THE ELECTIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1695, 23 May 1866, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

To-day isthe Nomination Day for the purpose of naming a fit and proper person to be Superintendent of Canterbury far four years to come. To-day the electors of Canterburj are supposed by the forms of law to choo3e their ruler; in fact, to go through the process described in the most ancient of parables, when the Trees of the Field addressed to each

of their number in turn the entreaty—- " Come thou and reign over us." By pursuing this plan, which made the office of ruler appear to be one of duty and not of honour, the trees could find no other candidate .than the Bramble to accept the appointment. But in these latter times we manage better. We don't meet on the Nomination Day entreating our fellow-citizens to accept the duty of governing the country. We make out the office of Superintendent to be one of such transcendent honour that it must be sought for. We stimulate candidates to come round to the electors entreating them, and not being entreated byjthem. We gather in a crowd, and build a high place, and cause the fellow-creature who would reign over us to mount thereon and exhibit himself. We mock at and jeer him; we are scarcely restrained from stoning him with stones. We exult over him, and cause him to bow the head, and. to say humbly—"l beseech you, good people lend me your sweet voices." Thus is the coming ruler of Canterbury made of less account by his subjects than the candidate for King of the Bush—Bramble though he might be-was made by the great Forest Trees who desired him to reign over them. But the result is better; we are not so likely to get a Bramble for Superintendent; and as to the humility on the hustings, why, that passes away at the declaration of the poll. At the same moment many other changes occur. One man from a simple citizen becomes " Hii Honor;" another gives up his mid-day lounge in the bureau of state, and remains at home a private citizen. Electors who were ready to bite and tear one another resume habits of cordial intercourse. The partizans. of the beaten candidate forget as loon as may be the error of their ways, and bend the knee before the Rising Sun. The supporters of the successful candidate hugely congratulate themselves on the victory, and then make ready for more successes. Said one enthusiastic elector to another in America—- " Shure, we've won th'election, Tim. It's our man that's in; and it's liimsilf is the Govermintnow." To whom Tim,—" Div ye say that? Hooroosh for our side; an' ould Ireland for iver! An' he's the Goveimint, is he now ? Then I'm agin him from this out, for I'm agin all Govermint." The candidates have to be brought up today and presented by their sponsors to his Majesty the People for hit Majesty's approval. We all know who the three candidates are; no one of them is likely to retire, nor is any fourtk candidate likely to present himself, except for a " lark "or a " dodge." If there are any among us so ill-informed as not to know who the three candidates are, and all about them, we are happy to be able to supply the information, which has been sent us in the Mowing concise form by some unknown poet : There was an old man of the law, Who was terribly fond of a jaw. As he Traversed the plains He got bumped for his pains; That quacking old man of the law.

There was a young person called James, Whose party were up to all games. As they Lanced his youug gums, lie twiddled his thumbs;— That genteel young person called James. There was an ex-Super called Bill, Who was worth all the rest, and more still, He made the hill-hole, And was top of the poll; That popular Super called Bill.

The most ignorant cannot surely need more information concerning the candidates' persons than we have now given. But if he want to know the outline of their political creed, we must go a little further.

! The proposer of Mr. Moorhouse to-daj will probably tell the large circle of his friends gathered around him, that in a Superintendent braiqs are good, honour and integrity are good, experienceis good, a hearty desire for the welfare of the province is good, and performances are at all times better than promises to go by. Therefore, &c, &c. The seconder of Mr. Moorhouse will concur with the observations of his esteemed friend. And Mr. Moorhouse will explain that his policy is to do his best. It is expected that the crowd will becomo excited with the stimulating character of these speeches; so, to prevent accidents, the whole Canterbury constabulary force is to be posted in a shed in the rear of the Town Hall. The great Duke of Wellington, in times of riot, said "Don't show your soldiers." And the Canterbury constabulary, consistently with its refined military appearance, is nurtured and disciplined on the highest military maxims. It will be "all there," but out of sight. The next candidate's turn comes. There may be a struggle for last place between Mr. Lance and Mr. Travers j but let us suppose that the former comes second in order. His proposer will of course address the .people somewhat thus :—" Snobs 1" The word "gentleman" is reserved for a chosen few. "Snobsof Canterbury 1 I have a swell to proposo as Superintendent. He is in all respects a gentleman, warranted extra-genteel, and therefore the only respectable candidate for the Superintendency. Snobs of Canterbury ! I have the honour to propose, '&(!., &e., &c." What the seconder will have to say we can't imagine. But the candidate, when he stands up, will hold his tongue about the gentleman theory. He is at least too good a one to talk about it. And he will go slap bang into his notions of things in gnneral. It was a little amusing to hear Mr. Lance on Thursday evening last doing some

unfeigned admiration of the Land Regulations. Why, we all knew everything about that years ago. A true Canterbury man treats the Land Regulations as a fifth Gospel, gnd considers them next in sanctity to the Book of Common Prayer. We don't need to have so well founded a faith confirmed by faint praises, A story goes that one of the celebrated philosophic French infidels one day found a copy of the New Testament in the study of a priest of his acquaintance. He began to read it, and was so much pleased that lie went on and through the book. When he had finished, lie hurried to his acquaintance mid saluted him with " There are some excellent passages in that work, I assure you, some very nice bits indeed; quite worth your readingl" And so thinks Mr. Lauce of the Canterbury Land Regulations. But he has to be heard about Pre-emptive Eights. He has been bold enough to propose the total abolition, or at least a great curtailment of those rights, most obnoxious to settlement, which are granted for improvements on runs. What do our friends the runholders say to that ? And is the abolition to be prospective only, or retrospective also ? Now comes Mr. Travers. No need of proposer or seconder for him. He can introduce himself, and talk for himself without any. excess of bashfulness. If the hustings were a caravan, our friend the owner, bis occupation travelling from fair to fair, his livelihood gained by the practice of Dutch auction on damaged goods, our friend could not be more at home. He will put you up any commodity, say Waste Lands, at any jlgtlre, and consent to any reduation in order (, to do business. "At £3, going at £3 ; any purchaser at Three. Two-fifteen; Two-ten; any o,ne say Two Pounds Ten Shillings? Agricultural land, fit for the plough I Let us say Two Pounds then, to farmers only. Squatters and capitalists, half-price." Our friend has a great deal to say; and for all his assertions he has one'excellent formula of proof. He has found a blot in the Preemptive Right system; and this serves to carry conviction upon all his dogmas. The price of land must be lowered, because of the pre-emptive rights. Bridges and harbour works cannot be made, for look at those pre-emptive rights. Moorhouse is a cynic and Lance a child at .play, because of the pre-emptive rights. It is like a nigger melody with a hoop-de-dooden-doo chorus. The words have nothing to do with the chorus, nor the, chorus with the words, but there they both are, and the tune is not perfect without them. We have never yet discovered how "doo-dah" helped visitors out of trouble at Camptown races; nor shall we ever discover why land must come down in price because pre-emptive rights are blocking up the country. But Mr. Travers will weave the whole into, a vehement and amusing speech to day.