THE CANDIDATE FOR THE CITY.

Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1170, 11 December 1868, Page 3

THE CANDIDATE FOR THE CITY.

I? Mr. Shephard imagines, because no other candidate beside himself has coma forward for the city, that, therefore, he can afford to disregard the just expectations of the body of electors, and treat them only to the vague address which he has publiaiie i, and say nothing else to them before the day of nomination, then Mr. Shephard is egregiously mistaken, as time will show. He baß admitted that he is a stranger to the electors of Nelson. Nine-tenths of the people do not know him. Something more is looked for from a politician who ha 9 only recently emerged from the quiet of country life, and who for years took no part even in matters purely local, not having until lately been placed on the electoral roll of his district. Mr. Shephard certainly made a fair speech in his own district, and yet he suffered defeat among his own neighbors, thoso who are supposed to know him best, at the hands of Mr. Edward Baigent. Such being the facts, and the public of Nelson knowing so little of him and allowed to know no more from his address, he ought to have supported his candidature in a constituency to which he is a stranger, by something stronger than his experience in Waimoa, his vague address, and a fevr financial letters, which, although couched in good enough English, were nevertheless somewhat tedious, and not very conclusive or convincing in their argument. It is quite possible that Mr. Shepbard may be elected ; but, even if no opponent were to appear, that is no reason why he should have declined to unfold bis views in order that the public might know what he really means by his printed address, and at the same time have allowed the electors the chance of satisfying not unnatural doubts by means of a facej-to-fiice meeting. In itself, the address is really not worth discussing ; it is bo ambiguous, that th^ process would be a sheer waste of time ; for, with but one exception, there is scarcely a paragraph which is not oapable of being mada to bear two different meanings.

Why Afr. Shephard has been so reticent we cannot understand, unless it be that he declines to show his hand. He has not the excuse of business to plead. In the charming solitudes of a pastoral country he has had ample leisure and the beat opoortunity for that earnest and dispassionate thought which should be bestowed on such an occasion by an unselfish man having " no object but the public good," as Mr. Shephard informs the electors is his own particular case. He has no pressing engagements that would have prevented his meeting the electors immediately the Tftcancy was declared. He tells the electors that he " can afford leisure for the full performance of Parliamentary duties." Had he possessed a graceful respect for the people he professes to seek to " represent," he would ere now have devoted some of that leisure to telling distinctly how and on what principles he meant to perform those duties, and enabling them to put testing questions which can only be put and answered in a public meeting. We fear it is now rather late.