THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1878.

Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3047, 22 May 1878, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1878.

The election of a candidate to represent this constituency in the House of Representatives of New Zealand, in the room of Martin Kennedy, Esq., resigned, takes place to-day ; and those who are entitled to vote will be called upon to avail themselves of a right which should not be carelessly or recklessly exercised. It sometimes becomes the duty of a public journal to indicate clearly and unmistakeably the individual who, in its opinion, is entitled to the support of the voters ; but in connection with this election there are circumstances that render the adoption of such a course on our part inexpedient. At the same time, to refrain from any allusion to such an important event as that which to-day will take place would be to allow a sense of delicacy to stand in the wwaty t of duty. There are three candidates in the field — Mr Harrison, who, we understand, is at present at Reefton ; Mr Reeves, who addressed a meeting in Greymouth last night ; and Mr Barrowman. Mr Barrowman —to reverse the order in which these gentlemen have just been named — comes before the public on the " working-man" ticket, a good one, we admit, were there any ground for the cry ; but so far as we are able to ascertain there exists no special grievance in this electorate calling for dispute or difference between capital and labor. Mr Barrowinan, whatever may be his other qualifications, has, therefore, we take it, placed a wholly uncalled-for issue before the electors, thus leaving the contest to the two other candidates. Direct comparisons, we all know, are odious, and in this case it is not our intention to make them. We would only ask the electors to consider whether during a session likely to be pregnant with legislation of a character calculated deeply to affect the future of the Colony, either for good or evil, it is more to the advantage of this district to have at its disposal the services of a member versed in Parliamentary tactics, or one who has yet a long political apprenticeship before him. For reasons that will be easily understood, we will not mention other obvious grounds of distinction ; and will only ask the electors to exercise their rights and privileges in the manner that they consider. most conducive to the welfare of the community at large.