WORKING MEN M.H.R'S

Dunstan Times, Issue 1164, 20 June 1884, Page 3

WORKING MEN M.H.R'S

(Timaru Herald.)

It is something interesting to note that iu a'l the speculations and comments on the Ashburton election, nobody seems to take any count of Mr Jolly, the working man candidate. I'. i» taken for granted that his candidature will make no prac ie»l differ* ence to the result, for the very sufficient reason that if he pets any voces at all. it will only bo a handful, recorded by a few of his mates more toi fun than anything else. This estimate of Mr Jolly’s strength is probably correct ; and here arisen a n flection which we should like to dwe’l up>n for a few raomen a. Why is it that the working men will not support one of their own. clo'b T Mr Jolly, we tn not hesitate to sav, is a highly oicdirablo representative of his class, and a man who would make a much more respectable figure in Parliament than many who are them. The majority of the electors of igbbnrton, mvbahiy, are or have been, working men. They could, if they chose, return Mr Jolly against both

Sir Julius Vogel, with all his political prs-ti-re and grand financial schemes, and Mr Wasotij the representative { education, property, and social rank. If they did so, It wodtjl be the most signal political victory ever gamed by the working class iu these colonies, and it would instantly give the workingmen a consideration and importance in pnhlio affairs such as they have never hitherto enjoyed. Why will they not do it f .'Why is it regarded as a matter of o mrse that Mr Jolly's candi'ntnre is a farce, and that he will not obtain enough votes even to affect .materially a close contest between the other two candidates! We often see it stated at meetings of wo king men’s political associations, hud by ads vocates of working men's rights, that the power of the people is paramount, and that the working-men are determined to be represented by men of their own class; We have even seen' it proposed lately that the whole of the present Parliament should,bo sent, about their business at the next general election, and replaced by working men. Now, it is perfectly true that under the existing*electoral law the whole power is in the hands of the people, and there is nothing, so far as the law is concerned, to prevent the return of a working men’s Parliament. Yet there is not the remotest prospect of anything of the sort happening. The law was just the same at the 'ast general election as it is now, and there was as much talk about working men’s rights then as there is now. Yet not a single working man was elected ; and now, when a really capable and desirable workimcnian candidate comes forward, lie is to he pushed on one side, as if he were not worth the slightest serious attention, and the working men’s votes are to be divid -d between two men who, whatever their merits in other respects may be, are the veiy reverse of working-men’s candidates. These are matters which We think advisable to bring into prominence, and which it is well worth the while of the working men to look into.