THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 3, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1663, 3 December 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 3, 1873.

The quotation of "contemporary comments " is less a feature of the New Zealand Press than it is at Home, where the variety of sentiment warrants even the publication of a., paper devoted to and designated " Public Opinion." Each individual writer pronounces his opinion upon public, questions, but neglects to quote his. neighbor's, thoughts, though they.^may be; superior and more elsgan tly expressed than his own. It is a sequence that there is a good deal of that selfassertion which culminated once when the editor of a small paper said " We again warn the Emperor of Russia." Thus the public accept expressions by the Press more as the utterances of an individual than as sentiments with which there is common or general sympathy. This has been particularly illustrated in connection with the comments which have been made on the candidature of Mr Curtis and Mr O'Conor for the Nelson Superin tendency. Because, on the West Coast, they have apparently emanated from one source, the deduction is that they are merely individual sentiments, and considerable: care has been taken to .represent that they are so. The quotation of contemporary opinion would, however, prove the contrary. Columns could be filled with opinions from all quarters corroborative of the sentiments which have been expressed in these, on that particular subject, and, but for the " limits of space," we should and might quote largely from contemporaries. Occasionally, though not largely, we have done so, and on this occasion we quote from a contemporary whose opinions are worthy of being considered. A telegram from Wellington tells us : —

" The Indepetulent of Friday, in an article on the contest for the Superintendency of Nelson, congratulates Mr Curtis upon the circumstance that Mr O'Conor has so thoroughly exposed his faults and failings, by his blatant and abusive speeches, that, in spite of a good deal of political unpopularity, Mr Curtis is gaining an advantage from the fact that, however unpopular he may be as the Superintendent of Nelson, he is respected as a gentleman. It proceeds to say — 'From the beginning of Mr O'Conor's candidature he has done nothing but abuse in the .most indecent manner his opponent, Mr Curtis, and all connepted with him, and every newspaper which has dared to doubt that Mr O'Connor was fit for the office of Superintendent of Nelson, He has indulged in accusations and statements of a sensational kind, which upon examination have been found to be utterly without foundation. Mr Curtis was placed at a disadvantage in addressing the electors in the mining districts," because Mr O'Conor had preceded him, and had poisoned the public mind against him, but it says something for the intelligence of the miners that they have listened respectfully to the complete refutation which Mr Curtis gives to the charges oj! his rival, and that they have in public recalled their previous verdict in favor of Mr O'Conor, and given theircontidencejfcuMrQurtis, Thatthey have done so is idue to that innate respect for truth and honesty which is a : characteristic of Britons.- They ; may have had occasion to be diasatistied with Mr.Curtis's past administration, but they, appear to recognise that it' would be safer to pardon the, past anjqi. trust tei the future amendment 'promised by, ojpe.. whose faults they, know, than' trust jtheir pujjlip affairs to one who is B.ptoriously_ shifty, and who, to those who know him, is entirely un^tted for the post he seeks to.occupy. On many grounds it is to be hoped that Mr Curtis will be re-elected. Whatever f aalts he possesses are simply those arising from a want of perception. He, like, many others, has the past failed to recognise the enornio,uß;fll)ange'in the condition of the

Colony, and the consequent necessity for more active and progressive administration, but the truth has gradually dawned upon his mind, and has . latterly been forced upon him in a ' manner calculated to awaken him, and more stolid men than him.' The Independent concludes by saying that "Mr Curtis has not been equal hitherto to the necessities of his position, chiefly because he has doubted the permanency of gold-fields settlement. !So did many well-intentioned men think with regard to the gold-fields of Otago, but their timorous prophecies have been nullified by the natural logic of facts. Mr Curtis now evidently realises the mistake he has committed, aud> should he be re-elected, will doubtless set himself to work as Mr Fitzherbert has done in the Province of Wellington, to retrieve the mistakes of the past and initiate a vigorous policy for the future. The people of Nelson have hitherto been credited with considerable patriotism with respect to their own Province, but if they have a spark of this self-respect left they will hesitate before they venture to assist in placing in the seat of their Chief Magistrate, Mr E. J. O'Conor."