The Feilding Star. SATURDAY AUGUST 18 1883 our Member.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 32, 18 August 1883, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY AUGUST 18 1883 our Member.

The meeting held in Palmerston on Wednesday evening and the resolutions passed there should be a powerful rem ..der to the Minister for Public W« ks that the electors of Manawatn ar not likely to forget him or leave h.-u in a position of false security One thing must have struck Mr Jo nston, as well as many others, and that is the wonderful amount of good feeling shown by the various speakers towards the erring member. We have carefully read 3 the able report published in the Manawatu Daily Times and t>>e resolutions a 9 wired to us by the' Press Association, and there is not the slightest evidence of any stronger feeling than regret that the Minister should, in his capacity as suoh, forget his duties as a represen* tative. An instance was mentioned where one of the speakers was treated discourteously by the Minister, inasmuch as the speaker was compelled to complete au interview without bein°: invited to be seated* This exhibition of want of politeness was almost excusable when we consider the surroundings of the case. Although no one in the Manawatu will challenge the statement that our member is not only lazy but indifferent, yet it cannot be denied that he mu=t have some kind of a conscience. It is a wellknown fact that Messrs Macah-ihuh and Linton have on many occasions stirred up the honorable gentleman frequently by reminding him of his many shortcomings and broke v pledges, and that the presence of either of these energetic gentlemen in Wellington alwa\s means trouble and annoyance for him and probably other membrrsoi the Ministry. It is easy to understand then, that tin Hon. Walter Johnston would avail himself of every means — even personal rudeness — to deter either of these gentlemen from seeking his presence too frequently, hence the act of discourtesy complained of. 1 here is one remedy tor the wrongs complained of, and that is a simple yet most effective one, an I it is a matter of surprise to us that it was not suggested at the meeting ; but, as we h«ve before remarked, the absence of the proposal we are about to make, was in keeping with tbe general tone of the meeting, and reflects the highest honor and credit on the gentlemen who expressed the feelings., oi injury sustained by the Manawatu settler? from the systematic neglect of ; their representative in Parliament. Let the Honorable Walter Johnston be called upon to resign. A requisition to this effoct would be signed by a large muj<»rilv of*the electors — so large, in fact, that in common decency he conld not poflsibly refuse t^afccede to the r» i queit. Nearly every gentleman when elected to the House of Representatives promise* that, should the electors at any time find that he fails in his duty to them, or that they are »o generally di satisfied with him as to muke his .presence m the house as their representative " a sham, a delusion, and a snare," that he will

[Wuce hi • resi nation in their uand> As those condition* now obtriiu with our uiembiT, such action ou the part <>f the long-suffering electors of tli • Manawatu would convey, evfii tn the inert mind uf the Hou Waltu" Johnston, a Bringing 1 reproof that he would remember with feelings of fhutne and remorse to the last day of his life.