DR. MENZIES ADDRESS.
(From the SotrTHiAin) Tiaras, Oct. 13.)^ The public" will see from a notice 'in another part of to-day's issue that. Mr. Holmes .definitely. Refuses to stand for the Superintendency. -.Many of his op-T ponents will therefore hail Dr. Menzies^ as the coming man ; but such a conclusion is, 'to say the -least of -it, mature. Mr. Holmes' decision does not put it out of ike question to find a substitute for the, present • Superintendent ; nor does "it disarm the criticism of his address to the electors which we promised our readers. - "We waited patiently for Dr. Menzies to break his long silence, and felt sure S that out of his own mouth he would be condemned. He has chosen his own weapons, and with these we are 'content to meet. him. "We are not about to launch invective against him, but will address ourselves calmly to the "public, believing it preferable under ' the circumstances to reason than to declaim, and that a sober statement of ,- facts will suit the views of those new people who, not having been here during the last three years, would rather have the arguments in favor of,- and against, Dr. Menzies put in plain language, in order that they may the better sit in judgment on his real merits, "We, in common with others, came to the Province unprejudiced against him. "We have carefully studied ' the place and the man, and have deliber- - ately come to the conclusion ""that" a v change" in the Superintendency is urgently . required for the good of' Southland. Dr. Menzies' address to the electors is : chiefly confined to a - discussion of the • relative positions of. Superintendent, and Executive and Provincial Council, (relations which Dr. Menzies himself once said 'were 'made up of "barren punctilio "), and is silent on those points of vital interest to the people at the present time, and on the properadjustment of which the future prosperity of Southland' hangs — viz., the raising of the price of land to two pounds per acre — the work, it is believed, of Dr. Menzies, as he has for years stedfastly tried in almost every meeting of Council to bring about such a change ; the Education Ordinance — his ; the Eoads Ordinance, also of his devising ; and his refusal, on .all occasions, to act with the advice and consent of an Executive, although by the Provincial Government Ordinance, passed immediately .after, his election as Superintendent three years since, drafted- by _him, assented to by him, and bearing his signature, he bound himself, both legally and morally, to act only under advice. ' Dr. Menzies says at the commencement of his address, ," I: felt most reluctant to 1 " withhold -any, aid that I could give to- " wards the restoration of its (Southland's); " prosperity, in the proximate realisation' " and future. continuance of which I haye s "undoubted confidence:" ■ "We givqJpvMenzies credit for being .quite disinterested in his wish to aid the Province v in its present difficulties.'- . 'His past actions have been well-meaning; and. doubtless his future ones wiU have to be similarly spoken of,' but nevertheless • they may prove equally misdirected and ■. unfortunate. Others as well as Dr.-. Menzies are to blame for the misfortunes : of the Provmce; that- has always- beem admitted, 5 and we merely purpose- to referto past misdeeds so far •as m&y/be neces+sary to show plainly how we haviebeem forced into the conviction, that. hisVre-eliee-tion as Superintendent, w,ould; be.- most undesirable. ~ - - Of all the questions ■, wMck sere agitating the public. • mmd. it is? remarkable that Pr,. M^EN23ES. Ba» selected as his text, that whie& seems the simplest; q£ settlement. .It is, however, one on ; which! his op&aon has stood alone . against that of ekery man in the i Council^ and, with few. exceptions, out of 'it. "Wlrjr does Dr. Menzies confine himself to this subject?. The reason is apparent ; he caress little for other questions so long as he reigns alone. If he fe-asserts his independent action in a new Council, and gets it, the wishes and opinions of the people will be of no value in his eyes.- Dr. Menzies makes large promises for the future, but, as Ms past action has always, displayed- a wish to govern alone, we niay be excused if we decline to place implicit faith in them. Can anyone show us where, in Education, inroads, jetties, cattle regulations, executive "matters, pr anything else, Dr. Menzies refrained ; ; from forcing his opinions, however obnoxious, _on the people? ? - We, might reasonably have expected that the one subject selected by Dr. Menzies would" have -been- Ideated; in a truthful and straightforward manner ; but it is easy, of proof thatibhe address is a mass of mis-statements aiid, r prevarica-_ tion. The .Executive; "of the Superintendent are, says Dr. Menzies, derived partly from 'the Provincial Coun- v cii and" partly from authority extraneous " and superior to that of the Council, "over which the provincial' Council " having no control, its will alone cannot " absolutely determine how those par- " ticular powers shall be exercised. In " its last two sessions the Provincial " Council contended — although not uniformly—t.iat it possessed the control in " the latter case, as well as in the former. " Much discussion arose; — not all unpro- " fitable ; for it probably - led to the I' formation of definite opinions .on the "•■points of difference." Dr. Menzies then states that inits sixth session the-*. Council passed a Bill embodying the above views ; and he further remark^jjijiat such a measure would have had " theeffect of " reducing the office of Superin- " tendent to a cypher." He tells us he withheld from that Bill the assent of the Grdvernor. _ "We are further informed that in the succeeding session " the Council, " entertaining similar opinions," declined to co-operate with him in conducting the business of the Province on* any other than the basis of the measure referred to ; and the following sentences set forth that the preset Superintendent boa, throughout tUg wtolf
te^Sfina offi^ and consent of his 'Executive^ in 'all matters " within the control of the Provincial Council.." V Dr. ; Menzies declares tnafc, should 'the New Council; pass again the Provincial Councils' ; Ordinance, which he previously rejected, he would be willing to submit it to the consideration of His Excellency! Now, to those not acquainted with the actual facts of the case, : this -appears , : a straightforward explanation of the disagree-, ment between His Honor and the Provincial. Council, and would seem to intimate a"' willingness oh; the part of the Superintendent to yield in the matter should he again be elected ; but those., better informed can only be astonished at the barefaced manner in which Dr. Menzies has twisted facts to his own ends. It is not true, in the first place," that the Council wished to interfere with the. " delegated powers;". We hold that morally the Superintendent is b oun d to act with his Executive, in aZZ matters of Government, including the " delegated j powers," But Mr. Stuaet was the only member who expressed himself in favor j of such a course, and even he waived j his opinion to allow unanimity in the Council on that point, so that it is evident that, if the Provincial Ordinance passed during the sixth session was an embodiment of the views of the Council, it could not have contained clauses interfering with the " delegated powers " of the Superintendent. Knowing that the general public would not be well informed on the provisions of a Bill which never became law, and trusting that the Press would not notice his departure from the truth, Dr. Menzies more than insinuates, though he scarcely states it in plain language, that the Bill did contain clauses affecting his " delegated powers." The Bill did not, but only dealt with matters of Government over which the Council had control. After making such a gross misstatement, it is not a matter of surprise that Dr. Menzies should say that, in a subsequent session, the Council declined to co-operate with him on any other basis than that of the Bill he had" disallowed, plainly intimating, of coiirse, that they would not advise with him unless he made them partakers of his " delegated powers." Mr. Peaeson's memorandum of the 22nd July to His Honor states that, whilst it is desirable that the Superintendent should consult his Executive on matters having reference to powers delegated to him by the Governor, " they leave it optional with the Super- " intendent." Dr. Menzies' answer to that memorandum was so ambiguously worded that, on the 23rd, Mr. Pjeaksox submitted another memorandum embodying the ideas of his previous one but couched in such language that it was almost impossible to avoid giving a plain answer — if an answer were given in any shape. The terms of the second memorandum elicited a reply from His Honor, which was satisfactory, inasmuch as it was intelligible. Dr. Menzies refused to accept the co-operation of the Council on the terms offered, saying that the desired alterations " should only be effected after " due deliberation. " He forgot that the Council had already duly deliberated on the subject, and had passed an Act embodying what they desired. We cannot too strongly reprobate the attempt of Dr. Menzies to throw dust in the eyes of | the electors, and we ask, can they believe his promises for the future when his account of the past is so devoid of truth ? j Our space will not permit us to dwell at length on the insult offered to the old Council by the expression of his willingness to assent to the Bill curtailing and denning his powers, if passed by the new Council ; but we would draw attention to the fact that Dr. Menzies, in the former portion of his address, admits that that Bill was the result of the discussion of more than one session — discussion which was " not all unprofit- " able, for it probably led to the formation " of definite opinions on the points of differ- " ence" How shall we reconcile that sentence with the one in which Dr. Menzies says he refused his assent to the measure we have so often referred to, because he was impressed Avith the conviction that, in passing it, the Council was "to some t: extent governed by feeling ?" We will go no further into the considertion of this mass of prevarication and contradiction. Our opinion of Dr. Menzies as a public man was never very high, but we certainly gave him credit for being able to concoct a document with more cunning and logical precision than is displayed in the one before us. We warn the electors to mistrust a gentleman who promises at random, and defends his past career by wholesale mis-statement of facts.
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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 60, 18 October 1864, Page 2
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1,780DR. MENZIES ADDRESS. Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 60, 18 October 1864, Page 2
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