THE WAIKOUAITI ELECTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2237, 7 April 1869, Page 3

THE WAIKOUAITI ELECTION.

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES?, (by our own kbi'ortbk.)

Tho nomination of candidates to fill the vacancy in the Provincial Council caused by the retirement of Mr Robert Mitchell took place, yesterday at the CourtrHmise, Hawksbury, at noon. There were about sixty persona present.

The Returning Officer, MrJ. W. Murdoch, having read the notice of the election, invited those gentlemen who had candidates to propose to do so, and after a short pause, Mr Andrew-Thompson1 also called upon the electors to propose somebody as a candidate, and thus, as he suggested, show their "pluck." Whatever might be dono, it was bis intention to »tJind upon his rights and to maintain those privileges which, as a British subject, he possessed.—(Hear, hear, and,laughter.) Mr M. Orbki.l, after speaking in eulogistic terms of the late representative of the district, stated that it was his intention to propose as a candidate, a gentleman v?ho he really believed would receive the support of a large majority off the electora. There were other Candida'es in the field, yet he thought ; that after a little further consideration they; would decline to go to the poll. He had heard that there were four or five gentlemen to > be proposed, and he trusted that what he said would not be received in. any otheif way than as words spoken in aMondlj; and not an offensive spirit. However,}^ must Bay that with «ho exception of the gentleman he was about to nominate, there was not another who had been meffic, tioned that could with any degree of safety be regarded as,a man likely to, dothti, district much1 gbed,'if elected. The gentleman he intended to propose ; had nol only the inclination arid the will to bsnefiit the diatricfc, but: likewise the influence and the power-to do bo. Undoubtedly it would be to the'advantage of the eleotorstosecure a representative of education and ability; of what utility, in fact r would it be, if they elected a gentleman who, presuming him to be in a majority; had not the power after, he had given a vote to do something calculated to aiecure it« being prbjperly recognised and acted uponi?- He now proposedjjas a candidate for the'Buffi'ag^s;of the electors, Mr; Geo. M'Lean, andjio trusted that they would take care that he was returned aa the representative of the district by a large majority. —(Applause). MrAV. Mitciteli, seconded the motion.

Mr Matthew Todd said he.cam© forward to propose a Waikouaiti man. He had himself heard tife gentleman in quesition speak on. several occasions, and-he was perfectly satisfied with the views he enunciated, which were.ef^ataalljriol a liberal character. In his opinion it would ba a disgrace to the elector* if they agreed to aiijeept as a represeniative a gentLesiian, ■■'■•: ''"■' t ko» .'A-n-:'-' -^'i '-'■- ', ;■-,«-..;.::;.:.;;: v";

who had been Bent by the aqua.tfcora from Bunedis, Let them follow the example of the electors of the Taieri district, who did not fail to return a Jocal mvn. He also had brought forward a gentleman of education—that gentleman wa« Mr John; WKenzie, and he trusted that lie would be elected. —(Heajyheaxv) Mr John Mwb seconded iho motion.; After another pans®, Mr Andbew Thcmpkok said v I propose Mr Andrew Thompson [—(Laughter \ and applame.) ; : Mr Kenneth Cameron : I second the motion:— (Moire laughter. )\ The BBXDjtifara Officer s I don't think I ought to accept that proposition-—-^ ' ' "■'' ■-'•■■' '•■■■;■,?'■'■ > A Voice: Oh 1 yea, you ought, It's all right, ~ , .»...- ~ • ■■:■■. After a little consideration, The Retitbnino Ofpiceb. remarked— Well, gentlemen, Mr Andrew Thompson has been proposed by Mr Andrew Thompson (laughter), and the motion haa been seconded by Mr Kenneth Camoron. The BBTUKjt ma Omtisa them asked if either of the candidates desired to address the electors. - Mr G.M'Leax qbserved, that aa he had already iwldreaped the electors, he would not; on that occasion detain them many minute*. In proposing the other cand idatfis some remarks' had been made as to tho adviaiability of returning a gentleman who resided in the district; but it waa also necessary for; the electors to remember that; unless they elected a gentleman who had the will and was in a position to look after the finances of the Province—-who, in fiwtj would take care that they wore not ; iquandereid, as they had been, but distributed tothe benefit of the general, body of the electors, he certainly would not be the right man in the, right place. —(Applause.) It ,had been broadly stated; and ho did ; not think that the statements made were erroneous, that much of the,public money had been wasted, and it was obvious that before the Provincial Government could retrieve,the good reputation winch they had lost, some other system must be adopted whereby the affairs of the province could be carried , on, at a less ex* penae and more to the interests of the people. His chief object, in fact, in seeking eiecfcbn, wa» to obtain, if possible, a reduction in the expenditure.; If an alteration in that retipect were not effected, local subsidies would be reduced, and perhaps altogether abolished. There were many things which might be done that would tend to a reduction of the expenditure. For instance, the Speaker and the Usher could he dispensed with without affecting detrimentally the interests of the province ; and in lieu of the Speaker,; the Superintendent might be appointed Chair? man of the Council. Again, much time, and consequently considerable expanse, might be saved by- leaving the Provincial Legislature to deal merely with, local affairs, instead of making long and unnecessary speeches, and framing laws which were afterwards not required. Improvements which, were necessary in that district would, of course, receive his most earnest attention ; and among those which he thought ought to be immediately effected were the opening up of the river, and the election of a jetty, by which meanß facilities would be afforded for the con- ~ veyance, by crafta, of ; the productions of the district. The report of tho Harbour Commissioners was, he thought, a very valuable one, and ought, in consequence, to receive the serious consideration of the Provincial Council. He also desired to make a few remarks in regard to the Land Act. A gentleman who proposed for nomination one of the other candi-. dates had endeavoured to.show that ho (Mr M'Lean) had been put forward by i the squatters as a candidate. Now, he ! unhesitatingly and emphatically denied that there was the slightest particle of truth in the statement. All who knew him were aware that he was as much interested in the welfare of the farmers as of the squatters. In fact he was a merchant, and dealt with anybody who would deal with him. .If elected, he should take his seat as a member of «he Proyihcial Council untnunmellod, entirely unconnected with any. clique or party; and consequently, as an independent representative of the district.^-(Applause.) Having aaid so ranch, he could only state in addition, that he trusted he should have the opportunity of proving to thesatisfac- -■ tion of the electors that he had 'spoken the truth, and that his only object in coming forward waa to endeavour to secure the advancement and permanent prosperity of his adopted country. . Returning to the Land Law, he might say that; for the last six or seven years he had strenuously and persistently advocated the' system of free selection, in order that greater facilities might be given to the People to acquire land. Until that system became law, the cry for land throughout the province would be continued, Unfortunately, the people had been unable, for some time past, to obtain land on such easy terms as ;he would advocate, -If elected, then,the faithful and beneficial ndminißtration of the Land Lavr iwould be a matter to which he should give his earnentattention. Ini every districtl there ought to be a Hundred set apart, arid when all the agricultural land within it had been 'taken up, then more should be granted. When land was required to facilitate the settlement of the people, which! was necessary to the prosperity;;©! the country, then must the squatters yield.-^(Ap-plause.) He had adopted this country, aa his home, and having a little time at hia i disposal, he was anxioas to devote it in thejnterests of "ttioiio fkmQngst whom he lived. He was not aware that there were any other subjects on which he.ou^ht to addreasthe electors; biit if they wished him; to explain anymfttteirw](iich,ittightnow, or in the fature, affijet theljrihterestß, he shoqldbe yery happy todoso. In conclusion he oouid only Bay that ho regreU6d the retirement of their late representative, Mr •Mitchell, and that if that gentleman were now; to come forward he veould immediately withdraw in his favour.—(Applause.) ; (- Mr Johw M'K^Kiziß said that his reason for corning forward was because he thought the district should be represented by a local man, and it wasjat the request of several local men that; he had consented on Friday n%ht last to stand;; At so short a notice he was hardly pre-, pared to address them; kt'l mtJch lie^gtlj^ but |he would do bo atl the Council Chamber uou the evening......Havinj?. no faith- in"~"ahy Dunedin| as their vreiifreaentative>"he 'was before them a candidate for their suffrage*, and would bi[iefly.givej his views on some? <Ai the topics of the daw 1 Firstly, Jus, should tell them thatiKs didiiot li>d.the* Laid-Act, which he considered a Sqnat-; ters' Ac% aa it afforded them a chante of buying up,, laad ■, ati^wa s p»ite of Mk per acre, jlf he was returned^ to,t^e^^neil, r ad their repircs^ its amendmflnt,/ and inaiat either on the Hundred system bßin|-e)|kci^ea,' ortae introduction iof ii 'Mfe^of The litter ho thouglifewotrid bj& the meat beaeficial to. the but"wori,wjsll/f and^Ur^^j'^Jpteirfc ciee^ng^eaodtluiig^iefeJtt&iaifstiieyfhad!

beaate in the summer. Ho would also be in favour of an 'extension of. Rood Boards and municipalities. He believed there was an impression in Waikouaiti that 'because : ho was a Shag Valley man lie would not represent , their - interastg. ,^ Ho asked them to disabuse their, minds of any such notion as that, a»'though he was not a ready public speaker, Be had as great a stake in the country as Mr McLean, his stake being all he had, got MrMtean had told! iiliem that he was a merchant. What did ho mean 1 II anythinghappened to -.the colony, if it failed in any way, if it went back in any way, Mr M*Lean could patck up his goods, and put them on board the first ship that was ready, and go away with them. Now, he could not do that with bis land (A Yoiob : No, but you might sell it!)'and therefore, though he might not Kave'so w»ariy hundreds am Mr M'Lean, he considered he had as great a stake in the country. In reply to questions, the candidate said he would support immigration, if the land were opened up for settlement. He confessed that he had | supported a squatting candidate for the General Assembly at the last election ; ! but he did so because at that time the | issvio before the country was the county system. He was in favour of reducing the expenditure of the Provincial Government, by reducing, the civil service as much.afi possible. He was not prepared to say in what particular branch of it he would cause reductions to be made, as he had not studied the subject. If he wt*re returned, he would do so closely. He was in favour of responsible government, but he was. not in favour of the .Superintendent acting as Chairman of the Council; nor was he in favour Of an abolition of the present mode of choosing the Superintendent, He did not think he , could - name any place 4 outside of New Zealand whore the aamo systoto of government existu, still he did not see his way to change it. He was decidedly in favour of an import duty oh grain. He was not in favour of selling the bush reserve^ unless they were cut into five acre sections, and administered by the i local Road Boards. If he were returned, he wauld try to get a large hundred pro- , claimed for the district, one, say, of from 20,000 t0.30,000 acrmH c was in favour of Separation, financially and politically. He could not say tliat he believed in the Ministry as it at present stood, but he would not pledge .himself, one way or the other with regard to it, or any other Ministry. He would not pledge himself to take office if offered the chance immediately on his return ; and he Was hi favour; of the members of the Provincial Government doing the work without salary.—(A Voiob ; More fool you.) Mr Andrew Thompson said ho came bofore them as a candidate for their suffrages, because he was a local man, identified with the interests of Waikonaiti, who had an intimate knowledge of the requirements of -the district; With relation to the Land question, he was not exactly in favour of free selection, but he would support a proposition which would causa the land to he-thrown open at M per acre, the purchaser haying eight years allowed him to make good the money in instalments. On education, shortly, bethought the principle in vogue down here,, a good one. With relation to the bush reservo, he thought it had better remain as it was, because the expense of right of road and fencing would swallow up any sum which might be derived from it. He was prepared to support the appropriation of sums of money to eradicate the thistles from the Crown lands of the colony, to discover coalfields in the neighbourhood of Waikouaiti if any existed, arid to establish woollen factories. He would also be in favour of establishing a new post office and telegraph office at Palmerston. His advice to them was to let the stranger go, and to allow the two local men to fight the battle oufc.

, Several questions wore put to the candidate; but the replies were so vague as to be unreportable.

The RBTUENisroOFFrOKittlien called for a tihow of hands, which resulted as follows :—

M #L«*n ... ... 25 Thompson .... ... 7 I M;K<snzie .... ... 4 The Rexdukin« Officer declared the poll to be in favour of Mr M'Lean. Mr Todd demanded a poll on behalf of Mr John M'Kenzie. f

The Returning Officer said that as a poll had Wen demanded, it would be taken between the hours of nine and four on .Friday next, At Waikouaiti, Palmerston, and M'Crae's Plat. Mr M'Lean proposed a vote of; thankß to the Returning Officer, which was seconded by Mr M Kenzie, and carried unanimously. - The proceedings then terminated.

'.Last evening, Mr G. M'Lean also addressed a meeting of the electors at Carey's Hotel, Blueskin, nnd was favourably received. On the previous evening, he met them at JDavis-B Hotel,' PaimerBtojn, where"a vote of confidence in him waia carriedr