THE GLADSTONE ELECTORATE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1183, 27 May 1884, Page 2

THE GLADSTONE ELECTORATE.

tO TBI IDITO*. -•/ Sir, —In common with many more of the Gladstone electors, it appears to me it is fall time to bestir, and look out for a representative; to the next Parliament. It must be admitted on all sides . that the constituency has been practically unrepresented during the last two sessions, and that a change is imperatively required. When the gallant captain who is supposed to otjupy the position of representative was soliciting our suffrages, he was great in promises, powerful in demolishing monopolies, valiant in bursting up land rings, and ostensibly earnest in curbing the designs of what he termed -" bloated squatters " in gridironing, and converting into freeholds lands which ought, to *s occupied by the people.. The State ship said the gallant captain, is commanded by a nefarious piratical crew, and must be cleared at all hazards. So fierce was the gallant captain in his denunciations, that you fancied you saw him ; wielding the handspike in bis brawny ' hand carrying his threats into execution. But alas for human consistency I Alas for electioneering promises I When the gallant captain boarded the State craft in Wellington, he fraternised with tht crew, was taken much notice of by the great commander himself, who clapped him on the shoulder, and said, " x"oa are a jolly good* fellow, Captain, and I won't forget ypu." First-Lieutensnt Roily paid him great deference, representing the honors to be obtained, and the agreeable commission pastimes. Even the Second Lieutenant, Dismal Dick, on whose prepossessing physiognomy no mortal man had ever seen a smile, chuckled benignly at the Captain expatiating on palm lubrications, and postprandial jollifications, so frequently aboard. The valiant Captain wag dazzled, and no wonder. Who could resist such glowing temptations ? On his return to bis unfortunate constituency he wag loud in his commendations. Why, said h«, the State craft is in splendid condition below and aloft, ballasted with million loans, and commanded by a jolly crew who spend owner's money freely. Even when additional ballast was put aboard in the shape of the railway tariff imposition, the gallant Captain said the craft was only being placed in better trim, and would ssil closer to the wind. Unfortunately, it is too true, the State ship is, ballasted with the .great million loans, submerged far beyond the Plimsoll line. But it is no less true that she is among the breakers, in a perilous position, freighted with a dangerous cargo of greasy wool impregnated with parasites, and putrid carcases crawling with maggots, with a crew aboard the most reckless that ever navigated a State ship. The sooner, then, she is cleared of her motley crew, and the ship brought to a haven of safety, the better ; and the sooner the (iladstone constituency looks out for another supercargo, and restores the gallant captain to his former obscurity in Timaru, the more it shall be to the credit of the electors. —I am, etc., Gladstonuk.