The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 234, 5 October 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1869.

I A lettkr from Mr. Akersten"' iu reply to our criticisms oa his address appeared in our yesterday's issue and calls for some short notice at our hands. Mr. Akersten must surely have read our leading article, to which he refers, with as little attention ' as he appears to have devoted to the composition of his address. If he will do us the favor to peruse it more carefully he will find that we said — " Mr. Akersten is a gentlemen for whom we entertain a great respect as being an energetic -and useful member of the commuaity, but there all favorable criticism must cease." He appears to have completely overlooked the words we are now compelled to italicise in order to call his special attention to them. We remarked the other day that there could be no doubt that the present Superintendent was more fitted than either of his opponents to conduct a difficult correspondence, but we little thought at the time how speedily one of those oppoueuts was to prove the truth of our remarks. It is generally supposed that a gentleman in offering himself as a candidate ior any high office takes especial pains in framing his address, and brings all his ability to bear upon its composition. Such, we may reasonably presume, was the case with Mr. Akersten, but we fiiid that upon the first breath of hostile criticism he acknowledges that he haa committed an egregious blunder in a certain paragraph* and begs to be allowed to retract certain words which were likely to teli against hira. Now, supposing that by some unfortunate combination of circumstances he should be elected to the Superintendency, aud that it became uecessary for him lo enter upou some such correspondence as that in which Mr. Curtis was eugaged, and which he carried though so satisfactorily, with respect to the £12,000 that was lying in the Provincial coffers, and which the General Government sought to lay their hands upon, what would be the result to the Province ? We have no reason to suppose that Mr. Akersten would co.iduct official correspondence iv a more careful or able manner than that in which he penned his address to the electors; and we cannot conceive that it would tend to the advantage of the province to have at its head a man who, after forwarding an important despatch in which a grievous error had occurred, could only plead iv justification of bis mistake tbat such and such words were " inteuded to be struck out." Poor Mr. Akersten ! he has unwittingly shown how utterly unfit he is to undertake, at all events one portion of the duties that would fall to his lot as Superintendent, and what guarantee have we that he would be more successful in the others ? Jn pure charity we shall forbear from further criticising his address, lest Jie should be induced to " strike out " more words, thus depriving the interesting document of all its pristine charms.