The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1672, 26 April 1866, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

A pamphlet issued from the Press office, and written by Mr. Jemingliam "Wakefield, purports to give that gentleman's reasons for not voting for Mr. Moorhouse as Superintendent. We hardly know whether Mr. Wakefield lias been selected as the mouthpiece of his party to give in this form their general reasons for preferring Mr. Lance, or whether it is simply a little conceit on Mr. Wakefield's part which makes him publish to his neighbours what are to be considered as his thoughts alone. However, whether we have here the authorised party views of the governing class of Canterbury, or only the utterances of the most rabid parfcizan among them—the ingenious, unscrupulous, and irrepressible Mr. Wakefield—it is equally satisfactory to know the worst that can be said against Mr.'Moorhouse, ; at the climax of popular excitement.' As Mr. Moorhouse will in all probability be the Superintendent of Canterbury for four years to come, we are glad to have stated once for all, under the signature of somebody who cannot be accused of hesitation in denouncing his enemy, all the facts and suspicions on which the anonymous slanders levelled at the candidate for the last six months have probably been based. The first reason alleged against Mr. Moorhouse is that he was a party to attempting to get £SOOO out of the public chest. There is not a word of proofgiven; butthereisa great deal said about house rent and salary, the bearing of which on the point at issue we fail to imagine. The same charge has been made anonymously over and over again. No proof has ever been brought of it. On the other hand, proofs to the contrary have been exhibited with great care and completeness time after time. The .accusation is a mean and feeble falsehood.

Secondly, Mr. Moorhouse is accused of giving evasive answers to some questions. This is possibly true. We should advise him to give that kind of answer to any question asked in the spirit of the pamphlet before us. Thirdly, Mr. Moorhouse is said to be identified with the squatting interest. We may take this charge along with the eighth and last—that he would encourage his own followers to bleed the public purse. We appeal to the public, to the common experience of Mr. Moorhouse's conduct. Has he ever been known to gratify his own friends or any particular class at the expense of the public ? There never was an official so free from the stain of private partiality. The fourth charge is that Mr. Moorhouse did not float the loan when he might have done so at a premium. But he went out of office as soon as the to the Loan Bill. He was afterwards for a fortnight in Mr. Bealey's Executive. He had no opportunity to direct the sale of the debentures. What his advice to Mr. Bealey was we leave to be told by those who have a right to speak of the facts,

The fifth charge occupies six pages. It is that Mr. Moorhouse played tricks with the constitution by being returned for both Mount Herbert and Westland. The accusation of" playing tricks" is indefinite. But the people of Westland have said that they accept Mr. Moorhouse as their member because he is likely to be Superintendent. If he is not elected, his opponents threaten to petition against his return to the Assembly. In his double capacity Mr. Moorhouse will be most useful to the province by uniting the sympathies of both sides. Mr. Wakefield urges that he shall not be elected Superintendent; therefore that he shall be rejected if possible as member for Westland; and therefore that the link between the two sides of the province shall be broken and the separation of Canterbury into two be certainly effected! This is the only result to which Mr. Wakefield's argument can logically lead.

The sixth reason why Mr. Wakefield cannot vote for Mr. Moorhouse is that the Immigrants' promissory notes were so badly drawn that the amounts cannot be recovered. And the seventh is_ that it is not quite certain who will be chosen as his Executive. The two may be replied to together. If Mr. Wakefield be returned for Christchurch, and if Mr. Wakefield be approved'of by the Provincial Council, his Honor will call even him to his Executive-so Mr. Moorhouse has promised—and then he will be at liberty to perform the functions of his department free from undue interference, whether those duties be to draw a Bill, or a promissory note, or only the salary of the office. The Superintendent will not take from him the responsibility for any mistake which he may make in any of his tasks, even in in the important matter of the form of a promissory note. Mr. Wakefield has given eigtit reasons why he cannot vote for Mr. Moorhouse. There were eight reasons once given why a certain sexton did not ring the church bell. The first was that the man was dead. Mr. Wakefield might have been content with what is really the first on his list—that he does not choose to vote for Mr. Moorhouse. All other reasons are capable of easy refutation; but this one cannot be gain-said or disputed.