Page 5 Advertisements Column 3

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 100, 4 December 1852, Page 5

"Act.) The Superintendent is to hold office during the same term as the Provincial Council, and lose it with the dissolution of that body ; but to be eligible for re-election. In reminding you of the duties now before you at these three elections, this Society can hardly use more impressive words than those of Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in a letter recently addressed through Mr. Godley to the public here, communicating the intelligence of the passing of the Act. ; " Whom do you think," says he, " of choosing as members of your Provincial Council 1 The choice is with you alone, and, except as to the thirteen excepted articles of power, the men chosen by you will constitute a local Parliament for your Settlement; What man amongst you do you think most worthy of being elected Superintendent? Except as to the thirteen excepted articles he will be the Governor of your Settlement; not a Lieutenant receiving orders from some superior at a distance, but the head of your own Executive, responsible only to you. Who are the men amonst you most fit to compose the general Parliament of New Zealand—to make laws for the general good of the Islands, for adding distinctness and strength to your Provincial powers, for (if you should desire it) giving you in your own Settlement, the management of its own waste lands —to exercise that judgment, firmness, and moderation, by which the Governor, representing our Queen", may be induced to exercise his authority on tbe Canadian plan of a Ministry responsible to the colony—to make such desirable amendments of the Constitution as are authorised by itself, and to obtain such other desirable amendments as may require an Act of the Imperial Legislature ? Who are the fittest men ? Think, inquire, discuss, differ, canvass, make ready to elect: the whole matter is in your unfettered hands. And compare all this with what you now endure, and would have endured, nobody can say how much longer, if this had not been obtained. I fancy that your first act on receipt of this news at each Settlement, will be to hold a public meeting and vote an address of thanks to Sir John Pakuigton for having restored to you that birthright of Englishmen which, under his predecessors, you had forfeited by helping to extend the British empire." You must also remember, however, that your first use of this restored birthright will he narrowly watched and commented upon. The enemies of Colonial freedom, who would have continued to deny you this birthright, will be ready with ill-natured criticism of your first efforts, and with sneers at any mistakes which you may make. The friends, who have gained you this instalment of good government, will also watch you, with good wishes for your success, and with an eager hope that you may rightly use what power you have got, in order to obtain as much more as may be required. Do not, then, despise the great and honorable privileges entrusted to you. Satisfy your wellwishers by taking an earnest interest in the rights of electors. Strive to learn the full extent of your privileges ; and then determine to exercise them with prudence, careful judgment, and manly independence. Remember that, in this new land of ours, where honest industry and good conduct never long fail of being rewarded by easy competence, and good prospects for your children, that you are not, as in the old country, at the mercy of an imperious landlord, or exposed to the temptations which might be offered by a wealthy candidate. Even though you be tenants or householders, you can easily find another landlord if your vote should offend your present one. Are you freeholders ? There can then be no bad influence, either of powerful neighbour or superior of any kind 3 which can affect your prosperity. You need not bow to threats of anger ; you need not yield to promises of reward: but you can vote with upright and uuwarped judgment, yielding only a willing submission to that legitimate influence which may be exercised over the freest men, by those whom you know to possess honesty as well as knowledge, and the will to exercise their talents with gentle, yet earnest, consideration for your wants, rather than for the advancement of their own individual career. We bid you farewell, then, sincerely trusting that this your English birthright will be used by you the more successfully and worthily, that you are here freed from many of the restraints still placed upon it in your native country: and looking heartily forward to the great improvement iii every way of the common weal, through the healty working of the better institutions, now soon to be enjoyed by every dweller in our adopted land. By order of the Christchurch Colonists' Society, H. J. Tanceed, Chairman.