MR. ROBERTS AND THE ELECTION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1277, 11 May 1880, Page 2

MR. ROBERTS AND THE ELECTION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMARU MAIL.

Sib.,—lt was my intention not to enter into a public discussion on the position which I think Mr. Roberts ocoupies as a candidate for the vacant seat in Parliament, and my position as a suggested candidate. Newspaper discussions not unfrequently engender more or less acrimony, and I did not realise the necessity* for traversing such delicate ground until this morning. In our contemporary's issue of to-day there is a letter signed " Nonconformist," in whioh the writer says that I made certain promises to Mr. Roberts. I wish now to say that I cordially endorse nearly the whole of .the statements made by this writer. I have not been the subject of one moment's doubt that Mr. Roberts "lias not attempted to force himself upon the Liberal candidates of Oamaru and the county, nor do I disbelieve that " Mr. Roberts was induced to declare himself at the instance of a considerable number of electors and that he did so with some " reluctance " is evidenced by the fact that he offered to retire in my favor, as stated by "Nonconformist." ft is also true that I declined to take advan. tage of an offer made by Mr, Robertsand accept I}is position, The statement tnat I promised to support Mr. Roberts, as given by " Nonconformist," might slightly mislead, as it is placed in conjunction with and as a sequel to the assertion that I refused to stand. I have already stated that my reason fop not announcing myself as a pandldate was because I had promised, in reply to a request from Mr. Roberts, that I would not personally oppose him. I had, prior to making that promise, said—when waited upon by Mr. Roberts a considerable time before Mr. Hislop'a resignation was I would support him. But my reluctance in yielding to the solicitation of the electors was not because I had made the last-mentioned promise. lam of opinion that, although it would be dishonorable to violate a promfaQ not to personally oppose, a candidate, it xijighi not bp'' dishonorable to violate a promise to support him. Many circumstances might arise to render BUOh a promise more honored in the broaoh than in the abaprvanoe, <( Nonconform mist'' next says ; " The Liberal party in Oamaru have lost oonfidenoe in one another very simply ; they have allowed personal feelings and interests to take the place of principles, and the only way out of the difficulty is to abandon the false and stick to the true." From the commencement of this sentence to the end there is to me some mysterious meaning, if there i? an Y X shall not attempt to unravel it, for it appears not to in any way concern me, What I wish to be clearly understood is that I pledged myself not to personally oppose Mr, Roberts, and that I have not the least in* tention of breakiug that pledge j also, that from the qomme n 6 e W e i} fc °f Mr-. Roberts' candidature up to the present time nptbing whatever has arisen to legsen the high estimate I had formed of Mr. Roberts as a man and a followsettler.

I have no desire to influence Mr. Roberts in his action regarding hia candi-

dature. But, of course, should he retire I shall willingly accept the invitation of the electors to allow myself to be nomi* nated—Y ours } George JONES,