Poverty Bay Herald.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5610, 15 November 1889, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald.

PUB LI SUED E VER V E VENING

GISBORNE, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER IS. 18S9. EAST COAST ELECTION. Ix most enses it would not be advisable to discuss the claims of a candidate to a seat in Parliament until his views on public questions were laid before the electors. There is no occasion to follow the usual c our«e with regard to Mr Rees's candidature. He hae already been tried in the balance and found wanting. There is not a more pronounced political failure in the country than the lawyer who now seeks the confidence of this constituency. Mr Rees was worse than a failure in Parliament ; he was an inflict.on. During the time he sat in the House, he did more talking than any other member, not even excepting any of the gentlemen who during the name period were entrusted with the government of the countiy, and ■who by reason of their position were severally obliged to make statements and answer the- numerous question* that appeared on the order paper. Reen, the blatant and irrepressible, was an intolerable bore, and it was a great relief to the members of both parties in the House when an Auckland constituency refused to reelecfc him. So outside as well as inside the Hous« Mr Rees was recognised aR a failure. His flood of talk irritated his fellowmembers, and tho only result was to retard useful legislation. He has not improved since those days, and it would be utterly futile to hope for better things from him in the future. If the electors desire to impose an infliction on Parliament, the purpose could not be better served than by their returning Mr W. L. Reen, but the effect would be to fearfully discredit the district, which already bears an unenviable through undeserved name. The very thought of the voluble lawyer being returned to Parliament must send a shudder through the sensible and practical members of tho House. There are now some half-a-dozen inveterate' talkers in the Assembly, and they occupy about as much time as all the other representatives put together. Mr Rees would bo far and away the most incorrigible of the lot. The reduction of the House to seventy members does not take place until tho dissolution next year, and should Mr Rees then succeed in finding his way into the Legislature, his presence there would materially discount the reduction, unless a storn cloture were applied to stop the flow of purposeless talk. Our reason for alluding at such length to Mr Rees' ''oratorical" powers is because i number oc his supporters believe he would be better able than most men to present the claims of this district to Parliament. In that opinion no intelligent person will agree who is acquainted with the career of the candidate. Mr Rees has no claim whatever to be considered a Parliamentary speaker. Platform oratory as a rule finds no favor in a deliberative Assembly where facts and arguments are looked for and not mere words ; hut even a public meeting would he bored if it had to listen hour after hour and day after day for three months to the claptrap of Mr Rees. Much abler speakers than he have been complete failures in Parliament, although they had the gift of suiting their speeches to the nature of the audience. The character o2 the man has nearly everything to do with the extent of the influence he exercises in the Legislature. Mr E. Wakefield, who for some years represented Geraldine, was one of the cleverest men and most brilliant speakers that ever sat within the walls of Parliament. He was attentively listened to, but his eloquence was thrown away, because he was universally distrusted. Mr Rees in point of ability and speaking powers is not to be mentioned in the same breath with Mr Waken'eld, but he is far more distrusted. The legal aspirant to represent this constituency would not be listened to with patience by the House ; and his words would be treated as the idle wind. The electors if they return Mr Rees will lay the district open to the derision of the whole colony. Surely every man, whether he be rich or poor, who has a stake in the Bay, will be no party to a suicidal act of the kind Mr Rees,no doubt, will pose as a Liberal candidate of an extreme stamp, but it is 1 earnestly hoped thnt no man who earns his bread by toil will be deluded by the professions of one who lately sought to flood this district with the cheap labor of the old world. Overtures had been made to the various Australian Governments to allow the colonies to be made the dumping ground of the surplus and pauper population of the British Isles, but the authorities of this side of the world gave the cold shoulder to all proposals on the subject. In fact, the Mother Country was plainly told that she must take care of her own destitute classes. The hostility of the Colonial Governments to State-aided immigration, no doubt was regarded by Mr Reos as affording him an opportunity of distinguishing himself as an immigration agent. He went Home and placed himself in communication with neople who were and are still anxious to make the colonies a receptacle for the excess population without regard to their suitability as colonists. Fortunately his efforts miscarried, mainly owing to a cablegram from the New Zealand Government to the effect that the facts and figures of the promoter of the scheme were misleading. A great calamity to the working classes of this district was thus averted. There is only one part of the requisition to Mr Rees to which we think it necessaiy to refer, namely, the necessity for the "closing of disputes regarding titles, which are and always have been so great a hindrance to the prosperity of the district. " There is sarcasm, though it may be unconscious, in the above ; but some persons are blessed with short memories. Both at Napier and here Mr Rees was regarded as the prime mover in repudiation. When he proceeded to England, settlers whose titles were in dispute were heartily glad to see his back, and a fervent hope was expressed that the place had seen the last of him. _«__ __ The writ for the East Coast election has been issued. Captain Botham, who has long been a resident of Gisborne, takes his departure this evening for Napior, where ho will take charge of the s.s. Wairoa, and trade between Wairoa and Napier. A private telegram received this afternoon from Wellington states that the Supreme Court has made an order adopting the Registrrr's report on the subdivision of the Makijuri block,

Mr AdaJr oiiiiourtaos i\ lui'go clearing stile, during which cash ousimnors will rocoivo a disoomu of 4s In trie £. The nomirmt\>n of Mayor tnkes place at noon to-morrow. Mr DeLautour is likely to be returned unopposed. Graham, Pitt, and Bennett sell to-morrow at 11 a.m. a first-class double-seated buggy, a single and double harness, two saddles, and other miscellaneous tu-iiclea. The s.s. Southern Cross (Captain Black) came alongside the breakwa.er this morning and landed a large quantity of cement for the harbor works. At the Matuwhero schoolroom this evening will be held the school concert, which has so long been anticipated. A coach will leave town at 7.15.. 15. Theprogrannneof thecnteruininent is a good one, and the performance is likely to meet with great success. Mr J. H. Stubbs has received a telegram from Dunedin stating that at the artesian bore at the Burnside freezing works, 381 ft cf Bin pipe was inserted on Saturday last. Operations had been delayed waiting the arrival of the pipes, and boring was resumed on Tuesday, the rate of progress being '20ft per day. This morning slaughtering was commenced at -.lessts. Nelson Bros, works on the Taruheru river, the animals killed being from the flock of Mr A. C. Arthur. There are six butchers employed slaughtering. The first hatch of meat will be taken out to the freezing ship in the Tuna to-morrow. The Napier Telegraph ot Wednesday said : —It is understood that Mr W. L. Rees is waiting to be asked to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of the East Coast in opposition to Mr Arthur. If Poverty Bay is mindful of its best interests Mr Rces will wait a long time. There ure not many, we imagine, who desire to see that gentlemen again in Parliament. The Whataupoko Road Board met yesterday afternoon, when there were present — Slessrs Joyce, Sigley, Clayton, and Siindlunt. It was resolved to ask the County Council to deepen the Hapara drain. L.i was ordered to be spent on the Hill road, near Mr Coleman's. The following payments were made: — Chute 10s, Rice L 9 6a, O'Neil L">o, Knox L7O, Hicks L3O, total, Ll96' 10s. Mr John Grady waited on the Board with regard to the closing of a track tin- ugh Matokitoki. It was suggested that the Waimata settlers find the labor and the Board the materials, but it was resolved that the Board meet on Sunday next at 9.30 a.m. to view this road. It was resolved that the Borough Council be applied to for onehalf the cost of the outlet drain at. Ballance street. The Saints' Inheritance : Where will it lie? and what will it be like? Whinray's Hall, Sunday, 7 p.m. — Advt. Kaiapoi Factory Strike. ♦ CniUHTcmrRCH, to-day. The Kaiapoi Woollen Factory has agreed to employ none but Union hands, but wish the Union to agree to the appointment of a Board of Arbitration.