OUR ABSENT MEMBER.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 79, 13 July 1878, Page 3

OUR ABSENT MEMBER.

• TO THE EDITOE. ■'■ ■■■:■'> Sra/^-rYour readerajfroni time to. time hear" throaglrthe medicfm of jour valuable columns of the many-public improvements now going;. onCthroughout tlie' district, and are likewise regularly -reminded of the many wants we are. still- subjected to. We hear of .meeting.. after meeting; being .called, for the express purpose, of enabluig the various/ members 'of '[ this cominunifcy to place ttieir opinions' before the public at such meetings. Of laf tf we ! haye been treated to a 1 series of meetuigs'at'the different centres of popula-' tion, which has had the effect of awakening the district to its most pressing wants. We see plainly that we want more roads, more railroads, more bridges, more blocks of land set apart for special settlement, more Court accommodation,, more ; wharf extension at our Beaport, and; more reduction m freight . on certain classes of rtimbeT,,; All^hese. things we have decided to ask. for, ai^ttay reasonably expect to get them m 4ae time, simply because it must be admitted that th*cy are reasonably i requests, jfesides all tliese, one other important matter keeps constantly cropping up, not only m your paper but m a good many Others, who seem to think that with all our asking and receiving we have yet to ask for a good representative at the Assembly,' and It trust we ■will loose no time m doing so, as' I fully be-, lieve such a one can soon be found,; ;Jt is now a well-knowufact that this constituency is far from being satisfied with, the present unsatisfactory position it occupies. We have 'a member, and yet we have no mem. ber. His name does sometimes appear m connection with the wants and wishes of his constituents, but. such an occurrence is rare indeed unless some zealous deputation undertakes a special journey to the i Empire City for tlie express purpose of getting an audience of the great man! It Beems 'to the writer. that the present system is simply

a force, and that it is now tlie duty of tin's constituency to ask its member to resign, m order that a more suitable representative may be found,— ong that will sometimes think it a duty to visit the district for the purpose of ascertaining the wants and wishes of the residents, and who will deign to: appear before us sometime previous to the annual meeting of the Assembly, m order that he may appear there with some little knowledge of the political wants of his constituency. Wo have been frequently told by you that the future choice of the district will fall upon some local man. You have, with some others, gone so far as to name several likely ones for the honor. Some of those hinted at are, I believe,, suitable, others are quite out of the question j and perhaps it will be found that owing to the numbei* offering their services as local men, that some outsider, or what is'usunlly termed an "absentee member," will be the man who will again represent us. All I can say is,- may the fates order otherwise ; arid while saying so, would suggest that those interested m the political welfare of the Manawatu District should meet at some convenient and central place for the.purpose of laying pkns wlriqh- will ensure the return of a good local man. If this course be not adopted, and a firm understanding arrived at, I will bet that Dr. Buller, commanding so many Maori votes, will be the winning man. It mußt be remembered that he has very large interests m the s district^ has great influence over the Natives, and thoroughly understands how to use them politically. He- is. both persevering and, pute m all his movements, and so long as the present unfair and totally unjust system p£ allowing Natives i;o vote for oar representatives lasts, there will always be a great danger of a Maori man being. reiburnedYas our representative. We don't want this danger staring ; us m the face ; we don't want an absentee member j we don't want to drop behind m the great race of improvement and progression now being so 1 succes^ fully run m this colony. We wantto-take our place and nobly keep it, and the only way to do so is to select our best man and send him to represent our wants. The only -way to secure this is for thoie interested m welfare of the -County to lay : aside all petty strife, and for once unite for *tbe purpose of looking out for someone suitable, - and, if possible, acceptable to the whole. My sole object m thus writing is simply with the. hope that some abler pen than i mine ymay.be taken up with the view of directing the public mind m this most important and pressing matter. Hoping that such will be the result,— lam, &c., .. .. .. ..•',. .. y ■? An Eieotob^ Palmerstbn^July Bth; 1878^ : " ' v ' r ' J ¥ ;