The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume 1, Issue 145, 17 January 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1868.

TnE inhabitants of Charleston are up and doing, and have requested a gentleman of position and well-known mercantile capability, to allow himself to be put in nomination. The requisition is signed by over 500 names, k comprising the principal storekeepers and miners resident in that distri -t, and in reply to the verv numerously signed requisition, Mr Hennelly has acceded to their request. It must certainly be very flattering to the firm of which he is a member, and also showing the hinjh estimation in which they are held, for requisitions to be presented to both members of it for two different places entitled to return members—Westport and Charleston—or more properly speaking, the Buller district and the Grev district. In one case, Mr Millen, the requisition was declined ; in the other, Mr Hennelly, it has been acceded to. We have before pointed out Mr Hennelly as a gentleman worthy to be selected for this important position, and from the estimation in which he is held, we believe, if elected, he will worthily and honorably represent the district. It is not necessary that a candidate should 1)3 a man of many words—there are instances enough of that in the Provincial Council already ; members who only render themselves a laughingstock, and cause the localtiy that returned them to he held up to ridicule for electing such men. What is wanted is men of honor, principle, and common sense, who, when they speak, will not only be looked upon with attention, as men worthy of regard, but listened to with respect, aid their opinions treated with deference as men who understand what they are speaking about, and know how to meet the requirements of any case they may happen to be discussing, and not treated with ridicu'e or contempt. In a mixed assemblage of intelligent, men, a stranger soon finds his level, and should he be found to possess the ability to discriminate between what oueht to be done and what ought not to be done, although he may be a man of very few words, his opinion will be courted, while a vapid, wordy nonentity will be regarded as a shallow minded bore, and treated as such. The Grey district does not require an orntor, but rather a man who thoroughly understands the wants of the district—locally perhaps, more than politically. The candidate must not only be acquainted with its wants, but know when to press them at the time, while he should be able to judge and substantiate by arguments and facts, the probable result any improvements necessary for the district which he represents might have on the welfare of the province at large. The Provincial Council of Nels >n is composed, to a great extent, of gentlemen whose interests are bound up with Nelson city, and who watch jealously any revenue proposed to be expended on the gold fields, but at the same time, alth mgh many of them hold rather narrow views they are open to conviction, or they would not have acted so liberally towards the goldfields' districts, seeing that we were represented by gentlemen who were not at all conversant with the wants or requirements of the districts they were elected for. The interests

of Chai leaf on are. apparently, to some extent, different from those of Westport, inasmuch as Westport seems to partake more of a commercial than a mining character, yet, on closer examination it will be found that their interests are identical, and what benefits one must benefit the other ; therefore, it will be to the interest of both districts that the gentlemen who are elected should be of such staudiu" as to work together for the common good. If we judge Mr Hennelly aright, he combines all the requisites for a useful, honorable member, while his business habits and thorough acquaintance with the wants of both districts, will renaer him an eligible candidate in every respect. No doubt more eloquent men could be found, but for plain straightforwardness, and one who has the interests of both districts more at heart, inasmuch as all his connections are with them ; we believe there will be none found who will do more justice to and make a better working, active representative, than Mr James Hennelly; nevertheless, if a better man can be found, we only hope that he will go in and win.

Westpobt has at last shaken off its apathy, and aroused itself into something like a show of spasmodic vitality. Even the laziest savage sprawling under a tree may generally be stirred into actual exertion by the alarm of a wild beast rushing through the jungle to devour him. The Sybarite and effeminate Romans reclining, laurelcrowned, on their luxurious coucbe-s at Pompeii, probably started up with sufficient alacrity when the frightened slaves brought in word that the lava stream was at the door, and the ashes knee-deep in the street. So, even Westport has got thoroughly frightened at last. When it first heard that it was to have Graham for a representative, the idea so tickled the midriffs of all who knew anything of that erudite candidate that they refused to see anything in it but the richest possible joke, and so they fooled the man to the top of his bent; but when we were threatened with an alternative of Crate, people began to see that the affair might turn out no joke after all, and that if we did not wish to see ourselves the butt of the Council Chamber and the laughing-stock of the colony, it was necessary to bestir ourselves and see about, finding some one man who, with a moderate degree of commou sense and business tact combined a tolerable proficiency in the Queens English, and a sufficient amount of patriotism to induce him to encounter the-perils of a voyage to Nelson, and the inc mvSnience of a two-months' sojourn there. We were not very exacting. We did not expect to find a heaven-borne genius who should rival Gladstone in finance, or Macaulay in rhetoric. We did not look for a statesman who should sway the destinies of New Zealand, or dream that the Buller was to be the political cradle of an Australasian Demosthenes, whose utterances should thrill listening St-nates w.th their burring eloquence. But we have a right to expect that there might be one man among us whe had some slight smattering of a knowledge of syntax, some little notion of the ordinary rules of decent society, and who was prepared to make some small sacrifice of personal convenience, r.dner than see tho town and the district with which his own welfare was bound to become a scoff and a derision, representative institutions a mockery, and the whole interests of a vast community thrown helplessly into the hands of a distant and almost alien Govevernment. However, this prospect for a long time sesmed to have no terrors for the Westport people, until at length Graham arose, and they laughed ! Crate followed, and matters became serious! Our cup was full. We could stand a good deal, but this was too much. The last portentous advent frightened us into action. Some few gentlemen, either more alarmed or more energetic than their neighbours, toon the matter up with a will, organized a committee, and will, we hope, by the time this sheet sees the light, be prepared to bring forward the name of a candidate who will worthily represent the intelligence and respectability of the town, the interests of the mining community, and the claims of general commerce. So shall we be saved from the disgrace that threatened us.