The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. MONDAY, APRIL 13, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 218, 13 April 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. MONDAY, APRIL 13, 1868.

The election of a representative for Westland North in the General Assembly has resulted in the return of Mr Timothy Gallagher, of Addison's Flat, by an overwhelming majority. Mr Home, in sporting pbrase, being a very bad second, and Mr Donne nowhere. The result, however, unpalatable to many, is nothing more that under the circumstances might have been expected, and is proof of the unity with which Irishmen act. There was, little or no opposition, as Mr Home, for some inexplicable reason, did not think it worth while to canvass or even to explain his opinion to the electors, excepting in an address of a dozen lines or so, and Mr Donne, as a matter of course, was a nonentity in the contest, excepting in his own estimation. Whether Mr Home thought to do the veni vidi vici business or not we cannot say, neither can we for a moment suppose that he lent himself as a tool, in order to split the votes on the other side. Be it which way it may Westland North has little to thank him for, and should he have the temerity to again come forward for election in any public capacity, he will, no doubt, be reminded of the late election in au unpleasant manner. -The fact, however, remains that Mr Gallagher is our representative, and with his well-known Fenian sympathies—we fancy he will find the honor somewhat a burdensome one. In the first place he will have to swear certain oaths on taking his seat anent the the sovereignity of Her Majesty, the maintenance of law and order, &c, and to say the least these will, we should imagine, clash unpleasantly with the proceedings of the Celtic Committee of which he is the distinguished ornament and, we believe, hou. sec. In the late celebration in honor of the Manchester " martyrs," Mr Gallagher as secretary, figured most obnoxiously before the public. Since that time he and others publicly announced that they would consider the removal of the cross at Hokitika to be tantamount to " throwing down the gauntlet of defiance " on the part of the authorities in that district, and the Celtic Committee in such a ease intimated their intention to do battle with society for its preservation and restoration. Many other foolish things Mr Gallagher did and said on the same subject, and they bore fruit as the poll shows. The loyal side were too indolent or too careless, and they have reaped their reward. It is too late until the Treason Felon Bill is passed to oust him on account of his political creed, and therefore the best thing to be done is to utilise the remaining part which promises to be useful to the mining community. One swallow does not make a summer, and one Fenian of this calibre will not contaminate the General Assembly. Mr Gallagher, as the representative of the district, may see the necessity of conforming to law and order, and possibly through his influence on our Addison's Flat neighbors, some good may arise. If Mr

Gallagher contents himself with discharging the duties that devolve on him without obtruding opinions, which are in the highest degree offensive to the majority of those ho is supposed to represent, he may earn from many, some degree oi" forbearance. He must not forget that here we are all colonists of New Zealand, living under equal laws, and sharing alike all political privileges, as in fact he himself is a living example. Let him bear in mind, that instead of his recently acquired dignity in any degree shielding him from the consequences of treasonable practices, it will render him far more liable to them. The lion. sec. of a disaffected Celtic committee at Addison's Flat, may do many things with impunity that are forbidden to the representative for Westlund North ; words uttered by one are unheeded, but by the other are weighed carefully in the public mind, and acts that in one case the authorities can afford to pass over with contempt may in the other subject the perpetrator to a felon's doom.