TOWN EDITION. The Ensign. GORE: SATURDAY, NOV. 14, 1896. SIZING THEM UP.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 215, 14 November 1896, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Ensign. GORE : SATURDAY, NOV. 14, 1896. SIZING THEM UP.

The electors of Clutha have a thoroughly assorted stock of Parliamentary candidates to choose~from, and it is to be feared perhaps that in the multitude of would-be | representatives before them that many will be confused as to which of the four will do the least harm in Parliament. In order of their appearance in this end of the electorate we have firstly Mr Ay son, a respectful worshipper at the shrine of the potent triumvirate — the Hons. Seddon, McKenzie and Ward — although he declares he has no stray strings about him which may be pulled to compel him to dance to the music of any one of the distinguished trio against his will. Next we have Mr J. W. Thomson ; opposed to the present administration, and the advocate of pure legislation — the latter proposition following the first as naturally as day succeeds night. Then comes Mr J. Edio — the Government nominee — armed of course with all the weight of influence lying at the command of the powers at Wellington ; and lastly, Mr J. Blair, a Blave to no party, and a man who will, according to his own showing, support political merit wherever found. Thus the voters of Clutha have arrayed before them two Ministerialists, one Oppositionist, and one Independent, and from these they must choose one to voice their opinions, re-echo their condemnations, prefer their requests and make their wants known for the next three years. It might be instructive and profitable to see ' what qualifications the various aspirants have for the office their present themselves for. Mr Ayson, a well-meaning individual, but the veriest tyro at politics ; would prove a zealous parish politician ; one of the class who would lift up his voice mightily where farmers' interests or grievances were concerned ; one who would drink in the plausibilities of the Ministers he has chosen as beacon lights, ; and act upon them as though they were the deliverances of oracles ; but withal a man who would work consistently according to his lights, and the limited capacity for the conduct of public affairs Providence has endowned him- with. He believes that the future prosperity of the country depends upon the number of settlers upon the land. The qualifications of those settlers as such, and the quality of the land, are all immaterial so long as some people can be got on to some land. He favors the Elective Executive, Bible-in-Schools and Prohibition, and for all his protestations that he will follow no party blindly, would make an ideal member for the Premier's purposes, as he is just the sort, who, after the rough edges of apprenticeship had been knocked off, would speedily find his level among the party of " straight voter^' in the House who vote " aye " or " no " as they are bidden. A man of a very different stamp is the second on our list. Mr J. W. Thomson is a trusted and tried servant of Clutha, and whatever he has done has borne the impress of impartial reasoning, cautious action and and an honest desire to forward the well-being of his constituents. Although through the vindictivness of the present ruling party, he is branded as a representative of the monopolist classes, and stigmatized as a Conservative, Mr Thomson is the best Liberal of the four, and none among them has a more earnest desire to improve the condition of the masse 3 than he. Being one of the sponsors of the deferred payment system of land assumption, it can hardly be laid to his charge that the landed proprietor was of more concern to him than the small settler, and, indeed, he may with justice claim to have been among those who laid the foundations for all that is good in the land policy of the day ; but for which, with that supreme egotism characteristic of the man, the present Minister of Lands practically takes all the credit to himself. Mr Thomson is prepared to put his foot down against the amazing multiplication of billets for •lamorous office hunters, and shows his patriotism by asserting that the money proposed to be laid out in improving access to our show spots, etc., for the benefit of foreign tourists, might be more beneficially spent upon roading the land upon which struggling settlers have been dumped. He recognises the hideous sham the cooperative labor system has been, and is for apolicy which makes for economy in expenditure, and that will continue to exist upon the smallest margin of borrowing possible. Mr Edie is a dim reflex of his patron, the Premier, and is an ordinary out-and-out supporter of the Ministry, its actions, and its policy — in fact anything and everything with a flavor of Seddonism about it. But Mr Edie made an unfortunate blunder some little time since. " Heckled " at Knapdale, he announced himself as favoring the principles of the Single Tax, and, a little later, saw the error of his ways, and, like the celebrated Yankee politician who qualified his expressed views with the saving clause : " But they kin be altered." Mr Edie has backed down on his Single Tax notions, and while we are not sure whether he denies ever stating his penchant for that system or not, or that he has merely deleted it from his political creed, we know that Mr Edie, the Single Taxor of a week or two back, no longer exists, and that the new Mr Edie, who favors everything that will catch the votes of the farming community, has arisen, Phoenix-like, from the Knapdale ashes to take his place. The electors of Clutha will be able to appraise Mr Edie at his real worth without further assistance at our hands. We have a high opinion of the fourth and last candidate on our list — Mr Blair. With all his limited knowledge of the inwardness of the practical questions of the day, there is a moderation characterising his views which cannot but raise him in the esteem of those from among whom he seeks support above either Messrs Ayson or Edie. He has some really practical ideas upon the less important affairs of political economy, and though his is a nature too fine to achieve any great stroke of statesmanship among the coarser constituent atoms spread over the present-day political arena, his actions would be prompted by pure motives, and he would be infinitely preferable as a member than men who would respond to the party whip whichever way it drove, such as we are persuaded either Messrs Ayson or Edie would prove in a very short time if the opportunity were given them. To sum up, we are honestly of ' opinion that Mr J. W. Tnomson is worthy of the topmost place at the polls, as he is capable of doing much that will benefit the colony and his electorate ; Mr Blair should be placed next in order, because, 1 if he is unable to do any great Rood, he is ' incapable of perpetrating a great wrong, while Messrs Ayson and Edie should be rele- ' gated to the least important positions on the list, as, whatever their desires for political good may be, they will be unable to put them into definite action, because one mind only is allowed to hold sway among the Ministerial following, and that is the Premier's, and anyone who has , lived for the past six years with his two eyes open to the condition of affairs around him can gauge the infinitesimal amount of public good that one intelligence is capable of conceiving.