THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 17, 1855.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, Issue 67, 17 November 1855, Page 2

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 17, 1855.

JournaU become tftor« necenarjr m men become more equa and indiridualiiin more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to mppoie that they «erre only to secure liberty: they maintain civiliiation. Db TocauEViLn". Of Democracy in America, vol. v., p. 330.

The announcement by the Resident Magistrate in Wednesday's Examiner, that a writ has been issued by his Excellency the Governor for the election of a Superintendent of '.the^ province, must have made known pretty generally the fact of Mr. Stafford's resignation of the office lately held by him ; and, in addition to the letter already published of " Hark ! Hark on ! " we have- received several others, urging that a requisition should be at once got up, soliciting Mr. Stafford to allow himself to be again nominated for the Superintendency. Mr. Stafford's address* to the electors of the province, which appears in to-day's Examiner, renders a requisition unnecessary, since that gentleman has come forward of his own accord and offered himself for re-election. We must confess that we consider this the best mode of proceeding. Requisitions to candidates, unless under peculiar circumstances, should be, as [ much as possible, avoided ; for whenever a gentleman is willing to make the necessary j sacrifice, and give up a considerable portion of his time to public affairs, we would say, as a rule, let him come forward and offer his services to a constituency, and if he is eligible for ' the duties he would undertake, he will -find little difficulty in getting himself elected. A requisition is a species of canvassing, and canvassing at elections should as much as possible be discouraged, as tending to operate against that perfect independence of the^ecJt3i,:wWcfr is the ttjiory, though' unfortunately notHhe practice, of representative institutions. "All personal canvassing," says a popular modern writer, "is but for the convenience of cunning — the opportunity for manner to disguise principle. Public meetings, in which expositions of opinion must be clear, and wity be crossexamined, are the only legitimate mode of canvass."* .

With regard to any second candidate for the Superintendency, we do not think on^the present occasion that any opposition to iTllr. Stafford's re-election is contemplated, although rumour has given us the names of two or three gentlemen who, it is said, are to be brought forward. The very general satisfaction which Mr. Stafford's conduct has given as Superintendent of the Province, would be sure to bring him a far larger amount of support than he received on the occasion pf his first election ; and there is no one, we believe, at present disposed to measure popularity with him.

We are indebted to the master of the' Albion for a file of Melbourne papers, which have enabled us to furnish extracts of English news to the Bth of August. Nothing of importance it will be seen had occurred since former dates.