NOMINATION AND ELECTION AT ONEHUNGA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4408, 30 December 1875, Page 3

NOMINATION AND ELECTION AT ONEHUNGA.

The nomination for tie return of one member to represent the town of Onehunga in the next Parliament, took place at the Courthouse, Onehunga, at noon yesterday. About thirty electors were present. The' Returning Officer, R. C. Barstow, Esq., R.M., explained that, they had met together for the purpose of electing some duly qualified person to represent the town of Onehunga in the House of Representatives, and read the advertisement notice, and the writ of the election. He then requested tliat some person should be nominated as a candidate to represent the flourishing town of Onehunga. •.Mr. J. D. Jackson, in proposing Mr. G. M. O'Rorke, said : Mr. Returning Officer and gentlemen electors of the town ot Onehunga, —I have been requested by some very old friends of our late member, George Maurice O'Rorke, Esq., to propose him again as a fit and proper person to represent Onehunga in the next Parliament which is to assemble. It is a great pleasure to me to have to do this, and it is a great pleasure also to be able to think that Mr. O'Rorke will have a walk over ; that there is nobody who will have the strength of mind—l was going to say, though X hardly know what to say exactly—to come forward and oppose him in this place. There is an old proverb, which lam very glad to be able to quote to-day, because it will relieve me from some little trouble, it is that "good wine needs no bush." I apply that in this way, that a good member requires nothing on behalf of his proposer and seconder to be said in his interests. Mr. O'Rorke has nothing to look back to in his past conduct as<our representative, either in the Provincial Council or in the General Assembly, with which he can reproach himself as having neglected the interests of his constituents as a body, or the benefit of the province or the colony. During the late Assembly Mr. O'Rorke, with other staunch friends of the constitution, had to fight averyarduous battle against gentlemen who endeavoured to override the feelings and wishes of the people. In fighting that battle they were victorious, and now it is our pleasing duty to reward as far as we can, one of the combatants by returning him unopposed for this town of Onf.hunga. For my part, f would sooner stand in the position of Mr. O'Rorke, returned unopposed by a small bnt respectable constituency, than I would be in the position of the Hon. Mr. Reynolds, refused and defeated for the place he had represented for twenty-ona years, simply because he deserted those principles which your member, Mr. O'Rorke, so boldly supported. (Hear, hear.) I have nothing more to say, because as I have already said, it is quite needless, as you all know Mr. O'Rorke. I will simply content myself by nominating George Maurice O'Rorke, Esq.. as a fit and proper person to represent the town of Onehunga in the coming Parliament. Mr. Thos. Armstrong said thatto tell them of the many acts Mr. O'Rorke had donefor the benefit of the place as well as of the colony, would perhaps be a work of supererogation. He, however, mentioned that the candidate had been instrumental in securing the very commodious bridge by which they could visit their friends across the harbour; that he had in a great measure been instrumental in wiping off a debt of £5000 on the wharf, and had introduced a bill into the House by which the emoluments arising from the harbour would go to form a fund for the benefit of the wharf and harbour, and had secured to the electors of Onehunga a number of valuable reserves which had remained idle for years. He need not tell the electors that Mr. O'Rorke had thrown up something like £1300 or £1400 a-year, because he would not vote against what he considered to be their interests. They were themselves conversant with these things and knew Mr. O'Rorke as well as he did, and some of them a great deal better. He was sure it must be satisfactory to them to be represented by such a gentleman as the candidate, a gentleman who had descended from great statesmen and warriors. This was well known, and a little research, would prove it to all. They must all feel proud to be represented by such a gentleman, and he seconded the nomination with pleasure. The Returning Officer : Is there any other candidate to be proposed ? i A Voice : It's no use." Returning Officer : Does any elector wish to propose a candidate ? A Voice : The other's not arrived. Do with what you have, you can't get a better. There being no other candidate, the Returning Officer declared Mr. G. M. O'Rorke duly returned to represent Onehunga in the House of Representatives for the next Parliament. Three cheers were given for the candidate, three for Sir George Grey, and three for the Returning Officer. Mr, O'Rorke addressed the electors as follows : Mr. Returning Officer and gentlemen electors of Onehunga, it is with combined feelings of pride and gratitude that I to-day for the seventh time stand before you to return you thanks for the honour you have done me in electing me to represent you for this town. I say I am proud of that, as well I may be, and my pride is to a considerable extent enhanced when I find that my return has been carried by you without any dissatisfaction being expressed by the electors or any opposition being made to my return. I also feel grateful to you, for your unanimous election of me inasmuch as 1 feel it to be an indication that you are satisfied with my past political conduct. I believe we are on the eve of a great struggle between two great principles which have rent asunder older and firmer states than this. I believe the coming contest will be that which has been clearly indicated by Sir George Grey—the contest between the would-be aristocracy of the colony and the people at large. No better champion for preserving and maintaining the rights of the people than Sir George Grey, and all the utterances ho has given since he left his retirement in the Kawau, and came forward from a sense of duty, have been to that effect. I, for one, have never been afraid to avow myself in favov. l 1 of democracy, for not only is it desirable, but necessary. I have stated in my address that I shall support Sir George Grey, who was the founder of this settlement. These are the general principles which I propose to maintain, and I hope that if it should be my lot to appear before you again, that while I dare not lay claim to the merits which my friends my proposer and seconder have spoken of, I hope that during the coming three or four years, or whatever length of time I may be your member, I shall do my best to merit the confidence expressed by those gentlemen at whose request you have accepted me as the person to represent you. Gentlemen, it is a source of unbounded satisfaction to me to see so many friends here, the only pang of regret being that I miss some of the faces of my old friends. It shall be my utmost pleasure either to forward your interests as individuals, or to look after and promote the interests of this settlement. Gentlemen, with these remarks, I beg to thank you for the liigh honour you have conferred upon me, and to assure you that it shall j always be a source of gratification to meet j you who hav® taken me out of retirement j and put me in a position of dignity and kept me there since, for the last fifteen years. Mr. W. Colledgt! asked if Mr. O'Rorke would support triennial Parliaments ? Mr. O'Rorke considered triennial Parliaments were advisable. It would have a beneficial effect upon members to have to meet their constituents face to face more frequently, and might check the acts of tergiversation which they saw occasionally exhibited in Parliament, and which were not creditable to it. Mr. Colledge : Is it not' time that the expensive machinery of the Native Department should be put in the waste basket ? Mr. O'Rorke : I believe it is the general feeling that the expenditure which has been » going on in the Native Department could be reasonably diminished. At the same time I think that the policy carried on by Sir : Donald McLean has been, beneficial to the ; province. I believe that the little expended I in the way he has administered it has been [ more beneficial than the enormous cost of I powder and shot advocated by his predecesi sor. I believe the time has come, when re-

garding the pacific attitude of the natives, a large reduction may take place in this expenditure ; but there are some young men of great credit to this force, and I have not heard that they are prepared to all at once abandon their position. However, I shall be in favour of a reduction. A vote of thanks to the Returning Officer concluded the proceedings.