SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 432, 13 December 1861, Page 1

SUMMARY.

Iter week will decide the greatest event of our very limited political circle. Since a constitution has been conferred on New Zealand three elections for Superintendent of the province of Nelson have taken place, all of* wbich have roused, the population to something like healthy action. The first contest was between Mr. E. Stafford, Mr. Saxton (then Liberal), and Mr. Jollie (con-j servative), and the former came off victoriously, and held the position till within vine months of the legal time of its ex;stence. There were then three candidates for the honor—Dr. Monro (conservative), Mr. Travers (nondescript), and Mr.. Robinson (liberal). The second named got such a counter-irritant treatment-on the hustings by Mr. Robinson's proposer that, he retired, and gave his vote and interest (?) to Dr. Monro. G.eat suspense took place on account of the delay in the'returns from the outlying districts. At last they were made up, and Mr. Robinson was declared to be elected by a majority of sixteen —much to the astonishment and chagrin of his opponents, who se|m to think that places of honor must only fall to the rich and exclusive, without reference., to their ability, . honesty,, or mor^y. At %c expiration of the iiine-monthargreat exertions were made to find a man likely to displace Mr. Robinson, as it was found that Dr. Monro's conduct had lor ever y precluded his being placed in any position which depended on the honest votes of the peopl^ in general. Such a man it was thought was to be had in the amiable Mr. Saxton, who was brought forward on the same principle that Mr. Barnicoat now is—namely, that he would •surround himself with men of ability and energy.' Heaven and earth (including the public-houses) were moved on that occasion ; but without effect. Mr. Robinson polled two hundred more than his new aristocratic opponent, and ever since has gained and increased the general respect for his character both public and private. On Saturday, November 30th (St. Andrew's day), the nomination of candidates took place in our Provincial Hall, when three gentlemen were proposed. Mr. Robinson, Mr. Barnicoat, and Mr. W. L. Wrey. We cannot do better —even at the charge of repetition— than give the principal part of the speeches of the candidates and their proposers.

Mr. A. Saunders arose amidst loud cheers. He said he felt it a great honor to stand before such a large number of his. fellow-electors to propose, for the third time, Mr. John Perry Robinson as a fit and proper person to be again elected by them to the office he had now held for the last live years (cheers). He felt it a great honor, not merely because' Mr. Robinson had so long filled the highest office in this province, or because he had shown himself to possess sufficient ability to conduct successfully our most important public affairs, but because he had shown that a public man, even in Nelson, might be an honest man—because, after five years' control of the funds, the emoluments, and the honors of this province, Mr. Robinson stood before them to-day with clean hands, and because the lords would-be of this little province —who had watched him more narrowly, _ and had been more eager to find some fault with him, than the lords of the M'edes and Persians ever were to find some fault with Daniel (and who would .be quite as glad to see him put into a lion's den too) —have been compelled to own that they cannot find out a single instance in which Mr. Robinson has proved unfaithful to his trust—in which he has sacrificed the interest of the province to the interest either of himself or his friends—or that he has in any case made a dishonest use of the great powers which his office has conferred upon him : he (Mr. S.) should feel it no honor to Btand there to propose a prince, a lord, or a king, hut 'an honest man's the noblest work of God.' It was a great disadvantage to him at any time to be called on to make the first speech, but more particularly so in consequence of the very unusual course which Mr. Robinson's opponents were in the habit of adopting. Instead of taking the straightforward course that is usually pursued on such occasions as the present, they appeared to think it necessary to keep the name of their candidate a perfect secret until the very last moment that the law compelled them to reveal their intentions. At the last nomination of candidates for the Superintendency, they declined to let the public know who their candidate was, or whether they had any at all until after Mr. Robinson's proposer and seconder had both spoken ; but on this occasion it has just oozed out that the Governors of the Nelson College have decided upon bringing forward one of their own body, and if they could only manage to elect each other to the Superintendency as easily as they can to their governorfillips we should never have been without one of them in that office, and the affairs of the whole province would have been managed with about a3 much regard to the general welfare of the Nelson public as the affairs of the Nelson College have always been. He must, however, be candid enough to acknowledge that upon this occasion they had brought forward about the best of their liarty, a gentleman who was in fact too honest for ii 3 company, but who unfortunately had not resolution enough to separate himself from them, nor always to stand out against them in matters which his conscientiousness and great good sense must heartily condemn. In fact Mr. Barnicoat's position with reference to the party with whom, in Bpite of everything, he always seemed determined iO act, had often reminded him of the schoolboy 00 w&ll described hy Cowper, as A youngster at school, move sedate than tho rest, Had once his integrity put to the test ; His comrades had plotted an orchard to rob, And asked him to go and ssgjsfc in the job. He was shocked, sir, like you, and answered—' Oh, no! What] rob our good neighbor ! i pray you don't go ; Besides, the mark's poor, his orchard's his bread, Then think of his children,.for they must be fed.' ' You apeak very flue, ar?d yoi^ look very grave, But apples we want and apples we'll have 5 If you will go with us you shall have a share, If not, you shall have neither apple nor pear.' They spoke, and Tom pondered-.' I see they will go; Poor man ! what a pity to injure hhn so! Poor man ! I would save him the fruit if I could, But staying behind will do him no good. ' If the matter depended alone upon mo, Bja apples might hang till they dropt from the tree; But, .since they will take them, I think I'll g<\,too, He will lose none by me, though I get a few.' {Laughter). Do tho first occasion that he had the honor to propose Mr. Robinson to the electors ,of this province, he found himself called upon to reply to a number of very absurd accusations that I had been invented to bring against him. He then had to assure them that he was not a red repnblicaa^ that lie was not at all likely to turn the world upsidedowm, and, above all, that he was not the man to employ his influence in endeavoring to1 prejudice or to set otig class of the community i.j antagonism to any other class, He had no rloo\> t .that-those who invented and circulated such accusations against him have since felt very much mortified that they did not hit upon something 9 little nearer the truth, and expend their great energies gad opportunities ip charging his vyitU

something that would be a little more likely to be believed. Even at his second nomination some of them would perhaps remember that Dr. Monro stood upon the hustings and gravely informed them that out great objection to Mr. Robinson was, that the Examiner would not be sufficiently severe in criticising his conduct; and on the morning of his last.election, and when Mr. Robinson could have no possible opportunity' of setting himself right with the electors before the election came off, that honorable gentleman and his emissaries were actively employed in circulating a paper, charging Mr. Robinson with having broken a promise made to him^ He did not know what sort of a .paper Dr.; Monro intended to circulate about Mr. Robinson ou the next morning of his election ; but he rather expected he would not say anything in it about broken promises, or if he did, he must take care that the paper never reached Picton .(great laughter). The great partiality which the Nelson Examiner had from first to last shown to Mr. Robinson was too well known to them all; but he was not going to ortj-upy. their time with a • speech loig enough even i'o noticfe the numerous but sadly mismanaged attempts which the editors aud anonymous scurrilous correspondents of that paper had made during the last five years to injure Mr. Robinson's reputation both in this province and elsewhere. No person who knew the Nelson Examiner would think the.less highly of any Superintendent because he had not stooped to adopt the necessary means to secure the same amount of fulsome adulation which that paper has heaped upon lower principled public men (hear, hear, and cheers). Nor need he notice the noisy and costly but very unproductive attacks, which certain members of the Provincial Council have annually made upon him. The debates upon the lost bills—the transfer of our gold-fields to the General Government —the great ' Metallurgic Compan}',' and the great ' Continental Friend' (great laughter), by whose friendly aid all our ' oats and barley' were to have been sold, and poor little Nelson raised from the dust, all our bad debts recovered, and all our tottering storekeepers and merchants set upon their legs—and the great efforts that were made to prove that twice two were not four—are pieces of claptrap that can now easily be seen through, and the conduct ot those who endeavored to convert them into political capital easily appreciated (hear, hear). Indeed, these were questions out of which Mr. Robinson had come so gloriously and his accusers so ignominiousiy, that for Mr. Robinson or his friends to say much about them now would sound too much like glorying over a fallen foe, or kicking an enemy who was already licking the dust. Now, Mr. Wrey and some others were beginning to tell us that Mr. Robinson is too slow. He (Mr. S.) had always thought him a little too slow, aud perhaps it is Unfortunate that in this respect Mr. Robinson and his executive should be so much birds of one feather: with so much ballast he thought they could very well afford to have a little more steam amongst them. But they were a very safe lot, and in government affairs, more than perhaps any others, slow safe men are infinitely better than fast ones that were not safe. Our late General Government had given us a sad illustration of this: by trying to go too fast they have thrown this colony back in a few years, or even months, more than the slowest possible government, if prudent, safe, and honest, could have kept it back in a century. The most that* the best government can do is to take care that no obstacles are thrown in the way of the progress of an ener-■gctio-pcopUi, and thooo who cicpeot it to -Aa. mrvtft. than that show a very great ignorance of the proper functions of a government. Every one knew that slow, plodding men generally get on much better with their own affairs than fast speculative ones do, and if any of us are obliged to trust our own affairs in the hands of another we take care not to choose a very fast character; and a prudent elector would do the same in choosing men with whom to trust our public affairs. But slow as Mr. Robinson may he, Nelson has made far more material progress during the five years that he has been in office than she ever did before in a similar time (hear, hear, and cheers) ; we have more to show in the shape of public works, we have better roads, better whaifs, better public buildings, better school houses and school teachers, and better educated children (hear, hear); although he (Mr. S.) did not pretend that Mr. Robinson or any other public man was entitled to take all the credit of these improvements to himself any more than Colonel Richmond was entitled to receive all the credit for that rapid increase in our horse?, cattle, and sheep which Mr. Elliott and some of his overzealous friends once attributed to him (laughter). Fabius, Washington, Wellington, and most other public men who have steadily and ultimately achieved great things have been loudly accused of being too slow, and it was generally a very good sign when those who watched all the actions, and only saw half the difficulties, of a public man could say no worse about him than that he was too slow. If Mr. Robinson's opponents could have discovered any greater faults in him we should have heard much less about his being too slow. But the people of this province did not elect Mr. Robinson because they ever believed him to be a very fast or furious driver, but because they saw how very desirable it was to place some person at the head of our provincial government who would administer that government without fear or favor, malice or peculation: and he was proud to say that after being five years at the head of that government, Mr. Robinson could stand before them that day, and calmly and confidently call upon any elector to point out a single act in which he had disappointed that expectation (hear, hear, and cheers). He would not detain them longer than simply to say that Mr. Robinson had proved that he possessed both honesty and firmness enough to avoid all connection with that well organised party who had learned to pilfer the Nelson public so systematically, to create offices and fill them with their own friends and relatives, to add our public roads to their own gardens, to obtain enormous compensation for mistakes made by their own surveyors, to under-assess land which they intended to add to their own estates, and hundred* of other acts of dishonesty which if he were to attempt even to hint at he should break the promise he made when lie said lie was not going to make a dreadfully longspeech. He remembered hearing some old persons say when they put on their great coats or took a little extra pare of themselves that ' good folks are scarce,' and as he grew old his observation of public men mi}(Je Ui«> believe that honest men were very scarce indeed, ai)d haying foijud one for our Superintendent he hoped \ye slio^ld haye the good sense to keep him, or at all events until they heard some more reasonable complaints against him than that he had not reclaimed the mudflat, completed a railway to Wangapeka, or what would be just as sensible, commenced another to the moon (hear, hear, and cheers).

Mr. Fkahon proposed, and Mr- V- fi&TjOTT seconded Mr. Baiinkwat. The seconder uporijj rising was saluted wif,h a mixture of cheer and hisses. He said Mr. Saunders had pursued his usual practice of throwing dirt, but he should not follow tbat example. Mr. Robinson had led them to believe that under his government tlie province would make progress and that he should exercise economy. What they had done had been through the large land revenue, and they had gone on spending this year after year wjthout there being any prospect of supplying tho defjcien.cy (a voice—.l' property tax). Nothing had. betji 4090 to prepare for their wants when

that laud fund failed: the Government were the trustees of a large estate which had been dwindling away under a careless and wasteful expenditure. The expedition to the West Coast, which some had stated cost £2000 had brought aboutmo satisfactory results; no portion of the country so explored had had a helping hand extended to it by tho Government to make the province any the better for it, hy settlement; or gold-fieldg, or anything else out of the number of existing advantages which only required activity and attention to develop. Nelson was one.of the fairest portions of New Zealand, but it should no longer exist in that miserable and languishing state that those passing through should be enabled to reproach us in future with our torpid existence. Contrast this Govern inert Uvith that of Otago—the energy with which their Superintendent 'acted—on the '-ground amongst the first, aud circulating the intelligence to the neighbouring colonies, such an impulse was givtn to it that half a million of gold had already been obtained, and the piovince bids fair to become the finest of New Zealand., Mr. Robinson's government had been slow'atid vifVproductiviv find it was very p^sible that within the next four years, ' perhaps; four, months even, such events might arise as, would; require the utmost energy in our Goverrinieiit, instead of the languishing miserable state that'had characterised it while in the hands of those who had held the helm for the last four years: his complaint against Mr. Robinson was not for having neglected bis duties or of having made a bad use of his position, but his mind and Mr. Robinson were at issue upon the way in which tbe vital points of interest had been.administered. It was a difficult matter, perhaps to carve out a Superintendent to meet the wishes of all parties exactly, but the time had arrived when the absolute necessity for a change wab obvious, and although he could not say that Mr. Barnicoat was the, best man for the position, he was the best that could be got, and that one more in advance of the time than Mr. Robinson and his advisers should, be chosen.

Mr. J. P. Robinson rose amidst loud cheers. He said this was the third time that he had had the honor of coming before the electors. It was generally rumored that no opposition would be • brought forward, Mr. Elliott having canvassed unsuccessfully in all quarters, and Mr. Wrey then volunteered, being apparently determined that his (Mr. Robinson's) should riot be a smooth run altogether; this gave Mr. Elliott encouragement to bring forward Mr. Barnicoat at the eleventh hour ; and he was happy to see that Provincial institutions were not at so low an ebb ' as some would wish to have it believed, and that gentlemen could be found to come forward to contest for positions that some,would try to make out were at a discount (cheers). It had been said that during the past term there had been too little progress made, he had no hesitation in saying that during the last five years.the public works that had been carried out were greater than for fifteen years previously if he excepted what was done by the New Zealand Company. To do this our revenues must have increased, and he was happy to say they had (cheers). The revenue had been as follows:—1855 £16.397, ,1856 £15,279, 1857, his first year of office, £17,346, 1858 £27,026, 1859, the first quarter being equal to the annual amount of £26.709,. 1860 £59,385, and at the close of March tliis year £33,638. Now this increasing revenue appeared to be a source of grief to Mr. Elliott, because very different results had been prophesied if he were elected^ but he thought they would agree with Trim" that oro're 'ttian~aoubnrig~mir revenue in five years, or increasing it from £15,000 to £33,000, was some evidence, financially at least, ot advancement. It was undoubted that the province had made material and steady advancement. Then as to Mr. Elliott's cry about there being no land, there always had been the same cry, and no doubt the New Zealand Company had a great deal of trouble to find land for the many claimants for compensation (laughter), but he could tell them nevertheless that not a tenth part of it had been sold; he could find plenty of land, and if auybody wanted it he would quickly put them in the way of getting it (cheers). But can anything more be done to increase the rate of progress ? He thought tliere could. The one thing needful was an increase of population, not in the way in which Mr. Elliott and his friends would have it, viz., by introducing large numbers ot loborers without any provision for their employment or maintenance, but under one of three systems he thought we might safely act ! with benefit to all concerned. If the object is to get a large population at once, he knew of no better mode to accomplish it than making fri o grants of land to all who pay their own passages. He differed, too, with Mr. Elliott upon the subject of introducing labor into the province, and could not for a moment endorse such intentions because there were a few who found themselves shorthanded at harvest time or sheep-shearing time, there was no doubt that hundieds of persons could be found if Mr. Elliott was prepared to find them one or two year's employment, and he would get them for him too. Tlie plan which he had himself proposed of selling land on deferred payments was disallowed by the General Government, but had they allowed it to come into operation there would, without doubt, have been a large increase to our population and revenue, all would have been enabled to settle on pieces of ground Of their own, and the later arrivals would take their places in the laboring pursuits. Another plan ,\vas to offer land to those who would make roads in the district in which they lived: this would gradually extend the settlement and open up the country. The Motueka valley and the Wangapeka would then possess bona-fide settlers They had been told by Mr. Elliott of the proceedings at Qtago s and of the energy of the Superintendent, and what not. Why, when the Collingwood diggings first started there was scarcely a month passed that he did not visit the locality, and he came over with the first gold from thence. He had even spent thousands of pounds more than the Council had voted for the purpose, but he must say they had quite exonerated him for having done so. After expending these thousands, an application was made for leasing large tracts of the gold district. He did not wish to open old wounds, but he had a lively remembrance of the scurrility and abuse that had been heaped upon him from certain quarters, because he would not consent to serve one man better than another; for, despite all the sophistry that was qsed tp proye otherwise, Mr. Gibbs's applipation was for twice two square miles of auriferousground . therefore he would leave them to judge whether he could lawfully comply with that application, or whether he deserved the abuse that followed his refusal to grant it. The Metallurgic Company was perfectly unknown ; and he had grave doubts as to -whether there ever uas such a company. lie believed that after Dr. Mochsfetter'a report of the Collingwood district reached England, it had been handed about to induce persons to form something of the sort; bijt tlie testimony that had reached here of such a thing having really existed was exceedingly faint and uncertain. The General Government took the management of the gold-fields into its own hands; when it did so tbey were in a comparatively nourishing condition, upwards of 400 diggers being possesessed of miners' rights. When the management wa3 lestorwl to the piovince, which was done after nearly two years, they were reduced to only 130 diggers. It was no principle of political economy to support quo

branch of industry at the expense of others. But the accusation that lie hail not availed himself of the services of soldiers here brought a blush : of shame into his face when he repeated it. At the first breaking out of the diggings, in. order to he prepared for any contingency, he applied to.the' Genfiral Government for information as to what steps would be required to be taken, .if they,'' were found necessary, and the General Government promptly replied that 200 soldiers could he. got from Wellington. But further than this, he found that it would require an outlay of £9000 for their proper lodgment; fie could conceive nothing more mean or despicable than that we should expect the over-taxed people of England to supply U3 with troops, in.order that we might live on the profit to be made out of the paltry pay-of thb British soldier (hear). Miv Barnicoat said: Of his qualifications ithey would, hardly expect him to speak. Amongst the foremost questions in point of importance was education. When representative institutionswere/ first granted to them,, when,^ first becamfe la\\\ tho grand principle'was immediately recognised —• that the education of -the people was the concern of the people. .This principle was embodied in the Education Act, an act from which 'they had derived, and lie trusted would long"continue to derive, the highest benefits. By its means a good education was placed within^ general reach. It appeared to him that in ills results there was a great ideal of.whicli they mighjt be justly proud, as' Nelson had therebysolved with considerable success a problem at the solution of which nearly theiwhole oftbe civilised-world had been aiming. On the sulject of the Waste Lands he had not much to say. Legislation on that question was now beyond their control, and it was only in an Executive capacity that the Superintendent was concerned in it. If they were not "doomed to eternal lit'tieness—-if Nelson was ever to regain its place among the provinces of New Zealand, it was to its minerals aud metals they must look. Every fitting facility should therefore be given to these, the only possible sources of their future greatness. One of the most difficult duties of the Superintendent was in connexion with emigration—so to adjust the supply of labor that on . the one hand the settlement should nlot languish for want of a due supply, and on the other that it shall not become thai scene of suffering which T over-emigration inevitably entailed. .To pour in; emigrants into a colony regardless of the distressthat might ensue, or possibly with a view of traf/ ticking on that distress by bringing about a reduction in the price of labor, was indeed a> detestable policy. But there was a certain line within which all parties might be benefited—the community at large—the new emigrants as well as those already here. He thought that latterly' this had been scarcely reached. He was ,willing].to promise/this much, that should they do him the, honor, to elect liim, he. would become the Superintendent of the people, of the whole people, riot of; one particular class or section. He had never, whatever Mr. Saunders might say, identified himself wilhany party; he had never studied class interests; he had always done everything in his power to eradicate those detestable senseless class jealousies that had been so carefully planted and sedulously cuU tivated by some among us. He was further willing to promise that should he find himself elected he would become the Superintendent of the province, of the whole province, not of the town or of any particular part of the province; he would make, himself acquainted with every part of the province -witli n tl\e~-wantejj.nd (caiMbilities_ol:.eAClLJ.Oßalitv J i:' ana study to suppTythe one ana give scope tothe other. He did not come here to-day to cast'aspersions on others, nor did he come here to repel aspersions cast by others on him. Least of all did he come to repel accusations from Mr. Saunders; he was confident that no one in Nelson but he would dare to accuse him as he had done. He had only to say that should they elect him, he would endeavor, with the best and ablest assistance procurable, so to conduct the business of the province that they should not repent their choice. The show of hands was as follows:— Robinson 89 Barnicoat 26 Wrey 3 We have not given Mr. Wrey's speech, as he has since resigned; but instead of which, we will give his reasons for such resignation in his own words, which appeared as an advertisement to the electors : I feel I owe it to you and myself to explain, why I have withdrawn from a contest for the position of Superintendent. I came forward under the assurance and full belief that no. other person tbsn Mr. Kobinson would be brought forward, and so remained up to within forty-! eight hours of the nomination. At tbe last moment Mr. Barnicoat was announcedT as the nominee of the Printing-house corner set. On consideration of tho then existing circumstances I argued, first, that, looking to the exertl 'ns rrude by the "friends and supporters of each of my. rival candidates, I might not succeed unless I resorted to the same.practices, which I disdain ; and secondly, in that case, which of the two other parties would the diversion of those votes, tendered for myself, be most likely to benefit ? In the fear perhaps more than the belief, I imagined it might benefit Mr. Barnicoat, or rather the party whose nominee (and'l fear I may add, dupe) he is, 1 therefore determined to resign, and that at the earliest moment. I voted for Mr. Robinson on his first election, believing him to be a safe man, opposed to a party whose tactics showed clearly they were not safe men. Whoever remembers reading, or who will look over a file of the Nelson Examiner (would-be Dictator), from 1852 to 1856, and notes the sentiments therein recorded as expressed by Monro, Stafford, Travers, and Elliott, wiil find each and all opposed to and damaging each other. Having ultimately found these would-be magnates dropping their strong aversion to each other and forming themselves into a league to drown the popular voice, I looked upon such an unholy alliance with the disgust that all right-thinking men should treat such political tergiversation. Considerations, such as I have expressed determined the course 1 have pursued. The greatest disappointment I could experience, next to want of success myself, would be to see the 'artful dodo-e' party succeed. ° The proceedings at the Hall have excited the ire of the Elliott party, and the outpourings of the Examiner have been most wrathful—the public have been libelled, and likened to ' spectators at a prize-fight;' accused of having their «prejudices' appealed to, and bowie knives and revolvers have been talked about as superseding the ' respectability ' of tha place. Yot those very men who utter such silly, impertinent, and false slanders, will'shortly stand before the people they have blackguarded and ask them for their votes. We-U-usf "the public will have spirit enough to resent the gratuitous and untiuthful insult cast upon them by this fussy clique of exclusives. Mr. Saunders, as usual, has come in for his full share of 'dirt thrown about;' but very little will stick in that quarter, for one vigorous shake will send it back to its legitimate position, Xhis gentleman \m §e»A a

letter of explanation, as' Mr. Barnicoat felt . aggrieved that the playful words of Obwpfer should be applied to him. \ Here is. the explanation :— Several of Mr. Barnicoat's personal friends having requested me to state'explicitly that in Quoting the few verses from Co#pev that1 appear' to have so much annoyed that gentlemanandsome ipi his supporters, I had no intention of insitiiiatiiig that ho was not an honest itiari, TE have no hesita-j tion in requesting you to publish a fe\y lines, in which I will endeavor to, make both the T oversensitive and- the over-obtuse clearly- understand •What I do and wbat I do not,mean; although before doing so I cannot resist the temptation. I feel to quote another line or,two from the same; poet, who says .that .• --. ■' ■_ i - j X'en the child1 who knows no better Than to iutcfpret'by'tlie letter The story of a cock and bull,'. . r Must-have a most uncohVinon 5ku11.,., ' TT' Well,s.:si^ I.rcallv' did riot accuse ofc-tfriean toaceuso, .Mr. Barnicoat of,haying ever ifobbed an orchard^, or. tkfeeft an apple. 6?. a pear from any of his neighbors'; nor am IT conscious of hiving said anything thai would fairly .'bear the^construction of depreciating in the slightest degree Mr. Barnicoat's very blameless and estimable private, character; .although I did say that he:was too honest "for his company, and that by lendiiig his respectable and.respected character to.a-ihost unscrupulous and dishonest political party;: he had given that party a position they would riot otherwise have attained; ancta position that-had enabled them to inflict a greater amount of injury upon the Nelson public than they could otherwise have done, and had thus (however reluctantly); contributed in no small degree to the success of the various jobberies that have been inflicted-upon the public property of Nelson/] It will be remembered that I was particularly, although by no means exclusively, alluding to Mr. Baroicoat's connection with 7 ;the Governors and Trustees of the. Nelson '"College,* and I cannot perhaps make my meaning better understood in any other way than by pointing but what, pppears to me to be-Mr. Barnicoat's position with reference to those governors, and I do so the morejreadily as ■ I believe I shall thereby only give.a fairsample of Mr. Barnicoat's conduct wherever he'has beeh unfortunately associated with the same party in the public affairs of this province. When Dr. Monro, with the assistance of Messrs. Travers and Co. (I don't include Mr. T/'s partners in the brewery or tho law), first contrived-a system by which the voice of the Nelson public in the control of the College funds should be altogether swamped by giving their votes to; men of large property and none atall to men of small means, I know ot no proof that Mr. Barnicoat-was even a consenting party to that first step in depriving the Nelson public of any beneficial participation in the large educational fluids which had been set apart for the benefit of residents in the Nelson province, aU though he certainly immediately voted forthe men who s<? slyly prepared, pocketed, and passed the measure, and shortly, afterwards Mr. Barnicoat became himself a Trustee. When some hardened and shameless Trustee first proposed that the Trustees who had been elected by these property votes Bhould render themselves indepenJent :qf any further votes whatever, by appointing theniselves governors of _ .ths College and handing.the funds over= to themselves, I "have" no doubt Mr. Barnicoat first blu3hed, then laugjied, unparalleled effrontery, but ultimately consented to go the whole hog with the rest—to elect and be -elected. This is the first instance in which we! are able to see so far into the unseen, unheard] unchallenged, and unpublished proceedings of the ' Trustees,' as to know that Mr. Barnicoat must have been not a mere passive but also an active participator in this arrangement to deprive the people of this province of the mero vestige of a right that the former trick of this party had left them. And having thus committed himself— having thus entered the ' orchards—Mr. Barnicoat was powerless for any further opposition to the designs which his comrades had upon the College funds, however much he might wish to offer it.

Mr. Barnicoat no doubt saw as clearly as every one else did that the College was so managed {hat the town only received any benefit from the funds which belonged to the whole province, but the governors were nearly all residents in the; town and there could now be no appeal against them. Mr. Barnicoat no doubt saw that the funds were sufficient to establish at least six; first-class schools in different parts of the province in which quite as much should be taught as was ever yet taught in the one Nelson school; say two in town, one for girls and one for boys, or, if you please, one for young ladies and one for young gentlemen ; one in the Waimea, one at Motueka, one at the Wairau, and one at any part of Golden Bay in which the population may show some symptoms of permanently settling. Tlie funds were sufficient to have built these schools years ago,5, and to have endowed them each with .£SOO a year, which with the children's fees would have been quite sufficient to have secured the services of amply competent and good hard-working teachers ;—-but no, this would have benefited the people of this province as a whole, and not merely a favored.Jew—-this would have educated other children besides the 'governors" and their, friends'—and would besides have admitted too many common/persons children amongst them—and therefore;..these self-elected governors resolved to waste half the money at their disposal in a uselessly laige wooden (much of it a white pine) building anJ to spend the remainder in getting out .and giving a salary to their own friends and schoolfellows, employing a few .foot-man-like officials, and paying themselves a pound a day for their arduous attention to the welfare of tbat public for whose benefit they undertook to administer the Nelson Trust Funds. Te all this Mr. Barnicoat appears before the puhlic as a consenting and accessory party, and his name is used to give a sanction to all these proceedings; and if this were the only instance in which Mr. Barnicoat had yielded his conscience and better judgment to such unworthy friends, I think it would have quite justified me in comparing him to the 'youngster at school' who said that Since they will take thorn, I think lii go too. The list verse of the poem— (He shared in the plunder,-hut pitied the man, &c.) part of which has, I am told, been m .de the foundation of an attack upon me in a paper as remarkable for its inaccuracy as it is for its venom whenever it condescends to make methe subject of a leading article, was not quoted by me at all, as I did not consider it appropriate. And, by the byjrf, I hope the Examiner will not devote so much attention to me'just now as to omit or diminish its usual measifre" of abuse upon Mr. Robinson ; for although Mr Robinson will no doubt get hi, whether that, paper abuses him or not, he has always owed much of his popularity to the ill-feeling which those who must naturally hate an honest publio man have always exhibited towards him. I have said at the commencement of this letter that Mr. Barnicoat's conduct with the Nelson Trust funds was only a fair sample of liis conduct in other public affairs whenever he &$k been associated with the $qm ggrty. I wish to lay parWnhx «X«» ou th«se kuerword^aswlu^evw

i-M i*. BnriVTcoaf hasl'ten chl li'tloir f'> ac-t in jiUUI ie vipai-c fii.in tli'nt baneful nssociati.nu his.-conduct has.- lu-en every.tliing.iiiint.'tliv public eoujdqoYsii?.. -As ;i member/of the WainVeii Road' HuaVxl, he /lias wt-i I earned the; fcratit ude• of all ill's Wrist i tuen ii, 'and, the Bama^ njay;be said on the Local Educafi&qarGbmmittee, except .where the conduct of the Inspector .(one,of th^,Governors) has been concerned.. , { Mr*. Elliott let the real secret out affile no'mination^wlieh he said that Mri TBarnicoat was/ not just the sortof rnian he should' have liked, but he wbuld 'surround himself with good advisers.' Now what Mr. Elliott-calls, 'good advisers.' the public Of Nelson, Blowly taught by dearly bought 'experience; 'will Ijtfstly'call bad acfvisers. They know that what is' Mr.' Elliott's meat is their poison:, ithey will therefore reverse the tale, and say that Mr. Barnicoat himself is almost every thing they could wish, but his advisers' men whom they h&ye trusted'tiiit never will trust agaiU. Both parties are at work, and we hope it will be' a"Fair and good humored fight, whatever the result may be. We "-promise that no,factious opposition Bhall be .display .ed by lus, and that every measure shall be Judged by itself,1 whoever may. be the man who introduces it.

The election for members of the Provincial Council will take place shortly after that of Superintendent. There are 1034 voters'.registered lor'''the,'whole' province, who are distributed as follows tr-Gity (6 members) 555; Suburban North (2 members) 83;. Waimea' East-Including/ Suburban South—"-^ members), 240t>\faimea South (3 members) 1^9): West (I member) 74; Collingwood (1 iiaember) 162; Motueka (3 member*) 237; Amuri (I-member) 24. t. With the exception of m'pie than a; usual number of motley cases, two cases of theft by young women at service^ of so serious a .nature that they have\been referred to the Supreme Court—the only case of novelty is that of Bene .versus Pirimona. The former accused the; latter of having seduced hiswife, which was fully conoljorated by two witnesses named Hohapata and Karepa. The Resident Magistrate was assisted by two Native Assessors, Katene (Te Manu) and Pitamal, who, after hearing ;the evidence, retired for a few minutes to consider the case. On their return Te Manu addressed the plaintiff, and told him that as he had taken back his wife, he should award ten pounds damages, and ordered defendant (Pirimona) to pay that sum to Rene. The former said that he had no money, and when told that he would be sent to prison for two months, merely replied-•Kapai!'

, Nelson gold-fields go on the even tenor of their way, from which apparently they will not be disturbed. Seme good nuggets have been sent from Wangapeka, though accounts from there are not encouraging -enough to cause a rush, even on the smallest scale. One of our cbrrespoiidents complain that there is a greater avidity on the part of the storekeepers to supply the few diggers with grog than flour. ¥ From the Bulle>, though many there are finding nothing, between two" and three hundred ounces have been sent to Nelspn Tin Vtlie course of the months -Two of'the diggers met with a. very serious mishap jn the loss (amounting in falue to about £50), and naarrowly escaped with their lives. Hope is still life that that the best parts of this district have not yet been prospected. 'The 'chapter of accidents' is. indeed light this month. One little girl, named Whiting, was found drowned in the river Maitai. Every means to restore animation was taken under the superintendence of a surgeon, but without effect. The jury returned'a, verdict of •Found d;owned, but by what means the child got into the river there is rio evidence to show.'—Two or three horses have run away with the carls, but luckily no' injury has been done. Mr. David Burns of this city, while visiting his saw-mill in the Moutere, met with an accident, by which his leg was broken just: above the ankle. He was promptly attended by Dr. Little of Motueka, and was at once taken to Motueka, and came thence by tha steamer Undine to Nelson. Ho is improving daily.

The bridge over the Pelorus river, on the neatest overland route to the province of Marlborough, is now completed. There is to be a new cutting in the Mongatapu mountain, which will considerably lessen the fatigue of ascending this formidable obstacle in the road to the Pelorus and Marlborough.

Several lectures have been delivered in connection with the Christian Young Men's Association. Some of the subjects treated of are very intricate, and require an extent of reading and research hardly attainable by the young. Subjects of a lighter nature would be more attractive and instructive.

Cricketing has commenced, and though we can scarcely expect that 'All England's Eleven,' will take a'turn to-New Zealand after they have polished the Australians, we may expect that the sport will be brisker this summer than last, as the feverish novelty of volunteering has subsided. Two matches have been played—the schoolboys taking the initiative^—one between the Wakefield and Hope schools, in which the hitler was victorious with fourteen runs to spare; the second (adults) between Wakefield and Motueka clubs.- Wakefield in this case came off" with flying colors, beating their opponents in one innings with some spare runs. It is expected that the next match will be between the Wakatu Club (City) and the Wakefield. Thi? will produce good play, as the two city tlabs are amalgamated.

Our pleasure takers have had an unusual opportunity^ afforded them of enjoying a short theatrical season, through a visit that has been made here by Mrs. Foley, Mr. Webster, Mr. Swarm. and otheis, who have been playing at the Odd Fellows': Hall foe the past month, to a well pleased audience, ia all the dive'«i.ty ef^iecw *bich a rao§s