The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue XIII, 11 September 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1879.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

The result of the Waipa election, however much it may astonish outsiders, will take no man m Waipa by surprise. The issue was never donbtful after once the Auckland Gieyite Central Committee nominated a candidate. It ceased to be then a question of men altogether. All four candidates met on much the sanie platform of Liberal measures — but there had been imported into the struggle a question of principle which stirred the electors of Waipa into determined action, and it became, not a contest between one man and anoher, bat between local independency and Queen-street domination, T<ie adherents of the self-styled Liberal party felt that tbe presence of two candidates m the Geld would weakon .their cause, and c able the present successful candidate to pass triumphantly through their divided ranks ; but as the returns from the different polling places Bhow, the danger was not from that quarter. Mr Whitaker has polled, not only a larger number ot votes than both rivals for Central Committee support succeeded m doing, but has, exclusive of the Raglan returns which will still further distance them, scored Jouie forty - six -more votes than polled by all three candidates put together. There was a far more weighty and important principle than any abstract theoretical liberal programme before the electorate, and that was the very existence of its own political free,dora and we believe, had even the views of the successful candidate been less liberal than they were, the result would not have been materially affected. This fortunately, however, was not so, and Waipa has been spared the sacrifice, m even the slightest degreo, of tbe liberal faith of its electors to enablo it to make a stand against an insidious and deadly foe, which threatened it with actual political serfdom. The electors have not forgotten the result of the previous election. They have not forgotten how, m the old days, the country districts, and Waikato amongst them then struggling into life, sacrificed to a petty centralism more grinding even than that of Wellington now, were kept as milch cows to feed and enrich tho city and suburbs of Auckland — how money, ] the common property of the Province, was spent about the doors of Auckland Members, while country districts were starved and neglected, until the thing worked its own cure and brought aboutitsowndestruction. Aud this is the state of things that a clique m Queen street is attempting to* revive, concentrating the political power of the Auckland Provincial district into the hands of the city (ostracising its best men, as m City East election yesterday) till bye-and-bye, the country joustituencies would find themselves mere appanages of any political clique which was able to arouse and keep m thrall thd less intelligent masses of a large centre of population. It is the knowledge of all this, the dread of havivg this intolerable yoke, the touch of which has already been felt, rivetted npon their uecks. that sent the 700 electors out of a thousand on the Waipa roll yesterday to the polling booths, and gave majorities at nearly eyery place to the candidate who not only advocated hs full and free aud fair a liberal programme as any of his rivals, but, true to the instincts of liberalism, refused to accept, even the honor of carrying out that programme for tbem, if he and they were to wealth c badge of political serfdom as its price.