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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 2, Issue 71, 29 January 1859, Page 3

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To the Editor of the Hawke's Bay Herald. Sir, — I must plead absence and want of leisure as the principal reasons of my silence since the publication of the address of 13th ult., in your issue of 4th December, and, added to these, a wish to allow some of the furor excited by your apparently numerous correspondents to subside, before asking :the public of Ahuriri, through you, *' to review calmly the case as put by me in the address.above .referred to, the weight of the.assertions or justice'of the ai'guments used by- d\lr. Domett's admirers and disciples, or would-be disciples of his school, and the whole question as it now stands, and as our future political status may be affected by it. My chief objections to Mr. Domett, independent of social ones, to which, seeing that they have been unanswered, I need not again refer, — were that he has made traffic of his talents for sake of office, and that, though a clever man in some respects, he is eminently an unpractical one — a careless, lazy, and undecided man of business. And will the electors of Hawko's Bay, and men of Napier in particular, who are invited by Publicola & Co., to choose this man as their leader say, after due reflection, that my charges are not, proven ? Will they accept Publicola's simple denial of the truth of my recital of some parts of Mr. Domett's public career against the fact, patent as it 'is to thousands in New Zealand, that Mr. Domett did '••' sell himself and his party for the office lie, held under Sir G. Grey. Mr. Editor, — you can scarcely be ignorant that this lias often before been urged against Mr. Domett, and that he could never attempt to deny it. Other proofs, however, are not wanting to shew that Mr. Domett has always been .ready to sell his talents to the highest bidder. Can the people of Napier forget that, after entertaining him at a public dinner previous to his - leaving this for Auckland, and when they hoped great things from him after the promises he made, — that he did nothing for them, that no effort was made to enforce their claim to military protection, then so much needed, or anything else in their regard ; but- that he used tho opportunity for . himself in making a better bargain for his talents,, arid securing himself a better position and better pay at Nelson than he was likely to continue to enjoy here— the place for which he now ;. .professes, so much, attachment. -Were the., pt^aph* ■'■}. of^Napier sati9Lfied v at|his desertion of them tlfen? .A^id "to "-rid 'that 'after bearing patiently the inconvenience arising from the absence of the Eesideht .Magistrate for. so many imonths,, that, worthy ..man -.^threw. them and; their interest-*; overboard, and ; .went away, long before his successor was appoint- ; jech to enjoy his better place at Nelson ? Were !c,,tliey satisfied at his liberality, generosity, high ■: §&as^ bt honor, &c,, when they learned, that 'he

never offered to the gentleman who discharged j the onorous duties of his oflice of Commissioner of Crown Lands, during his absence, the usual allowance of half pay, or. the- smallest-' compJEmsation for his trouble, but; thiit'he coolly pocketed the whole of his pay, : besides the pound per diem... allowed to members of the House of Be* iresentatives, which made'his trip to Auckland a pretty j good spec, on the whole. Sir, a great mistake has been made. by one of your correspondents who made reference to the public dinner given to Mr. Domett, and from which it wouid appear to have taken place when he was finally leaving this : the dinner in question was in reality given before he went to Auokland. Of his return or subsequent departure no notice was taken ; but I believe the feeling on the minds of the people at the time was one of indignation at their interests being so little regarded by him, as to leave his post the moment it suited his purpose, and before any arrangement for the appointment of a successor, or carrying on the duties of his office till his arrival, had been made. And that they did suffer great inconvenience from the conduct of Mr. Domett for many months after, will be in the recollection of many. Let us now follow tho political career of Publicola's idol at Nelson. What do we find ? Why, that as Editor of the 'Nelson Examiner' he wrote andtook part against Mr. Super'n eaden't "Eobinson, till the latter, finding it expedient to do away w th his opposition, offered him office, and bought his adherence and support, as Sir G. Grey had done. Let Publicola & Go. deny this if they can ; or will they openly confess the truth that the dissatisfaction expressed by the proprietor of the ' 'Nelson Examiner' at this inconsistency on the part of Mr. Domett, caused the retirement of the latter from the office of Editor. Surely, after all this, it is not unreasonable to be suspicious of a person who has acted thus, and who for aught we know may yet make tools of us by and by, playing off perhaps a game for his own advantage between this province and one of the others, or it might be, with the Genei*al Government. We have still to examine our would-be Supci*intendent's administrative abilities. "Ono of his supporters instances the altered, stats of things now, when the civil power has a strong military , force at its bae'<, as a reason why comparisons be- . tween the present and Mr. Domett's, time would be unjust ; but this would not apply to his con- 1 duct as Crown Lands Commissioner, which no one can say was ever characrei'ised by anything like decision or energy ; whilst we have seen innumerable instances of a lamentable want of both these qualities, where there were no. natives to • embarrass him in the matters brought before him , for adjudication. Again, what justification can be urged in defence of his utter carelessness and inattention to official duties which caused tho .confusion in which he left the public accounts of the department on his retirement from the office of Com- } missioner of Crown Lands li3rc. The particulars of this portion of his conduct are at present known to but few • though in the event of Mr. Domett's being brought forward as a candidate at the ensuing election, they will most certainly be made public as one of the strongest reasons against entrusting him with the management of our concerns. I enclose, however, in the mean time, for your information and that of Publicola & Co., should they desire to hear the contents from you, a private note of the chief points of the matter referred to, and they can of course judge whether Mr. Domett is likely to be much obliged to them or not if through indiscreet zeal m his service they force the publication of facts not yet generally known, but which would be added in futuro to his Neto Zealand reputation. Ail I will now say is that if we would not wish to see the financial affairs of our new province plunged into inextricable confusion and disorder the less we havo to do with Mr. Domett the better. From the article republished in one of your late issues, out of the 'New Zealander,' Aye are invited to believe that ivlr. Domett is doing a great, deal at Nelson, where he is said to be the only working man, — but what is the true state of the case ? It. is simply, if we can believe very creditable authority, that the Superintendent there allows the men, whose mouths he stopped by office, to do just as they please, not having, from natural • talents or ability, the slightest control over them; and in proof of this we see that in place of making roads, even to her gold diggings or carrying out any great scheme of public improvement, Nelson is of all the southern provinces that in which the .least amount of improvement is earned on. Let Mr. Domett's friends, however, shew what lie has really done at Nelson, — what places he has advocated, and works he has executed, since ho held one of the chief offices of government there, — what economy he has used, and what reforms he has adopted as regards the acts of less capable predecessors; for unless some good proof of practical ability can be shewn of his doings at Nelson, all experience that we have hitherto had of him is against the supposition that he would be the right man for Hawke's Bay. We have at present no reasonable grounds to expect even practical me-' diocrity if he were to take the direction of our affairs. As an elector of Napier, I am anxious to know, should Mr. Domett be brought forward for the town, can his friends give any pledge that he will sit, if returned as a simple member of Council, or is it only in the event of being elected Superintendent with a suitable salary that he will honor us with his presence? Is he, in fact, to act on the well-known proverb of 'not throwing oxA the dirty water before he has had tho clean? Or, in becoming a* candidate, will he first of all free himself from the official ties that bind him to Nelson. Meantime, however, let us consider what are the great reasons put forward by his friends to induce us to vote for him. They are principally his New .Zealand reputation,— his knowledge of New. Zealand ■ affairs,— his great ■ .- cleverness, -&c. : . kc. Sir, I do not think .the intelligent, people of Na-'! .'pier will- be imposed oh by such. shallow state-. J ments ; they will rather inquire, what' has lie really ■ done, — arid whether they * shall' 'how recant their late creed, and give the lie- to all their opposition and indignation against the government of Dr. Featiierston, by setting up themselves a petty' dictator whose every word shall be law, and whose supposed tranacendant talents will destroy' all opposition to his will, Yet what else do Mr.

'Domett's admirers mean but this ? Or how other-' wise can you; explain the absurd and ridiculous language used by them in reference to him ?—absurd after our late contest with the autocrat Featherston, and ridiculous when applied to" Mr. 'Domett, who has never yet in any way Bignalised -himself for the efficient discharge of the practical duties of office. Would not there bo great inconsistency, as I before observed, in clamouring' loudly for local self government ;' and, by our first act after we had got ib, virtually declaring that we were not able to make use of it without external aid. Should we not run great risk too in having for a leader an absentee, — one who cannot have felt on the subject of Provincial Government as we have felt, and who from being accustomed to tho state of things established in the older provinces, would, in all probability, only strive to inaugurate here the same sort of institutions with their expensive train of official dignitaries, that has been found so burthensome elsewhere. Could we, in fact, expect Mr. Domett to do more ? , A few words regarding tho original authors of the Domett movement may not be out of place. Who are they ? Are they persons who could stand forth in our service and whom we could make responsible in case of failure? I believe the}* are not. The two principal and noisiest promoters of the movement are well known to bo gentlemen holding official stations, who will care very little whether our future government be expensive and ill-worked, or economically and efficiently ; and to whom it will bo a matter of small moment whether roads arc opened, and the settlement of the country advanced, so long as they are allowed to lead a quiet life and receive regularly their monthly pay. One of these gentlemen is entirely precluded by the office he holds, and the expressed wishes of his superior, from meddling in provincial politics ; which makes the part ho has lately taken in trying to write Mr. Domett into popularity here particularly obnoxious and open to rebuke • for, having accepted the important office he holds, with the conditions annexed to it, he lias no-right whatever to stir up dissen^tion or angiy feelings among the people, Avhose servant he is, merely to gratify some private likings of his own. The other, a subordinate of another office, is scarcely worth pointing out, except to remind you of the weight to be attached to his political principles,- by calling on you to recollect his inconsistency at the last election for Superintendent, and voting at the poll for Dr. Featherston — the very man he had publicly abused and spoken against for day3 previously. What his motives are for wishing Mr. Domett to come forward can be easily divined, for without him or some other staunch friend to screen his official irregularities, visions of future inquiry into the expenditure of his department, and why so much of his time is "idled away at Napier, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his superiors for leaving his party so often, may possibly cause disagreeable anticipations in his lively imagination, and urge him to active mcasui'es for a future, protector. But will the people of Napier accept such leaders, who, by bad arguments, noisily advanced in pompous prose and execrable verse, try to write a man with antecedants like Mr. Domett into public favor here, where he is. to ..the greatei-.parl; , of the present" inhabitants a stranger ? These men can indeed lead them into mischief by inducing •the unwise, particularly new comers, to vote as they do, but can they stand forward in times of difficulty, or bear the brunt of public indignation should they turn out deceivers ? I think you will admit that they cannot, or would not, and that their interests arc not identified with the masses of the people that they seek to direct. Finding that this letter has already grown to a much greater length than I intended, I must defer till next week a few remarks on what I believe to be the great points for us to consider in regard of our future government, its resources, the expenses of its administration, and the disposition of surplus revenue, which it is quite as proper to discuss now as to waste much farther time in writing about Mr.^Domett's or any other candidate's capabilities would be to neglect the realities for ; which we have so long struggled, whilst disputing i about what may after all be a shadow. i . I remain, Sir, '• Yours, &c, , " - Yekitas. Napier, Jan. 18, 1559.