THE COMING ELECTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 891, 5 October 1881, Page 2

THE COMING ELECTION.

[To the Editor of the Waikakapa Daily.] Taratahi, Oct. 4

Slit, —I have to thank you for the very fair—l may say favorable—criticism of my address to the electors of South Wairarapa, which appeared in your leading column of yuur issue of the Ist inst.

1 take it, sir, as an earnest uf that fair play promised to all candidates by the Daily when this contest was commenced. You take exception to my remark that I do not wish to " raise any class cry," stating your belief that the interests of the Wairarapa settlers, as a whole, ought to be protected by whoever is selected to represent the district. This is all very well in theory—is it sn in practice'! I sha.l ask yoa to follow me for a few minutes in my reply to the exception taken. lam sincerely in earnest in not wishing to " raise any class cry," and in a direct appeal such as I have made to working setMera like myself, feel that yours is not an unreasonable deduction. But I believe that the direct representation in Parliament of by far the greater portion of the S»u!h Wairarapa electors rne.ins mutual benefit for all classes, and this assertion of right on their part ought not to be construed into flying at the throats of the larger landholders—the latter, at any rale, having up till now steeied our ship of state. A low me to illustrate: For years scab has not been known in the small Hocks of the T.iratahi, Carterton, Greytown, and Featherston disiriots, and yet every year our sheep assessment has to he paid; and what fori To keep inspectors for the larger Sucks—whether it be ten pounds or a thousand we have to pay. Is it fair? and have any of our representatives ever attempted to alter this ? Could the large pioprietors fairly object to our exemption from a lax such us this—which is virtually levied to cure diseases local to their own flocks; and are we likely to gain exemption without beinu' represented 1 What is true of sheep assessment is also true with regaitl in the rabbit question. It is unfair to ask a rate from any man whose property is free from the pest, or has been made so by hard work and the expenditure of money, because his neighbors, or some careless absentee, takes no steps to exterminate it!

Tlieu, sir, 1,-ike the present unfair valuation tuxes, where the bird-working industrious settler fins his rato periodically raised because he improves his properly, Such laws are not fair. They practically prevent industry, instead of encouiagingit, and thus curtail any ideas each nf us may have for improvement. My long experience of the woiking of the various Highway Acts has convinced me that an acreage rate on a sliding scale is at mice the fairest and only way of placing all owners on an equal footing. Take the last Fencing and Babbit Acts, read them carefully, and then say whether 'he majority are not at a serious disadvantage in having no voice where such laws are made

Finally, sir, without the existing ovils complained of re sheep, rabbits, fencing and valuations of property, I will conclude by saying that taxation should be fairly and equally born by all, and. I firmly believe it is absolutely necessary for all classes to be represented in order that f.ur Legislature may become the mouthpiece of a free and contented people, and if I have the honor to be elected, as I hope to he, I shall do my utmost to serve Wairarapa fairly and impartially. Yours respectfully, -Burton Boys. . \ \