the close the number of those present had largely diminished. Mr Baddeley, the Returning Officer, having read th< writ, called upon the electors to nominate candidates to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Mr John Sharp. Mr Sclaxders had much pleasure in proposing Mr William Acton Blakeway Adams as a fit and proper person to represent this City in the House of Representatives. The electors had before them on this occasion two candidates, either of whom, so far as the qualifications usually looked for iu a representative were concerned, would make, he believed, a good member of the House! But a choice had to be made, and, in asking the electors to agree with him in the choice he had made for himself and in giving them his reasons for supporting Mr Adams, he wished to be understood, as speaking to them purely and simply as a Nelson man, as one having a large personal interest in the ptoce and its prosperity, and as one who was likely to live in it all the days of his life. His sole \vi3h was to Bee that man elected who could be trusted to do the most for Nelson. He had been told that in taking up that position he was taking a very narrow view of politics. He at once admitted that the accusation was a true one, and no one would be more glad than he would be, were it possible, to take a wider and more liberal view of New Zealand politics. But for that he was not responsible. Nelson and Nelson people, ho maintained, were now driven to take this narrow view. The colonial policy introduced by Sir Julius Vogel some years J ago, relying upon which the Nelson people, or, '.at all events, a majority of them, supported the borrowing of large suras of money for the carrying out of public works of a colonial character, one of these works being the trunk line of railway, which was to connect Nelson with Canterbury ani the West Coast— the present Ministry last session

thought themselves strong enough to throw overboard and discard. Although it was true that, owing to the action of our representatives iu the House, this trunk line of railway had been again placed on the schedule of public works, that was all the progress we had up to this time} made The battle, therefore, dad stil to be fought, aud unless the Nelson people were prepared to have other things narrowed as well as their politics, they must now see to it well, that every member they sent to represent them in Parliament Was One who would work heart aud soul for justice to Nelson. He might, perhaps, he allowed to say that he had" no personal bias whatever in this election ; if he hadj he would feel it to he hfs duty iu the present critical position of affairs in Nelson, to throw that bias on one side. But, as a matter of fact, he was, in private life as intimate with btie candidate as the other ; lie had no close business connections with either, and neither of them happened to be his lawyer. He was sure that all would agree with him that much had been iui > ported into this election already that would have been better liif t out. He did not consider lie was called upon to give his own views on lh<j education question, but he was of opinion that in tliis election a mountain was being made of a mole-hill. There could not have been more said had the question before the colony been is to whether there should be education or no education at all in New Zealand, whereas, as one of the caudi dates himself admitted, it was merely a question as to whether history should or should not form part of the regular course of instruction in our schools. Now while he would be glad if some Education Act could be passed tbat would please everybody, although, probably, that would not be an easy matter, he had, meanwhile, no sympathy with, and most strongly protested against, the action of those who, either by a block vote or by any other means more or less objectional, would subordinate the entire welfare of this place, aye even of the whole colony, to any such question as this. It might be said that there was nothing more narrowminded in the course he was condemning, than tl'ere was id another liue of action he was advocating with regard to the railway. But this was no question of education versus no education ; the two cases, in his opinion, were dissimilar. If, after our railway was made,. We then demanded from our representatives that they should obstruct the busiuess of the country by all constitutional means until the Government consented to run three trains a day instead of two, that might be said to be an analogous case to the one he was now condemning lie was quite aware that in this question conscience was pleaded, and when that plea was urged, argument was useless, but to subordinate the welfare of Nelson to any such question was — well it might be conscientious, but it certainly was not patriotic. He would, therefore appeal to every man in Nelson to vote for i\lr Pitt or vote for Mr Adams, whichever they thought the best man, apart from this question of school books altogether. Mr Pitt, iu his address on Tuesday eveuiug, ' made the remark (perhaps the only ungenerous remark he made that evening) that he had yet to learn that the possession of property had come to be deemed a necessary qualification for a seat in the House, and that iu his opinion brains and iridustry were matters of far greater importance. He (Mr Sclanders) quite agreed with Mr Pitt, but he could scarcely believe that he meant the iuference to be drawn which was the only one that could fairly be drawn from such a remark, namely that he (Mr Pitt) had all the brains and none of the money, and that Mr Adams on the other hand bad all the money and none of the brains Mr Adams' whole history proved the contrary. At Nelson College where he was educated, he carried all before him, and it was because he had both brains and industry in a marked degree that he was able to come before them that day as a man of property as well. Were the possession of property Mr Adams' only qualification he (Mr Sclanders) would not be there to-day advocating his election, but it was because he possessed brains, industry, aud property too, thot he was there to give him his support. Both candidates had given them large promises, especially in connection with the railway, which all men agreed was now a matter of life and death for Nelson, and although he fully believed that both gentlemen were quite sincere in the pledges they had made, he must point out to the electors that Mr Adams in having a large personal stake in the country in the shape of property which would be immediately and immensely enhanced in value by the advancement of Nelson, was able to offer a guarantee for the energetic fulfilment of those promises, which Mr Pitt was unable to give them. Admitting fully that both gentlemen were sincere in the pledges they had given, he felt sure that the men of Nelson were too hard headed and of far too practical a turn of mind not to see that from Mr Adams they get a guarantee for the energetic fulfilment of his promises which they could not but regard as one of very great value indeed. Mr Adams, like himself (Mr Sclandera), was purely and simply a Nelson man. Mr Pitt was even now only partially so and he had recently secured himself against the effects that continued stagnation here would have upon his prospects by commencing a business in Wellington, and although he (Mr Sclanders) felt bouud to respect Mr Pitt's assurances to the contrary, he could not see how he could avoid, as his business increased in Wellington, (as all Mr Pitt's friends hoped very much it would increase) becoming more and more a Wellington man, and as a necessary consequence less and less a Nelson one. So that it was to be feared that later on perhaps, when Nelson might, even more than now, require the energetic services of Air Pitt, the less might it be his real personal interest to render them. AVhether he (Mr Sclanders) was right or not in these apprehensions, he maintained that at all events there was a danger—a big risk which Nelson in the present extremely critical posiition of her affairs could not afford to run. He did not know that he had anything more to add. He had given his reasons for supporting Mr Adams, and before concluding he" would like to be allowed to lay the case before them again in a few words. In Mr Pitt they had no doubt a candidate of ability and energy, but he had comparatively little or no stake in the place he wished to represent. Mr Adams, on the other hand, besides all the ability, the energy, and industry that the other possessed, could give the°guarantee that strong personal interest could give them for the vigorous fulfilment of the promises he had made. To his kuowledge Mr Adams was a man whose energy, when his heart was in a matter, was untiring, and whose persistency was simply irrepressible. He therefore asked the electors not to lose the opportunity of adding to their little band of fighting men in the House (for that was the character our representatives must assume) one who had not only ability and energy, but personal interest in doing battle for the good of Nelson. He begged to propose Mr Acton Adams. Mr Graham was sensible of the great contrast between the proposer and secondar of Mr Adams. They were met to perform an important duty, and it was a matter for congratulation that the proposer was one who occupied a high position in the social scale, and that the seconder was near the bottom, for it Bhowed at all events that the candidate they supported was not a class representative. The electors would have to set on one side all persona! friendships ou this occasion

and vote for the man they thought best calculated to promote their interests. Mr Sclanders had made a point of Mr Adams possessing a large stake in the district and therefore a greater incentive to push it on, und in reference to this he ttiight.say that Mr Pitt had made use of an unfortunata illustration the other night in referring to Sir Julius Vn»el It was true that that states man had introduced tho public works policy, but as soon as the couutry had got into shoals and difficulties through ita euormous debt, he, from the fact of his having no stake in the colony, h>d taken hia departure. He had no inducement to remain and help them* so he found that his "health was failing" and started off for home, where, judging from the mtinber of banquets he attended, his health must have greatly improved. Having referred to the part the two candidates had taken in the railway matter he (Mr Graham) said that Mr Adam9 had worked hard and continually; Mr Pitt, well but spasmodically. Mr Adams said we must have the railway, while Mr Pitt was disposed to quibble about the route. Then with regard to educatiou, Mr Adams had given a clear and decided expression of opinion in favor of secular education) Mr Pitt also professed to be in favor of it and yet was prepared to support Mr Curtis' Bill, which, on the authority of Mr Stout, he pronounced to be decidedly in favor of denoniinatioualism. If that Bill became law they would have to pay to denominationalists who established schools under it £$ 10a per head for every child who attended them, and the Committees would have the power of appointing their own teachers, a privilege denied to the ordinary Committees. Mr Curtis bad not been questioned on the matter at his meeting because then the railway was the all absorbing question, but rewards and punishments all came iu due time, and he would receive his when he came before them for re-election. To sum up: Mr Adams had pledged himself against denominatiouali9m, and to support the railway in which he himself was so largely interested, and would do his best to obtain, backed by the people of Nelson. Mr Pitt said he was in favor of secular education, but wonld vote for Mr Curtis' Bill; would support the railway but was raising a question as to route, thtis affording the Government the^tfery opportunity they desired of putting us off altogether He had much pleasure in seconding Mr Adams' nomination) (Loud cheers.) Mr A. J. Richmond was Vei-y pleased to have the opportunity of proposing Mr Pitt, a gentleman who was well-known and respected by the whole community, and who, on Tuesday night, had given them such a clear exposition of his views. He was no stranger to the electors, having taken a prominent part in the Provincial Council and Government when he had shown how entirely he had their interests at heart. That he would be a warm advocate of the railway, he felt well assured from the able and frequent advice aud support he had given to the Nelson members during the last session. With regard to education, he had stated that he was anxious to provide a system that would do justice to all, such an one iu fact as had had given such universal satisfaction in Nelson. There was no mistake as to his views, and in electing him they would most surely be securing an able and influential representative who would work hard and with untiring energy on their behalf. They had a giave responsibility thrust upon them in having to select between Mr Pitt and Mr Adams, and he trusted that none would shirk it, but that would nil exercise their judgment unbiassed by any personal consideration. (Cheers).

Mr Cooksey had much pleneure in seconding Mr Pitt's nomination. He tot'il'y dis-.greed with Mr Aonrr.a on the question of proteetioE, which, ihe argued, nseavt prohibition. With regard «o education, tl.ero could be no question that a certain eectioa of lb<» cormriur.ity hud a ereafc grievance. They could not cncsiatently accept the prfEt-i»t Ac?, and how strongly they f?W. oq thid point v.ns illua!ra!ed by r. friend of hig who lia-.', told YAxa that while he (Mr Cookery) was getting bi-< children educated "for nothioß, he was paying £14 a yosr for his, simply beCfeuso hie conscience would not sl\ow hhn to ncDd tijtm (o j! e Gcivcrnaent schools. It was not a qaesnon o t'enoniiniitiocalism, bet one of narrowir.iudt^ntßß, and those who oppose;' Mr CuriU'i} Bill, did so simp'-y becHOse they wese frightened of the Catholics. Tt a Cetholica or any other sect hai tho rk'bt to demand what was bare j^tica For hie part, he hel i bro-d views on religious subjects, and I'oped to fen the day when religion would be qui e a secondary consideration, and fccic-nce be looked to to teach them ail they "■■^-4iM3ted to kuow. Ho thought Mr P»«v whs a msn who would make his uiuik, acd would compel rtspect to b? paid to hia t^eiut-ney. They were about to fight a h»,j and a close f , Uj but they meant <o fi^ht u syimely, and Ihe eaked them to remember Uv,' t iho ballot box told no tales. Mr Adams, who wua received with loud and couiinuous cheers, said that he wbb very proud of the reception accorded to him, and of the flattering manner in which his proposer and seconder bad spoken of him, and promised to do liia beet to deserve the encomiums they had pasged upon him. He wished to make u few remarks obout certain reports that had been spread about eoacerning him, and to rej>iy to some of Mr Pm's s'a'emenrs on Tuesday eight. First, with regard to she rasUny rouie, he would tub them to look at hia p*st career in reference to this poinf, and if that wks cot sufficient, he would pleJte himself to support tho Tins from the Coiißi ibrough the Hope, to Ne'snn, p.rd th-rce by w*y of the Rai Valiey au.i PeLrus lo Marborough. With reaper: t to t!»e rii»pt'iiiivs giak?s he so;j his opponent hei<J in the country, he would nay that ho doubt there luid been great depression io Nelson of late, and if wad uo doubt owing to that that Mr Pitt h..d rxieuded hie business to Wel-liji-icn, whera probably he hoped io fiuu iliat nY;d for hi3 taleute whi< h Nelecu di.t pot nfford at present. H-^, too (Mr Adams) had felt thut depressiou, aa all men engaged iu business iu ISMeoa must have done, but ho coul j voi Wve them, aud if he couldn't swim *itn them ha must sitk with \hew. CUb>Brs.> But he had a s'.roug reluttauc.. to eiuticj,, and mount to make a bo,a BiroßgJe before giving up ewimmwe (Loud cu erto A elioa nad be,n atkeJ at Ihe Port 0Q | ho . vsods Di/;hi eviicntly v/kh the desire to demngo biro, cs to who »,a t j ie prime mover in iho eepnration of Marlnorough from Nc'sod, and Mr Pitt had replied that it was Mr W, Adeas. But it must be remembered tb&t his father was ths-D, and long hnd b'tu q rc-sident iu Marlborough. If the father hfid done go ws!l for* Marlborough, he tfrked them to helievo thai the son would work equally har^,«nd, he LopeJ, succeEßiully lor Kelson. B<:---ftrring to the Education question and ibo statement that b« has promist'il to pk'dge hiaieeif to support Mr Curtis' Bill, Mr Adsraa read a Utter he bad mid teased to the Colonist in reply to one from Mr Jacob Frank, iu which no chiitlen^ed him to ask tbe questions on ihe huß!in«B, onu he would reply to thbu:-. ('Kiter*. and a Voice : Jacob ; Jacob ; Jacob's cot here.) Mr Pitt had jiivea bis reseoo for supportin:' Mr Curtih' Bill, that he thought it°wss popular; he (Mr A-latne) had annouccdd Lie viewe, t.»lievinff them to be unpopular, ani if it turced out that popularity La J comeround to him on account of Idobb opinionß, it, at all events, could not be said that he knew that from the flrst. They bad been told they ought to help the weak, but be was not no'ng to assist the weak merely because they were weak. He would support that which be believed to he rinh', whether it was the weak or the B'.roog he thus favored. On this questiou ibey ail knew how he wbb to vore, hot they must certninly be puzzled to know what Mr Pitt was goinjj <o do. Ho was strongly in favor of Mr CurrV Bill, but would not pledge bim>elf to support it. He approved of tbe Bil!, and yet w.s if. Lvor of eecular eduction. Would they BU{ port a candidate unices be told them clearly how he intended to vote? That Mr Curtis' Bill was regarded as Ce-n<itnio.-,tion«! th«te would be no doubt Mr S.'out, Mr Buweo.andDrHodykicha-* suteil il.at olewry mougii j 0 Uie Houre. Mr Piit ban Paid t\,* Ccctrai 80-.r'iß Dew.j Lot, i»bk> groi.H to lu - uu'.u:uatiuLß >sk;n^ fo ih:ra unlesthey I ktid, but he coiiteu-Jeti that by tb.3 Bill they were obliged to do so, and to pay them £3 10s tor each child educated in these t>cboolß. Why, laet year alone, the Government paid no JeBS thao £734 to fcfe. Mary's cSchoola. He was very sorry that the religious element hai hecotue eo intermixed with this election; and wished to any that he had never intended to Bay a word against the Roman Catholic religion. Ha bad tar too much ieepeot ior the ieerJDga and consciences of hie fellowcoio mete co attempt to do aoythtog of tbe kind. Wfc*t he wished tbe Catholics to understand was (bat be would

not support bid to them or to cuay other eect iu estebliahicg denominational sohoo's. (Cheers.) Mr Pi a had said that he (Mr Adams) had inirolueed info a Provincial Act a clausa providing for religious teaching \ n school?, but that was cot a fcir statement of the case. What the clause a'lowei! was (bat micHtera cf religion, under certain conditions, might make use of the school houses for religious instruction oq Sundays, With reference to ibe Licensing Bill, he wished to sny thet ho would support uniform licensing fees. To the Good Templars he would E'ty thai he fully recog- isoil tha hrgo amount of good they were doing, and lhat ho would do si) iu his power to support a healthy moral am] social Btate of sfiVrs in tho country. JJe was not piepared to fjo the iecgih of •.!o'Dg away with exiatiug lieonees, aud so confiscating private property, Iu; ho wouid heartily suppoifc the proveution of the Sunday liquor traffic, tbe selling of liquor to people iu a suite of iutoxicm too, jind the eale of bad Jiquors. As for projection, ha merely adopted tbe viewß of the lt-a-Hag writers of tbe day in naeiettiog nntive industries in the shape ot a bonus until they ha 1 become fully established. Mr Pitt hud quoted what he hnd sai J about the good Mr Seymour, the Superintendent of Marlhorouc;h, !r;ti done by constantly visiting Wellington. He' haJ mount •hoso remmks to apply to his viaiis ia bis official capacity. Mr Adams then 6at down nroid loud opplstue. I« reply « 0 Mr Cooksey, Mr Adams etated tbut h 3 * tt , wmioß t0 reSeaße all electors from their v i e dgea if tl^y did not agree with him; to M.,- Roberteon, that l;e thought five votsa too large a number to be held by one mao in municipal elections, though he thought the voles ehould be in some dejjrea propanioned to the amount of property owned ; to tho sutne gentleman, that be did not approve of electing our Judges, aud, therefore, preferred to loaye ihe appointment of Magistrates to the Cabinet, who were directly reapoasibld to the Parliament ; to ihe BHtn« geotleaiau, thai he wasnai iu favor of abolishing Grand Juri^, who Jr:quently, ihy their presect'intuiß to the Ju-Jges, called Btieclion io grievaacea which other wim roi^ht not be brought under uoiic*. In reply to certain questions from Mr Cooksey as to his proceedings last Sunday, Mr Adams deuied that lie had canvassed for a single vote among the congregation of St. Mary's, to which Church he had gone expecting to hear something on the Education question, as he knew that the block vote had been held out as au inducement iu the first place and now as a punishment. He also repeated his denial of having pledged himself to support Mr Curtis' Bill. Mr Pitt, who arose much cheering, said that he had but a very few remarks to make. First of all he had had nothing to say to the remarks that had appeared in certain letters stating that pressure had been placed upon Mr Adams by his Committee, nor did those letters state such as a fact but merely asserted that ttr Adams had himself "said so. But there was too much made of this Education question altogether, for as a matter of fact there was scarcely any difference between himself and Mr Adams on the subject. Mr Graham and MrHaddow and himself had all agreed that there was a way out of the difficulty besides that provided by Mr Curtis' BUI. The Catholic block vote had been noisily paraded, and he had been identified with it, though he actually had no more right to expect it than Mr Adams as be would not pledge himself to support Mr Curtis' Bill In Nelson, hitherto, members of alisects had worked harmoniously together, and he very much regretted to see this religious strife now stirred up, for easy though it. might be to excite, it was extremely difficult to allay. There mi«rht or might not be a majority of the electors in favor of Mr Curtis s Bill, but he had been of opinion that some amendment was wanted in the present Act to make it work satisfactorily, and thought that the Bill would supply the remedy require.!. But this ought not to be a test question between them. If he was defeated on that ground he would not have been fairly defeated, but if on other questions, ou his having a business in Wellington, or on his not having so large a stake in the country as his opponent, then he should consider bis defeat perfectly fair, and would bow to, and respect, the judgment of the electors. There was the difference too between them ou protection and free trade. That was a perfectly fair and legitimate ground on which to base their decision. In speaking of the £734 paid by the State to St. Mary's schools last year he thought that Mr Adams ought to have stated that quite half the children attending those scho »la were Protestants. He had spoken the other night of Sir Julius Vogel of whom he repeated thab no man had ever done more for Rev? Zealand. It was quite posnible that he might be out here again soon, and no doubt if he did come he would be the leading man of the colony and nowhere be more popular than in Nelson. Mr Pitt went on to say that Mr Selanders had referred to his business ar- , rangeraents, and fairly enough, but he * wished to make some explanation on that point. It was owing to tbe bulk of the Supreme Court work having gone from Nelson and Murlborough to "Wellington on account of the arrangements made with regard to the residence and movements of tbe Judges, that he and his partner had established a branch there, and he could not see that it could possibly be argued from that fact

that he waa going there to 1 ve. Once more be would ask the electors to docide between the candidates on their merits, and not to regard education as the test point between them. It could do no g od to raise that question, and would merely give outsiders the opportunity of pointing the finger of scorn at them as they sneeringly remarked " See how these Christians love one another." Mr Graha3i wished to give an emphatic denial to the statements that had been made to the effect thtt there had been dissensions in Mr Adams' Committee. Mr Bond had one or two questions to ask on behalf of the Good Templars which he would put to both the candidates. Some po ople thought that Temperance should not be brought forward on a political platform, but he did not agree with this, for they could not ignore the pauperism and crime that were to be traced to drink against which the Temperance Societies were doing battle He then asked the following questions, to which both Mr Adams and Mr Pitt replied in the affirmative: — " Would you in any new LicensingBill strive to have a clause inserted securing the principal of Local Option by mailing it compulsory on the fart of the. Government prior to an application for an entirely new license being considered by any Licensing Court to take a vote of the householders in the district in which the house is situated ; a majority of two-thirds of the said votes to decide whether the license be granted or not ?"' "If the Government refuse to have the principle of Local Option inserted in their new Licensing Bill, would you vote tor a Local Option Bill if introduced by a private member of the The lleturning Officer then called for a show of hands whk-h was taken and declared to be in favor of Mr Adams. A poll was demanded by Mr Pitt and the proceedings were brought to a close.

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