The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 176, 16 December 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1876.

The nomination of candidates for the new County Council of Patca will take place on Monday next, and wo warn both candidates and their supporters that their proposals must bo in to the respective Returning Officers at Carlyle, Hawera, and Waverley, before noon of the above day. The mode of nomination is in writing, so the old-fashioned ceremony will be absent, neither will the candidates he called on to address their prospective constituents. It will be an election fraught with great good or evil, the inauguration of a totally new system of local self-government—the uprooting, in fact, of early institutions, .and too gi’cat care, on the part of, the electors, cannot be exercised in the selection that they may make. The first County Councils, it must be remembered, have to organise, as it were, the new system. They have no precedents to guide them, no cut and dried previous proceedings to afford example, but they have to set themselves to work to carry out a new Act, a new system, and new legislation altogether. To do this properly is beyond the mere routine candidate—is indeed a work that cannot be entrusted to too able hands, and in the forthcoming contest wc cannot too strongly impress this on our readers. The County of Patca is likely to become one of the richest and most flourishing in the colony, but, at the same time, situated as it is, on the bounds of civilisation almost, the management of its affairs will be more than usually difficult, and the task of its administrators will be more than usually hard. Thanks, or rather no thanks, to the Legislative Council, the Bill, as originally introduced, has been emasculated to a vast extent, and the Act of the present day is a mere skeleton of the originally proposed measure. Still there remains enough to require good interpreters, and the choice the electors make will make or mar their best interests for the next two years. That is the term for which the Council is elected, and for that period the electors confide their interests to the new Council’s keeping. We have made these remarks with a hope to stimulate electors by the strong influence of special selfinterest to choose wisely and well, to allow no potty or local feeling to influence their votes, on which the future prosperity of the district so largely depends. There has been a great deal of trouble in fully determining some of the forms of election, who are qualified to vote and who arc not, but the Returning Officers, by diligent telegraphing, have at last arrived at pretty clear conclusions. Wo. have been favored with the'poj'usal of the latest on the subject, in reply‘to one asking, first, what position ratepayers under Town Boards held, and in the second, whether recent laud purchasers, not being on any roil, could vote ? The

reply, as received from the Undersecretary, we give entire, which rims as follows;—“ Town Boards of nnincor--1 orated towns are, in fact, Road Boards. Neither recent land purchasers nor any others not qualified under section 51 can vote.’’ Section 51 very specifically declares that only those ni an authorised roll can vote, so the duties of Returning Officers are in some measure narrowed, but at the same time some hardship seems to be inflicted on those who have recently acquired laud in the district, with a view to permanent settlement, but are debarred from taking any part in the election of representatives. This, however, appears to be unavoidably and all that recent purchasers can do is to bow to the inevitable, and endeavor by their influence amongst others to sway the election in such a way as will be most conducive to their own and other people’s interests. That the contest throughout the County will be keen, wo have no doubt, though at present there is little sign of such a struggle. Mr Dale has notified his intention of offering himself, Mr Morgan has done the same, but neither have spoken. Mr Sherwood lias come forward in serious earnest, and has not only notified his intention of being a candidate, but lias spoken well on the subjects that will occupy the attention of the new Council. In other districts than that of Otoia there has been a most strange reticence on the part of candidates. For Hawera there are some half dozen spoken of; for Waitotara the same, whilst, if report is to be believed, the central riding 'will have somewhere about a dozen to choose from. Bo the numbers what they may be, if the electors well reflect before voting, and vote accordingly, a first class sot of gentlemen to represent them can bo got together, ami a Council worthy of the County elected. If the electors make a bad choice, on their own heads will fall the penalty.