Superintendent (New Zealand)
The superintendent was the elected head of the provinces in New Zealand from 1853 to 1876 .
Historical classification
The provinces existed in New Zealand from 1841 to 1876 and were the highest administrative unit of the country. During this time there were several changes in the country's provincial structure. Each of the provinces elected its own legislature , the provincial council and a superintendent, who was not a member of the council. The elections for the council and the office of superintendent did not always take place at the same time.
Role of superintendent
For twenty years the provincial councils and the House of Representatives were embroiled in a power struggle. The Constitution of 1852 defined thirteen areas as areas of competence for House Legislation: customs, postal services, shipping, lighthouses, weights and measures, currency, bankruptcy proceedings, legislation, marriage, the lands of the Crown and Māori , criminal law, and inheritance. For several reasons, however, the work of the provincial councils then proved to be more effective than that of the parliament. There were strong personalities in parliament who represented different interests depending on the region and had no experience in putting the welfare of the entire country in the foreground. Therefore the superintendents enjoyed a higher reputation than the members of parliament.
The Constitution had given the Governor General of New Zealand considerable influence over the Provincial Councils, but the superintendents came to power. The governor could dissolve the provincial councils at any time or veto their decisions. He could remove the superintendent if the majority of the provincial council agreed or invalidate the election of the superintendent (both within three months of the election). On the other hand, only the superintendents could convene the provincial council. So it was enough to delay the first meeting of the council to three months after the election in order to neutralize a large part of the governor's powers. The superintendents were more powerful in political practice than the constitution allowed them to do.
Another influencing factor, which you use to your own advantage, were the long and difficult journey between the individual parliamentary sessions. The Wellington Provincial Council had passed a law authorizing it to take out a loan of £ 25,000. At the time of the next parliamentary session, it had already been paid out and a fait accompli.
So the superintendent was more than just the chairman of the provincial council, it was an office that came with great honor and responsibility.
Election of the superintendent
The Passive right to vote at the national and provincial level had at that time only men who property worth £ 50 or a leasehold worth £ 10 had. Elections took place every four years and, including the weeks before, were a significant event in the province. Often times, adults could remember the events of their childhood choices.
It was not uncommon for newspapers to be created specifically to support a candidate and fight the competitor. So is The Press , now the largest newspaper in the South Island, in one of James FitzGerald (first Superintendent of Canterbury) based newspaper back with this construction of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel fought, that of his opponent in the second director election, William Sefton Moorhouse , was strongly advocated. Moorhouse, however, used the Lyttelton Times for his own purposes. FitzGerald had been the first editor of this newspaper in 1851. Although he was no longer the editor at that time, the paper supported him on the "tunnel question".
The perceived importance of the elections also resulted in the possible impact on the everyday life of voters in their neighborhood. So one of the candidates could promise the building of a school, roads and bridges for their place, the other candidate however could not. Taxation, education, welfare and the abstinence movement were important issues at the time.
Originally, the elections were not secret: the registered voters informed the election officer of their choice, who noted it on the electoral roll. This took place more or less publicly, so that unofficial projections were already circulating during the election. However, deliberately falsified “projections” were also circulated in order to influence the election result. For example, if more than two candidates stood for election, one could claim a significant backlog for an unpopular but currently leading candidate in order for the following voters to choose another, “more promising” candidate. These unofficial "predictions" continued to circulate after the introduction of secret elections with a ballot box .
Individual evidence
- ^ John Wilson: Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings . Canterbury Regional Council, Christchurch 1991, ISBN 1-86937-135-6 (Retrieved April 5, 2010).
- ↑ a b c Michael King: The Penguin History of New Zealand , 20th Edition, Penguin Books, Auckland 2003, ISBN 0-14-301867-1 (accessed May 4, 2010).
- ↑ a b c d e Superintendents Of Wellington . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Wellington Provincial District - Volume I . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Wellington 1897 (English, online [accessed February 9, 2017]).
- ^ Fitzgerald and the Newspapers . Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved May 25, 2010.