MR. STEWARD AND COUNTRY REPRESENTATION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1044, 25 August 1879, Page 2

MR. STEWARD AND COUNTRY REPRESENTATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OA3IARU MAIL. Sir,—As I fully anticipated, my former letter to you has brought Mr. Steward out, and, with that love of self-praise which ever characterised him, he has entered into a long explanation in order to disprove the indictment I preferred against him, and has, I think, taken to himself a vast deal more credit than he is entitled to. Now, what do all these great works done by him amount to, and how many of the ideas emanated from the brain of the worthy gentleman 1 If I am not greatly mistaken, the Waiareka Branch Railway was first mooted by others, but of this I need say nothing, for the whole particulars are still fresh in the memories of your readers. The greatest boast Mr. Steward makes, the grand things that he accomplished during his five years of membership, was the introduction of the North Otago L 70,000 Loan Bill. Now, what was this measure? Simply a Bill which allocated to North Otago the revenue derived from the sale of land in the district up to the amount named, and which caused the sale of a vast extent of valuable land to those persor.s whose nominee, if report speaks truly, Mr. Steward now is. It is true that the expenditure of the money mentioned by Mr. Steward did a great amount of good in the district, but the measure alluded to also caused the sacrifice of many thousands of acres of valuable land. With reference to the 4000-acre endowment for the Hospital, I may state that Mr. Sumpter, and not Mr. Steward, is deserving of the credit for the obtainuient of that boon for the Hospital. The proposal was introduced into and carried through the Provincial Council by Mr. Sumpter, and the whole of Mr.

Steward's share in the transaction consisted in obtaining the ratification of the measure by the General Assembly. Mr. Steward may have forgotten this fact; he has a very treacherous memory in such cases, and generally forgets that anyone but himself has ever done anything in this district. Now, with reference to the charge I made against him of having prevented the country district being given separate representation from the town, I may say boldly that I cannot accept Mr. Steward's explanation as satisfactory. I have never been a member of Parliament, and am not, therefore, so well versed in the ways that are dark that apparently characterise our legislators, according to Mr. Steward, and this may in sonic measure account for my not being prepared to swallow the explanation he gives. But I have another and a stronger reason for maintaining my previously expressed opinion, and for the benefit of my brother country electors I will state it plainly. According to the information I have received—and I received it from a gentleman who was a member of Parliament at the time, and who belonged to the party, the Fox-Vogel-Atkinson party, of which Mr. Steward was so distinguished a member—it was before the Bill was introduced into the House, that Mr. Steward raised his objection to the district being divided. The story as told me runsthusly: The Ministry was desirous of giving an additional member to this district, in the belief that it would thereby gain another follower—how it was sold !—and not feeling at all confident of the House agreeing to the proposal, resolved to divide the district, and give one member to the country and one to the town. It was hoped by this means to avoid the accusation against the Government of favoring their friends. The Bill was shown to Sir. Steward, and he at once protested against the district being divided, asserting that he would sooner not have the second member than that the district should be severed. In deference to his opinions, the Government brought in the Bill with the proposal as passed to give two members to Waitaki. This is the history, as given to me by one upon whose word I think It m rely, and until some further proof is. forthcoming to the contrary, I shall refuse to believe my informant wilfully misled me. I may add that I received this information at a time when there was no prospect of a general election, and when my informant could have no object in saying anything calculated to damage Mr. Steward's prospect of being once more elected to the House. I deemed it only right, in justice to my fellow country electors, to mention the matter. I was not prompted to do so from any feeling of malice, for Mr. Steward is a gentleman whom I respect. But duty to one's fellow electors must take precedence of any personal considerations. If my letter has had 110 other beneficial effect, it has, at least, led Mr. Steward to add another to his already long string of promises. I can only regret that Mr. Steward's absence from town will preclude the possibility of his at once setting this matter right, if he can do so, but he will, 110 doubt, avail himself of the earliest opportunity of replying to this communication. Apologising for trespassing upon your space to such a very great extent. I am, &c., Country Elector. August 23, 1879.