Mr Donald Fraser.

Manawatu Herald, 9 December 1893, Page 2

Mr Donald Fraser.

» When a man is defeated it is best to accept the fates with a good grace. We are very sorry to find that Mr Praser has not been able to do so. In a contemporary he endeavours to explain how he obtained support more particularly where he " was least known " and instead of arriving at the just conclusion, endeavours to cast a slur upon his "sisters, and his cousins and his tunts" by uggesting that they are under the thumbs of the two well-known

auctioneering firms on this coaafe. It is annoying to discover, at some cost, that one's relatives have not such a high opinion of ones-self as you desired them to have, and it might justify rutting them off in your will, or refraining from asking' them to tea, bnfc certainly does nut justify the wholesale denunciation of them as dead-beaf and an auctioneerridden crowd. Those are his published abatements : — "lt Requires *a'u explanation -why 1 polled so badly in I Sanson and Oampbelltowh. . ". . Tlie causes are many. » •. . •There are two auctioneer's Who havo «\vo saley&vds each, and one between them, in the electorate* both being most ardent supporters of Mr Wilson, ' not only rank Conservatives, but bigoted Conservatives. As men in this position have a great power, it will easily be seen that they could tiara a number of votes." Mr Fraser asserts, though he was defeated, that " the electorate is undoubtedly a Liberal one !" yet in the district where he was best known, and in which a very large number of his relatives reside, he polled worse than where he was •' least known." It is an unfortunate admission to make and might cause even the defeated candidate to ponder whether the votes given to him where he was " least known " were given to him, or simply as the dummy of Mr Seddon, and the result hardly leads one to suppose, when he becomes better known, that he will poll quite as many as he did at the last election. One's own people generally have a pretty shrewd opinion of our value, and it is no recommendation to the general public to publish their opinion of you or of yours of them. Mr Fraser's address to the electors is a decided mistake which he will find when he attempts to rccure their support in the future. The nonsense about the power of the two auctioneering firms is the biggest rubbish any man ever tried to foist upon the public. The district of Sandon, Campbelltown, and Carnarvon is one of the best settled and most progressive on the coast, and the farmers are the most independent, so for a dissappointed man to insult them by advertising that they were driven to vote against their opinions because their auctioneers hold bilb for stock, ig simply to show how annoyed he is at their sturdy independence. At Sanson Mr Fraser polled only 46 votes to Mr Wilson's 187, at Campbelltown Mr Fraser got 26 to Mr Wilson's 118 and at Carnarvon Mr Fraser polled 10 to Mr Wilson's 18. Mr Fraser wants the public to believe that out of the 405 voters who went to the poll, 823 were under the power and influence of the auctioneers and thus lost him his election ! Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with, bat Mr Fraser's tale is not good enough to account for the reason of Mr Fraser's defeat, and it is a great pity he published it.