MR HOWLETT AS A MEMBER FOR THE BUSH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3628, 20 June 1887, Page 3

MR HOWLETT AS A MEMBER FOR THE BUSH.

We have been supplied with the copy of an address''which Mr Howlett intends to issue shortly " lo whom it amy concern;" and- as it is one of the moat remarkable ot its. kind ever put " before an 'olectorate, we civn it below in fall :- . , ' Fellow Citizen?, whoever you are. . It may be very shortly I shall solicit j r -' ■ your.voto and interest, and it is proper tell yoii V {l) Why I want to get into the House; (2) What I shall do nheii! Igct there j.(3).Whut my Plat- ■ form is, , .

(1) I don't care two pins whether I get iii or not; to regard the position ' of M.H.R. aS nn honor is absurd. A man is Judged by his..compai>y,mid as an ordinary mpmber I should lose castolshouJd, however, like to findout why such a number of seedy, out- • at-elbows people hustle to get in. ■Whose pockets did they get their finders in 1 How are the steals arranged 'I You may bo sure the,red nosed ■ men in patcoed. boots and doubtful linen are not there for the honorarium much loss the honor and glory '; they , >ve their axes to grind, and when I find out 1 will let you know. Please • understand, also, that I am aakirtg no favor at your htintls. You want responsible and onerous work done, and nobody who knows me doubts my capa- ; city to do it. Now, I don't deny that I could get a quid pro quo in the shape of.knowledge, I could pick up • a Icit of experience in the House, and would not refuse to serve if elected, I should have access to a few men who really know something, and in exchange for the opportunity of learning I • offer ray services, The honorarium is to me a minus quantity, It would cost more than £2OO to leave uiy business for. three months, and it is doubtful how long J should stay in the Houso,. as it is my peculiar task to ferret out abuses, abolish all incompetent officials, and deny all received opinions. This would .expose me to' such a toirent of abuse and mud-pelt-ing, that as likely as notl should throw uj> the sponge, in a . few years, You &eo I regard Colonial polil ics as utterly . petty, and decline to go into heroics. The reformation of a colony about as big as a secoud-rate European town is not worth the life-blood of ono man with'a spark of genius in him, and if I find the stupid party, can neither be suppressed nor educated, 1 shall go , back to my store and wash my hands W Of politics. (2). When I get in'tho Houso I shall keep quiet for a year or so, and ' Bee how' how parties go, .and whether there is any reasonable prospect of gottipg an intelligent ministry into office. If we succeed, I shall support the measures as long as they are ; intelligible and not wholly unrighteous. You have got to be governed, and as it is hopeless to try. and get first-rate .men in office, wo must make' the best of what we have got. r ' (3) My platform is-Republican, Atheist, Malthusian. This is a dreadfully hard nut (or tho averago elector to crack. Republican means, that I seek tho welfare pf the average man, and regard all accumulation of capital atran insult and a menace. Qualify this by adding that tho thing, in my opinion, can't bo helped. Atheist ! weans, that I never came across any K, God. Theie may be dozers about for I am sick of hearing rival • ■ religions expounded. Nothing woujd bo more to a scientific man than a Creator, if we could only get ■ bim under our microscopes, but we >- ean\. and we don'i believe that the Jews, Christians, Mabommedans arid Buddiats* know anything tiboufc the tißatteri -Malthusian means thafcpoverty #nd criroo nro caused' by over-breeding, I despair of explaining to eloctors why it is that no steps tiro taken to cheek . this. ■ If you dislike the idea of Mai.thusianism, pray expunge the . word. •It.is not a question of practical poli.tics. here or anywhere else. Now about.my Colonial platform, I only specify two plants': frco trade and partial confiscation of unearned increment. .When I get behind the scenes . 'tWo will bo lots more, Now about local politics. If I stand for the. bush .electorate, includingPahiatua, I shall

go for a revisal and consolidation .of tlio ridiiuloiis commonly attributed to Mr Ballaucc; for a defined and authorative report on the question of a railway through Pahiatua and for an examination of certain legislation supposed to bo necessary in • bush districts, where tho laws about land, fencing and bush fires do not nwk well. Finally, I wish to say, that as the questions legislators have to deal with are excessively • intricate and subtle, and depend for their solution on really veryj abstruse points of history anil comparative.jurisprudence, I am not .rash enough to promise-more than' this: that I will mako an attempt to understand some of, them, and explain thern in popular language at popular meetings. If all tho members would do as much we should ba better governed. To have' definite opinions on the whole range of subjects that come beforo the House is beyond any man's power. This is my word.—Pahiatua Star.