THE Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1879. OUR MEMBER.

Manawatu Herald, 28 January 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1879. OUR MEMBER.

«- Tho statement we quoted in our last, issue, that Mr Walter Johnston, M.H R. for Manawatu, intends during the ensuing month to address his constituents, will doubtless give considerable satisfaction to the settlers. For some time past, there has been a strong impression abroad that our member had not at heart the district he represents, and that he did not value suffieient'y the high trust reposed in him. His advent may throw some light upon the true facts of the case. A member of the Lower Rouse vvho resides out of his district, has an exceedingly difficult part to play. Frequently the interests of his constituents and of the district in wihch he lives clash. Living in a town perhaps, and having his whole mind impressed with the importance of building up the com* mercial interests of the nation, he is apt to lose sightof the necessity of promoting the progress and settlement of the country districts he represents, and when a division takes place upon a question, of town v. country, his interests, his associations, and his instincts, naturally lead him to record his vote in favour of the town. We say naturally. For instance, the gift of half a million of money to Wei* lington would enrich Mr Johnston for more than the promotion of the West Coast Railway ; hence when the debate took place in the House on the tteclaimed Land Sale Bill on the 28th of October, his vote was given for Wellington. Mr Fox and others ttpoke strongly for the right of the country districts to share in the proceeds of the land as a provincial asset, and urged that it be devoted to the West Coast Kailway in the advantages of which both the town and country would participate ; but the member for Manawatu did not utter a word on behalf of the just rights of his constituents, and when the division was taken, he recorded his vote for Wellington, and on behalf of what was called " one of the greatest jobs of the session." We mention this to illustrate the view we hold. Mr Johnston's position in the House at present is really as a representative ot the commercial interests of Wellington. He knows comparatively little of the needs of Manawatu, and does even less to obtain them. In a few instances, such for example as a goods shed, or the appointment of. a Court official, or some other small matter brought under bifl. notice by letter, he has interesteafjumself; but so far from being the representative of the Manawatu district (in the broad sense of the word), he appears care, less and unwatchful regarding the interests of those who have returned him to Parliament. Afew days ago we

received the last number of Hansard, and we took up the whole volume with a view to examine the amount of work the member for Manawatu had performed far hia Constituency, during the recent session. Parliament opened on the 2Gth of July, and wo waded through o\qv 500 pages of Hansard) as far as the «3nl of October hunting f»r evidences of our. member's interest in our welfaTe. The result was as follows : — Not a single speech is recorded, iv t;ver two months ; his name rarely occurs in the division lists, and he appears to have got on his feet eight times, in every instance to aslc a question. They were on the following subjects: — Aid to Boman Catholic schools,vates at Kawau Island, salaries of Ministers, Fox ton a port of entiy, rates on Maori lands, statistics given by Sii George Grey, institutione promised by the Premier, and the Waimana Valley in the Bay of Plenty. The only one matter of intetest to his constituents was, the question of Foxton being proclaimed a port of entry.. All the others, were nearly "catch" questions, in most cases "poking fun" at the Premier. "We confess that after going through two months of the session, and finding so little leward for the trouble, we temporarily threw Hansard aside. Yet during ohis time referred to, numbers of important and deeply interesting colonial questions had been discussed ;and there, were also manydistrict needs, which might veiy well have been advocated ; but so far as Mr Johnston is concerned Mansard is silent. At prex sent, Manawatu is almost unrepresented. The experience of last session seems to indicate that a more energetic member is needed to guard oitr interests, We intend at our leisure to go through the remaining numbers of Hansard carefully, as we do not wish Mr Johuston to be unfairly treated. He is a man of undoubted ability, is always listened to attentively, and as a City member would doubtless work well for bis constituents But it is impossible for a man utterly unacquainted with the growing requirements of a district iv course of development, to represent the constituency thoroughly, frequent visits to it are essential, to find out its needs. This perhaps would be tioublesome, but if unwilling to accept the work, he should not ask for the honor. What Mr Johnston will say when he visits his constituents, it would be hard to tell. He certain^ will be able to confess a great many sins of omission, but whether the confession will be re* ceived as an expiation of neglect is doubtful. We imagine he will have some plain questions to answer.