The Courier (Brisbane), 14 April 1863, p. 4
To the Electors of the Port Curtis District
GENTLEMEN,—Mr. Sandeman has resigned, and it is possible that I may be Nominated as one of the Candidates at the ensuing Election. If so, and if I am elected, I shall oppose Sir G. Bowen’s present administration. I have no factious motives in view, and I have no private ends to serve; but I think I shall thus be more free to act and to enforce attention for your requirements than I would be as a mere retainer of an incoherent Ministry. Personally, and separately, I believe that the present men are the most capable and influential in the Assembly; but as a Ministry they seem to me to be a piece of incongruous patch work, which owes its existence to a disingenuous intrigue rather than to the legitimate practices of Constitutional Government.
It is generally supposed, I am told, that I am anxious—after
the manner of the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, and other deserving
individuals, to obtain a Government appointment. This supposition is incorrect.
I am not, and am not likely to be, an applicant for any place of pay in the
gift of the Ministry.
There would certainly be nothing the least derogatory in
being an applicant, for Government employment ought to be, and, if judiciously
dispensed, will be an honorable distinction rather than a servile inheritance,
though I should be glad indeed to know that those who possess the requisite
capacity are likely to be the only recipients of office. Of course, if I found
favour with a constituency, and had the good fortune to become a member of the
Assembly, I should run the same risk as any other of the gentlemen who compose
the legislature, and if—to follow out the supposition—Sir George should, at a
critical juncture, in a supreme moment of doubt or difficulty, submit himself
to the ordeal of “The Hat,” to which his Excellency when he was at Rockhampton
made such playful allusion, I must presume that the member for Port Curtis
might have to encounter an inevitable destiny I should say, however, that the
odds are about ten to one against his becoming a responsible Minister; and even
if he should turn up in the fortuitous conception of such a Cabinet, you would
still have the opportunity of pronouncing your verdict and perhaps your veto
upon a fate which might otherwise be monstrous and irremediable.
I hope my friends will understand that I do not wish to make
anything out of them for my private benefit, and I know that I may claim of
them an honourable immunity from expectations of a similar nature.
I am Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
JOHN DOUGLAS.
Brisbane, 13th April, 1863.
