TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 25, 5 February 1879, Page 3

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.

TO TUB BDITOB. " .Siß,^Bo«jit :^ine i ago.lj»mußod myself, ftnd -I venture to . 5 .say afew^ff-your readers, by Blightly showiog-upsompof the peculiarities*, of cur Foxton friends, who- at that time were any thing but friendly to the persecuted Mr. F. , As I predicted, that gentlemap^gain .bp.came a iijember of, the County Council, m Bpite of. all the efforts brought to bear against him, publicly •nd privately- by .the .noted. clique, and ita organ the JFoxfon Herald. I admit that ,Mr. L. niusfc have, been somewhat taken •back by traction "of- certain honorable Councillors, who m their indignation declined, to sit with him., .oixillow hijn to act m any way as a Counoillpris expected to act, uwch, as voting with, proposing, or seconding lany measure brought forward by him. Perhops none testified their bitterness more on that, occasion tfoan did- Councillor Grower,. Vho there and then refused to allow a cert*in motion to : be put : in^ which, if I romem"her aright3h~e"aßhbxiou3 iiaineof Loudoh' was conpled with the name qf the gentleman yefusing. This unhappy state 'of affairs came to a cluMx l(ist meeting by the Council refusing to rescind the resolution now ptanding, recorded .against CoiincLUor Loudon. X t Xhii'3witA,fsr, '■'%] Hs ■ now buried' ioit ever,' unless somo,. aSfenturous ratepayer chances at . 'some future time . to scan 'tfi^annals of the County Council. It appears ' fhat our paeudb-mentropolitan friends must have something serious upon which to expend their vast energies, or vent petty spleen; hence their tremendous zeal ■ at the predent time,- they are- now trying with alFtheir united power 3to shut up t/iteret their almost extinct seaport by delibeerately shu^iiig about to divert the legitimate coufrfe of .the proposed railway, and if possible prevent, its construction through the splendid district of Fitzherbert' and bring it iatQvlFqxton, thereby thinking to improve their shipping trade. Bid any one ever hear of such childish -nonsense? some time ago it was thought by a number of the far-seeing •. ones m Eoxton that when the . present rai} way • waaopened .to the trade of their port would infinitely increase. Pas it done, so -?V No; up-country residents warned them m time as; to the results, but were quietly smiled at for their trouble. Perhaps our friends, can. now judge forthemHelve/, V The-oxgirial^cheino pf uniting Sandon with Foxtbn was.:a sound one m every respect, and will, if 'carried .out, be a' mutual benefit to both places, but judging from appearances thtvt grand object is just about as far distant 4s it was two or three years ago, unless the' Government step m and make the line aboxjt which there has 1 been so much bio wing'bf trumpots by a few of the excitable and ever ohan'ging promoters or directors, basked up as they hare been by their several .organs, It appears to the "Winter that the mighty efforts which should be directed towards . the completion pf the orgiflal scheme are now being wasted m trying to obstruct another raUway scheme" of ' far greater importance New Zealand genor* ally. Qnej)^the' ; gre>t arguments now used by the agitators ia, that if the. West Coast {line, is coristructod via Foxtoq^ the trade will bo •ecured that port. Who "pouid believe that any cane body of men could deliberately " My auch a£thing ? . of that there could 'possibly be found an editor m the wide ; wid© world who could write such stuff: But ' #uch is the.c^et.'lt is. said, ai»d it is written iti: the . coluiiuis of the. Herald without a blvMh. tjfjlnio.^ "willC undoubtedly proTe whether the enlightened settler4 ; bf the present and future/ Otafei yrM_ japnet- their produce twenty-five ; n^iles by yail to Foxton, ajxd thenihlp; itvto. \yellir!g(io"n, when the •afne produce sent . direct to Wellington would cost very little more than to send }t to yoxtou, which when " there will be delayed um^ilJhe^arriTal of some vessel, thereby uubjecting v everything to the u^U'«>l host of shipping . charges and delays, which", judging from past experiences are something serums, it That is one of the great arguments. at present m. use, but which will soon eva,---p rate. tisWTe .aom'et.imes' read loaders and letters hjLJtpur distr-iot papers' showing both •ides^f^he question!} at issue, and of couK>e written -in .accordance with private interests. ■ Some oif ' these, wonderfu.l- productions we •mile at, others we Liugh at,' on account of. their extreme modesty. Such for example, as the ' egmjtfahcement of a ei;b'-lertder m the Kdraid' which heralds forth the news fhu? : *\We aavo made carrful inquiries re* garding the- extent, of land Foxton and Fitzherbert,' ! and; then goes on to say that the* extent is 1e33 than- 15,000 acres, May I aak, did this wonderful scribe reckon* m. the Fitzherbert district while making the astounding declaration ?. or did he ignore all but thentneteen inhabitants.? I say he. did, completely.; arid moreover, the^fact of only nineteen inhabitants residing m the whole pf that'rast district, calls loudly for a railway/ He winds up the wonderful production by saving that a good dray road would open Fitzhfrberfr better than tliev Palmcr•ton Bailway. IJpon the same line of argument I will' &s\ : him if the dray road between Foxton and Sandon has opened that district as -well as the inhabitants expect the railway, .to - do*. „ perhaps our imaginative friend will answer tho question. I will go a little further and aak him, for the benefit of whom it may . concern, who the ;'• We " aye,' referred to m his. opening remarks ? J)oes the editor - expect that the. inhabitants, • of this, [laige and populous dlstwct, or that the GdYernmdnt are going to bo guided by puch Keayy > Benterices from the pen of a eelf constituted, We yesidbg.in Fox"toß. If he ia cTadulous enough to t\elieve such things I advise him to take to aome sti^mp without; delay,^and thei'e^pjeaeli^^hem witd all his might. /I^n.connection^wiili tho aljove items .'there; : appoared'%6''s^ m the!«aine issue -which go -yery far towards •bearing out common raniai-ks often made about jthe— underhand dealings of. certain persons m and aroiipd our ; canital. One of those letters cooljr says; that |he people of Feilding are passive on the (question of fhe railiray. route (eifcept their Bismarckiaiv diplomatists' "Me?st§. Macar tht^r and Halcombe who are only hoodwmktng Palmer-.' § ton). , This go.dly, and very uriter. I—fair^sample'l — fair^sample' of his neighbors— concludes bi» loving epistle by saying-r-" wiij; a bit; and see if m another few days the rivals do pot, like . naughty children, fall .out ,and chide and fight;'* Glorious doctrine ; what a feast such an ovopt would furnish, to the aoble soulof " Muggufiln's Observer," who . evidently, cannot p jssibly undoDstand how the inhabitants ©f any .dißtriet' can exist without doing as tbo good -'folks Of his citydo — fivll ow'*-. and backbite land slander. t I yentUWt prognosticate- 'tbat r the-'v^ryr: a^iaab^^fclenfiHiiwiU have to: wait some^ tim^^ih- thai muchiwished-for fall put, as we^aM all top busy' in the: "Upper District m keying to improve its (appearance, and otherwise intent upon bur businesses ; coneequo|itlv t we cannot find 11 time to fall out, 6sr friend,- J presume, has nothing worthy of improY'ing \h hw aandy region, now that tha whatP ia^onlaigfid, hence his bilious wiuh.*' v I nottca that tho wisdom of cup County Coiiiiatl will ba invoked at its next meeting, aud^wilj h.q cxßaetad tq say that m "iti" opinion the. ' 3Jfc>xton, noufca is the best for the Weit Oqajst j|ai}way. Such, however, is Mr. Joh,n Gjrowpß's fond ex|>pc^tion f Sj»ch, x\o doul^t/ will be jihp

verdict recorded by the majority of the Council, as was doubtless pre-arranged previous to the tabling of the notice of motion. How will Mr. John Gower'a consistency stand affected when he has , to stoop to get the once-despised assistance of Councillor Loudon, as he surely wiil have to do before he can get a majority m the Council ! Can he do this consistently ? Time will show. Self interest carries some people great lengths. .1, for one trust to find Bdnicthjng far different from this, and should be sorry ■to think 'that to .-obtain a majority m, any Council Mr. (Jower could stoop, to any?, thing so grovelling, and base (unless as was remarked bp Councillor Eockstrow Mr. &. is the essence of inconsistency itself. Time will show. In the mean time our Foxton friends will need all their energies m thi3 matter— only stick to the sjinple truth, and abstain from writing untruths such as are at present appearing m a cer tain journal, while quoting statistics m connection with the Upper District and Fifczlierberfc. We are perfectly willing to allow the Government; to measure the land instead of. the Editor of the jgerqld, who may be a competent surveyor, but we decline to take his quotations, as we require something nearer the truth. His friend Mr. Gower, certainly comes a little, nearer when he quotes 30,000 acres of swampy but his opinion goes no great way here, "just about the same length as his friendship would extend to usward. This is the chain he makes use of while meas\iring our prosperity or our lands. Why cannot our- friends be small philosophers for once m their lives, and" do as we are quite content to do, viz., leave all matters m connection with the railway m the hands of the Government, Let their officers come and report on the country, and let their final issue depend upon such report. That is all we expect here, and that is all our Foxton friends should ask for, if they were only as other' men are ; but' it willreinterposition., of a miraole to make them do so. To those who have not been fortunate enough to see a copy of the Foxton &erdld of the 3 1st of January, 1879 , I would acvise them to get one, and care-fully-read sub-leaders 1, 2, and 3, re the Railway, and when they have so road, say deliberately if they ever before read such twaddle, Adieu at present — Youm, &o. t " Makawatc.