THE TOWN NOMINATIONS

Southland Times, Issue 1155, 27 October 1869, Page 2

THE TOWN NOMINATIONS

The nomination of candidates for the representation of the town in the Provincial Council toqkiplaee on Tuesday, 19th inst. There was a large crowd of citizens, and the supporters of the different parties mustered in force on the hustings, the anti-union men being conspicuous by their blue ribbons. The Returning Officer having read the Writ, called upon the electors to proceed with business. Mr W. Wood proposed Mr T. M. Macdouald, eulogising that gentleman's past services and acknowledged talent. Mr John Hare seconded the nomination.

Mr J. W. Mitchell proposed the Hon. Dr Menzies, taking occasion to remark that had he (Dr M.) been in the Council during the last three or four sessions, its proceedings might have been characterised by less uuseemly squabbling, and the transaction of more beneficial business. M- Tapper seconded. Mr M'Pherson proposed Mr W. H. Calder, stating that he did so pro forma. He differed from Mr Galder's views, but nevertheless believed he ought to be in the Council.

Mr Harvey seconded Mr (Mder's nomination, and said his reason for so doing was to frustrate the design the other party had concocted of having all their men brought forward last, su fcbttt they might have the opportunity of replying to their opponents, without being themselves liable to overhaul. Mr Greo. Keese — as a quid pro quo for the action of Messrs M'Pherson and Harvey — proposed Mr G-eo. Webster. Mr Osborne, who was to have been Mr Webster's proposer, seconded the nomination.

Mr W. Cochran proposed, and Mr Colin Brown seconded, Mr J. P. Taylor. Mr Kinross proposed, and Mr D. Smyth seconded, Mr Thos. Pratt. Mr R. Cleave proposed, and Mr Blackwood seconded, Mr Geo. Lumsden. Mr Thos. M. Clerke proposed, and Mr Jabez Hay seconded, Mr John Ross. There being apparently no others to announce, Mr Hare intimated that the candidates proposed might address the electors in their order of nomination.

Mr Oalder intimated bhab, through illness, Mr Macdonald was uaable to be present. He had, however, placed his views upon a paper which he (Mr C.) would read, and of which the following is an epitome He (Mr Macdonald) yielded reluctantly to be nominated. He numbered himself amongst those who thought re-union the only course open for our relief. In the published addresses of its opponents, it was noticeable that they confined themselves chiefly to objections to re-union, and to the proposed terms, to the neglect of propounding any other scheme. They pictured the advocates of re-union as traitors selling their country, and promised them future infamy. He feared no such language, or such judgment by posterity, remembering that we were simply joining a powerful friend, and not surrendering to a foreign oppressor. The " imicpeudence"' we now enjoyed was a mere shadow, and adherence to it only political sentiment. He thought the terms fair and honorable, and the fact of tbeir embodiment in an act of the Assembly a sufficient guarantee of their being carried out. The argument that we would fare worse thau at present, by becoming an out-district of Otago, he considered without foundation, aa the terms secured the localisation of revenue, and its expenditure by road boards and municiDalities ; in addition to which, there was the still better guarantee that for her own interest, to recoup herself for her outlay, she would have to do her utmost to increase our revenue, and make us prosperous. The Hon. Dr Menzies, before addressing the assembly on the immediate business in hand, wished to correct an error or two which had appeared in the report of his speech at the Theatre. He was represented as saying that Otago had been in the habit of giving two pounds to every one pound raised in the districts for roads ; it should have been two pounds " out of ordinary revenue ;" now, however, this subsidy came from the land revenue, under the" Roads Endowment Ordinance, 1868." Further, instead of accusing Otago of perpetrating a fraud on the colony in the matter of the Sinking Fund Amendment Act, by which she procured £45,000, it should ha,ve been a robbery ofthe colony. It was also a mistake to say that any interest formed part ofthe claim, or that Otago claimed more than her share. He wished these corrections to be published, " lest those at a distance should think he had made a stupid misstatement of facts." Recurring to the business of the nomination, he pointed out as a remarkable evidence of the overbearing influence the late executive exercised in the Council, the fact that when they opposed re-union in one session, re-union was scouted, and in the next, when they supported it, the question was carried. He had also been informed that after the dismissal, members of Council had expressed themselves willing to join a new executive, but for private circumstances. (Names being demanded, Mr JDalrymple was mentioned as one.) Since addressing the constituency, he had read much written by | the re-unionists, and he must say he held their arguments in utter contempt. They were a flimsy tissue of assertions which would cover with ridicule those who advanced them in the minds of people elsewhere. People at Wellington, who were watching our movements, could not but despise the inhabitants of a province, possessing all the elements of success, who threw up the sponge without an effort. The assertion that taxation weighed us down was a fallacy ; taxes were the same throughout the colony, and the only way the debt operated upon us more than in other portions of the country, was by depriving the Government ofthe means of carrying on works. Re-union would not improve this, as Southland was still to have only

her own revenue. Touching our being governed from Biich a distance as Otago he concurred with the opinion that, as a rule, communities might be safely trusted with the management of their own local affairs, but not with those of other communities. He could not see either how our immediate wants were to be relieved, as Otago would give us nothing until the union was absolutely consummated, which could not be for some time. He was certain the object of the struggle was not so much on the merits of t'.ie principle of re-union as to secure government expenditure. If that could be obtained, annexation would not be thought of, and he was confident we should soon have a surplus from our land sales. He was aware his ideas of railway extension were considered here as those of a visionary, but he had consulted wiser heads than any there, and such schemes were by them considered feasible. I The hon. gentleman went on at considerable length to discuss and compare the relative positions of the two provinces, showing that Southland, excepting the immediate scarcity of funds, was in every way as favorably situated as Otago. He reviewed Mr Calder's political career, and characterised him as one who had always been running to external sources for assistance, instead of relying on the means within our own borders. He (Mr C.) bad first run to the General Government, and now to Otago. This conduct only showed Mr Calder felt himself unequal to the position in which he was placed, and was a course of action characteristic of all weak men, in private as well as in public affairs. In conclusion, he would like to know how it happened that with a " retrenchment" Executive in office, no public works going on, and a land revenue of some £16,000 during the last half-year, the province had only got deeper into the mire, to the extent of some £20,000 of additional debt. Mr Calder next spoke at great length, recapitulating the arguments in his printed address, and replying to some remarks of the previous speaker. Mr Webster, in turn, addressed the electors in the same tenor as on previous occasions, already reported. Mr Taylor begged to be excused from making a speech, on account of the lateness of the hour, but would reply to any questions put to him.

Mr Pratt reviewed his own action in the Council, and the origin and progress of the re-union question, in a long speech. Mr Lumsden discussed anew the aspects of the question in a vigorous and telling manner, quoting statistics largely, to show the error of re-union. Mr Koas confined Himself to a few points, with considerable success. At the conclusion of their speeches the several candidates submitted to the usual questioning, but nothing transpired worthy of special remark. On a show of hands being called for, it was declared to be in favor of Messr* Menzies, Calder, Webster, and Lumsden. A merited vote of thanks to the Returning Officer, proposed by Mr Calder, brought the proceedings to a termination at 5 o'clock, to the infinite relief of those who had been compelled to wait in attendance the whole afternoon.