The Main Issue.

Observer, Volume XVIII, Issue 1092, 2 December 1899, Page 8

The Main Issue.

AUCKLAND'S INTERESTS HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED.

Let us Elect Better Members.

What are the real issues before the electors at the present moment ? Every candidate who mounts the rostrum takes the view that the vital question to be determined is whether the Seddon Government shall remain in power or whether Captain Russell and his friends shall take their places on the Treasury Benches. Bat there are more important issues than this at stake. We, in the North, have worshipped the fetish of party too long. Time and again, We have sacrificed purBelves for party, and what has paxty done for us in return? Twenty years age Auckland was represented by the finest set of provincial members in Parliament, from Eeader Wood downward. We sacrificed those able and powerfnl men to party. We set them aside altogether, and elected in their place a troupe of political moantebanks tied hand and foot to the heels of Sir George Grey. That was onr first sacrifice to party— a most degrading one— and the sacrifice has gone on from one Parliament to another ever since.

Today, the provincial representatives of Auckland are the laughing stock of the whole colony. Intellectually, politically, socially, commercially, and even morally they are— with several notable exceptions below the ordinary standard of men, and these exceptions are chiefly amongat the Opposition members. So low, indeed, has the standard sunk .that it has ceased to be considered an honour to become a member of Parliament. Men are no longer elected to the House because of any ability they possess. Some are chosen because of their williDgness to become the tools of a prevailing faction, others out of sheer pity, to provide them with a billet and enable them to earn a living, and others, again, solely to keep them out of the gutter. This is an ugly fact, but we cannot hoodwink it. Many of the votea cast next Wednesday be given oat of sheer pity.

And yet we in Auckland, after electing a BOriv lot of incapable and almost disreputable members, are surprised and angry that oar interests are neglected. Money is borrowed to build ns railways, Southern districts getting a set off of equal amount, and while the Southern railways are being energetically pushed ahead, onr share of the borrowed money is filched away from ua. What more glaring example of this robbery conld be given than the North Island Trunk Railway ? Our members prate sentiment or fawn like dumb dogs at the feet of the administration in power. The Southerners know a game worth two of that. They drop sentiment altogether, and keep a keen eye on the votea that are going for railways, roads, and other public works, seizing the lion's share of them for his own oonatitueata. Every time, Auckland getß left. And yet the Anokland people wonder why ? "Why, indeed. Because they elect incapable representatives.

From a provincial point of view, the main issue before us ia whether we will be represented by men of independence, high principle, patriotism and capability, or by a Bet of party puppets of little or no principle, who are incapable of either thinking sensibly for themselves or giving voice (to the views of their constituents. It is an important issue to üb. Our cryhas hitherto been ' measures, not men.' The time has oome for us to raise the battla-ory of ' men as well as measures.' We have imfortant interests to Berve. The North sland Trunk Railway should be completed, the North Auckland Railway should be oarried to a paying point, the San Francisco mail contract should be let for five years, the Waihi and Kua'otunu-Coromandel goldfields must be opened by light railways or tramways, the vast traota of land in the Waikato held by the Estates Company ought to be opened for settlement, and

many other things, neglected for years past, require immediate attention if we are to make progress

Therefore, it is the duty of the people of Auckland to send their best men to Parliament unfettered by so called party ties or considerations. The present Opposition, when they were io power, did very little for üb. The Seddon Government have done no more. Surely, then, it is time we ceased to sacrifice onrselves to party, more especially aa there are no defined party lines in this country, the perpetual contest being a fight for office between the ' ma' and the ' onta;' Let ub look to onr own interests. Let us elect men of character and principle, who have brains to think with and tongues to speak with, and let them be free from party shackles. Tbis is the Obsbbvbb policy.