THE HUTT NOMINATIONS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4605, 23 December 1875, Page 3

THE HUTT NOMINATIONS.

Yesterday, J. C. Crawford, Esq., Returninsr Officer, attended at the Police Office, Lower Hutt, to receive nominations of candidates for a seat in the House of Representatives. There were not very many residents of the Hutt present, but a number of persons from Wellington were there, making the assemblage moderately large. Having read the writ, the Returning Officer called for the nominations. Mr. James Cruickshank proposed Mr. Fitzherbert. Mr. W..S. Milse seconded, and in doing so said he had for years past been an opponent to Mr. Fitzherbert, yet he felt proud to second his nomination, because he was a man they could not spare. (Cheers.) Every man had his likes and his dislikes, but they must not allow these feelings to interfere with them in doing their duty when the interests of the country were concerned; and though he had opposed Mr. Fitzherbert, and could perhaps be as hard upon him as any one, still he * thought there was no man in New Zealand so fitted to be their representative a 3 that gentleman. (Cheers.) Mr. Wm. Beetham, sen., was received with hisses and groans. He said he had to propose another candidate, Mr. "William Hutchison, and in doing so he must confess there were many difficulties in the way. First" he was i accused of being actuated by personal feeling against Mr. Fitzherbert, but he denied this, and asserted that his sole object in supporting the candidature of Mr. Hutchison was to uphold a broad principle, and allow the electors of the Hutt Valley the privilege of having a voice in the matter of choosing a representative. This was his only reason, and he repeated it, though remonstrances had been hurled at him by the gross. (Serve you right too.) He then went on to say that he brought Mr. Hutchison forward because he was sound upon the abolition question. The question now was abolition against provincialism. He said if they were in favor of provincialism, they would return Mr Fitzherbert ; but if they were opposed to a resuscitation of the provincial system, they would elect Mr Hutchison. Mr. Everett, who was also received with marks of disapprobation, seconded the nomination, but could not get a hearing. Sir. Fitzherbert said he felt very much indebted to Mr. Cruiekshank for having proposed him, and he was particularly indebted to Mr. Milne for having seconded him, and the very fair remarks he had made. According to his opinion, Mr. Milne had put the matter in a right light when he said the question was not a matter of personal consideration; but rather was it, or was it not, for the good of the country that he should be returned. He could not wish the thing to be put on a fairer basis than that. If they thought his return good for the country they would return him he hoped; if they did not think his return would be for the good of the country, they would only do their duty by returning his opponent or some else better than him. Whatever they did, let them do it on public grounds, and he would be perfectly satisfied. (Cheers.) The proposer of his opponent had said a great deal in disclaiming any personal or private animosity in bringing out an opponent to him (Mr. Fitzherbert) on this occasion; but there was an old saying, the point of which he could not forget, which said that " the man who makes excuses accuses himself." (A laugh.) It was Mr. Beetham's own conscience which charged him with these motives, and he came there with puerile attempts to excuse himself; for it was a puerile attempt at an excuse to come there and say he wished to get for the people the privilege of deciding on the question—abolition v "provincialism. For Mr. Beetham to make such a statement was to show that Mr. Beetham did not understand a bit about political matters. (Cheers.) He (Mr. Fitzherbert) would show that on this occasion Mr. Beetham had gone quite out of his depth. It was not a question between abolition and provincialism now, and if Mr. Beetham said it was he could not have read, he could not have understood the history of Now Zealand for the last two years. He (Mr. Fitzherbert) had said before, and he said now, that he regarded the action of the Government and its supporters in respect to the abolition question as ill-considered and hasty, but no one who had considered all the circumstances in the history of the colony from the time of the introduction of the State Forests Bill to the present day could say that the question of the day now was provincialism and abolition. He disagreed with what had been done. Nevertheless he was the last man in the world to oppose reform where it was wanted. All his life, ever since he had been able to think and reflect, and form opinions on matters of government, he had always been willing to reform where reform was required ; but he had never been in favor of reforms which took the shape of revolutions, unless it could be shown that there was urgent necessity for them. Before such revolutions were worked, it should be shown that they were absolutely necessary for the safety of the I people—that thoy were demanded by the people themselves—and that unless granted disastrous results would follow. That was what Mr. Vogel ought to have proved—that the country was being absolutely ruined by the existence of provincial institutions ; but had he proved that ? (No.) On tho contrary, the ' speeches of the Government, and the speeches of its supporters, were full of panegyrics on the good done and the progress the colony had achieved under the system of government which had been in force for eighteen years. (Cheers.) Another thing, would any careful

statesman, with any pretension to prudence, have brought forward such a revolutionary measure—and if he called it revolutionary, he did not coin the word. A leading public man, well known in the colony for many years, had called it revolutionary ; therefore he was using a term he had not created. Would, he asked, any man have introduced such a measure when the country had its hands full of other important matters, from which it could not turn its attention. Would any one tell him that to take a country into the middle of a stream of indebtedness and wasteful and shameful expenditure, and then before getting the country out of it—before he brought it safely to the shore.—to swap horses was a prudent or statesmanlike course of action. Decidedly it was not. (Cheers.) - If there had been real occasion for the change he would have supported it heartily, but he knew there was no such . necessity, and Mr. Vogel knew that well too, but he desired to throw dust in the eyes of the people, and to draw off attention from his own maladministration, and to make fools of the people of New Zealand. (Cheers.) Yet Mr. Beetham pretended to come here to fight for a principle—(applause)—pretended it was a question of abolition and provincialism which had brought him out ! If he had read of, if he had studied, if he knew the position of the unfortunate country at this moment, he would know that that was not the question. That question had been decided. Understanding the genius, the obstinacy, and the course of procedure of the Government and the Assembly, he did not think it at all likely that the decision would be reversed, or that the grasp would-be released from the measure, which Mr. Beetham knew was on the Statute Book as apart of the law of the land. Yet Mr. Beetham came there and told them he wished to fight for a principle, and had no private ambition or motive, well knowing that abolition was the law of the land. Mr. Beetham said he would not have come forward at all in the matter had Mr. Pitzherbert expressed himself so plainly before. However, he should not blackguard Mr. Pitzherbert. He would leave him to do that part of the business. ; . . Mr. Pitziierbert said he had always noticed when one person began to drive the nail home, the opponent called out about being blackguarded. (Cheers.) He appealed to everyone present—even the strongest opponent he had, excepting Mr. Beetham and the gentleman imported from another place—to say whether he had blackguarded anybody. (Cheers, and no, uo.) The fact was Mr. Beetham did not know the difference between what was blackguardism and what was not —between what was 'politics and what was spite—(cheers)— and when Mr. Beetham told them he had not spoke plainly before, it became clear Mr. Beetham had not read his address. He had not the address with him, but he intended holding meetings in different places, and if Mr. Beetham would only attend, he would argue the matter out with him, not by blackguardism, but by argument. In reality, abolition had nothing to do with the election. He had thought, and he still thought, that the course which had been taken was a wrong course, and bad for the country, and especially unjustifiable under the circumstances existing at the time it was proposed, but like other people he would, he supposed, have to bow down to that which had teen done. The question was now what was for the good of the colony in future, and that was what they woidd have to consider. He did not come to them with hat in hand as Mayor of Wellington and say, " If you elect me I will reduce your rates one half." He would not disgrace the constituency by such an appeal—a constituency which had always shown itself disposed to the argument of political questions. He would not disgrace himself nor the constituency by saying," Well, gentlemen, I want to be elected. That is the first thing. Do that. Now what do you want V He then went on to say he did not intend to ask them to elect him at any price or hazard. They might know that it was no particular ambition which induced him to seek a seat in the Legislature. He was getting into years, and the position of a representative was not very enviable. During the last two years the work had been quite as much as his health could possibly struggle under. He had been at work early and late, and had had a great deal more to do than appeared from the record published in the paper, although it would be seen from that source that he had taken his fair share of the work. However, if they thought he could still serve them he would be quite ready to do his best, and that not in a local sense, but in working for the interest of the colony, as.ho had done in the past quarter of a century, during which he had spent a great deal more of his time and his talents in public affairs than his private affairs could very well afford. If they thought his experience would be of advantage to the colony he would serve them ; but if they could get a better he would bear the result of the poll with the greatest pleasure. (Mr. John Martin : You will be elected right enough.—Cheers.) With respect to Mr. Hutchison's candidature, he did not know on what he rested his claims to support. Ho had attended none of his meetings, but had been very credibly informed that his speeches were absolutely filled with personal abuse of him (Mr. Pitzherbert.) (Mr. Hutchison: That is a mistake.) He did not think that was a proper way to bring forward the great questions that were to be discussed. It was true that gentleman had just been elocted Mayor of Wellington—(Electors : By a fluke)—but he could have no claim on the Hutt electors. He had no vote there, and he doubted whether he had ever been to the Hutt before he came there' as a candidate. However, he did not wish his social advantages to be a benefit to him. He hoped neither himself nor Mr. Hutchison would be elected on the strength of personal popularity. He desired that both should stand upon the same platform. If the electors were satisfied that Mr. Hutchison had thought out public questions, and was better acquainted with the public affairs of New Zealand than he was, that he showed he could take a broad colonial view of affairs, and look at them in all their bearings, that he had a comprehensive grasp of the politics of the colony, that he was a large minded man, and not a one-eyed man—(a laugh)—for the affairs of the colony at this critical time did not affect the present generation alone, but the interests of their children were also at stako—then let them elect him. He stated in conclusion, that if elected he should continue to oppose Sir Julius Vogel and his Government because they had destroyed, but had not built up, and were guilty of maladministration. (Loud cheering.) Mr. Hutchison very briefly addressed the electors, saying that the only ground upon which he sought their suffrages was that he would support the present Government, while electing Mr. Pitzherbert would show they were in favor of a change of Government,, which meant a change of front. He expressed himself as a thorough abolitionist, in favor of one united colony, one nationality, one common purse, real local Belf-government diffused over the whole of the colony, with one general system of education for the colony. He would advocate such a change in the land laws as would cut up the large runs of the squatters and give small farmers the opportunity of thriving. He denied having hurled personal abuse at Mr. Pitzherbert. A show of hands was taken, with the following result: —Por Pitzherbert, 34 ;. for Hutchison, 4. A poll was demanded, and fixed for this day week. The meeting throughout manifested a strong feeling in favor of Mr. Pitzherbert. Before leaving, the Returning Officer expressed deep regret that Mr. Rush had not been present. (A laugh.)