ROTORUA v. TE AROHA. THE MEMBER FOR ROTORUA.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 234, 24 December 1887, Page 2

ROTORUA v. TE AROHA. THE MEMBER FOR ROTORUA.

(To The Editor.) Sir, — I fail to understand the reason of: the astonishment and indignation ex pressed at the action of tho Government in assisting 1 Rotorua at our expense. Really it is very funny ! We have no one bat ourselves to blame. We elect a member whose whole interest and chief support are centred in Rotorua, and tli^n pretend to be surprised at the natural result. I was in Te Aroha during the course of the eletion, and I know that it was constantly and clearly put before the electors, that one member must look for his support to Tauranga and To Aroh ), and would therefore necessarily do his best for To Aroha in Iji's own interest, and that the other, looked for his chief support in Rotorua and therefore would niturally do his best fjr tUaL place japait from the fact that he wa» personally intere ted in tho success oi Rotoruv Ytt enough votes tind nioiv, two or three times over, were given to the member for Rotorua in Te Aroh.i, itsjlf to turn the election ; and others g.ivu their votes 'to the third cmdid.ito who was brought out at the last mom -nt, •in I whose ciihj .xny reasonable mni cou d s*- was hopeless trom the Mail, .ml ih> d ford that to vote f>r him wh piaetieally to pla> iut> tho hands or' the nwnbtr for Rotoru i Tli >.y t -II m j that the supporters of his g"ntlom.m ; encouraged the teui^iTiM-' • ciil.ltto c<> j corny out in order to dn.v oil' v >to- ;ind assist their own candid >t . Suj'i tie tics aro not unknown in To An)ha in oth»r i elections. But why aro we e.uch L'ooU at to bo taken in by s.ich sim;>!<' hick-. A j fdvounte excuse is tint tho NVw Zjdmd | Alliance aro responsible for 'he result o I: the election ; and I should like t » draw attention to the fact that it was not th- v New Zealand Alliance, but the Tauiauga Branch of the Alliance which took action in the matter ; that they persuaded people to voto for die .temperance candidate, and so let the member for Rotorua get in, Now Sir? that excuse is worn threadbare; or should be after so many thousand years. Adam complained that 10 ve persuaded him to eat the apple in the garden of Eden ; and Eve hud the blame on tho serpent. Yst that was not held to excuse their olfjnce. And it is tho .%'ime now. Every elector is able to jud^o for hiniwlf, and ii le^pon-iible for tho way ia which he vote-:-and it is no excuse to say that some p.-r, son or another persuaded him to vote against his own convictio .s. If he is n>>t c.ipible of forming his own jiulgenu.it calmely and deliberately, after c.iiei'uily enquiring into the various qinlilications of t!ie different candid itos ; and then adhering to his opinion in spite ol! what others may say ; hu i^ quite unfit to have u vote at all. I must dig; ess for a moment to give all praise to the Te Aiohi Branch of the New Zealand Alliance ; who proved themselves men of honom in aclli* ring to the candidate to whom they hnd promised their votes ; and men of business in refusing to throw away their votes on a hopeless case, and so let in the very man who was most opposed to their intcie^ts. I only wish to point out to those who know'njly and wilfulfy voted for a candidate who, apart from all questions of general Colonial policy, was directly interested in forwarding our most dangerous rival, Rotorua, at tho expense of Te Aroha ; and who now grumble that while £3000 is given to liotovja, we get nothing ; and are indignant because we are obliged to put up with a train threed ays a week. Why do the heathen so furiously rage together, and the peopleimagine a vain thing. — I am, etc. Tk Aroha Elector. To Aroha, Dec. 20.

A married couple recently heard a noiseunder their bed in the middle of the night, "There is something under the bed" said the man to his wife. ,'" Most likely it is Carlo (the dog) wqs the reply. , " But it might be a robber," thought the husband, " Just put your bafttf , under the bedstead, if it h Cnflo he will lick your hand," paid the wife. The man d : d as he was told, and the burglar, jvvho had. overheard tho conversation, 'Ixsgan. at onoe to lick tho prufiared band most- assiduously. The couple went on: to sleep, but next morning they 'found MUlo left that was woi th carrying" avfray. . A good pastor, a will o^'or,\ proposed to. a youu»- lady a short Uins sincej l)i»t yum rejected. His foeliugs' hud; a second severe test whom a widow neighbour sent him tho following text to preach from : ) u You ask and -receive not, bocau^io you ask a qaias,"