Wellington Independent MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1871.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3271, 7 August 1871, Page 2

Wellington Independent MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1871.

To what are wo coming in Wellington ? Since the accession to office of our present Superintendent, and his triumvirate Executive, the affairs of the province have been looked upon as far less hopeless than our anti-provincialists delighted to prophesy. The policy of self-help, and direct taxation which they boldly enunciated did much to restore to Provincial Institutions their ancient prestige, and silenced most effectually that party or clique (for wo do not know how to designate them) who had inscribed upon their banners " the immediate abolition of provincial institutions." The Wellington Reform League looked on aghast at the new life infused into provincialism ; but made no sign. Even the organ which used to delight their ears every evening with plaintive ditties on the evils of provincial institutions, suddenly changed its tune, and sounded nightly paeans in their praise. A feeling of confidence became universal. It was as if we had all been holding on for years a quantity of scrip, with its ever recurring calls, and saw it going down day by day : but suddenly by the appointment of a new manager and committee, their reputation sent it up to a " Caledonian" height ! No sooner however, is there a weakening of the Executive by the defection of Messrs Hunter and Halcombe, than the provincial scrip goes down in the market. An uneasy feeling prevails. At the late election for a member of the Provincial Council vice Henry Anderson promoted, Mr Mills, a geutleman of very good standing in the city, enme forward as a candidate at the request of the Provincial Secretary. j Whilst every one expressed himself satisfied with the candidate's character and general fitness, the feeling grew every day stronger that he was too facile to be a safe member for the city. He was above being bought for the miserable price of a paid office, like his predecessor, but it was feared he would not I be able to resist the seductive eloquence lof the Executive, At the nomination, Mr Mills had a splendid opportunity of stating his political views, and explaining whether he would support or oppose the Government. He did not do so. Mr Toomath put to him a few pointed questions, but these he shirked. Whether he had confidence in the Executive as at prosent constituted he was either afraid or ashamed or unable to explain. On the subjects that variously agitated j the electors — of buying the reclaimed land, and borrowing £100,000 — he was equally reticent. His proposer (Mr E. j Pearce), who cannot plead (if this is Mr t Mills's defence) that "he isunaccustomed to public speaking," based his claim to our suffrages on arguments drawn from his merits as a private citizen, and as a large employer of labor. Still his speech (and it was a very short one) went no further than proving that Mr Mills was worthy, not of representing the city, but of some public testimonial — something between a statue and a piece of plate •'' Had the fact of his going into the Council to support Mr Bunny been considered in his favor, Mr Pearce is too good a rhetorician not to have ad vanced it. Why then this strange reticence ? We are assuming, of course, that such was Mr Mills' intention ; for unhappily we have nothing but the wellknown (act that he was Mr Bunny's choice to go upon. It is this miserable mystery that we deprecate. It is this travesty of representative institutions that is going on in Wellington that we would see done away — candidates seeking election without stating one principle they hold by. For when we come to the candidate who was elected, we have equal if not greater ground of complaint. We defy any man even to guess at Mr Seager's views on the great questions now before the province. He said nothing more than Mr Mills, and in fewer words. There was a strong under-current, however, in his favor, because ho possessed one quality to which his competitor was presumed to be a stranger, viz., obstinacy. Wheu obstinacy becomes a virtue, it is clear that what it opposed is not held in high favor. It was impossible for us at the time to discover what this obstinacy was to save us from, and we accordingly declined to indicate auy preference for cither candidate whose opinions were alike shrouded in mystery. No sooner was he elected, however, than the mist began to clear. The following notice — " Notice, Late Election For Provincial Council. All accounts against Mr Charles Seager to be rendered to the undersigned for approval and payment not later than the 3rd inst., or they will not be recognised. — W. V. Jackson, Sec. Reform League Association. Wellington, Ist August.'' — informed us, for the first time that the Reformed Lengue had put him forward, and paid his expenses. We must assume, therefore, by Mr Scager allowing his electioneering accounts " to be rendered to the Secretary of the Reform League for approval and payment," that he has adopted their printed programme. Here, again, we may be mistaken ; and it is this absurd mystery, this political solecism that we protest against of electing a man of unascertainable views to represent the ascertainable views of his iellow electors.

We denounce this state of things as discreditable and un-British. Representation pre- supposes that the electors have exercised their judgment, and returned the man whose opinions represented those of the majority. This same Reform League sent for Mr Stafford to contest tho representation of the city in the ! colonial parliament* Mr Stafford very prudently declined, but recommended Mr Richmond. Mv Richmond came over, and, carefully repudiating their " ticket," eagerly availed himself of their assistance. The opposition journals were jubilant in their prophecies, and counted his certain return as a great victory against the policy of the Government. Tins they were fairly entitled to do, if the event had only verified their predictions. The views of the various candidates were then fully and freely stated. There was no reticence, no mystery. Gallantly wa6 the battle fought out to tho end, and perhaps no single man contributed more to the result than our present Provincial Secretary, whose ardour brought him in on the eventful voting day attended by a large poese of country electors. Has there then a reaction set in in favor of the defeated league ? Is the able policy sketched out by the Superintendent suddenly become a thing of nought ? Are we drifting, and to what shores ? Turn we to the City Council elections, and we find the same anomalous state of things. Two gentlemen havo come forward in Lambton Ward to ask the suffrages of their fellow-citizens, but their addresses are vague and unsatisfactory. Of the two, we prefer Mr Anderson's, because it is the shorter. It does not tantalise us by talking about " matters of grave import," and leaving us in the dark as to the candidate's views thereon. We hope, however, Mr Buckley intends to explain at numerous meetings throughout the ward, what arc his views on these matters of grave import to the whole city. We trust Mr Anderson also intends to give the ratepayers some more explanation than that he " offers himself as a candidate to fill the vacancy." Similar elections are going on throughout the colony, and tho candidates' addresses and the electors' questions occupy four or five columns of the daily journals. In Dunedin, where a corporation has been in existence seven ypais, we observe candidates are addressing the various wards on gas, water, kerbing, drainage, police regulations, collection of rates, city finances, future borrowing, city bye laws, city reserves, &c, &c. Nor must it be supposed that it is only new men who thus take so much trouble fully to explain their views. Some of them arc gentlemen of the very oldost and highest standing, and some have figured prominently in the colonial Parliament. We cannot see, therefore, why the citizens of Wellington, a city whose corporation has bo much more work to do, should be called upon to elect men who will not state their views. Nor can we see how it can ever be tolerated that a man like Mr Seager should be allowed to call himself the representative of a city whose principles were not declared till after his election, and who, if he were to advance them to-morrow, would be shamefully defeated, or his success would explain satisfactorily to what this great revulsion of feeling since the late general election is owing. If the provincial scrip has fallen, it is well to know the reason why. If the Reform League isnow triumphaut, is it because its forces are greater, or its enemies, armour more easily pierced ? Mr Richmond may not be all his friends pronounce ; but surely he is belter than Mr Seager, who has triumphed in the same battle ground. We trust we shall see all the city candidates openly avow their vievrs, so that the elections iv the various wards may be, what they are intended to be, authoritative utterances of the voice of the people on matters of grave import to the whole city.