NOMINATION FOR EDEN.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4198, 27 January 1871, Page 3

NOMINATION FOR EDEN.

j Tub nomination for the electoral district of Eden was held at Fewmarket yesterday at il2 o'clock. The meeting was held in the open air. There were about fifty person^ present. > The Returning Officer (Mr. Naughton) having read the writ of election, Mr. Henry Ellis proposed Mr. John Kerr, of Panniure, as a fit and proper person to represent the electoral district of Eden in the General Assembly. Mr. Kerr, he* said, had sat for several sessions as a member for an a ueUlaml constituency, and had well discharged his duties. This gave him the greater confidence to propose Mr. Kerr for the district of Eden. The present was not an ordinary occasion in the history of the colony. There was a crisis in its affairs, and they should return to the General Assembly only such men a 9 would impartially discbarge their duty to the colony. They should send men to^represent them fairly and honestly, of good average ability, and he thought Mr. Kerr was a man who came up to those requirements. A great deal would depend upon the course of action taken by their members in the next Assembly. The Government had initiated a policy calculated to do good to the whole colony ; and it wuitld never do to return men who would only give a halfhearted support to the Government ; who, whilst professing to support them, would endeavour to defeat their policy. The province, if not the colony, was in a state of great depression ; and the proposals of the Government were calculated to restore it to prosperity . They sought to foster local industries i to develop their flax manufacture and other branches of industry ; and Mr. Kerr was an advocate of this policy. He , hoped therefore that they would return Mr. Kerr a3 their member in the General Assembly. Mr. IHOMAS Kussell, sen., seconded Mr. Kerrs nomination. Mr. Barton Ireland nominated Mr. Kobert J Creighton. He said this was the fit at time he had taken a part in any public pleasure in nominating Mr. Creighton as their representative for Eden. As Mr. Ellia had said, thia was a crisis m their history ; and it was all the more necessary, therefore, that they should send down their best men uo represent them at Wellington in the Geueial Assembly. Mr. Creighton had been resident amongst them for ten years; he was well known ; he was a man of ability, competent to give facts and figures their due and proper weight in the Assembly, whilst Mr. Kerr was not competent to do anything of the sort. Mr. Creight n would say, if they asked him, that he was a free-trader ; but whilst he objected to a duty on breadstuffs, he did not oppose fostering and protecting those local mauufacturing industries which the colony could support. (Hear.) Mr. Creighton would admit the raw materials used in the manufactines established amongst us, ?nd which the cucumstances of the colony favoured, free of duty, and levy duty off the manufactured article. To that extent he went in the matter of fostering local industries. Flax had been alluded to ; and he (Mr. Ireland) thought that^with little encouragement, they would be able to establish manufactories for weaving "wool-packs and corn sacks, which would enable them to supply the Australian colonies. A reasonable amount of encouragement would enable them to start machinery for this purpose ; and this was one of those industries he understood Mr. Creighton was anxious to promote. Mr. Ireland concluded by paying a personal compliment to Mr. Creighton, and said he was one of the best men they could send down from Auckland. Mr. James Wrioley seconded Mr. Creighton's nomination. In doing so he alluded to the part taken by Mr. (Jreighton last session of the General A&sembly m reference to the land revenue of the colony. ,He thought the gentleman named was one of the best representatives that had been sent down from Auckland -he had always promoted the public interests of the province. He though , if Mr. Creighton's proposal had Wi. QSiKCIfiQU, •AucWancl would oe better o^ £50,01)0 a year j and he trusted that, through his exertions, this result would ~he brought about. Mr. Kerr addressed the electors. He regretted that he had not followed his opponent, because he had already addressed two public meetings and explained his views, and what he had to say additional would be brief. He was ready to concede to Mr. Creighton everything that had been said in his favour; but at the same time he laid claim to special qualifications, which, he thought, entitled him to their suffrages. He was one of themselves. For 30 years he had been actively engaged as a settler in Kden. He had assisted in its progress ; and, as a practical farmer, he believed he knew far more what was required in the country than his friend, who certainly excelled him in c&hsx rakUara.. A. Trnxaher o£ cyaeatuma had been placed in his hand, and he would endeavour to answer them, The first was whether he would move for the repeal of the Civil Service Act. To this he would reply that, from the time Mr. Swanson moved for its repeal in the Provincial Council, he had been opposed to it, and had taken every opportunity of voting against it. He believed the Act should be repealed, or the system altered. Mr. Kerr then proceeded to give illustrations of how the Civil Service Act worked, by placing on the pension list a number ofcompetentofficers,andreplacingthem by others, thus forcing the colony to pay for a double set of officers. The next question had reference to Mr. Busby's claim ; and he was asked whether he would move for the reconsideration of the award. His reply was that this award should have been paid by the colony : it was a colonial charge, and ought never to have been a provincial charge. He thought ib should be reconsidered, and no doubt it would be when the public estate of the colony became colonial revenue. He did not blame the Superintendent, except for not referring the mar-ter to the Council. He waa also asked whether he was in favour of protecting local industries. In answer, he would say that he would protect everything they could nob produce themselves. He was reluctant to put on a tax on bread ; and would not vote for any such imposition unless a proportional c reduction was made on other necessaries of life — as for instance tea, sugar, &u. Another question was, whether he was in favour of the abolition of the Defence Office ? He certainly was in favour of this abolition; but this must be done gradually. They could not make such a sweeping change suddenly. He regarded the Native Minister, Mr. McLean, as the man of all others best calculated to grapple with, the native difficulty, and he was disposed to give him power to deal with it as hitherto. He had no doubt that in time he (Mr. McLean) would restore friendly relations with the natives by persistence in his policy. (A Voice : Flonr and sugar. ) Another question had reference to the abolition of Piovincial Goverment. He was in favour of the Superintendent sitting in the Council, and \»Vik v&esYeai o&us&on&Q <iaiasr all t&» without the intervention of an Executive. At present the provincial revenue was eaten up by departmental expenses and salaries. He would curtail the legislative and increase the administrative power of the Provincial Governments. He had been asked, Are you prepared to support the present Government and their policy 1 ? He was- in favour of giving them a fair trial to carry out their policy. He would be no party to a factious opposition. He thought the Government which initiated a poiky mhould fa'iriy be entitled to carry it out. If they succeeded, the honour would be theirs ; i£ they failed, the blame would be theirs also. I* or his own part he would go in NasL*u-i«4ependeni-Daem-ber. He had nothing to hope from the favour, nothing ,to fear from the frown, f of a Minister : he had no expi-otationa for hiraselfor friends. There was no situation to which he aspired, or which he would accept from any Government. He was in their , hands. They had heard his views, and, if the]y were agreable to them, he hoped they would return him by their votea on Tuesday uext. Mr. Creighton next addressed he ele - tors. He said he could not lay olaira to any nwjcial merit, as Mr. Kenr W done,' for b&w»»UQtW3Agri w Uuru^ Jfoswno forward,

however, at the invitation of over one hundred gentlemen resident in the distriot of Ellen, l who believed him competent to represent | them in the Assembly* ; whilst Mr. Kerr, on j the other hand, was self-nominated. He j would say at the outset that he was far from cherishing any feeling of hostility to his friend Mr. Kerr, who on this occasion was opposed to him. He had known him intimately for years, and neither could nor would say anything offensive of him. He had no < doijbt Mr. Kerr had a more intimate knowf ledgelof the details of farming! ; but; although I he (Mr. C.) had never "Whistled at the plough," he believed that' he tf as ss good a judge of the requircmenfca of the country as that gentleman. Something 'had been said regarding the Government policy. Now, at once he said, if elected, that he would go into the Assembly prepared to give the Government a fair, frank, and independent support ; but he would not consent to forego his own opinions and independence at the bidding of any man or any clique of men. (Hear. ) His conduct hitherto proved thathe had supported the Government fairly, but he had been not a little misrepresented. ■ In the Assembly he had unreservedly expressed his opinion of the Government policy. Hehadgivenitafair and consistent support ; and, since his return, in the Provincial Council, he had succeeded in passing resolutions pledging the Government and province to avail themselves to the fullest extent, and at the earliest possible period, of the Public Works and Immigration Act passed by the Assembly last year. ' Did that look like thwarting the policy of the Government ? Mr. Kerr had told them that he would not consent to fill any office which a Government could bestow upon him, and solicited their votes on that ground. Now, it happened that they were living under what wa« known as Party Government ; and should Mr. Kerr be returned, it might happen that he Would move a resolution that would Unseat the Government. In that case, would this intelligent constituency be satisfied if their representative declined to assume the responsibilities and cares of office, and refused to form a Govsrnment ? Surely the electors of Hd^a. v?au.UL not he satisfied vrlth, second-rate political talent, even on' its own valuation. (Applause.) Mr. Kerr was, no doubt, independent ; but there were duties inseparable from the position to which he aspired, and from which he ought not to make a merit of shrinking. Then, again, his friend had been rather severe, he thought, on the gentlemen enjoying pensions under the Civil Service Act. They were not to blame for that. It was their good fortune ; and the system, not the men, should be condemned. Besides, it was a notorious fact that pensioners were usually long-lived, and if any illustration of that were wanted it might be found in the district of Eden. (Laughter.) He (Mr. Creighton) was in favour of an entire reconstruction of the Civil Service, with a view to economy and efficiency, but it would be an exceedingly difficult thing to accomplish, owing to the hold the civil servants already have on the country. Moreover, it should be remembered that the present Colonial Secretary may be said to Ibe the father of the A ct. He thought a commission, or at all events a select committee of competent men, should be appointed to enquire into and report upon the Civil Service. His opponent had spoken of the success of the Defence and Native Office under Mr. McLean. He (Mr. Creighton) was ready to accord to the Native Minister the fullest credit for his great ability, and he had succeeded to a certain extent in pacifying the natives ; but circumstances had recently occurred which induced him to think that native affairs were drifting to a very unsatisfactory position. He did not think it was creditable to the Government- it was not creditable to any authority worthy of the name of a Government — to permit its own servants to be slaughtered in cold blood, without making a prompt effort to bring the murderers to justice. (Cheers.) Should he be returned, he promised that he would not permit this matter to pass without comment. With regard to the land question, to which reference had been made, he pledged himself, if returned (and it waa the only pledge he gave), that he [ would faring it forward arain. liaal session^ when he pointed out how unfairly the financial resolutions of 1856 operated against this province, which had paid one million pounds sterling for Government purposes more than the Middle Island, the Government endeavoured to stifle discussion, and trample on the motion. But he would not submit to the motion being trampled on ; and, although he had not then been successful, such an effect had been created that he had no doubt in the sequel justice would be done. He desired to go into the Assembly to continue that agitation, as he had intimated he would do were he again elected. Mr. Creighton then alluded to Mr. Busby's award, and explained the part 'he took in Wellington, in placing the amount on loan. It was now in a position to be dealt with by the Auckland mem era as a colonial charge, which it had never been before ; and fco was prepared so to consider it. Reference had been made to the protection to local industries. As had been explained by Mr. Ireland, he was in favonr of stimulating local manufactures to the utmost by every fair and legitimate means. He would assist estab* lished manufactures by the admission of raw materials used in such manufactures free of duty, and by taxing competing manufactured articles of import for revenue purposes. But he was not in favour of taxing the community to enable persons to make merely experimental trials of manufactures, for which there was no local demand.' (Hear.) He had not much further to say, beyond explaining that it would not be in his power to make a personal canvass amongst the electorfl. He hoped they would accept this explanation. He was aware that the present was a critical time in the affairs of the i colony ; and he invited them to consider in | their own minds which of the two candidates they thought best qualified to represent them I in this emergency, and, having satisfied their i minds and consciences, to vote accordingly. If the choice fell upon his opponent, he would be satisfied, and cherish no unkind feeling against anyone in consequence. If their choice fell on himself, he would endeavour to do his duty. After a variety of questions had been pnt by Mr. B. Turner, and answered by Mr. Creighton, the Returning Officer called for a show of hands, which waa declared to be in favour of Mr. Creightou. A poll was demanded by Mr. Kerr ; and, after a vote of thanks to Mr. Naughton, the proceedings terminated. The polling-places are at' Newmarket and Panmure. The poll will be taken on Tuesday next.