The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1879.

Temuka Leader, Issue 173, 6 September 1879, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1879.

The speeches of the candidates for the Geraldine district and those gentlemen who proposed and seeonded them at the Temuka hustings on Thursday last deserve more than a passing notice. The speech of Mr Alfred Cox in particular may be placed in the class of speeches usually uttered by gentlemen who are put up to speak against time, and was quite out of place at a .nomination. AVere it not that Z.lr Cox <i|;a very deserving and highly respectable ech would doubtless have been cut short hfngl'befoiv it was. The way in which he flattered Mr Wakefield, and the patronising tone of the speech towards ths electors, is just the old, old story. The time wa3 when Mr Cox had only to make a sign and the electors rushed to the poll in a body to receive the instructions of their leader. These days>re gone by ; neither Mr Cox nor anyone else are now able to coerce the electors —in the Temuka district at least. 'The speecli of Mr Feldwick's proposer (Mr Gray) is a good index to the mind of the electors in the Geraldine electorate, and must convince Mr Wakefield that his services are not wanted. Only in one feature do we regret it, and that was his apology to Mr Wakefield for the " monstrous job" expression. On whose authority was Mr Wakefield's denial of the authorship ef that proved ? I Merely that of Mr Postlethwaite, Chairman I of the Geraldine Road Board—the same ! gentleman who denounced the Temuka and I Milford settlers as a set of sharks who were ! about to swallow up all' the money belonging to the Geraldine County Council. Ho says Mr Ostler wrote the letter. Who believes him ? Dead men tell no tales. Over and over again has Mr Postlethwaite been asked- to prove this, and - over and over again has Mr Wakefield been cnarged, in the public prints, with being the author of it ; yet, never while Mr Ostler was alive did either the one or the other give the least hint that Mr Ostler knew anything about it; nor do we believe he did. The phrase is one of Mr Wakefield's stock phrases, and we believe he is the author of it. We challenge him to prove it otherwise. His word for it wont do ; neither do we take Mr Postlethwaite's word for it—even if it were shown to be in Mr Ostler's writing, which we believe it cannot, it will not prove that Mr Wakefield was not the author. It is therefore to be regretted that Mi- Gray was so ready to take the word of any man for what could be produced if it had been in existence. What Mr Wakefield may state about the matter has as little bnttom in it as what he stated about the County Council business and Milford Harbor business. In the former case Mr Wakefield was the chief mover from the very first for destroying the County Council; while in the latter case it is a wellknown fact, which several members of the Assembly are ready to prove, that, but for Wakefield's neglect in not looking after the Bill the first session that it came before the House, it would have been law during" the last session. He did take some trouble with it, and this is the only instance that can be shown when he did any good for the district It cannot be repeated too often that Mr Wakefield's interests are bcund up with Timaru. Even there, in the matter of the railway station, site, he showed that selfinterest is his ruling passion. Few there are who believe that he cares one straw for the common class of voters or the progress of this district. What has ho done to show it ? Did he make any effort to support the unity of the County Council ? Nay ; rather did he not do all he could to drive the Council to hold-its sittings in Timaru. What did lie do to secure the T'emuka-Oxford railway being brought to Temuka ? Did he. not do all he could to take ib past Temuka and on tb

Timaru ? What did he do to secure for us Irienniul Parliaments? JJj.l lie not, in his spec? l ! before last election say it took three years for a member to learn his business, and that it now was far too short a term of office, lie tells ns we could liave hud triennial Parliaments long ago but for Sir Geo. Grey's Government, What did he do to secure' this ? Does he not believe in long Parliaments still? but because the electors demand' this reform lie will vote 'or it. In short Mr Wakefield has bcon driven to every reform only when lie could no longer resist popular feeling ; j - et this is the man who is held up to the electors by Mr Cox as a gentleman who has done so much for the district! What i has he done ? Blown his own horn, heaped abuse upon every man who would not say that Sir George Grey and his colleagues were wrong in not making him a Minister. Who believes he has the steadiness which every member of the Government ought to possess ? Mr Fold wick has now firmly resolved to contest the seat. Wc therefore ask every elector to consider well the advantages of having a member to represent them who will serve them faithfully. Before Mr Feldwiok intimated that he intended to reside in the district, we had some difficulty in advising electors to vote for him. because we have always held it of paramount importance to have a local man- Mr Feldwick is to reside amongst us ; it matters not whether at Waihi Bush, Geraldine, Kakahu, or Temuka —so long as he is a resident amongst ,us onr interests are tbo same. Mr Feldwick is out and out a people's man ; ho is,'moreover, a hearty supporter of Mr Fox's measure for the suppression of that curse of New Zealand, drunkenness.

In nothing doc 3 Mr Wakefield, member for Geraldine, show his independence, except it be in the outspoken way in which he sliows his hatred against the Premier. Mr. Feldwick, there need be no doubt about it, will act as he speaks. He will help us most heartily in suppressing the liquor traffic. For this not only the (rood Templars, but every elector who wishes to see the consumption of liquor dimished, ought to vote for him. To the Catholics we say, protect the G-orernment of Sir G. Grey. Remember what he has done for the reformation of the county ? Remember if yon drive out Sir George Grey you put in Johnny Hall, a the gentlemen who first per : petrated the wickedness of locking up the land at 2|d per acre. Support the Grey Government and Liberal measures against Tory ruleDo not believe the lies put forth by the Opposition, wbich have been so often refuted. Vote for Triennial Parliaments, and the interests of the country districts, as against the town which Mr Wakefield has done eo much to des" troy. We have had enough of Wakefield and land monopolies, of Wakefield and lying vanities, Remember it is vote by ballot. No one will know how you vote. Do not be led away by claptrap, or plausible sophistry. Vote for the man who will support Liberal measuresThat man is Mr. Feldwick —not Mr Wakefield.