The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 256, 30 October 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1869.

Before our next issue, the electors of the Province of Nelson will have performed one of the most important duties that they can be called upon to fulfil, they- will have decided in whose hands is to be placed the administration of our aifairs for the next four years, ancl never have they been called upon to make such a decision at so critical a period as the present. It would seem that the depression which has so long prevailed iv Nelsou is about to pass away, and that better times are in store for us - it may be that the late gold discoveries which have within the last fortnight so elated the public mind will prove to be but a temporary gleam of sunshine, aud that we have beeu over sanguine as to the results they will produce, but it must be allowed that we have some grounds for hoping and believing that brighter prospects are opening up, and that we are about to emerge from the atmosphere, of dulness and depression with which we have for the last few years been surrounded, into a more prosperous and cheerful state of things. Therefore we say that the election of our chief Executive officer is a matter of the highest importance to the present and future welfare of the Province. Virtually we have three candidates from whom to choose, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Akersten, and Mr. Gibbs. For more than two years the former of these gentlemen has been tried, and has not been found wanting, and although we have now heard all that was to be said on both sides, we are still as much at a loss as we were a month ago to discover the reason why any of the electors should wish to remove him from the Superintendency, or what they hope to gain by electing either of his opponents iv his place. True it is, - that the Colonist has been using its best,endeavors to damage him with the public, by heralding forth all sorts of imaginary charges, including one of having committed a gigantic blunder in the accounts, to the tune of £40,000, and of which had there been any truth in it, we may be sure we should have heard more, but these aud more particularly the latter indictment, are merely so many mare's nests, for the discovery of which that extremely accurate journal has rendered itself notorious, and which therefore exercise no more influence with the electors than they deserve. The first to appear in the field as an opponent of Mr. Curtis was Mr. Akersten. but really we fail to see, after hearing all that he has to say, how he has established any claim upon the confidence of the elec-, tors. The principal grounds upon which he appeals to us for onr votes appear to be as follows : — he will dismiss the whole of the present Executive — a body of gentlemen who have retained the confidence and respect of several successive Superintendents — and, new to his work himself, he will take unto him other advisers who are equally ignorant of the routine of the ofiice, and equally inexperienced in the administration of Provincial affairsj and in dismissing the present Executive he will not be guided by any merits or demerits they may possess, but will make a clean sweep merely for the sake of change, and without the slightest regard to the probable consequences of such a step j he will expend on the West Coast the' whole of the nett revenue derived from ■-■ '' -*-.- '-.' . - .■ p ''■- •■ ,; '.• ' : . ■''-*■„.■ ' '

-that district, because he considers the Coast contains the working bees of the Provincial hive — the rest of the inhabitants we may naturally infer he looks upon as drones — and will not take any portion of the money raised there to assist in opening up . our Wangapeka and other goldlields ; he will accept office at a somewhat lower salary than was voted to the Superintendent by the last Council, and he will see that " rigid economy is observed in the departmental work," and all those other little et ceteras which a candidate thinks likely to take with the electors, and for which we must borrow an expression from our contemporary, who expressively designates them "economical baits." These constitute Mr. Aker,-.ten's claims upon us, and, for our own part, we must pronounce them to be uot sufficiently alluring, and must therefore decline to give him our support as against Mr. Curtis. The third candidate is Mr. Gibbs, who also comes forward in the West Coast interest, although, to judge from the tone of the papers, hi 3 talents and abilities do not appoar to be very highly appreciated in that district. For instance, he held a meeting there last Friday week, and on the followiug day the Times merely mentioned that, such a meeting had taken place, but promised to publish a supplement with a report of it. The supplement however never appeared, and in the next issue, which came out on the following Tuesday, we, find the following not very flattering paragraph : — " The meeting addressed by Mr. G-ibbs on Friday evening was well attended. Mr. Pitt was in the chair. It was our intention to have printed, in a supplement, a report of Mr. Gibbs's speech, but the meeting did not, either by the amount of disputation or of fun, attain sufficient importance to justify that being done j and we do not give a report of the meeting even to-day, for the simple reason that our reporter has "jibbed" iv the work of extending his notes." On the following Thursday "our reporter" appears to have got into the collar again, and consequently Mr. Gibbs' speech appeared in extenso. All this is hardly worth mentioning except for the purpose of showing that Mr. Gibbs is not thought much of there, and that whatever support is to be accorded to him will simply be given out of a spirit of hostility to Mr. Curtis. Again, another meeting was called a few days later, for the purpose of deciding upon concerted action in favor of either of Mr. Gibbs or Mr. Akersten, and on that occasion we find the following expressions made use of by the very electors who were then met together for the purpose of securing the election of one or other of these two candidates. Mr. Pitt, on being called to the chair, remarked that as he did not wish to sail under false colors he must tell the meeting that he was not disposed to favor either ofthe candidates who had addressed them. Mr. Munro, who appears to be one of Mr. Curtis's most violent opponents, contended that neither of the two candidates were very desirable, bid one or other should have all the West Coast votes. Such are the opinions expressed , by the warmest supporters of these gentlemen, and thus we see that the inhabitants of the West Coast are attempting fco thrust upon us as Superintendent one of whom the most that can be said by his friends is that he is "not a veiy desirable candidate." Will the electors on this side submit to such a deliberate insult, or will they not rather unite together as one man in opposition to this attempt to inflict a serious injury upon them by voting to the Superintendent's chair an " undesirable candidate." But we need not go so far as the West Coast in order to discover whether those who oppose Mr. Curtis consider Mr. Gibbs to be a fit and proper person. Look at the Colonist, a journal which is well known to be most bitterly hostile to Mr. Curtis and all and each of his sayings and doings ; has that journal ever ventured to say one single word in favor of Mr. Gibbs ? True," it has severely criticised and found fault with everything that Mr. Curtis has said or done, but the same reason may account for this that is assigned by Dr. Watts for the growling and fighting of bears aud lions, -' it is their nature to—it has abused Mr. Akersten without mercy for doing exactly the same thing, by the way, as Mr. Gibbs,. namely, voting in the Council that the Superintendent's salary should be

£800 a year and then saying on his canvassing tour that £400 was enough. All this has the Colonist done but at the same time it has maintained a discreet silence^ with regard to Mr Gibbs and therefore we may fairly infer that, in common with the Westport electors it considers that he is not a " desirable " candidate. And at the same conclusion, we firmly believe, will the electors arrive on Monday. They will not be dictated to by a party who wish to place over them a man whose unfitness for the office they themselves admit, but, as was said by Mr. Pitt afc Westport, so will the verdict ofthe electors be ou the polling day. " Though we may not agree in all things with Mr. Curtis, we say openly that we do not approve of either of his opponents."