THE RODNEY & OTAMATEA TIMES AND WAITEMATA & KAIPARA GAZETTE. FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1901.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, Volume 1, Issue 14, 28 June 1901, Page 2

THE RODNEY & OTAMATEA TIMES AND WAITEMATA & KAIPARA GAZETTE. FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1901.

tjle Litk member fob chkistchtjbch, Tlie Wellington. Free fcance is not very complimentary to| the late member for the city of j Chnetiohiirch, who \ras also the Opposition whip hi the Wise of Representatives.. Ohi; con-! temporary says:—ln a fit ofj pique and disappointment Mr. I jChas.. LeVis. has resigned liis seat in Parliament as one of the members for ChristchurchJ His friends say that he has been! a prey to yam regrets at tlie in-j effectual efforts of'tlie Opposit-i ion to otist the government.! But the last straw' that broke the camel's lidcli was the studied indifferericd of tlie' people of j Chris tchurcli to Mr. Lewis himself. Last week he invited themi to hear hi in 'li&courso oh poli-! [tics. Evidently he had gone to] [exceptional trouble jto prepare [for fim - -CTeh*s All| his Mest [jokes were ,probably furbished up for the occasion, -aim. the long,vacation of recess has ; cnjabled him to amass quite a [fresh lot of quips and cranks to take tlie place of the old stock-in-trade;. S^d to relate, Christchurch turned the public rexrigerator;oa to Mr. Chas. Lewis with a vengeance -. Onljr sixty ipeople mustered to listen td him. This sipithy and unconcrn have, touched his Amour riioniE to the c^uick, and in high tlud-; geon he resigns; Girigte&*r&h! wiR protably recover frdrii i* L \?' j'giief ioiis affliction: ParlianLnU pvill nioet its usual, and; with (good luck; iitay struggle through its w&k without the assistance of the--Opposition member for Christchurch. Mi*. Lewis has sat in tho> house of Ropi&g'ehtatives since 1896. He was never taken seriously by any section there. He was noted for two amiable peculiarities. One was a pechant for joking: The other iwas a passios^for snap-shobtingj | with the kodak: He seems to have! | been very . proud of his photojgraphb, and to have set wonderiful *toreby them. So apprehenjsiYe was he after last Session ititat d northern journalist, to I whom he lent some of his picjtures, was going to publish them! jthat he actually obtnined an in-! jiunction from the Supreme! |Co art to defeat an intention: jthat was nef er for a moment ;Biit«rtain'3d. Mr. Lewies stamp |of politician is not the class of | man we desire in the Ho.use ; mA that he still had sufficient jiudgmciit left to realize £his and .jresigh his scat; proves the one -jredeeming feature m the career jof an othfe^ise complete feiluvc, jaad it |)e well if a" lew inors bbtne to tne same conclusion.; ISiew Zealand is a young country developing so rapidly jthat the conditions of today arc | not those of tomorrow, the everi changing institutions make ii

imperative that nion of capacity and foresig-Ht should handio tlie helm. TbicKjixould ho no place for the carpet bag agitator, the axe-grinder, or the men, wl\o hold their responsibilities as Mr. Lewis or men of his elk. Party government is much to blame that the possibilities are made for these elements to exist) and it is for the electors themselves to remedy at the ballot by giving their support and assistance to such mcli only who show theviisclYe's most suited'to occupy the position.