The Southland Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 4, 9 June 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1864.

He who undertakes the office of censor of public morals and public duty oragbt at least to take the trouble of informing himself on the subjects about which he writes, before he presumes to administer castigation on others. The Bishop of (jhristchurch, Doctor Harpeb, has lately been called to account for acts of omission in Ms apostolic charge. Mr. Justice G-besson, has had an application of the editorial lash, . and the clergy of , this Province have been lectured for not performing their duty. To any person, acquainted with the good and Christian character of Dr. Habper defence will be superfluous. Mr. Justice G-eesson will doubtless be able, by reference to the Chief Justice,, to ascertain whether the new field of duty assigned to him comes within the scope of that which' a jujdge of the Supreme Court is' supposed to fulfil. The resident clergy we will leave ta defend themselves. But there is a charge . which, being of a political nature, we will enter into—we refer to; the so-called .anti liberal condisct &£ Messrs. Peabson and-CAi/pEE, in objecting to certain persons who were anxious toibecome electors for the year 1864-65 j, and "the high-minded and honorable " of : Mr. ; jiMW Haevey in the 'matter/ '-'""' ' ..•■■■■ '-•■•■• '\ ' ' We ..-.are stold- ..that the- present laws -of j New Zealand " are singularly illiberal and - defective' ; iir,f he mattey of, electoral qualifi 7 cation • and ■i*^gißfa*ati6n l '',.ahd hence it Js argued, that-. all?. we- can .dd; is : to secure

the enfranchisement of as large -a number of citizens as possible • and that to caS in question- aiiy of the qualifications i.of those who have registered, is not only a! work of supererogation, but decidedly naughty-; and farther, "that it is " the obvious spirit of the ..Goiistitution Act v that people should register whether they were properly qualified or not. "As regards the 'first "part of the argument;' thai? because the law appears to the individual' expressing an opinion ten -be bad, T therefore, it should be broken, seems to us to be a dangerous theory to .propa"gate."r"."KEf."A"o:ap < STUS =ToMLiKsojf.holds a theory somewhat similar. Mr. Tomlinsojt objects to the law for punishing a man for . theft, considering it highly incoEtvenient — nay, frmnoiul; 'lie that taking from therieK man some ! of: his superfluities for tlie .purpose of mmistenng to the wants; of ;tlia,ppor';(Ke.' being the panrper in the case) , is i a\ . highly commendable action, and! is ■ strong"fy r of opinion that the law should 1 be 'changed. Again, we have George D^BABNwi^ cannot reeogriise ; the- justice of a law which could hanghfm for killing a miser who* objected to give tip his gold, for the purpose of ■TeHevihg poverty, aiding science, and uplifting aTt. " I would not have this doctrine vulgarly '. promulgated," said the admirable chaplain 1 , "for its' general - practice might chance to do harm." On i the whole, we are inclined to think it is M)t the duty of the Press to encourage I the systematic breaking of the law, because some few individuals are of opinion that the keeping of it is inconvenient. As to " the obvious spirit of the Constitution Act," we find in the " Registration of Elections' Act, 1858," Clause 4 states that " every person f who knowingly and wilfully shall make a \ false declaration shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £20, to be recovered in I a summary way before a Resident Magis- ! trate, together with any one or more Justices of the Peace." Again, in the " Registration of Elections' Act, 1858, Amendment Act, 1861," we find in Clause 3, a similar punishment provided for those wbo, in defiance of the statute, register themselves without possessing the necessary qualification. Tlie obvious intention of the Act is pretty apparent. "What are the facts as to the imputed conduct of Messrs. Peabsoit and Caldeb:, in making the objections to those who had registered themselves as electors ? In the contested election of Messrs. Mitchell and llabvey, it was apparent that there ,were two political parties. The one appointed /a committee to register during the month of March as many of their own party as could be obtaiiierl ; the other contented itaelf with scrutinising ; the lists, and lodging objections to those supposed to be disqualified, during" the month of April. As for the " twaddle " | about seeking to " disfranchise a large section of the citizens," if those objected to possess a proper qualification, no objectioti can disfranchise them ; if they do not, they have no franchise to lose. Thev.-ork of purifying the Electoral Roll is one which obtains great attention m the home country ; and very lately the Press of Canterbury called attention to the necessity of a committee taking a similar work in hand for that Province ; and a committee was appointed to scrutinise the rolls. This iv' Southland would be termed disfranchising their fellow citizens, but there it obtains a more sensible name. Every political committee has a solicitor to undertake and carry into execution the legal business, such as lodging aud sustaining objections, &c. As far as we can learn, Messrs. Habvet and Stitabt were employed on the occasion in their legal capacity, and were to be paid the usual amount of six-aud-eight-pences. "We do not see how Messrs. Pearson and Calder are to blame because Mr. Harvey was ignorant of the action taken in the matter by Messrs. Stuart and Kixg ; they might not unnaturally ; have concluded that Mr. Harvey was cognisant of what was going on in his [ own office. We cannot see the justice of the charge " that advantage has been taken of Mr. Harvey's temporary absence from his office, or of his want of means of knowing what was going on, and that the opportunity was improved to induce his clerk to sign documents, &c." A list of objections was, according to Mr. Stuart's explanation, handed to him by Mr. Pearson, which, without reading, he gave his clerk to lodge. It appears Mr. Pearson left town a week before the objections were lodged with the Returning Officer, and did not return until after that time, the list therefore handed to Mr. Sttjabt must have remained in his office at least a week — ample time, we think, .to communicate with his partner, Mr. Harvey, on the subject. Besides, we have been given to understand that the list made out by Mr. Pearson was partly in pencil, and consequently had to be copied before being presentea to the Registration Officer, so that if any advantage was taken of Mr. Harvey's absence, it was not by Mr. Pearson, but his own partner- — Mr. Stuart. That Messrs. Pearson and : CaliDEr communicated with Mr. Stuart 'in the matter, instead of Mr. Harvey, \ was, we presume, because, being the partner, most constantly in the office, he was more readily to be found. We ;do not suppose they were deterred from addressing themselves to Mr. Habvey perspnally by the , " high mindedness " of that gentleman. If he was taken by .surprise, it was hia own fault. A week is long enough, in all conscience, for one partner to communicate with the other.. Peaeson' Calder can hardly be blamed for being ignorant of: the organization' 1 of Messrs. Habvey and Stuart's office. The proper course for Mr. -Stuart" to have pursiaed, having a " high-minded " partner, | would -have ; been to have-: declined interference in the matter when first reqiaesiedto act as solicitor for the commit^ee; Had.he done so,doubtless another professional gentleman could easily have been found. The matter was a" purely orthodox 6ix : and-eight-penny>bne. Mr.'

Haevey's conduct; may "be" " tighrninaed;" but it also; has the appearance of , pusillanimity/ He : is ; accused of acting in a spirit contrary ;to that professed: by him onj the Hustings : —of b^ing : , conservative', VV&c--, ■'-„. &c., v and he To" compare small things i,vith great almost every day in ....the^..,.yeaT:,.........the. opposition journals , ni England denounce Lord Palmebstom" in set: terms. Very latbly^ Mr. Goldwin Smith winds lap a series of invectives by calling him;a " worthless old .man,," and yet Lord Pai/merston does< not seems iiaclined to vacate the premiership. " Air the. hustings Mr. Haevet declared himself in' favor of ari extended franchise, stating he would do- what lie coraid to get; the present law, altered. : He did not promise to Ireak the law. as it at present exists, or induce others to do so. r There is- a wide distinction between the two.The first is ; - a matter of choice; the second is imperative on him as a g^od .citizen; to prevent; In the election which Mr. Habvet contested with Mr. MiTcnELL, many of the constituents of the former gentleman were at great trouble and personal inconvenience' to secure his return, several riding twenty and thirty miles for that purpose. "We should like to know what business M-r. Hauyet had, after giving all this trouble, to render it futile immediately after by resigning. If Mr. Habvet had really any, scruples ; if, after calmly considering over the matter, he conceived that the action taken by Mr. King in lodging the objections compromised him with^ the constituency which returned him, his proper; course was to have called a meeting of them, asked their opinion on the subject, and had they requested, resigned.; But to succumb to the first criticism on his conduct is likely to weaken all confidence iin the future parliamentary career (if we may use so grandiloquent a phrase) of Mr. Habyet. Probably it will be some time before the same trouble is taken to secure his return. The attendance last Saturday, when Mr. Hauvet was again returned, is significant of the- light in winch his conduct in resigning- is viewed by his constituency. "Beyond a proposer and •seconder, no one was present to hear Mr. Habvey's explanation of his conduct, no one cared to hear. Had any other candidate come forward, it is more than likely Mr. Habvey would not have been returned. As it is, we have no- objection to his return. If he does no good, he will probably not do much harm. To judge from his short political career, we do not anticipate he will carry much weight either way. " Evory cloud has its silver lining," and Mr. Harvey has the satisfaction of knowing that in the aimals of the Province, he will find himself described as "highminded — truly honorable," — the legal Bayard of Southland.