To the Electors of the Town of Christchurch. Gentlemen, T BEG to offer myself as a Candidate -*- for the honour of being one of your Representatives in the Provincial Council. Should you honour me with your confidence I trust I shall give you no just occasion to regret it. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, Alfred C. Barker. Christchurch, July 26, 1853. To the Electors of the Town of Christchurch. Gentlemen, TTAVING been frequently requested to . -*-*- come forward as a Candidate, at the ensuing Election for Members of the Provincial Council of Canterbury, and having received very kind promises of support, I am induced to offer myself as a Candidate for the honour of being one of your Representatives for the Town of Christchurch in the Provincial Council, and, should that honour be conferred upon me, I earnestly trust that my constant exertions for the benefit of our town and of the province generally, will give you no cause to regret your placing in me that confidence which I now seek at your hands. Without at present entering into any details I would wish to state that I think it most desirable that the Legislative Assem - bly should confer on the Provincil Councils, powers as large as possible (consistent with the provisions of the New Zealand Constitution Act) ; and especially, the regulations as to Waste Lands in, and more ample powers of appropriating the Revenue of, each Province, I should wish to have placed, under the jurisdiction of its own Council. I remain, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, J. C. Porter. Christchurch, July 6. To the Electors of the Town of Christchurch. Gentlemen, TN compliance with the request of a large -*- number of your body that I would become a Candidate for a Seat in the Provincial Council, I beg to solicit your support at the forthcoming Election. Ever since my arrival in the colony, amongst the first body of settlers, my attention has been directed to the examination of those engineering questions connected with the communication between the Port and the Plains, on the judicious solution of which so much of the prosperity of the Settlement depends; and should Ibe1 *1 honoured by your confidence with a Seat in the Council, my time and energies will be devoted to the consideration of the best means of attaining this important object, and to the promotion of such plans as may be found most desirable, when an examination of the several proposed routes by competent engineers shall have furnished, the Council with sufficient data on which to ground a sound opinion. It will also be my earnest endeavour to forward to the utmost of my power the completion of the roads already marked out on the Plains, the opening up of the back country by the erection of bridges, and the establishment of ferries over the large rivers ; to promote the formation of a system of public drainage throughout the valuable tracts of swampy land in the vicinity of the Capital, and to urge the enactment of such saniiory regulations as may be necessary to preserve the supply of water to our towns in a pure and wholesome condition. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, Edward Dobson. [ Tuam Street, Christchurch, July 27, 1853.