THE CANDIDATE FOR MR. FOX'S SEAT IN PARLIAMENT.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 801, 30 June 1865, Page 2

THE CANDIDATE FOR MR. FOX'S SEAT IN PARLIAMENT.

Mb. Bobebt Pharazyn, who is Chairman of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, is a candidate for the seat in the House of Representatives vacant by the resignation of Mr. Pox. As the probable successor of a man of mark in the Parliament, the opinions of Mr. Pharazyn will be looked to with some interest. These we gather from his address to the electors. He thinks Mr. Weld's policy good because it is the nearest approach to the policy of 1863, and he concurs in the policy of withdrawing the troops. He urges self-reliance. He thinks England has not acted generously to the Colony, or even with bare justice. He affirms that the Imperial Government is responsible for the past, and therefore he is " strongly opposed to the Colony paying any part of the expenses of a war, in the conduct of which it has had no effective influence." The past according to Mr. Pharazyn should teach us to adopt " a policy of self-reliance" for the future. He belongs " neither to a war, nor a peace party, but to the Colonial Party," and while insisting on the necessity of enforcing law and order, he does not approve of any attempt to do more than is necessary to "render life and property secure"; and he advocates " measures which will practically place natives and Europeans on the same footing." ~''....'

On the subject of our provincial institutions, a part of our constitution which had ever a warm and consistent supporter in Mr. Pox, the gentleman who proposes to succeed him as the representative of Eahgitiki, says:—

" Though I fully recognise the necessity of preserving the unity of the colony, yet I am convinced that local institutions are quite compatible with a strong central Government. Provincialism, though opposed to centralisation in name, is in fact the surest guarantee for that impartial legislation which alone can reconcile conflicting interests. If provincialism has not always succeeded, it is because the the principle upon which it rests lias not been fully applied, and practical convenience has been sacrificed to theoretical symmetry."-:

Mr. Pharazyn might have gone further than this. The opponents of provincialism are of two kinds: those who have mismanaged the powers which provincialism bestows, and have by that means injured the provinces which they have mi managed; and those who love central government because of their opposition to local government; and who have advocated an unwise creation of new provinces sometimes with a most unjust and exceptional boundary, to the lasting detriment of the parent province without being for the benefit of its ofl'shoofc. This method of dealing was advocated by the enemies of provincialism, in the hope that the process would be a means of causing it to run more quickly to seed, and thereby the sooner destroy the tree root and branch. But what they propose planting in its stead we have never been able to discover. Certainly "theoretical symmetry," whatever the rather vague phrase may mean, these anti-provin-cialists have never advanced as their ground of action, while, as no doubt Mr. Pharazyn knows, some of them have been hypocritical enough to pretend that the reason of their advocacy of the establishment of new provinces was that provincial rights might be more widely extended, although they know that such an extension was merely hastening what they secretly desired, the extinction of these rights. Mr. Pharazyn's address appears to be that of a practical business man ; and if he seeks the good of the Colony, and that alone, opposing mere party politics, and setting his face against that official reward seeking and bestowing, and the pernicious influence and nepotism of family aggrandisement, which threaten to become more and more rampant in the Councils -of the Ministry. Mr. Pharazyn's concluding remarks are as follows: — •■-: ; '■'■' '"'■' *■■■■■■■•■■••' '• -'■•■■ -'■; - ■■■'■

" I have no private interests to serve, though I have sufficient stake in the country to make me anxious for its prosperity. lam ambitious of the honor I ask you to confer upon me only because it affords me an* opportunity of being useful to my fellow-colo-nists. If you elect me, though I cannot pretend even to approach your late member in ability, I may in earnestness, and shall at any rate do my best to prove that your confidence is not misplaced. Whether lam permitted to lend my aid or not, I am sure that the Colonial Party must at length be triumphant, and that New Zealand before long will grow from a colony into a nation."

These are opinions which we read with pleasure. What this Colony wants in its representatives are able and honest men, un- , selfish men, who seek to serve their fellow i colonists, and do not look forward to legU«

lative functions as a means of enabling them to sink into well paid sinecurists. The providing for oneself and friends has been so much the colonial practice, that the patent result is that we have now a perfect army of highly-paid officials whose work in most cases is an Elysium of Lotos-eating as compared with the Government officers at home* who themselves are in a lazy easy land—

" A land where it seems always afternoon ;" and where the business is simple enough, and the hours sufficiently few, as to make the Government official a standing mark for the jests of those who know practically what work and business mean. So prevalent is this practice here, and so quietly is it borne by a too easy public, that retrenchment —in the direction of allowing none but working beea ... to eat the honey of the public hive—is scarcely possible. If an opportunity occurs . for the abolition of an unnecessary office, or an arrangement by which a sinecure salary may be saved, sundry hungry, applicants become eager for the office, and each can exert some " interest" iri his favor, and get a friend or two in high places to apply " pressure in the proper quarter;" and so the advocate ot economy is often checked in the performance of his necessary function. The . Assembly itself winks at these things, and fails in its duty. It is true if Ministers, -whether general or provincial, set their minds on carrying a salary for an office newly created, or an old one that is next to useless, they can as a rule bring forward such a show of argument as to defeat opposition, for in general public assemblies are far too willing to be generous to individuals ..*■ with the public money. The sentiments expressed by Hr. Pharazyn in the paragraph last quoted: are those we still hope to see animating the vast majority of our legislators; as they ought to be the true springs of action with feyery administrator. Amidst much disappoint- - ment which Mr. Fox takes home with him, he at least will have no compunctious feelings on this head. He did his best for the colony, honestly and unselfishly, although we think he erred first in taking office with men from whom he so widely differed, and then in allowing them to bring him greatly ■ round to their opinions. But though twice in ■* high office, with many -opportunities for' benefiting himself, he neither created nor reserved any permanent office for himself nor his friends, and never used his position as a mearis of profit or as a stepping-stone to a comfortable competency. He can go home and say with truth, "these hands are clean." "Would that all New Zealand politicians could do the same! Mr. Pharazyn seeks to follow Mr. Fox's steps in this respect. Hitherto economists in the House of Eepresentatives have been listened to ; with impatience. Let us hope that the influences of a new place of meeting will prove more favorable to retrenchment of all kinds than the latitude and atmosphere of Auckland have been; and that Mr.

Pharazyn, if he be elected, will make one of a resolute forlorn hope in an attache upon the well-armed citadel of a lavish and burdensome public expenditure.

Nelson College.—An examination of the classes of the College takes place to-day. It will be open to the public.

The Lost City ot Ditnedin.—A public meeting ■was held in Dunedin on the 19th, for the purpose of organising a public subscription in aid of the friends of those who were drowned, in ..this unfortunate yessel. £300 were subscribed in a short time, and arrangements were made for obtaining" subscriptions in other ports of the colony. ~';.

; Political on Dit. —It was rumoured yesterday in political circles that Mr. J. C. Richmond was about to assume Mr. Weld's position in the ministry, Mr. Weld being still, to hold office as a minister without a port folio.— Wellington Advertiser, June 24.

Education Committee —At a meeting of ratepayers in Waimea West, held in the Village Schoolroom on Wednesday 14th instant, to elect .-three members of the local Committee in place of Messrs. Morse, Fleming, & Blundell, whose term of office had expired, Mr. Higgin occupying the chair, the following were declared duly elected, Messrs. James Arnold, W. Memming, and John Chapman.

The Recent Outbage en a Catholic Clebgyman.—A correspondent in Takaka signing himself "Observei-," writes1 oh 24th June as follows: —"I perceive in your journal of the 16th that ' A Settler' in Takaka complains that a person went about with a loaded gun, threatening ; to shoot the Roman Catholic clergyman then on a ministration visit to his flock. Permit me to state that 'A Settler. is partly in error, as no gun was pointed at the rev. gentleman, he being on board of the Ann: en route for Nelson. It appears that the person complained of forbade his wife to go to mass, she being a Roman Catholic ; but what creed he may belong to it is most difficult to say. It is, however, apparent that he has been 'dipped in the Boyne water.' His1 wife, however, went to mass in company with the young lady mentioned in your issue, and in crossing the Waingaro both got their habiliments somewhat wet, and remained after the service at a friend's house for the night; at which he was very wrath; and assaulted his wife on her return home for staying out the night, for which assault he has since been fined in the Resident Magistrate's Court with costs. His wife during the time that he was assaulting her made her escape out of his house and went round the back way of ' A Settler's' house, and thus evaded him.. On his coming to 'A Settler's' house in search of his wife, he sought admittance, thinking she was within ; and he, having a gun in his hand (according to the statement of ' A Settler'),:pointed it at him, on being refused admittance. The case is for hearing at the Takaka Police Court on the 12th proximo. The inhabitants regret much that such a mal apropos occurrence should have taken place, and-deeply deplore that there is resident amongst them a person possessed of such strong and bigoted prejudices."

Fiee neab Bienheim.—The Wairau Record of June 15 say 3: — " We are sorry to have to state that a fire took place last Saturday on the farm of Mr. Reeves, Spring Creek, burning down his barn and all its contents, consisting of grain, harness, and sundry agricultural requisites, to the amount of about £200. A contribution list has since been opened towards making up for the loss sustained, and we hope liberal support will be given to it."

The Rakaia Pass.—Mr. Griffiths, the co-dis-coverer with Mr. Browning of the route by the Rakaia, and who, as our readers will remember, was despatched by Mr. Sale from Hokitika to make further explorations of the route, in company with Mr. Cahill, returned to Christchurch yesterday. We are not in a position to give a detailed account of hig expedition, but we may mention the general outline of his fresh discoveries. He reports, in the first place, that Browning's Pass is novr covered with frozen snow, about a foot and a half deep, and is consequently impassable. Mr. Griffiths came over by a different, and he says, much easier, road than that traversed by Mr. Browning and himself on their first journey. Mr. Griffiths has discovered the open country spoken of by the Maoris, on the other side of the range. He reports about 5,000 acres covered with good grass, the rest scrub. Mr. Griffiths says that he is of opinion a good bridle and driving track could be made by this route for about £6,000 or £7,000; and. Mr. Cahill, who was associated with him in the exploration, and who has gone back to Hokitika to re-, port to Mr. Sale, considers it a very good route for stock. Neither of the gentlemen speak of a dray roa4 being practicable, unless at an enormous, outlay* Canterbury Standard^ 21st June.