Page 3 Advertisements Column 1

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 439, 11 March 1875, Page 3

E ection Notice.

StfP&KINIKNU&.NUY.KLhCTION UEQUISIII N

TO Sm GEORGE GREY, K.C;B.

SIR, — We, the undersigned, Electors of the Pro\ince of ijaicklan^, hereby request tliat you will allow youTseli t^\ lujminatecl as a .Candidate for the office of Supel^|tfllweiit of the Province, vacant by the death of*<?<tJui,Williairiso > n, Esq., and we pledge ourselves tftfcQ se ouT best exertions to secure your return, •" s **«^ \ ± (Signatures,)

TOTHEGESTLtiYIEN SIGNING iU£ KEQUISITION

f~* ENTLEMEN, — In reply to your requisition \jj I have the honor to state that if elected Superintendent of the Province of Auckland. I shall accept the office, and do my best to fulfil its duties in such a manner as to promote the happiness and welfare of the inhabitants of the Province. I consider the position of Superintendent of this Province as a most honorable one, and as reflecting credit on any man who may hold it. Yet, if lam elected to the office great pensonal sacrifices will be entailed on me of malty ~kt^s{T I sha 1, theiefore, not feel myself called on toyu^ %\e efforts usual in such cases to secure my e^ctio^ but if I am chosen Superintendent a sense of the duty I owe to yourselves and to the peopl£]J hq,ve so long striven to serve will maveme forego all personal considerations, and devote my whole time and energies to fulfil the duties the public call on me to perform. I Hhall strive to show that it is the desire to serve one's country and fellow-men which gives dignity to a public }K)sition, not the title by which that position may bs called. Gen-rally, 1 would staifl to the inhabitants of this Province that I consider- the office of Superintendent to be an Executive and 11 ' not a political one. If elected, I will, therefore, not use the position for any political purpose. I will faithfully administer <he laws, and any means plaeedat my disposal, in the manner that appears to me to be best for the general good, and 1 will \>y all becoming means strive to obtain their rights pecuniary or of any other nature for the p&op)e of the Province, and then see that they are allowed to exercise and enjoy those rights in the mariner most advantageous to them. v Although attached, and strongly attached to P*ovincial Institutions I well know that it is the duty of every man to yield to the views and wishes of the majority of his fellow-countrymen, when those views and wishes are ascertained by Constitutional means and are clothed with the authority of law. Whatever form of Government may be thus intro duced into New Zealand, I shall at all times endeavour to make a success and conducive in all respects to the peace, satisfaction, and prosperity of the people of the colony, I believe that it is clearly the duty of the Government to state in derail the nature of the institutions they propose to take the place of the existing Provincial ones, and to allow the people of New Zealand ample time to consider them, and to express their opinions upon the subjf ct. But if Provincial Institutions are to be swept away in any part of the colony, I should desire to see such a change made a genei al one, and to have such Institutions established \p the place of the existing Provinces as would secure to New Zealand generally at least those extensive rights in regard to legislation, and other which the Provinces now possess, andfto the various country districts a larger share rof self-government, and a greater and more direct control over local revenues than is now given to them. To derive full benefit from the system of immigration and public works now being carried on, from which if judiciously conducted, such great advantages must flow to the country, I should consider it the duty of the Superintendent to assist, to the utmost of his ability, the Colonial Government in bringing that policy to a successful issue. The Superintendent, upon his part, will have a right to expect from the General Government the expenditure within the province of that share of the moneys lorrowtd for public works, to which it is justly entitled, its dua prop jrtion of immigrants brought out by public funds, the prompt payment of all revenues and other monies lawfully belonging to it, a rigid economy in the expenditure of the monies devoted to immigration and public works, a strict prevention of all extravagant personal expenditure irom these funds, and the immediate r^linquisjiment to the Provincial Government of nil hmds purchased from the natives in the Province*, fur the benefit of its peopteffor it is only by a rigorous attention to these detiaiis that the immigration anej? public works policy can attain to that success io which it is so - justly entitled. The Superintendent should, in my opinion, see that all requisite steps are taken to provide for the reception of Jnhnjgrants for their comfort and well doing oft* tlleir^ first arrival, and that energetic measures f- re taken to secure the permanent location in the country of the population now fejttjfe-and of the immigrants who may arrhe, by holding out inducements to take up lands in the brst positions which can be secured to tßlm, and thus lead them to become permanent occupiers and cultivators of the soil. Active steps should be taken to induce people possessing capital sufficient t& enable/ them to undertake the cultivation of the Soil and the employment of labour to again resort to this province, and means might also be advantageously taken to enable children of established settlers to* occupy farms of waste lands, and thus to contribute as thfir fatlers have before them to establish the prosperity of the colony on a lasting basis. v - Believing that the mining interest in this great Province is as yet only in its infancy, I think the Superintendent should always remember how industrious a portion of the gommunity the miners are : how largely they contribute to the permanent wealth and to the revenue of the Province and colony : how trained they have been in the habits ancl hardships of colonial life : and how important it therefore is to the colony to retain them here, To attain this desirable object measures should be , devised by which they could occupy freeholds while still engaged in mining pursuits. Restrictions al present placedjupon them should be modified and relaxed, and the unjust taxation to which they are now subject should be re-adjusted and equitably distributed cfter the entire community. I do not $^fck thai the principles which contro and regulate general public education in this Pro vince, as they have now been settled, need be *c opened by the Superintendent : but Ido think tha the sybtem of taxation established for educationa purposes should be ru-considered. All who dray wealth or revenue from this country are interestet in seeing the rising generations grow up educatec and well-conducted members of the community but it is the duty of all to contribute with aomi reference to thair wealth, and it seems Laid t< oblige the struggling labourer to pay largely fron his email means for this purpose, whilst those wlu drawjjreat incomes from Ne\r Zealand, pay but i trifle in proportion to their ability, or, if they bi absentees, pay absolutely nothing. I originally 'devised and introduced into thi Province a system of Hundreds, presided over b 1 Wardens, which has since been elaborated into th present Highway Board system. I am gad t< know that these local ' bodies havo well earnei and deserved each fresh cohesion that has hee;