Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1881.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 303, 28 October 1881, Page 2

Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1881.

I x fo n mat [ox has reached us that the canvassers for Mr. Dodson are still busily cn_ gaged in the congenial occupation of aspsrs. ing the political character of the sitting, and, we trust, future member for Wairau. They have, it appears, chosen to estimate the worth of a rej-re entative as precise!

in proportion to the money he obtains for his district, and though we cannot agree that this is the best test of merit, we are willing to set this consideration aside for the time being, and discuss Mr Seymour’s claims for re-election from the standpoint of the persons we have alluded to. In a previous issue we referred to the amount of Government money which Mr Seymour has obtained for this district, and will now allude to the various items a little more in detail. As the extension of the railway line is undoubtedly of the greatest importance to that district we shall refer to that first. The sneers of our local contompoary when the extension to Awatere was mentioned in the Public Works Statement will no doubt be remembered by the public, but to refute them we have now the fact that tenders are called for the work, and most positive assurance has been given that it will be proceeded with at once. I liming to the list of public works appropriations wc find that the money set down for this extension is £II,OOO, together with a vote of £250 for an assistant engineer. Now we are in a position to state, without fear of contradiction, that Mr >Soy niotir was mainly instrumental in obtaining the appropriation of thissuin for the further extension of our local railway, and if the argument used by the canvassers has anything in it> then he deserves re-election, if for this alone. But this is not all 110 has done for the district. Turning to the vote for roads we find that no less than £23,850 is to be spent in Marlborough, made up as follows : —Main Road through Pclorus District and Rai Valley, £14,000 ; Tracks, Pclorus and Queen Charlotte Sound, £350 ; Bridge over Clarence River (estimated cost—£o,ooo) required for present year, £o,000; Road, Kaikoura to Waiau, £1,500. In addition to this there is also the vote of £4,000 for the road through the Awatere Shearing Reserve, which, as our readers will remember, was only secured through the agency of Mr Seymour. To show that Marlborough has been treated with great liberality by the present Government, we may also mention that with the exception of Nelson and Auckland, more public money is to be spent this year 011 roads within it than in any other Provincial District of the colony. In proportion to its population it lias received a greater sum than any, and it is therefore evident that when the canvassers for Mr Dodson assert that Mr Seymour has done nothing for the district, they are simply stating that which is untrue. It would, of course, he quite a novelty for them to adhere to the truth, but we would suggest ;o them that novelty has a charm of its own and a cause which lias to be bolstered up by mendacious fabrications against an honorable opponent cannot be expected to succeed. We have now shown, from the best authority that a total of LSI, 100 has been secured this year for works in Marlborough, and besides this sum there are the following items in the supplementary estimates For improving the Opawa river, LIOO ; for the erection of a volunteer drill shed in Blenheim, L3OO. In connection with this last item wc may mention that the plans for this building are now being prepared by Mr W. Douslin. architect. The section at the corner of Seymour street and High-street, opposite Messrs Purkiss and Nosworthy’s new buildings, has also been given by Government as a site for the drill shed. This section was purchased by Government for the old railway line and has been generously handed over to the local volunteers, as it is not now required for its original purpose. There is an old proverb which states that an ounce ot fact is worth a pound of fiction, and wc imagine the facts above disclosed are worth all the fictitious statements which are being daily used by Mr. Dodson’s advance agents. We may also remark that the results of Mr. Seymour’s labors are of immensely greater benefit to the district than Mr. Dodson’s tongue would over he, if the electors were foolish enough to allow that gentleman to pose in Parliament as a “ plugless word-spout.”

It would appear that the new candidate for Wairau lias almost succeeded in forming his political creed, and wo presume he will shortly announce it for the benefit of the benighted electors. Of course it will be subject to alteration as occasion may require, or as he may deem expedient. His organ, we observe, has received instructions to endeavor to educate the public mind to believe that a change of representatives would be beneficial to the constituciicy—the fit and proper person of course being Mr Dodson. We arc gravely told that in the Wairau the desire for change is particularly strong, but granting this for the sake of argument, it is absolutely certain that a change which necessitates the return of Mr Dodson is not at all in unison with the wishes of a very large majority of the electors, as that gentloman will discover on the polling-day, should lie be so foolhardy as to persist in his candidature. Change is not always beneficial. For instance, the change in the leadership of the party now represented by Mr Dodson cannot lie said to have been beneficial in any sense of the word. Rumor lias it that this change was a forced one, and was effected in a somewhat similar manner to that in which Mr Dodson obtained the Chairmanship of the Blenheim School Committee. This is where his “ power of selfassertion ” did prominent service—for himself. There is 110 doubt he lias this power ; no one denies it. But in him it is an clement of weakness and unfits him for being useful in public life, for unfortunately for him it is allied with inordinate self-conceit, and lie has a deplorable tendency to adhere to his osvu crude.y-formeil opinions in spite of the best evidence that he is in error. Our 0011 temporary hints that lie possesses “ amiability of disposition,” and this we arc prepared to grant if it means that lie has a disposition to mislead upon every possible occasion. Regarding the ability which is claimed for him, we are not prepared to grant so much, for it is undeniable that lack of education lias unquestionably prevented his natural talents from being so useful as would otherwise have been the ease. As a representative there is no doubt he would turn out a monstrous failure, but this must be patent to all but the half-dozen who form his following. When 110 was first announced to the constituency great stress was laid upon the fact that he was a “ local man,’' but we may remark that this term may he as justly applied to any and every elector whose name appears upon the roll. It was pro-

bably meant that the electors should infer that he was a local representative man who, if returned, would in himself represent the local interests of the place. If so, we would simply wish to know what he does represent ? Is it the so-called Liberal cause? Every plank of its platform has been quietly removed by the Hall Ministry, who have carried out all that the Grey Ministry failed to do when in'power. Is it the working man or the Good Templars t Sufficient answer to this is to be found in the fact that he is a brewer. Would he represent the social, moral, or religious condition of Wairau ? We sincerely hope a more suitable representative, could be found, but it is unnecessary to go into details at present. We have every confidence that the electors will not be so utterly blind to their own interests as to vote for him, and that Wairau will still continue to he represented by a respectable, intelligent, and hard-working member.