DUNEDIN AND SUBURBS SOUTH ELECTION.

The nonrijiat^on of candidates for the vacant seat for Buaedin'jg'd ! Suburbs South in Uis House of RepresentatlVisji took place at noon on Saturday, at the bick of tfieU'ouit House. Between 80 and 40 ■perJoas'.'wer^present.John Gillies, E*q., sheriff and returning officer, opeaei the p;'peee.!ing.i with the usuul ibrirulit'es. Mr DosAtiD Hekm sok propjaatl Mr James Paterson; . ■»■;. Mr Alexander Williamson BeeouJed the motion. ... ' . ' Mr John Jones proposed Mr Julius Vogel. ' Mr James Hattuay, in seconding the motion, said he had had many opportunities, during the last two years, of ob'erving Mr Vogrl's intimate acquaintance with JVesv Zaa'and politics. There was a m m who better upd.r-tood the wants of the citizens of Dunedin ; and vt ry few men who were capable of a-Ivocating their interests so forcibly. Mr Vogel knew well the peculiar requirements, politicaland social, of the people; and few knew better the position which Otago ought to take amongst the Provinces of Jhe Colony. If Mr Vogel was sont to the General As •embly,* the electors might depend that he would his mark tlwre. . - Wo other'caiididate being proposed, Mr Patbrson said the electors were aware that he appaarad before them at their own request. Had he been : left. to his own choice, he would hot have«';^ presented himself as a candidate for the vacant seat. The electors were aware how that seat became vacant.: He was elected some months ng6'; but there appeared to be some irregularity in the mode in which the election was taken, | and it was'thought at the time that it was altogether 'invalid. A loud cry was raised that he ought to re^gn ; but he did not feel justifhd in taking notice of it further than to s.%y that he did not think he was in a position to resign what it was generally thought he did not possess. Ultimately, however, the authorities pronounce! the election perfectly valid, and he was gazetted as duly elected. At that time, the Assembly stood prorogued for two years; a»d he did not think "It worth while to take any immediate action. Latterly, however, an impression had got abroad that the Assembly would be called together sooner than was anticipated, and he then immediately took step 3to set the matter right. He sent in his resignation, which was acaepted. A new writ had been issued, and hence the meeting that day. He had no wish to force himself upon tlie notice of the electors. He had no ambition to be a member of the General Assembly. He was aware that there were many amongst tlie electors far belter qualified than he was to take that position; but he had been requested to come forward, and had done so, and it was for .the electors to siy whether he should be returned or not. Up to a few _minute 3 ago, there had been no hint of opposition j but it wa^ now evident that there was to bs a contest. If tha electors, from the lime thej'' had known him, thought he was worthy to represent them in tho Assembly, they would return him ; if they preferred the othf.r candi'late,'more qualified and more worihy to represent them, they would at once vote for him. He would rather decline the thing than force himself into it; but if the electors wished it, he was at their service, and he would do the best he could to promote the interests of Otago in the House. , A great many questions wou'd come before the Assembly, in which, as a Province, we should have very little interest; and he might confess that with some of those he wa* very indifferently acquainted. He thought the best course to steer ■in •;; regard to ■ them, was to watch their pVogress; to see that, as a Province, we were not saddled with "an- undue proportion of things in which we had no manner of interest, and from which we could derive no benefit. There would be many other questions materially, nay, vitally, affecting us as a Province. ?.* He had. had an opportunity, from the position'he lately occupied, of knowing the vexation and annoyance caused by the want of attention to the aifairs of this Province at head quarters.' It had causefFiJiuch delay,-much heart-burning, and much grievance ; arid many times the Provincial Govern. : ment had been censured, for thing 3 for which they were not at all to blame, the fault lying at head quarters 'in Auckland. He thought that a united effort on the part of the - Otago representatives would go far to remedy this evil, if not to swet-p it away entirely. It should be his endeavor to forward that object to the utmost of hia j power; and he thought that it he was returned, and > was enabled', to lend a helping hand in that way, aud it proved successful, he should have done some good service to the Province. The questions of a general character affecting this Province might be regarded as involving large interests, and as affecting not only this Province but the whole of New Zealand. He was no advocate for Separation in the abstract. He thought that in the abstract it woulii be an evil; but, at the same time, if nothing else-would, cure the evil we complained of, then it must be had recourse to. H« thought that the people of Otag) must nvike themselvej hearJ more than they had been, iv the Councils.of thi3 co'ony. We must be united; and we must make our complaints heard in the House, and demand that we should be satisfied. We must state our requirements plainly and enforce our demands by every means; and if we could not by legitimate means, by our representatives, obtain that justice which was our due, the people thexselves must rise ns one man, and raise a cry which would make itself heard, not only in the Government Houses at Auckland, but in tho Hall ofSt Stephen's and the Palace of St James. If he was elected, he would do his best to please the eleotors; if riot, he was content to remain as he wns. ■'■■■■■-

An Kleotor : Are you one who would disfranchise Port Chaliaei'3 because the choice of the electors happened to fall upon a mun who was unfortunate) Mr Paterson thought it did not belong to him to answer the question; the matter, he thought, was likely to come before tlie House. But he had no hesitation in expressing his opinion that the electors of Port Chalradrs had made a misiake in their choice j but as to the ultimate result of that election, he was not in a position to give a decided opinion. The JSmsctor : Provide > your interests inclined that way, would you deciie that they should be disfranchised ? . ■ Mr Patbbsos : I am not in the habit of consulting my own interests when public matters are at stake. Mr Voosii said he had no doubt that many of the electors would feel rather surprised to see him again before them, after his having so lately sustained two defeats—defeats which were rather ignominious if the numbers of votes polled were taken as the only criterion. But in coming forward* on the two previous I occasions,' and on the present occasion also, he did so! I-less upon, personal'grounds than in order to assert what li 3 conceived to. be a political principle. He ; thought it was not for the interest of the Province, that all power and influence should be tied up in a few exclusive hands ; and it had been, and was, his wish in coming forward, to give the electors the opportunity of electing him, if they so desired, and thus opening out the arena of political discussion somewhat beyond the limits to which it tad-Vrevio'usly been opened. Before stating brieily his vie*#s'offpublc questions, he' could jiot lorbear making a few remarks on the circumstances connected with!the present election. He conceived that Mr Paterson was entitled to every praise for the course he had adopted; 'Elected by an undoubted fluke, ns he was —for he believed that Mr Paterson was nominated and'seconded by the only two persons present who were entitled to do it—a general: belief eiisting that the election would be•.illegal and invalid, he very properly, though tthat,fwliether he happened to represent the electors or not, they had not been allowed a fair opportunity, of expressing an opinion on the matteiv - Circumstances afterwards occurred that left veiy'litttedoubt that the election would be held to be a legal: and valid one; and;''when Mr Paterson, on ascertaining] that fact, resigned, and thus gave the electors an opportuni y of exercising their discretion, he behaved in a mariner which certainly entitled him to very, much credit. -But the"electors would not : show their appreciation of Mr Paterson's conduct by ,refusing't?o exercise ;the,; power of selection whicii he ; had.igiven them•;,'. they, might,,best show that appVciatiou. by," using the option he had'- eiven themv liHe was not; saying which of the candidates '' t liereleetors ought to choose;' butonly that they should not conceive tiiat they were. bound.by the course whicii Mv-PateriiOn,had.pursued—.they should not;thiuk that". having, resigned he had .thereby.'established a claim to be elected on the present jbecasidn. To come " tb; general questions; :: T, he Colony was■ now in the 'midst'ofa>'severe'dnd'mbmeiitoua.!crisis. ■ The; Maori now going on>; were, likely to have^a very; serious influence upon the futureof. .this country;.; whether foraood.or.for eyil,,remained'"to be seen. .It \vas riot likely td'bb'1 a. little War.'', He expected [ .and" hope;!' that■'■rio'w, tlie; Maori: difficulty would-iOs, I 'onoe-'ahd^for' evei":; -settled/«jrlMie War",; indeed,- was i 1 likely to be a very seiious one..;.§ir,j <jfeorge_. Grey, calculated that with tlie present force, or as it existed a little time ago. the expense of the war would be but

little short of a million annually; and, as the elects knew, the Home Government was not much ineliueil to tax British ratepayers to pay for New Zealand disturbances. He thought it was quite a mistake to| say that because Otago was at some distance from the:real theatre, it was riot jntereste'l in the war or in the "disturbance. He conceived that if Ota'go asserted itself, as it should, as the metropolitan province of. the Colony, it. should not be behind-hand in undertaking responsibility, and ia showing its appreciation of that responsibility, which was it 3 ia common witu the rest of tlse Provinces. Very important questions were likely to be brought forward as soon as; the Assembly met. There would be the question'not only as to the apportionment of the expense of the disturbance, but alao mto which Ministry should be supported-whieh policy upheld. When Sir Georise Grey came from England, the great fear in the House,and with the colonists generally, was that he would suspend the Constitution Act. Much had been whispered to the effect that Governor Gore Browne had rpcommended such a course; but tuose statements had since ueen autlioritatively contradicted. It wa«. however, expected that Sir George Grey would do it: and the r'ox Ministry, then in power, understood that its policy was to prevent, m every way possible, the suspension of the Constitution Act. But Sir George Grey came with do such intention. On the contrary, it was his wily policy, rather to saddle the colouy with the responsibility of the proceedings he adopted. The Fox Ministry were, in tact, caught ia their own trap. Instead Of opposing the suspension of the Constitution Act, as they thought, what tbey should have done was to oppose the too great responsibility which Sir George Grey was inclined to throw on the Oolony. But they did not do so. Sir George Grey managed to get them to solicit from him and from the Home Government, responsibility in the management of the native quest»->n The House, finding that the Colony saddled with responsibility in. all mat o of advice as to native affairs, while it had very little power in their control, opposed such a course, and the Pox Ministry were defeated on the question of the native policy. In their place a Ministry wa selected of which the leader was Mr Domett. He could nut express a decided opinion now as to their cour-e. because he was not in possession of all the facts. All he knew seemed to indicate th^t tbey had fallen, to a great extent, into the mistake of the Fox Ministry— that of meddling too much in native affairs ; Bnd there was very little question that they had displayed no more interest in domestic affairs than the previous Ministry had done. Otago could itself assert that the Ministry had in many respects neglected domestic matters; and we knew that almost until quite recently, not one of the Acts passed during the l.st session of the General Assembly was brought into force. These questions were of the utmost importance, and it behoved Otago to take a prominent part in their discussion. Mr Paterson had very'prdperiy said that it was time we should make our voice heard in the Assembly. He was glad to find Mr Patersoii of that opinion; and he could only express the hope that if elected Mr Paterson would show that he was determined to do his best to make Otago'a voice heard in the Assembly. It was perhaps hardly necessary that he should enter minutely into native matters ; bat he might say that instead of allowing the native evil to become a chronic one, to fester for years, and to exercise as hitherto a d<;soiating influence on the Northern Island, he was in favor of almost any expense being incurred, to at once effectually settle it. The course of allowing the natives to fight as long as they pleased, and to m;>ke peace whenever they liked, and not to visit upon them any punishment for their contumacy, was a bad one. Those found in arms against the Queen should be made to understand that they wouid bj visited with substantial and material consequences for their rebellion. The land of all rebel tribes should be at ones confiscated; and all the advantages of the recognition of title to land conferred by the treaty of Waitanai, should cease in so far a3 rebellious natives were concerned. Foremost among**; domestic matters,' he conceived to be the Tariffquestion. The present tariff was a most injurious one, and no Province suffered so much by it. as Otago. Mainly, as it was, aeon-' suming Province, producing very little, the oppressive tariff acted most' injuriously. It "caused a' high cost of food and other articles of necessity • thus making.it necessary that those who worked at'gold digging, and persons employed in every .branch of industry, should earn larger wages thin would otherwise be required, in order that the extra expense of living might be met. The measurement; principle was altogether; wrong: to make the coarse goods required by the working, classes pay morrf to the revenue than the ...finer1 .-'goods' which were used by the richer . classes' was obviously unjust. He could only say that he would spare no pains, if elected, to secure that the question should be brought on in the Assembly, and that a ju3"f."tariff should be substituted for the present in-every-way-unsatislactory ■ one. He was, as they all; knew, an earnest advocate for Separation. He conceived that th 3 interests of both islands required that there should be separation ; but at present he should be very ssrry to see the question brought for-, ward in the House. It would be in the highest degree indelicate, while.Jhe Northern. Islgnd-was in the midst of its present difficulties —which must and did affect both islands—for the Middle Is'and to attempt to separate from the Northern; but when those ditfi cultits were over, he .would spare no pains to bring on the Separation Question, and when once the native difficulty was satisfactorily settled, Separation would find as earnest advocates in the Northern as in the Middle Island. The financial question was an important one. The present Ministry, exceeding its powers, had allowed each Province to borrow almost any sums it thought fit. Now, he conceived that some basis should be ssttled. only in. accordance with which should Provinces bo allowed to borrow. He might state that Mr (Justice) Richmond about three years ago brought before the House a series of resolutions, upon which he pro. po?ed that, in future, the borrowing powers of the Provinces should be based. They fell to the ground •they were proposed at the end of the session, and thoy shared In the " massacre of the innocents." He thought it would be well that they should be revived, or rather, others substituted for them. It should not be left to the arbitrary discretion of the Ministry to authorise the Provinces to borrow a3 they thought fit—some Pro viuces getting more than they wen Tin any way entitled to, and others, perhaps, not beiug allowed to borrow so much as they should. There was one question intimately affecting Otago, to which he wished to refer -he meant improved interprovinc'al communication. Otago, fluiing the last two years, had acquired a position which should make it the commercial depot of the whole oolony : but it was shut out from markets in which it ought to take an active part. Sydney was iv equally, if not more' frequent communication with Atfcklnnl arid Taranaki than Otago was. Sydney had two csrtain mails a month, one to Auckland direct, jthe other by way of Nelson, and sometimes : there were more. When it was considered that during the next year or two, or it might be for longer, Tarannki and Auckland would be very large consuming Provinces, it would be ssen how very.unjust it was that Otago should be shut out from taking an interest in those mwkets. And see how the injustice reflactel from the Province to the Home Government anil to-, th.4 colony generally. The commissariat expenses would be enormous during the war; ;, and it was far the interests of the Imperial authorities,'and for those of the colony, which would bear part of the expense, that goods, &c , should be supplied as cheaply as possible. By shutting Otag j out of the war market,' Otago would certainly suffer; and, equally certain,the colony and.the Imperial authorities would also suffer. He would, if elected, do what he could to secure almost a daily communication between Otago and the North; and in so doing he felt sure that lie should be aiding Otago, and conserving the; interests of the whole colony. He could not conclude wilhout making a few remarks onihimself and the other candidate. He did not conceive that the claim asserted by Mr Paterson wasone which the electors were boundto concede. No doubt, as a private citizen, during a .long series of years, Mr Paterson had earned the re-' spect of those who knew him. He did not question Mr Paterson's merits in that respect;; on the "cou-" trary, he willingly and gladly admitted them. ' But a good citizen did not necessarily make a good mem-' ber. He thought it was a duty; which' the electors owed to Otago, to send'up a good member ; and they had to consider whether 'their knowledge of Mr. Paterson supplied them : satisfactorily with the assurance that Mr Paterson-wquld make a good member of the Assembly.' Was his'voice likely, to be heard there? Was improbable* that j he,* on be2half of the electors would assert the responsibility] which Otigo had a right to assert' in'- all great public questions'} Was hs ' likely' to p'roclaima policy on native affairs, or to! become an authority on them? Was his voice likely to be' heard on the Tariff question ? Wouid lie ttaiid up: and contend- for, until he obtained, more frequent inter-provincial communication? If the electors sent up a membsr who, from previous experience' 'he (Mr Vogel) was entitled to say was likely to be,"a silent member, they forgot the responsibility-rWhich Mr Paterson himself had ;asserted—Of ,' making' Otagp's voice more frequently heard in the Assembly.' It might be said that in all. this he was' asserting, h.a .own qualifications; but he was nbt ...doing so; absolutely. In 'Mr Paterson,*the electors hail'a tried; man, arid they had the right "to sum>ose,! from ex-' perience,' that he had riot.'the quahficati'ohs'/fi'ttiny him" "to" discharge the "duties of the' tiffide-:!.;In Jlim (Mr;"Vosrel) the electors', -had an untried"man1; .True, he might not himself '.', possess the qualificat ons ( named; but he could not "ba: very much worse tlian'a', silent_ member./By sending'him to the Assenibly/if' even as"«n experiment, they iriigut obtairt'a*raember' who would make his voice heard in the Assembly ;

but in Mr ■Paterson they had a man who said that he was not qualified for.the office, and-who iliil not desire to go; to the Assembly. He (Mr Vogel) .would hardly appear before the electors so often, noriw it were, plead his own cause, did ho conciive that uuse to be a personal one. As fur as his own perusal iuteres.'s'we^e concerned,- it would nut 08; to,his a'l^.intaVe ' to. gr1 to ih<} 'Assembly ; for it would involve considerable expense, and a great loss of val'uab c time, iiwl' his frieaJs agnk-d in advising him not to seek to go. Hut ha conceived that ho might possibly bs of some good ti the Province and to the Colony. He did not belie-e ia the platform patriotism -which professed to ba eternally sacrificing; itself for the good of others ; but lie thought, on the other hand, that in the gratification of pci-aunal vanity, if not in higher.xuutive3, there was a ready explanation of the lvasous which induced persons to como forward and. work fqr the stood of othera, and to sacrifice m eh per-sonally. Whilst, ihen, not ppfessing the platform pat''iotis'ia which he had mentioned, he confessed tint he was exceeiingly anxioua togo in to the Assembly, becaußs he conceived he eouki do some good to the Province, [f defeated again he should feel no humiliation for behal no pereonal object to serve. He might be wrong, but he conceived that he was actuated by pure motives; he certainly had no; personal motive, rfuhver had said ''JSrroris sometimes sweet; bub there is no anguish like that for an error of which, we feel ashamed." Ho (Wr Vogel) misht be committing an error, but as ha was not conscious of it, ho wonlH not ♦-el Hirt'liy defeat, for it was not one of which he &lt ashimed. ; ■ On a snow us. Hands, the BETtTRNrso OfMoeh declared that the numbers were—Peterson', 19: I Vogel, 9. Mr Vogel demanded, a poll, which was fixed for Saturday next; and the proceedings were concluded by thanks to Mr Gillies. :