WHAT A WORKING MAN SAYS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 918, 5 November 1881, Page 2

WHAT A WORKING MAN SAYS.

To the Editor of the Waik'asafa Daimt.

Sir,—l cannot understand .how tome of the working men in Masterton should take it into their heads that Mr Renall is the working man's friend. I would likeito remind them of what Mr Renall saidjat : the meeting held in some months ago in Masterton, to diaouaa the merits of' the; Income Tax. At that meeting, Mr; Renall Baid he did not believe in the' Income Tax, because it was a tax on tho working man; he then related an incident about having' some men stumping a paddock. When they had done their first contract they came tohitn for a second, which he had promised them, but in the meantime Mr Renall had been called upbn to pay his... Income Tax, it was a rather large auirr to pay, as Mr,,Renall had a pretty good income he. told the men he could not 'afford to pay as much per acre for the second contract, as he had done for the fir<jtj so he deducted about!twenty-five per cent.; or enough to pay htelncomo Tax, aud then told them they niight do it or leave it alone, whichever they thought best,- The mendeoided to do improbably preferring half a loaf to none at all—perhaps they had compassion on the poor man as he had so much In-* come Tax tu pay, and his pockets were not. so full of,money.: ■' Mr Renall argued it was a poor man's tax-because, he made the poor man tat his SHAKEnnstead of liohbtably paying it himself, and then giving the poor men n fair price for their work j and now his friends want'to get him in the House of Representatives, under.the cloak of being a poor man's friend. If Mr Renall is our friend, whore shsll'we look/or, our.e'nemy 1 If.Mrßehali dueVgotieturpedat'the head of the poll, what I No doubt,he gets, his, own way a great deal in the Borough Council; just became he has what is called the" {he gift of the gab," and also -the lion's share of. what is commonly called ." cheek;"" But being endowed with thoao admirable fabitlties, will availkim but very little in 'the House of' Representatives'—lie will not be able to bounce there as he does in Masterton. If we want a .town member let us send an hp'riorable'gentleman that will ba.a credit to'the town, one, that, whatever he begfttMH he will finish in a proper manner, wH •Mr Renall does become a member of Hbuse of Representatives no' doubt we shall have a great many new laws half made, none of them completed so as to be of use to the colony, but they will be chiefly remarkable for their pecularitios and intricacies,

.We want the House filled with shrewd fai;-,seeing men, who will hianage the affairs- of the colony so that we shall always have prosperity. If the colony is in a flourishing condition no person will he able to cut, the wages of the working man down, because if there is plenty of work and not too many men, every person will have to pay a fair price if he wants work done, pr else it will ro undone without he does it himself,

Th'o worst uien we could have to represent ua, are those who encourage the settlement of Chinese, because wherever a few of them. are, more will sure to come, and Europeans cannot compete with them (i.e.). not to .enjoy any of the comforts of life; and bring up a family in- a decent respectable manner. If Mr Renal! had not been so short sighted he mJKht.have done himself and the inha'bi- . tanta of Mastorton a good turn by having the town in his long paddock on the Upper Plain, if, instead of leasing it for a term of ; -years as he has done, he had cut that part ofitup-say above the second culvert—»nd sold it at the time there was a brisk f demand for land. He might have kept every fourth or fifth section for himself, and at the present time (hey would be worth more than what all his land is up there. It would have been a much healthier situation for the town, it would not cost a quarter of what it does now to put in culverts and fill up gullies, holes, and swamps, and there would be no danger from the Waipoua overflowing. I think every working man should read, and by other means find out all he can about both candidates, and not allow himself to bo biased by any of the flowery speeches that Mr Eenall's friends are so adroitly circulating. The Masterton working men must be very blind to their ' own interests if they send a, man to ' represent them in the House like. Mr Eenall. No doubt he will command the votes of some of the most ignorant of the Scandinavian and Germans, also his celestial friends and neighbours. ' lam, &c, A Working Miir.