MR BURNS, M.H.R., IN REPLY.

Evening Star, Issue 4244, 3 October 1876, Page 4

MR BURNS, M.H.R., IN REPLY.

The following is Mr Burns's reply to the memorial addressed to him by 102 of the electors of Roslyn :

It gives me great plensure to receive any communication from my constituents, and, as the member for Eoslyn, I feel bonnd to treat these opinio- s ■with tho utmost respect. Bnt, first permit me to say that there are forty-one name 3 appended to tho letter that I cannot find upon the Roslyn Electoral 801 l ending 31st August, 1876/ It Is impossible for me, or anyone who hna the best interests of Otago at lira: t, not to resr.-et the course yon have taken in this iratter Ton have objected to my do ng all I could to prevent-ihe Abolition Act coming into force, forgetf.rg that I hm returned as the uieinber for Roslyn expressly to take sueh action as I wight think desirable for that purpose. Nay, more; yon very well know I would noi have h*en returned had I decla ert any •tber policy. I will be bound to say, bad I not taken the course I have done, you wou'd n /W have been branding me as a traitor to Otago. and a deserter from the plwLesl gave before electa". Oemtlemen, you have mistaken your man; I am aot in the habit of say ins: one thiug in preseuce of my elec'ora, then taking my place in Parliament, an<l voting contrary to such statements. If such is the course of action Sou wish me to adopt, then I must emphatically eeline to become a party to m y such conduct—eonduct that would most righteously bring down wpon my head the censure of every right-thinking elector in the Eoslyn district. It also seems strange to me that the action I took to enable yourselves a»d other electors of Otago to have a voice in framing any new Constitution in this our country should meet with your disapproval. It did occur to me that you were free men, and that the privilege of deciding this for yourselves would have been valued by you; hence the support given by me to Mr Mncandrew's resolutions. It seems in this I have been mistaken, and I am surprised that even a minority of the cons itnency are eontent to allow other parts of the Colony to frame the Constitution under which we are to live, without having any voice in tho matter. Permit me most respectful yto say that in this I cannot agree with you, neither will the great niajo ity of the Eoslyn electors sympathise with you in this matter. The Parliament having decided against. these resolutions, and being also fully determined that the Abolition Act shall come into force all over the Colony, nothing now is left for me to do here, but to use my best endeivors to secure as much of the remnant of onr revenues ns possible for Otago, and make the best fight I can to bring order out of the chaos that now exists, leaving it to the people of Otago to take their course, under existing circumstances.