Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1880.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 98, 27 February 1880, Page 2

Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1880.

■ Duitixu the last election contest for | the Wairau, the “ Friend of the | People ’’ —Mr Henderson—the n ii successful candidate on that occasion, was always telling us that Mr Sey- ; niour could do nothing for He < istrict, and that, if elected, lie /• old he relegated to the “ cold shades of the Opposition,” andho politically defunct. If, however, Air Henderson wore returned, everybody would get everyj thing. He was very careful not to . pledge himself to aupport .Sir George Grey, or to say whom he would sup- ! port, but the impression he evidently : desired to be conveyed was that he, and not Air Seymour, com l be of any j use to the district. “ Godlin’s the i friend; not Short,” was his line of argument. What Air Henderson has i ever done to benefit the place, we do i not know, and doubt whether anybody else can point it out. Do is just no v employed in a vigorous eru 'adc a -ainst the High School, which he i desires to see—not improved, which it 1 probably might be—-lmt “burst up,” ! jest, as, during the election, every man ■ who held a hit of land was to he j “burst up.” This appears to be about i the extent of his services to the place. : How, on the other hand, what lias Mr : Sevmour done for us ( He has both ! iii a> d out of Parliament had the iuj i rsts of the district lie represents alv vs before him, and being in accord with the Miir’stry be lias been able to serve the place very greatly in the matter of public works. It will be seen by reference to an article in another portion of our paper on the | ’a way extension, that Air Seymour j he ■ been in correspondence with the | Government on the subject since last ! f 'ssion. and that he lias received 5 t satisfacti y replies. Formation ,• .-facts to t e extent of the vote f t(i - the Pileiheim and Awatere section will shortly be called for, and tV work placed in hand as soon as r), : n ] 0 . We have good reason to 1 >ve that a longer delay would have ta m place in the commencement of tin’s undertaking if our member had I 110 f bestir ed himself in this matter, j anfl he deserves every credit for it. If this is not doing more essential seri vice than trying to “burst up” schools I and property we are greatly mistaken j in our estimate of what constitutes I doing good service to the State. When the present little game of the “friend of the people ” is played out we wonder what will be his next move on the board. He cannot keep quiet, that is certain, continually agitating some fancied grievance or ofheiT and keeping his name before ! the public in some way or other seems i essential to this self-asserting aspirant |to political honors. During the last Session a great extension was made in the franchise. Every adult, male who has been in the Golony for 12 months, and in the district for which lie claims to vote, six months, is f ititled to vote, and he can send in 1 s application to be placed on the Roll at any time. Tin’s takes in r la 'o body of men not previously r i an -h----ised, namely, lodgers who *a re no property qualification. ' b ■'re elections therefore a much larger number of votes will, in all probability, lie polled here and in other parts of flic Golony than were given at the last general election, and we shall be curious to see how those holding this residential qualification exercise their votes. Will political l' l >kum and claptrap uttered with fluency and liberallv garnished with pledges made fo he Broken, and promises never to Be performed earrv the day, nr will past services and strict political honor have the victory? People of a ’ shades of politics will watch tin* H to with interest. We trust that whatever v .-ws anv one qualified to vote may entertain, he will, at all events, not neglect to get his name placed on (lie THU. There is no immediate probability of an election here. But if there were and Mr Henderson were a candidate fas he would be pretty certain to Be), every father interested in the education of Ids children should hear it mind that this is the man who is v 'king “tooth and nail.” not to impi- vethc Blenheim High school. But to sweep it away, and thus leave the means of attaining “ higher education ” out of 'die reach of all hut the children of the rich.

f v r lust. isxue we had the iiPasure of ann ‘i’ -iiiu' that preliminary nmtnprtnents had boon commenced for tlio survey of the Blenheim ami Awatere section of the Pic-ton-fiurunni Railway. The (lovenunent

evidently intend to fulfil tlie promise tied this line should ho proceeded with, Mi Seymour has not been unmindful of the intcrests of his constituents in this matter, •uni liasheeii in cniTOSpomleiice with Ministers in reforeneo to it. 'A it Inn t! :ed,

few days he received a letter from the 1 mo-ld,-d Treasurer informing him that sometime ago the .Minister for Public A orks gave instructions to the Resident Engineer to put this survey in hand at once, and “ to get a formation cont act ready to the extent ol the vote.” As we stated in our issue of Tuesday'last a commencement was made that morning. A thorough inspection of Dash wood Pass has. heeii made by .Messrs Blackett and Fitzgerald, the Government Engineers. They find the Pass quite practicable for a railway, but the reports as to its facilities in this direction exaggerated. The grade on the Wairau side is very steep, and for about a mile a difficult country is encountered containing several precipitous and rugged gorges. J lie summit of the Pass piesunts no engineering difficulties, there being no saddle that can cause much trouble. The greatest altitudes as shown on the aneroid was 550 feet. On the Awatcre side no difficulties whatever present themselves. On the return journey the Engineers made an inspection of the swamps under the \ onion hills with a view of deciding upon the best route from Blenheim to the mouth of tlie flash wood Pass, tin being several alternative courses < may be adopted. Ihe fact that the Government is in earnest in desiring to have this line carried out as soon as practicable will be received with great satisfaction. Previous Governments have been liberal in promises and tardy of performances in the matter of public works in this district. The present Ministry is evidently desirous of doing justice to Marlborough in this important matter.