LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 33

LAKE COUNTY.

November 25. — Several desultory showers which fell during the week have "helped on vegetation of all kinds a, good deal, especially the weeds. Although there can be no two opinions that the harvest will be a late one, things agricultural look healthy all round. It is different with our orchards. Many of them were severely dealt with by the frosty nips iv tho middle and early part of this month, some having nearly all the blossoms killed by the frost, while others have sustained partial losses only.

Arrow Jockey ,Club. — The spring meeting of this club took place last Saturday, when there was a good attendance of horses, sports, and of the general public. Money seemed to be plentiful, changing hands freely. Though tho weather was bultry und close, "the outing was enjoyed In every respect, the Arrow Brass Band being in attendance, enlivening the x'roceedings a good deal. Besides this, the affair was a financial success, which, of course, is the main point. Tho racing was exciting and quite up to the average of up-country meetings of the kind. Unfortunately the .enjoyableness of the affair was damped by a rather bad accident. At the finhh of the Plying Handicap Hazel and Goldring were leading, and the latter made a sudden dash when near the vanning post, and running up against the rope came a cropper, sßooting his rider, young M'Lcan, a clear three or four yards ahead of him. M'Lean at once jumped to his feet, but fell back immediately in an unconscious state. Dr Thomson, of the Arrow Hospital, being in attendance, it was discovered that M'Lean had broken three ribs and sustained a bad shock to tlie system. He was at once conveyed to the Arrow Hospital, and under Dr Thomson's Care is progressing rapidly towards recovery. County Council.— The four old and five new members of Lake County Council met for the first time last week, when Mr H. Graham was elected chairman. Mr Graham, who has more thaw ordinary ambition, having contested nearly overy public position it was possible for him to aspire to, will now have an opportunity of showing what kind of metal he is made'oi, and whether he is equal to the trust reposed in him. Being the first meeting of the new council, no business of importance was transacted.

In Trouble.— The Lakes electorate has it pretty bad. The electors are placed in the dilemma of choosing between two candidates, the very opposite to each other, not only as to, party and politics, but also in worth as representatives. In Mr Praser we have a longtried man of honour and ability, who has served in the capacity of M.H.R. with benefit to his constituents and credit to himself. Mr Praser has proved himself the most consistent and able member the Lakes has ever had, with the exception of Mr B. Hallenstein, now of Dunedin, whoso retirement from politics has been regretted by all who remember his political career. Mr Kelly in his address dwelt -with some emphasis upon the value of a local man, referring, of course, to hlmsalf. Well, Mr Kelly would no doubt be a local man to Riversdale, but for the rest of his district he might be as well at Wellington, or for the matter of that at th& North Cape. Our old member has spent nearly the whole of his life, and certainly tlie beßt part of it, on tho confines of the electorate he now represents, always taking an active part ia the public life In Central

Otago. He is intimately interwoven with all ' our public institutions, and it is safe to say there io no man in or out ot the Wakatipu that has a more intimate knowledge of the wants of the district. The query now is, are we going to pul a faithful servant, who has never failed i iis, aside for an entirely untried man? Mr Kelly has put himself in a position in which , he must expect criticism, and so if he be ' honest lie should not be offended if he is told | the plain truth. Judging Mr Kelly by the i exhibitions he gave of his inner self at his [ public meetings, it is not difficult go see that j in coming forward as a candidate for member ' of Parliament he has put himself in a wrong poaition. He is a novice in politics, and totally unacquainted with public life. In his addresses there is no trace of ability of any kind, and any one who heard him speak must be pain- ! fully impressed with the fact. All this in a : party strife, like the present contest, goes for I nothing, and reference is made to it here merely ! to let people see what they are asked to do. ' If they see fit to place Mr Kelly in Mr Fraser's ! place, it is to be hoped they will have some : reason to give for it. MR W. FRASER, M.H.R. FOR THE LAKES, AT ARROWTOWN. Mr Fraser addressed the electors at the Arrowtown Athenasuni last Saturday evening, ! and though rain was pouriug down in heavy showers, there was a, full house, with a good ! sprinkling of ladies. Mr L. H. Preston, j Mayor of Arrowtown, occupied the chair. Mr j Fraser was received with applause, and ! throughout his speech carried the attention of the audience with him. The speaker . pointed out that in this election he had not ; only to fight Mr Kelly, but also the Premier, who had taken it upon himself to act as electioneering agent for Mr Kelly, which wa.3 not fair. Nor was it in keeping with the dignity of a premier to neglect his duties in Wellington and stump the country a3 tout for his party. Mr Seddon had the habit of referring i to his Government as a snow-white Govern- ' ment, but where was the snow-white when com- ' pared with other Governments? The Atkinson j administration began with cutting down high j salaries, commencing with their own screws, ' and thereby saved the colony £175,000 a year. ; With the Seddon Government it had been all j altered, and a system of grab had beeir infcro- j duced. And this was "snow-white i Government." Mr Fraser said that ' Mr Kelly's attacks upou him made ! it necessary that he should reply to '• them. He had said amongst other things that Mr Fraser was opposed to reforming the Upper House, when the fact was that he (Mr Fraser) had always advocated an elective Upper Hovise — two or three of the present electorates combined to elect one member. Mr Kelly had also reflected upon him (Mr Fraser) with regard to the present mining legislation. Tho speaker would not blame Mr Kelly for the remark, a3 Mr Kelly was unaquainted with mining. Mr Frased denied that any fault had been found with the Act — it was the regulations that had caused all the trouble, and Mr Kelly omitted to make the distinction. The Goldfields Committee was composed of 18 members, and they had sat 15 weeks. For j several hours nearly every day had the Act i been under consideration, and now he (Mr j Fraser) was singled out to bear the blame, i What really happened was that the regulations -: were drawn up two months after the House , rose. They were taken from all the old mining j Acts, and the Minister for Mines showed them ' to Mr Fraser and asked his opinion upon them. ! The regulations filled 10 closely-printed pages of foolscap. Mr . Fraser after looking through them, suggested that they be sent to Mr Warden M'Carthy, j who had been practising •as a soli- j citor upon the Goldfields before' he was ap- J pointed Warden. And that was all the con- j nection Mr Fraaer had had with the regn- J lations. Mr Fraser maintained that no fault ' was found with the Act, the regulations only having given trouble, and Mr Kelly had not understood the distinction. Mr Fraser said that, as the meeting was aware, he was a member of the Opposition, and if leturned would j continue so. He would fight tooth and nail, ! until the present Government were removed from office. — (Loud applause.) He was strongly in favour of the Land for Settlement scheme, with the right to acquire freehold. Ho did not believe m large estates when there were people willing to go upon the land. Mr Fraser then gave a brief resume of his actions during his stewardship, stating thai, if returned, he would j continue to do his best for his constituents and i the colony. He took his seat amidst continued applause. Mr Fraser's attention being called to a letter appearing in the Witness of tlie 23rd November on 'the gold duty, signed by Johji Werner, in which, on Mr Seddon' s statement, Mr Fraser was charged with a suggestion of reimposing the gold duty to meet the difficulty of having the streams in Southland proclaimed tailraces for the discharge and deposition of tailings. In reply he stated that what look place at Gore at a deputation waiting upon the Premier in connection with the tailings trouble ! was that Mr Inder told Mr Seddon that the i miners sooner than be hampured or stopped altogether, would be willing to pay a tax cr royalty of pay 2s 6d per ounce on the gold obtained. Mr Fraser, being present, simply corroborated Mr Inder's statement, and upon this simple act Mr Seddon imputed to him (Mr Fraser) a desire to reimpose the gold j duty. As to Mr Werner's other state- j ments to the saruo purpose Mr Fraser gave J them a flat and uuqualified denial. In this in- j stance as in every other Mr Fraser refuted the charges preferred against him in language and manner that was lucid and to the point, and carried conviction with it. No other business being brought up, a hearty vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Fraser as a fit and proper person to represent the district as member of the House oi Representatives was proposed by Mr G. Stoddard, Arrowtown, seconded by Mr W. M'Kibbon, settler, Crown Terrace, and carried unanimously. Mr Fraser suitably thanked the meeting, bringing it to a termination with a vote of thanks to the chair.