THE WAITAKI SEAT.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12844, 30 November 1905, Page 7

THE WAITAKI SEAT.

Sir, —Your report of Mr Maslin's meeting-1 at Waihaorunga, states that the attecdanee I was the.highest legistered by acy candidate] during'the campaign. There were only. 14 j two of whom were, not electors.; At tifttirst political meeting held here and | addressed by Mi\ Dash there \w.\re~: about j three times as many 'at. it as'there were | «t Mr Ma-slin's. ,';'■''■■ / v -.: ; 7 j .'/'■■. ''■' I am, : etc., •::',.; >•: j . ,:" -i ■;.■:■. SETTLER.- I

Sir,—-T read in your issue, of. the '23 rd inst., where a correspondent signing himself] "Stick to It," says that;Mr-Nichol has been ! asked by the Waikakahi'Settlers' Associa- j tion to come and address the,£ettlers at Mor-! Ten; I most emphatically : r deny that Mr j Nichol ever received- such an invitation, as | there has not 1 been a meeting of the above 1 Association' since - Mr NichoFs address at I Morven. I wish to make it clearly understood that the Waikakahi tion was not instituted for political purposes, but for solely looking after the settlers' interests. I am, etc., MORvTiX. Sir.—The speech delivered by Mr T. Taylor, to the electors of Waftaki. proves" clearly that he is as great a political trick- j ster as the Hon. Premier, whose tactics! he so loudly condemns,. He goes to ,Wai~j mate at the invitation of Mr Dash.', and j with very questionable" taste introducesl ""a f purely local matter, the Hospital. Separation '■Biil. informing ; the that, be (Mr. Taylor) was prepared to support the Bill as Sir William had satisfied him it was all right. This little incident shows the character of the man, He hears one side' and forms immediate conclusions on the matter and is prepared to act,' It is not difficulty! ■however,- to detect the ulterior .object, j which was undoubtedly to disparage Sir! William, and glorify himself and followers. ( He says Sir William could not fight for the | Bill being bound by party ties, but if he ! had i.e>n ia charge he would have blocked ! aT Oveniment business to get the Bili i throng]). The inference he wishes his hear-1 ei's to draw is clear return Mr Dash, an j independent supporter of Taylor and Co., | and you will get your Bill through. Would-1 n't he like it? " = ■ : I I am. etc. ANTI-HUMBUG. :;

Sir. —Tt is now !e.--, -than two short weeks! to the dry-of t]ie."Par?iameu:ary election,; -and the opponents of the present. Govern-!-ment are still treated.to the spectacle of a-'j brace of. candidates for' Opposition votes | fighting against each other. The simple; result must be that neither of them wi'l be I allowed to -sport-the initials -" M.H.R." I after his name on-this■-occasion. Why has ! not some pressure'of a decided kind'been ! brought to bear on oil's of thes, two candi- | dates to induce him to retire, and -eave the j field open to the other? In other electorates] the Opposition supporters do not as a rule j allow such a- spectacle to continue for long, but in this district it seems to be nobody's j business, and so the farce goes on. -'Whv-j cannot Mr Maslin'be made to see that the! electors of this district do not want him, j and that he is the man of the two who j should retire and leave the field c'ear for > Mr Xichol? Unfortunately, Mr Maslin pos-! sesses the bump of obstinacy to a marked j degree, and it is obvious- "that he cares his party or for its principles.] It indeed that he has no sreat I respe.-t for the party to*'which he has at- i tached himself for this election, seem;: that! lie was formerly numbered amongst" the ranks of its opponents. Can Mr Masliu deny that Mr Nichol has first claim on the votes of the Oppositionists in this district? Who was the first ix the field? Mr { "Nichnl. Who was it that was requested by the supporters of that party to come for-j ward as their candidate? " With all due humility I say it was : Mr Nichol. although I have heard rumours that a sort of triumvirate composed of some three people, of strangely diverse views did hold a caucus) at which it was decided to ask Mr Maslin j to sacrifice his excellent prospects for the j Ashburton qr.Geraldihe: seat (I forget now j which), and come down to Waitaki to woo j the electors here. Mr Maslin displayed ex- j cellent kindness anH forbearance in running j ■ away from Ashburton and leaving the fcVd open to Mr Studholme. and he Also claims credit for having stood/ out of the wav of Mr Jeffries .So that' the latter could contest the Geraldine seat, : But why- should ithave entered his head to run dowc i taki and try to bump out the unfortunate j Mr Xichol? Unless it wis because the) triumvirate referred to hart same ulterior I motive in asking him to do .so. nv were merely " pulling his les." I can see no other reason. I believe that Mr M.'siln claims that his rluinces are better than Mr X?ehoi~ because he' (Mr Maslin) is receiving promises of support from the farmer* So is Mr Xichol; ko is Sir Willi im Srow.ird *o also is Mt Walk*r and Mr Dash. Thev

ah are, but what are such indications -worth when so evenly distributed ? Does Mr Muslin imagine that he can curry favour with the townspeople, or that he can get even a tithe of the support that will Mr Nichol in the borough itself? Naturally,, a business man resident and | popular in the place can command votes that Mr Maslin, as an unpopular stranger, will-never get; and without, the support of the borough the_ election . can never ba won. I think it is high time that some of these points of view were rubbed into j Mr Maslin with a brick, and I hope that I he can yet be made to see his party can ; only benefit by leaving the field open tcj j the man who was the first choice of the [supporters of the Opposition in this dis- ; trict. . I I am. etc., i DISGUSTED.