HPO THEELECTORS OF COLLINGWOOD. By an Act of the late General Asserably,';tTie disti'ict extending from the West Coast to! the Water-, shed of the Takaka Valley has been constiluted an Electoral District. I beg to announce my intention of soliciting your votes at the ensuing elections. A district so essentially mineral requires a representative conversant with * your wants and habits. Forty years passed in the pursuit of mines and minerals, justifies my plea of a knowledge of the subject. The present position of political matters in New' Zealand requires the grave consideration of matured.: judgment; it behoves you, therefore, to look well to whom you return as your representative in the new Assembly. The only profession I will make, is that I will serve you faithfully, and will never become a place-hunter. W. LONG WRET. Nelson, November 28. 1410.. rFO THE ELECTORS of the SUBURBAN r -1- DISTRICTS of the PROVINCE OF NELSON.■ Gentlemen—At the request of a number of the electors of your district, 1 have the honor to offer myself as your representative in the next Parliament. ; .:,■■.- ---1 take this early op lortunity of addressing you, as. I am compelled to bf absent from Nelson during the whole of the present month. When the time of elec- : tion draws nearer, I hope to have the pleasure of meeting the electors in the districts, and; giving; them . the opportunity of ascertaining my. views on the. various questions in which they are interested. \' The two leading topics which pre-eminently-occu-pied the attention of our representatives'during :the? , past session, were, what I may be allowed to designate as "the Native Question," and ". the European Settlers' Question. 1' ,■ ''' . The first of these has been so thoroughly discussed, that it is not likely to form a party cry for the future. Still, a brief expression of my opinion on this subject may assist you in determining whether or not 1 am likely to represent your feelings, should this question be again mooted. ; By the Native Question', I mean, the investigations into the origin and causes of the< present tnatiye;disturbances, the steps the.present Ministry,have .iaken, and the policy to be adopted for the future. And here I may state at once that I agree entirely with the Ministerial party. I believe the origin1 of the present outbreak attributable to the weak and vacillating policy pursued towards the natives by previous . Governments, and to the feelings of suspicion and . ! distrust as to our dealings with them (especially regarding land), engendered and fostered in their minds by men calling themselves Englishmen, of whom the Wellington party are the belted, knights. The, result has ; been the. " ELing.movement," and the •' tandleague," which through the medium; of'W. King, has been the immediate cause of the war. ■ '■■• ' ' -i I consider that'the'Government was right;in'grappling with this question at once, firmly, and energetically, and that the present war,.,however.we' may deplore its immediate consequences, is a just andan inevitable one; ribr would I support any Government in concluding a peace, until the nativesare,convinced of the power of the ; British, and accept such terms as ..will prevent the possibility of similar disturbances. ' The conduct of the Opposition, I look upon as a most shameless and un-English attempt to create'political capital. While on this subjecVl may state;; that'l \ would have given my support to the. Native Offenders' , j 8in..... ■ ... ...... .. ~.... . ."...,;.;.;.;. The native policy is now embodied'in'an iet, and a Nominee Council is to be'appointed, whom the Minis- ■ j try will consult on the management of native affairs. This is cerjfiinly experimental, but I believe it to be [ constitutional, and in accordance with the wishes of the Home.Government. . I; now come to the second leading topic,- the; European Settlers' Question; by which I:mean, the relations which ought to exist between the General and Pro* vincial Governments of this Colony. • This is a subject of the most vital importance to us all. The question has been initiated during the past session, but I am.much mistaken if it will not be the rallying cry of the next. Andin this, as;in some other things, I consider a middle course the best, steering clear of ultra-provincialism on the one hand, and too great centralism on the other; enabling the provinces to engage in all those works of utility and progress (which are so ably laid before, you in the Nelson Examiner of December Ist) by securing to them, the administration,of their land revenue, and the power of making all strictly local ordinances; reserving to the General Parliament all general legislation,- and the ; administration of all matters in which the general public are interested. . The Wellington party present'to my mind the picture of Uitra-Provincialism•; the Ministerial party, accused of it by some, do not-appear to me ;to have advanced as yet, too fur in Centralism* ■ . The Financial Scheme of 1856, of which the present Ministry were, and are, the supporters, is the Magna Charta of the Southern Provinces; ho uiore suicidal' act could be performed" by them thar to elect repre- ' sentatives who would side with the opponents;of that. scheme. ■ ■, , , The New Provinces. Act has been the standard round which the contending parties have rallied. The Act itself I condemn; the object for which it was' made* 1 approve. Thafcobject, I hold tobe, togiveto; every district, when .sufficiently,advanced,, the benefits of local self-government; of spending its own income, and making its own local regulations. ; -: Many of you, I am aware, were opposed to the. separation of the Wairau from the province of Nelson*. So was I; bul you and I regarded it from different points of view. You represented the province'from which an important district was separating''taking with it its own revenue, and, sorry to-lbsothe handling of that income, would-have'preferred .$ keep that dig- ? trict, doling out to it its yearly allowance, and spend-, ing the rest for ; yoi^r,inore immediatei ■ benefit, - t I, one of the then members of the district fiilly alive' to1 the- >■ advantage of having the land revenuefbf;tbat district spent by itself,,;and on itself, Jwas'Btill.unwilliDg.lo saddle the district; :with the cumbrous machinery, of : Provincial Institutions, believing that thesaine object , might be achieved by' giving to districts theehtire' management of purely local affairs, l without' allowing, them to be overridden by the existing. Provincial Go- ■: vernments. .' .... ; ; - ;: ;i ,■-~■; ;■ ,■■■..■•:.■,;•: ,■ '. The repeal of the present Act;, in order to substitute another of this nature, would receive niy serious consideration. . ; ; - '•■' ' ; •'■'■ ... I have other objections to the ;Act, such as tha power therein conferred on the ; Governor, in, .Council to create a New Province., . This power should be in the hands of the General Parliament V.who" would decide upon this case on its own'merits; afteifdiie investigation. ■; The number of electors required: to sign the petitions is also, in my;opjnjqnj: too,sutall... ; ; Having thus briefly gjveri^ you some,. key to my ; opinions on the leading questions of the 'fay,' I place myself in your hands; and, should you do me the honor to elect me your Representative, shall endeavour to discharge that duty conscientiously, both to you and the colony at large. ' . I remain, Gentlemen, f our.obedient servant, JAMES BALFOUR WEMYSS. : Nelson, December 3, 1860. . 1467 ■ - NOTICE. :::"~' : .-,:':: :\. ■ ■], TO SVBSCSXBSks ANB ABVSRTXSSXO. THE COLONIST, published every1 Tuesday and Friday morniiig, is regularly forwarded to England,. 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