DUNEDIN EAST ELECTION.

Evening Star, Issue 7255, 5 July 1887, Page 3

DUNEDIN EAST ELECTION.

TO TUB EDITOR. gju _Tho candidature ol Mr Jftracs Allen for thfi suffrages of the City East electors seems to me to smack of inconsistency. It is rot usual to put an untrained horse on a dingerous road; neither is it, in my opinion, a wise proceeding to return n novice to Parliament in the present serious condition of tho country. Mr Aden may be a very agreeable gentleman and ft troed citizen , but his speech ftt the North Dunedin Drillshed can only be characterised es the most puerile effort conceivable on the part of any political aspirant, however green he might be. During the whole speech there was not a single idea put forth beaming the Allen stamp. I was at a loss to understand the candidate s oft-repeated assertion, used at the end of c&ch period, is not* gentlemen, what I want; I acseot things as they are,” the meaning of which la certainly lost in obscurity ; but, if meant to be taken literally, Is rather a damaging statement to make by a wouUi*do political reformer. . . . Further, it behoves every candidate not only to be truthful but beyond suspicion, and Mr Allen s answer to the question re being a large land-holder, though fn part tine, was misleading, inasmuch os although not an owner of thousands of acres in the general acceptation of the term, he still owncs many blocks of smaller acreage, but each of more commercial value than many of the so-called largo land-holders. Sir, my objection to Mr Allen as our representative is not against the man but his associations, whlca roust necessarily lean, and that considerably, towards the moneyed classo-, and, whatever some may say and write on this subject, I maintain that capital and labor are not identical. The former has the lion a share of the position, and the ultimate end of their aim is low wages. For this reason we should be cireful how we increase in our Parliament this particular class'and their attendant sate'lites. lam also eorry to fled Mr Allen’s canvassers as iduously mroulating a report against Sir Robert Stout which they know full well is an untruth, to the effect that he tried te lower the wagts of the unemployed to Si 6d a-diy.” when, in t uth, his contention was for 6s As there is a contest to be fought out, let it be on the basis of truth and stern conviction, and let each candidate repudiate any ol these old election tactics of blackening the other’s sayings and doings by a system of untruthful subs in the back. One great sin auaiosj Sir Robert seems to be I)i3 association with Sir Ju ius Vogel. But itshouid be remembered that it is a coalition Ministry, and electois should ask themselves this question ; If Sir Robert bad not joined Sir Juiiu-, in what position would the country have been now, without his B J ead y}“B A?" fluence in the Government ? That, coupled with the fact that Sir Robert has in no way belled his democratio principle should be sufficient proof that u the several constituencies will return men llke ,P ri ?* dole, a tiuly grand Government be gained t but at present it looks as if the City East electors were going to allow personal animosity and gutter claptrap to outweigh all other considerations in the election ol their representative.-I am, etc . City East Elector. Dunedin, July 6. TO THE EDITOR. Sm —ls •< Amicus” in your Issue of Friday last a fair sample of many of Sir Rob 1 rt Stout s opponents ? He assumes a position so full of charity and love towards Sir Robert that he actually poses as a late co-worker and p-rssnal friend. But“Amcus is so fired by the spi it ol politic'.! righteousasts that hir Robert must do certain things, thugs which I am sure no man of the calibre of the member for Dunedin Eist cju d do, in order to gain the po’iMcal help of this correspondent, who is to full of inconsistenc es, as can bs proved by his own carefully-written letter, as to leave no desire ic know who the writer really is. Take the first point, viz., education. I give it asi the opinion of capable liberal men that the present EluCitlon Act will never be attacked boldly and in front; that those parts of it which are to strengthen the position of our working population cm only be destroyed under pretexts of amendment. The next paragraph ol “ Amicus’s” related to the utility of reading a copy of a certain letter retened to by the Premier. Then it may or may not be tiui that It is against Sir Robert’s pecuniary interest to take a leadln<r part in politics; but bis wi'linguesa to serve ought to be quite sufficient for the electors The next paragraph is a mass of insinuations In a remarka ly small compass. Your correspondent recognises fully the claim of the Government in the matter of retrenchment in working oui railways; bu.u he does not recognise tho Premier’s assurance that among other departments that policy will be fuither pursued. Your correspondent quite misrepresents facts in his m.\t assertion. The saving in tho Survey Department has already been earned out, and about a third of the officers have been dispensed with, liv construction the next paragraph is unworthy ot notice, but the succeeding paragraph tacitly admits that the Government proposals to the late Assembly amounted to less taxation than we haveunioyed during the past seventeen yia’B ; the absolute amount oven is less than io years of the Continuous Ministry. Then as to the Sinking Fund, M Amicu*. should make himself acquainted with tho whole of tho loan proposals, and tho truth op otherwise of hU »■ conjectures may then be ascertained. As to bit Robert’s retrenchment card, so called, it is anunpleasant prospect fir Sir Robert’s opponents that a card involving such large proposals will be put into actual prao ioe. Such further retrenchment, I venture to hope, is intended by the electors ol the Colony. In conclusion. I ask those who have seen the production of “ Amicus” whether such unworthy motives as are therein ascribed to Sir Robert Stout do not recoil upon and send to grass that correspondent. 1 am, etc., J Dunedin, July 4.