COUNTY MATTERS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 4, 6 November 1878, Page 2

COUNTY MATTERS.

TO THB EDITOB. :«. Stß, — Some time ago I amused myself bjr .. writing a few plivin. fapts,, Betting forth certain events vthijb;were e-xescfeing.-fchs'public: mind m reference to our Fbxton Pbrt and; th* Ruilwajr management. I bad q.ujte ex* pected a shower' ot abuse- from some- of oxuFoxton friends, '.this happily eventuating int a few line* from* our worthy Ctaunfcy • Chairman, asking my name— which! was respect--i'tkttj declined." (must my I have bveos quiettj waiting a chance to say a- few . more> ; words, as my last created great* ooniraotioiv m parts— not beyond, the- sen, but very nearit. Of late your paper lias been so full o£ Loftdott'e virtues and vices, that I could nok. see the ghost of a chanco of getting a' ipacofor my views at aft. Thinking that you may possibly have shelved him- for a period,. I will aak the question— Who is Louden^ Aeport says, 'a storekeeper and" »n exCounty Councillor, and one seeking honor* once more- from the hands, or tote*, of that elector* of Foxton. I pray," with, all my heart, he may be elected at- khe forthcoming struggle, and keep our of the paper for % long time, sa that people may have Minechance of your correspondence- column. It the writer o>f this had a thousand TOtee h* would plump for Loudon, m order to. plac* him where he will enjay company so ad* mirably suited to his tastes 3iid early traiu. mg — »«., the County Council. That sairi% gentleman has of late absorbed the whole [or the space— and apparentlj' th» talentr— at 1 com»uand of the IFeratd office, and after all • that editor's attempts, la fl.at.ter and con^ | deuin him, he haa now, it appears, given poor It ovei* rs a bad job,— they ha.t© squared up, got receipts, and are m unfr:u»dly as any honest Qliristian man could expect them ta bo uv\dei- the in£ere»ting; ciroumstoncesu Sa far so, good. . What does it all mean ? Why sinigly this: Th» happy fraternity "the clique "da . not want I^oudon in-the Cjauncil, and tinm • determined . that h^ shalT no* g#t thiW; Timo will 6ho\«, says you j and so it wjU*. says I. They, have' used all their energiwi . m the matter— backed up by theiudfpwv. dent organ at their c&ibawfd-^aUd w f»|s .

they aon'fcinow whether they will succeed or not. did do a wrong action — London did apologise for It—Loudon did, I verily believe, suffer for it—but whjr should not Loudon be forgiven, why ? is often asked up m this remote part of the Foxton dominions. I must say I don't' know why, nor anybody oiae. A section of the inhabitants has "done all m its power to blacken him publicly, but the^nd they had m view will prove to have been frustrated, inasmuch as they have turned fair criticism into persecution. This will of itself oause many wavering friends to rally round his standard at the forthcoming struggle, and surely he will find himself a member of the C.C. once snore. If such should be the case, he may safely say that you did all m your power to give him a fair hearing m jour columns, and while right was denied by the Foxton organ (unless he paid for it as an advertisement). Ghflltfty lucre ! you are all-power-ful m Foxton, as you have always been ; and the. vile complaint has soon reached your once independent Press— even to dare to charge yoar shining Kght, E.S.T., m the advertisement columns, for his defence against the late attack of the Ma^awatu Times.* -It strikes* me painfully that such proceedings will not prosper long. In the meantime, ho that wins may laugh, and ho that loose* grin— if he can't do any better. Sir, the above only shows that the present politics of Foxton are anything but healthy, and, m my opinion, nothing can flourish there that does not immensely enjoy a sandy foundation — a thing that we are warned against m Scripture. Their politics are without anything firmer than a whim, and it is only by allowing freedom m their Press, aud freedom on the platform and Council, that they can be purified. As I have wandersd into their politics, it appears t jtoe that I should ask you a question ■pSufc a great publio matter which seems to be entirely lost sight of lately, via., your West Coast Railway. . In eereral issues of the Herald I noticed the Wsikanae and Foxton line. Why call it by that name ? Is it settled that the line is coming via Foxton A and who settled it P We were given to understand that the line would come via the best paying route — whioh deoidedly cannot be Foxton. We have been resting on our oars of late, feeling satisfied to leave the matter m the hands of the Government, but is not possible that Foxton politics nay have been working oa the quiet m this' matter? We should see to it m time, or perhaps they may steal a march on the patient few m the upper district. Our line to Wanganui is paying almost as well as any m New Zealand, which fact will, or thould, La long way towards deoiding that if the i to Wellington runs through a good bush country, it will pay as well as the line to Wanganui. That suoh a country exists between Palmerston and Otaki no one will try to deny ; that such a country does not exist between Foxton and Otaki is quite apparent to anyone with an eye m their head. But we must move m this matter, or, as I said befow, we may be too late. There is another question I would ask : Is it decided that the County Council shall for ever continue to hold its'meetings m Foxton, instead of a more central point i or is it likely that that the' new Council will move to some snore convenient centre, say Palmerston or Feilding. If either of those towns were the. meeting-place, it must be admitted that it would be much more convenient for the largo majority of the ratepayers m the County at the present time; and if that acquirement holds good now, how much, snore so will it apply m a few years, reckoning on our rapidly-increasing population at this end of the County. When this West. Coast Railway is a fact, no matter which route it takes, our inhabitants will increase tenfold m a very short time. Suoh cannot be said of the future prospects of Foxton : their population will not increase so rapidly, because the nature of their land will not admit of suoh an event. Perhaps when you have written up our Foxton disputes, and when the election is over, you may find time to give us your views on some of the Above important questions. — I am, Ac., ' MASAWATU.