THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10, 1879. OUR REPRESENTATIVE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 73, 10 September 1879, Page 2

THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10, 1879. OUR REPRESENTATIVE.

Thb day that was to decide '.i^hich 4pf ? the three candidates m. the field was tt*, v hare the honor of representing the large^ and important district of. Manawatu ia the Hou^e of Representatives, has comV and gone, and Mr; Wijasa, Wooyoi Johnston has been returned by a sub-* ! stantial majority. We bow to the decision of the electors/ and can only ex--press a hope that they have _ made a w prudent choice. In time of a" general* election party spirit is wont to run 'high» but now that the. contest is over,* iand'the victory won*- we trust that no* ; politically internecine feuds will be' fallowed to mar the well-being of the district, but that the electors and pur. j representative will work harmoniously , together, to_ farther tbe interests of the. ! County as % whole. * ' "We need not go far a-fieK to seek the'cause of Mr. Johnston's triumph," over ihe local ca^n'didates. Jt will be" found irijthe divergence of theirviews on^ ; the grea.t railway Question whieh 'at the.." present time is agitating the district, as to. the route/ wjjagh the WellingtonV Manawatu line is to take. The local; men declared '3ea4> against it going to Fo^ton, while, Mr.* "Johnston would; not pledge himself i^ the matter. . We are disposed to agree with, him that all that an individual member could say^ or do m support of this or ; %at route would have no weight as agaijast' the report of the Grovernment Engineer. The electors of Foxton, Sandon, and' Carnarvon, who— rightly or wrong;ly~ imagine that its being taken ih4 Foxton would benefit them, and by whom Tirtually Mr. Johnston's return was secured, were bound to vote against the candidates who had pronounced so, strongly against that route. We will not do those electors the injustice ofsupposllng that they would have sup- . ported Mr- Johnston's election if they. ' had. considered that that gentleman w^uld favour their district to the detriment of" other portions of the County, . neither* will we do Mr. Johnstox the; of fancying^ that he would, or. coUld A seek to revenge himself for the. cold shoulder offered, him m \Nprtk Manawatu. '. ■ ' Npw that the struggle is over and Mr. Johnston returned, we accept the situa-' tion, and must put the best face we can upon it. It is satisfactory to reflect ithat upon the questions, more particu-^ larly affecting our County his views are similar to those entertained by his op-_ ponents. He is sound on the^ timbePi." [ and grain duties, and is also/ a I^^^

r supporter of the deferred payments system and cheap land for the purpose of settlement. In addition, he is a skilful debater, a good financier,' and an.ci- ' perienced politician— one whose weight and influence m the House are freely admitted. He'is, however, a strong opponent of the Geey Ministry, and as such, the Manawatu electors have run counter to the Colony generally. The Opposition have already lest some of their best men, Sir Williah Fqs, their leader, having been defeated at Wanganui, and Mr. Whitakbb expelled from Eden, and their majority of 14 is so rapidly diminishing, gthat even the limes is making up iti mind to accept, with as good a grace as possible, a Ministerial majority as ■■' the result of the appeal to the country. Though ppposed to the €rEEy ilinistry, our member endorses their Liberal policy find will support it.- With. regard to local matters, we fancy that Mr. Johnston will njake a note of/ and jand profit by, the .rub, s that were administered to Mm* during; his recent electioneering campaign, so that on the wkole we shall find that gentleman not a bad representative after all.