THE Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER.5, 1881. "AND THIS IS FAME!"

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 163, 5 October 1881, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER.S, 1881. "AND THIS IS FAME!"

* Words M» tM*gs> aad a drop of Ink falling liks dew upon * thought, produoas that which makes thoaskids, jeriaps saiiliom think. '

William Makepeace Thackeray, while traveling m the Southern States of America, and stopping at a hotel, overheard the following conversation between two niggers : "Say, Caesar, does ye know who that big gen'l'men am?" " No, Sambo, who am he?" "Dat is the great Massa Thackeray ! " " Golly, ye don't cay ; but Sambo, what am he great for!" " G-osh, Caesar, I'm dashed if I knows!" The satirist, who overheard the conversation, muttered, as he retired m disgust, " and this is fame!" acknowledging afterwards that the admission of the simple nigger was the greatest " take down" wh^ch he had ever experienced. The anecdote is brought to our mind by hearing that a Mr. G, J. Wilson is to do the " veni-vidi-vici" business with tbe Foxton electors. We, ourselves, have been residents of this County for four years, and with shame confess we have never, heard of the existence of Mr. J. G. Wilson. Ab we had a thir«t to know who this bright particular political star was, which had so suddenly appeared m the firmament, we made inquiries from a Foxtonian of a dozen years' standing, but to him, alßo,the great J. G. was as a sealed book. Others were interviewed upon the samejnatter, and at last wo learned that the conquering hero, Was a representative of the squatting interest resident m the Bulls district, utterly unknown to any unless his banker, and whose only— but rather equivocal — recommendation to the electors was his money bags. When a ; mac mounts the hustings, and askß -the electors tou-select him as their representative m preference to others, he should be able to give some evidence that he has done some thing to entitle him to iuake the claim, or prove the possession of some especial qualification of which his ■rivals cannot boast. Can Mr, J G. AYiLSOir do this ? Can he point to any single act of his which has conferred a benefit on the community — without directly swelling his own pocket ? His name is conspicuously .'absent at -Road Board and County Council meetinsH, and the public ffatheringp which have been held from time to time to ventilate public wants and greviances, knew him not. If Mr. Wilson be an old resident of the county, "as it is now asserted he is, then while othess, with less time and means, have been giving their energies to the government of the •County, and theoonduct of its various bodies, he has been attending to No. One, and still sharing m the general progress ajnd prosperity. We do not say that Br. Rocksteow is the • very best representative which could be hit . upon, but contrast what he has done m local matters with Mp Wilson's selfish ex"stowYenjw, *n<i tow I*7 ifhich •*

the two is entitled to support. Most aspirants for legislative honors are satisfied to serve a kind of political apprenticeship — to commence at the lowest round, and gradually ascend the senatorial ladder — but Mr Wilson is a political butterfly which scorns a chy sal id state — one of those legislatire comets which shoot across the firmament at intervals, with a long tail m its wake, — the tail m his case, being the small fry who are charmed with the chink of his gold. It was said of the great Edmt/nd Buiike, that He so narrowed his mind As to giro up to coimtry, what was meant for mankind.^. but the Star'of Sandon is pleased to reverse the order of things, and while hitherto studiously scorning the consideration of petty local matters, he now feels that it is his especial mission to give the people of New Zealand what those of Manawatu have sighed for m vain. The county has hitherto managed to progress and prosper without the aid of Mr. Wilson, and it will still continue to do so long after the verdict of the Poxton electors has relegated that gentleman back to obscurity which he has so long enjoyed, and from which he never should have been dragged.