THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 918, 5 November 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

[To the Editor of the Daily, |

Sir,—At Mr Beetham's meeting, Mr Kenall with his usual ideas of good taste ami fairness, monopolised so much of'.the time in delivering what, after all, was only a second edition of his speech at his own late meeting, that others could hardly put in a word. It is important, at the present

juncture, that the electors should carefully consider the existing state of parties in the Legislature.

' Assuming that the leading men of the late Parliament will be re-elected, we have oh the one hand the party represented by the Hall Ministry, which Mr Beethnni has consistently sup-

ported; and on the other, thatrepre- ' sen ted by Sir G. Grey and Mr Macandrew, which it is easy to see would have .the support of Mr Renall, if he should he elected. Are the electors ignorant, or have I they forgotten that the pet scheme of Grey and-Macandrew is to divide r the, p colony into two Provinces of the North i "aild South Islands, with Auckland <is the seat of Government of tlie North

and Canterbury or Dunedin of the South Ireland, -with meetings of Parliament to be held in Wellington once in two or three years, thus making it the seat of Governmeut in little else but the name ? {{(Have they already forgotten how Sir G. Grey, not at his own but the public expense, flashed round the colony in the " Hinemoa," almost bursting her boilers, to tell the peoplo every-, where at public meetings that they were a lot of slaves, and that if they would only support him every ono of their Bons might one day be elected Governor of the Colony, with much more to the like effect, whilst all this time he was allowing their pockets to

be picked by the wastefulness and extravagance which was afterwards laid bare by the Railway Commission appointed by the Hall Government. Have they forgotten how Sir G. Grey, when in power, had a railway made in his district of the Thames, which had not been authorised by Parliament, and was therefore made contrary to law ? And how Mr Macandrew the then Minister of Public Works, did the very same thing in Otago? Have they forgotten the audacious attempt of Messrs Stout and Bulla nee, the Attorney-General and the Colonial

Treasurer of the Grey Ministry, to start a Land Company in Wellington, with their names published in the list of Provisional Directors, with the avowed object of buying land along the lines of projected railways and cutting it up into allotments as townships &c„ for sale, for the said company's profitthus proving that they were corrupt •nough to bo prepared to use the

secret knowledge of the intentions of the Government which they possessed in their official capacity, for their private benefit as shareholders in the proposed company. . flave the electors further forgotten the magnificent scale of expenditure and sort of oriental splendour with which Mr Sbeehan, Sir George Grey's Native Minister, conducted the Native Department; how he moved about in special trains and cabs at the public expense; the large sums lavished by

him on the Native race, which were charged to accounts they had nothing

to do with, portions of which money

were freely devoted to the personal embellishment of Maori ladies accordto the latest fashions; providing them with seats at theatres, cab hire, ic, (see report of West Coast Commission), and some of whom occasionally graced the interior of his ministerial residence jn Wellington? And have they forgotten how the Grey Ministry actually succeeded in

getting a measure paseed in the House of Representatives giving the Maories two votes to the European's one, which •would have given the Natives here an undue influence at elections, and in populous native districts would have utterly swamped and disfranchised our European fellow electors, but which piece of rank injustice was effectually prevented by the Legislative Council t In the foregoing remarks I have given a sketch of the sort of men Pv Renall nay be expected to associate with in Parliament if he should be elected. As I cannot now pursue the subject further without trespassing too much on your apace, I may perhaps ask you to allow me to return to it another time. Yours, etc, J. Valentine Smith.