THE WAIKATO ELECTION.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1124, 6 September 1879, Page 2

THE WAIKATO ELECTION.

Sib, — As a Waikuto settler, and one who has the interests of the district infinitely more at heart than the ' Star's ' correspondent (Mrßimingham), I will, with your permission, point put some gross misrepresentations and statements, closelyakin to falsehoods, which he published m his letter to the ' Star,' dated the 30th ult. -R. W. Birmingham has no hesitation m saying, "it was a wise and just act of Sir George Grey to commence theThamesWaikato railway at the Thames end, because of the wretched state of starvation the Thames working people were at the time enduring, and asks his ' fellow toilers ' m Waikato to toil on until Sir Gaorge Grey feeds his supporters— his pet constituency — on the £30,000 which was voted by the House to be spent at the Waikato end." Just so ! Mr Birningham. You remember the old saying, "Live horse, and get grass ; " quite. But do you also recollect the equally old quotation " charity, like justice, begins at home." I fully believe the reasons for ! that expenditure at the Thames, were quite as much the promptings of electionering dodgery, as a desire to do a charitable act. As to the route the proposed railway will take, Mr Birningham is all wrong,'! and states a lot of bosh when he speakes of the property through ■which the line shall run. The surveyed line does not go within 1J miles of a Mr J. B. Whyte's land, nor does it take an 'angle of ii degrees to go into and fertilize the lands of the Biako, Swamp Company. The surveyed line of railway runs m a direct line, for six miles and more, into the Swamp Company's property, and then takes an angle much less than stated by Mr Birningham. I oon^ider, a person so well acquainted with, the locality, and whose bread was, for many months^ buttered by labour m this same B\vatnp* : ought to know that a railway going from Waikato to the Thames, must pass through the Swamp Company's property, and traverse the road already made, at the expense of the company. Mjoreo.v-ery I am not aw.ar.e tb,at ' cjithesr. Mr Whyte, Captain Steele, or the Swamp Company had anything whatever to do with the survey of the Thames -Waikato railway, or the settling of whose property the line should run through; It seems,, m the opinion of Mr Birningham, that whoever is so unfortunate as to have his property cut up by the passing through it of a railway line, must be considered for evermore a landshark and a member of the land ring confraternity. Mr B,ir.nin, ogham's cpMle is, fi-Qm fir^t to last, composed of simple rubbish and mistatements, and, w.ntten with tho objjoot of blinding

many Waikato electors, who are unaware of the real facts, and I sincerely trust that, .at the coming contest, my " fellow toilers" will "look to themselves," and serve their best interests, by returning Mr Whyte as their member.

Bafore concluding, let me shock Mr Birningham's nerves. Une of the candidates, now before us, has, I hear, promised his hearty support for the alteration of the present route of the Thames- Waikato Railway, and proposes to run it direct from the Thames to Taupiri, and thence to Cambridge, leaving Hamilton out m the Cold, and that candidate, let me tell Mr Birningham, is Mr J. P. Campbell, but Mr Birningham can assure his Taupiri and Hamilton "follow toilers," that the changing of the present route would be more difficult to perform than to speak about. Mr R. W. Birningham is indignant at the line taking an angle of 44 degrees, to fertilise the Swamp (which is untrue), but what about this Taupiri angle, made m speech, to secure the support of a section of electors.— l am, &c, Simple Simon.

Sir, — Hearing at the candidate rejoicing m tho support of the Grey Central Committee was going to address the electors of Waipa, at Ngaruawahia, and having an unqualified admiration of anything Grey ; and, also, expecting an intellectual treat of a high order, I went to hear

Mr Cunningham, who commenced a somewhat rambling address by asking his hearers to take his views from his own mouth, and not from the local press, by whom he had been" misrepresented hitherto. From what I could gather of his political creed, after a very attentive hearing, he believes m Triennial Parliaments, but thinks that Annual Parlia-> ments would be a greater success, and would vote for such a measure. Does Mr Cunningham think that the people of New Zealand are so enamoured of political strife that they would wish the country to be plunged into an annual ferment, such as we are at present experiencing, with all its attendant inconvenience to individuals and expense to the country. £70,000 is the figure set down for the piper on this occasion. An annual dance to this tune would be nice, of course, if we continue borrowing largely, and bondholders lilce the security. -gain, he thought improvements should be taxed, as under the present Rating Act, because improvements enhanced* the value of any absentee's land, whose property happened to adjoin improved property. Comment is needless. He also very properly said that he would be m favour of an extension of the Homestead Act to include small holdings of tea acres, on which to place small farmers, Avho would go and work m the neighbourhood. He then spoilt the whole thing, by saying, m answer to a question, that capitalists ought to be prevented from investing m land. The ten acre men should employ their spare time m working for oneanother, of course. He considered the Government ought to reserve a preemptive right to purchase laud from the Maoris. Not to altogether shut out capitalists ? I am a firm believer m the Policy <*f Sir George Grey, but, if this a fair exposition of that policy, I confess I am staggered. In conclusion, I cannot help thinking that the Central Committee have made a grave mistake, m prefering Mr Cunningham's chance to Mr Roche's. The latter gentleman's views wero moderate, and more m accordance with the general idea of what the great liberal policy of Sir George Grey really is. — I am, &c, A. Liberal.