The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 67, 2 November 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2, 1864.

-The question is repeatedly asked by electors, and it is right and natural that it should be aaked— Who will be the. best man to fill the Superintendent's chair, in the. room of Dr.MENZiES ? Besides a large section of voters, who are prepared at all hazards to use their influence to prevent the return of Dr. Menzies, by voting for candidates decidedly opposed to him, without reference to who the ißubstitute, pay >be, .there are many who, whilst " 'acknowledging 'that a change" is urgently required, are not willing to withdraw their support from the present occupant of office until the name of his proposed successor v before them. They

argue that,'!; however > objectionable^ Dr. Menzies v ihay be, it is possible that the Council might elect some one worse qualified to look after the interests of the Province ; and in very many instances tfiey say-plainly to the candidates for seats" .in -the Council, we object, to Dr. Menzies, and so far we agree with you, but you must tell us who you propose to put in his place before you can have our votes" • and unless you do so, we shall support those who are favorably inclined towards Him. I "When it was thought that Mr. r -Holmes would undertake the duties, of the office the difficultywas supposed to 1 be overcome, arid the manner in whicK hia name was received leaves .little room for doubt that he would have carried sufficient weight in "the" Council to secure- his election, not only as against' Dr. Menzies, but as against anyone else who might (have' -been, put forward. , The — announcement of Mr. Holmes; that for private reasons he would be unable to accept the honor should it.be offered to him, leaves the matter where it originally ' stood. * For , ourselves, we may as well say at 'once that we believe no one of the candidates for the Council who are before the public, would vote for any. one as Superintendent, who was not thoroughly respectable, and, who had not, moreover, the reputation of moderate ability and aptitude'for'the position. But we will go a little further and venture to say that, whatever may be the - result of* the forthcoming elections, there will' be half-a-dozen members, any one of whom ( would be preferable to Dr. Menzies, even supposing he had not succeeded so effectually in damaging the reputation of the Province with the Gteneral Government. We take it as nothing less than cowardice to suppose that amongst' the "electors Dr. Menzies is the only man capable of exercising, in an intelligent and profitable manner, the limited powers of Superintendent — and that to in the face of a career "marked by a. succession of blunders, and by a disregard of public opinion, which never been exceeded, and rarely equalled, in the Colony. "We are rather digressing from the subject we proposed to discuss, but itis impossible. not to beg of the electors to consider what Djr. Menzies has done to merit- their confidence. Where are. the monuments of his legislative or executive skill ? They must -be searched .for in the new Land^Act and the Education Ordinance ; in remains of the i North i Ebad baulk- way, and the beautifully engravedl plates pror cured with so much trouble^ by Mr. ; Samuel Beaven. If breaking faith with "the Council which elected him, .expending the public funds in childish experiments | in the =.art of road-making, ; and contem- , ■plai^g''%Tie-lßsue^ of worthless and illegal paper -to bolster up the credit of the 1 Province, give indications of a fitness for office, then Dr. Menzies has shown himself pre-eminently qualified,, and it would be difficult to pick from the electors any., one^whqjvvouid come up to his standard.! If, on the contrary, these pleasing 'fdkens are to be judged by the rules of every-day life, the -will be composed of remarkable specimens of humanity,- if; from amongst its members, some cannot be found who would do less damage to l theinterests of Southland, and- cause her to be less frequently jeered at by the .Other .Provinces.;' Nor is it improbable that the ranks of the outside electors might suppljrtihe yran£ . Whilst /iibwever, we are of opinipn that under no circumstances would the Council elect a worse Superintendent than the present, one, there is no reason against a name being at once put forward by those . desirous of a change. There would be, indeed, a danger in not doing so. For an Opposition -to be . successful -„- against Dr. MENZiEsIt must ie a, combined opposition ; that is to > say,-"all Ahose; who are averse to ; ! the* vre-dee||^ ' Menzies should jagre^o^ toe ,mari to receive* their support^ and -each candidate for; the Council "must •■ pledge himself to:j vote for the nominee as Superintezi-'i cLenh There is no room for division's or cliques. Should two or three names' be brought forward the chances of Dr^ Menzies' defeat would be greatly dimi--' nished. .The Opposition split up into smalt" sections would be powerless to prevent his re-election, whilst his party, keeping well together, would carry the day — and an evil day it would be for the community. ~ Anything that may be : done in this matter must be immediate. The elections take place this month,, and some time before the nomination day for the first of them the Shibboleth should be determined on". .We 'have said there would be danger -in — not at once determining who shall 'succeed , J)ry . Menzies ; but the I ..truth we~ -believe r ~ is -that the danger is actually, present. No names may have been mentioned, at least not since the announcement of Mr. Holmes ; but that very silence is, we think, caused, not by an absolute dearth of public men capable of undertaking the Superintendency, but because there are several wlio would 1 willingly accept the honor, and are? moreover, not without followers. It is for this reason we have written. The party who -would- vote in favor of candidates opposed'to Dr; Menzies without knowing who is to succeed him, is not sufficiently strong —is certainly in 1 the minority — but by putting forward a good name for the Superintendency, such as we believe there can be no difficulty in finding, a large number of votes, now doubtful, or almost certain .- to be given to Dr. Menzies,' may be added to the list of his opponents. It is imperative that there shall be no more i than one in opposition to Dr. Menzies, j or he will be re-elected in spite of every exertion.

There has been bo much talking about these elections, and the "excitement has spread over so much- longer a period than was originally anticipated, that the interest in them is apparently dying out. -just at 1 the moment when it should, 1 in' the common course of things, be growing more intense. But though so many meetings, both public and private, have been held in connection with the

elections, there should stiU.be, sufficient life in' the body politic to\et on foot; a movement to select and secure the return of a successor to Dr. Menzies. Placing on one side all personal jealousies, and combining with a- will for thecqod of, theProvince, the electors should be able io deliver themselves from the bondage of a clique, and the tenacious 1 grasp of our " Old man of the mountain."