The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1884. The Foxton Seat

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 14, 12 July 1884, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1884. The Foxton Seat

There are three candidates wooing the suffrages of the Foxton electors, but not one of them intends to represent the electors as a whole. Mr Izard, of Wellington, bows the knee to the Wellington end ; Mr Browne chums in with tho navvies in the centre ; and Mr Wilson craves the support of tho northern electors, on the grounds of his past valuable services. Mr Izard has often tried to get into the House before but has failed, either because ho is not well fitted for the position, or that " the other man " always was. He is making a last effort, which he hopes will finally land him in a Parliamentary seat. His address is on the same lines as those of nearly all the new mon who aro offering themselves. He follows no party, but, as an independent member, he promises to sit on a rail. Mr Browne, who is going in on the vote of the navvies, is unknown to fame as a politician. He is preparod to support any Government which is willing to carry out his views on the main questions of the day. Mr Browne is modest. In his puMished address, however, he makes one statement which ought to win him the support of many of the electors — " I can be of great service in developing the natural resources of the district, which is one of the finest, but most neglected iv the colony, not having a road or a bridge for nearly sixty miles, while mere dessert lands in the colony, through the energy of their representatives, are amply provided with every means of communication." The Foxton electorate, m the matter of roads, has been shamefuUy neglected, and it is a colonial disgrace that this West Coast, which has been settled for 40 years, has not a bridge over one of the rivers between the Bangitikei and Wellington. If Mr Browne were able to do his part, as well as the Welling-ton-Manawatu Railway, he " will deserve weU of his country," but he has come forward rather late in the day. Mr Browne is in opposition to the policy of the late Government . Mr Wilson, the third candidate, takes up the same undignified position as Mr Izard. He also " sits on a rail " as an independant member. He says he " would like to . see a party in power which clearly recognised the difficulties local bodies have been placed in through the failure of the fund for main roads in the Roads and Bridges Construction Act." Now if any " party " understood the difficulty and " recognised it " from all points of view, it was Major Atkinson, so if that is Mr Wilson's only difficulty, he will get down off the rail very .easily. These three may be " good men and true." The fires of patriotism may be burning in their bosoms, but we question whether either of them wiU be able to excite any more than a languid feeling of interest in the electors. Not five per cent, of them know the candidates by Bight, and until their addresses appeared announcing them as candidates, not ten por cent, had ever heard of them. As to who will be elected, it is hard to say, but the probabilities are in favor of the candidate who secures the votes of the working men, and Mr Browne has the best chance of achieving that object.