THE ELECTIONS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2155, 30 November 1875, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

i (To the' Editor of the Evening Star!) .' \ Sis ,—-In the' present £ osition of political affairs in this colony I deem it Hie bpunden duty pf every man; ip;narrbwly scrutinize, tlj^, candidates;, who,may. offer themselves'at the ensuing eiectiori, and I presume, your columns are open, to a discussion of the merits of those gentlemen who declare their intentions of submitting, themselves -to ■ the Ordeal of 1 public opinion^ "I therefore consider it unnecessary'to express any apology in troubling you "with a few observations upon the public career of the candidate who has announced' such his intention—-William Rjowe.'■". ■■ .bi^Dl(\ yJ',v::■■,■ ' \ I read m an Auckland, contemporary a letter from ".Ah Elector," in which he propounds certain questions for the consideration of $he electors before -giving their votes at the hustings, such as— What is the character, private and public of the candidate?' Is he truthful ?-Is he honorable? Is he patriotic? What are his antecedents ? Is he a consistent .manj or does he turn with the wind? and so pa,' which appear to me to be very sensible questions for all electors to answer satisfactorily in their owii minds before going to the poll, and I propose toelucidate and bring them to. bear upon the man who- seeks our snffragesi at _ the; present time; but before doing.'so I will make. a few re-! marks upon his so-called address aa published, in which he says he believes his views will accord with those of! the great majority of this community. Those ■" views "" (of the various political questions) he leaves'.us to glean from a public statement to be made ou some .futule occasion. Hjis- he then,not yet jmade up his mind upon the programme hY intends to adopt? and consequently afraid of committinglhimself to a truthful and honorable course of action usual in such cases, especially by a new candidate $ an old and tried friend of the constituency might assume su,ch ft privileges but for a new candidate ' who has never represented us, though offering" himself on several occasions and rejected, seems to me to be nothing less, than consummate impudence.

I will now gauge him in his actions as exhibited in the public offices of trust in which he has already been placed. He is a member of the Waiotahi Eoad Board, and also of the Municipal Council. When the latter was formed, it included the greater portion of the former; nevertheless, on a recent occasion, the

board received* fronfthe' snbsidj rotW byi- - the Provincial, Council a grant equal to . that it w«s entitled, or would be entitled, ■ under the conditions, of the vote to re* ceire -before, ,the , establiahniept' of „sue/ Municipality, or, " not' to pat too fine a point upon ti," they obtained 4hejj|nMnmt under fialse pretences; and dfpnyed'tbft,, Municipality" of funds ..to whfch*jfc' i»SJ legally entitled fop.keeping in rewiiir the roads -of the, greater portion, of: l^eir >; Hererring to ••'^ja- Ele(!tor|s questipjb, I ask was jit," houorable " that he,' bt)ng a 9S^ ber of b.ot«Jmtitutiont ahoujd rOMs* spire to deprire the rightful oWnerofthe tunds P..Would an •• honorable " man hare acted in' such a manner? Again/1 ask, "MWJWte a. party, to .ajuquit a transaction forfeited the trust reposed in him by the Ratepayers of ;the: Munici. tahty? Does that act qualify him for »~ higbe^. and further trust ? I leave my fellow^ electors to draw their own conclu-T lions. ■ ' :'' i i

I take nextithf question of-the foreshore—ln thistl think he ha*, been consistent throughput in-so farJa«.he f haf exerted'his utmost endeavours to throw obstacles hj the,way of the fame becoming - an endowment for the Municipality/ Shortly after takings his seat in that Councilhe^xpressed -his,?.views " upon that subject to be that the Provincial Executive were the proper authority to** whom the foreshore should be granted, and that he would exert'alt his influence .'to,, prevent th*>Mttnfcip*lity'e'vttF becom- r ing possessed oh it*as an endowment. I. ashy is. this one of his apolitical views in r accord with, those of the great xnajoritr j * of this community;?*--;Or has he/vjaried .' those'.^views \\sincVtheir expression' at ' the Council' Board? My'lnipreiliion on that point is that- his action*at the very last,.mee^ng. / of that ; Cpuncilr»roves his*. consistency in his first expressed '^vlews '*/ and if elected, we may expect, in case's} bill is introduced to* endow tbeMuniclpa-" lity with that., property •fbzn mepiber's tr name will appear on the opposition sidei' lJ I take another query^pf "Aj Elector," -' viz., what is his private'character P ' Be * is the, owner of some property in the town let to' tenants on' lease or otherwise: 'Any f . man possessed' of'"property may fairly;b«^ gauged by the esteem' borne- bm by hii, r . tenants so far as his private character- ip '* affected. He has a block offend let,Oß lease to a number of tenants' ,exten'3in&^ from the Karara Bridge, to ,thi beach.., X" .venture to say the whole of tb^se tenants, to a man, will rote against Km, and, if 'necessary, put themselves to asme inconvenience to do so. This I consider speaks volumes. The acts of such i persons are worth nothing upon such a-print. They - are more likely to find the welk points in a: man's character,' ■ and can form a very safe opinion of his, " honorable " prin*--., ciples. ' I '\i ; I have not by any "means ejhausted myy remarks upon this candidate's public or '- private character, but I an; afraid my letter has exceeded the limit; I will conclude; hoping my fellow electors will pause before pledging themselves to vote for William Rowe. —I am, &c, Aipha. Grahamstown, Nor. 29th j 1875. - -~