THE APPOINTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1431, 14 July 1865, Page 7

THE APPOINTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENTS.

TO T0« »D1X0» Of THB LTTTKI.TOIf MM*. SlB,~" Better to bear the ills we have than fly to those we know not of " is peculiarly applicable to the question of Nominated versus Elective Superintendents. But inasmuch as a resolution was proposed (if my memory serves me correctly) in the Provincial Council of Canterbury, affirming the advisability of electing tho chief magistrate by that body, I wish to warn your readers of the threatened danger of losing so valuable a privilege, and, indeed, a right. Most of your readers aro probably aware that, in those provinces which have been formed under the " New Provinces Act," tho Provincial Council elects the Superintendent, so that the Canterbury people may fairly consider tho opinion of residents in those provinces as valuable from experience. I do not hesitate to say, and am fully convinced, that nineteen-twentieths of the electors in Southland will endorse the statement, that the answer to the question of "Whom will you vote for for Superintendent?" was the vital—in fact, the point that decided the election of their representatives. I need not dwell on the injurious effect such a course of procedure may hive on the welfare of tho State j I merely state the fact. Already a great deal of dissatisfaction has been expressed at the votes of several of the members, and I venture to assert that had the electors of the province of Southland the privilege of electing the Superintendent, one half of the present members would not have been elected. Your readers will remember (as the Lyttelton Times supplies more news from the different provinces than any other newspaper that comes into my hands) the unseemly strife that occurred at the election for the Superintendoncy by the present Council. The loss, too, of a whole session's legislation in consequence of the illegality of the first election; and the fact that the public have not had an opportunity to declare in favour or against the gentleman ultimately elected, inasmuch as his name was not brought forward during the election of the members themselves. let the electors in Canterbury seriously consider the question before the next election of representatives in the General Assembly, and, although the principal opponent of the present system in force in Canterbury is undoubtedly a talented man, I think it would bo better to lose his services than one of your most valuable privileges. I have, «c, W. B. S.

Invercargiil, Southland, July 3,1865.