A WORD TO ELECTORS.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1441, 27 September 1881, Page 3

A WORD TO ELECTORS.

TO THK KDITOE. Sir. — We are on the eve of another General Election. Aspirants for senatorial honours aio issuing addresses to the elcotois; the weapons of political waif aie are being polished ; and soon the country will be agitated from North to South by the strife of rival paities, York and Lancaster will fight for power with quite as much bitterness as in the days of yoie. Hdid things will be eaid ; atinging epithets will bo applied ; old wounds -\\ ill be uncovered and made to smart afresh. With the din of the lust political war still ringing in my ears, I venture to address a few thoughts to those who have the power to decide whether York or Lancaster shall reign dming the next three years. In this paper I am not a member of any party. I am merely a lover of good Government, and do not care which party obtains a majority, so long as that party attends to the best inteiests of the colony. 1 love New Zealand better than any political creed, and am anxious to see her rank among the first of Her Majesty's dominions. No one can read the history of this colony without being impressed by the amount of blundering which has been perpetrated. That the colony has piospered amid it all, speaks well for her resources. But the fact remains that " someone has blundered," and to this is partly owing our present financial position. We aie heavily in debt, we have been chastised by the English Press for our extravagance, and told that our credit is not quite so good as it was. In fact we have been compelled to put on the brake and go slowly. Being so near another election, it may be w ell to ask : What has been the source of much of the blundering wo have witnessed in tho past? and can the source of error be avoided in future ? As far as my observation goes, one principal BOiirce^ot' en or has lain in the incapacity of many of the men who obtain seats in the Houses of Parliament. I have noticed with deep regret that many really able and upright men take little or no interest in political affairs , most of those who do, are content with recording their votes during the elpction ; and will not offer themselves to the countiy. The consequence is, that many constituences do not have the opportunity of spndiug worthy representatives. Men offer themselves who have few interests at stake ; and who will promise any and everything to obtain votes. The most absurd Utopian theories of Government are propounded for the purpose of dazzling electors, and securing support. These are the men who, as soon a i < the seat is obtained, break the piomises they have made to their constituents. Promises they never meant to keep, and which they knew they could not keep. The last election afforded many instances of this. Men who had no capacity to govern presented themselves for election. Making pi omises,ad mfautiim, they won the support of the unthinking ; ■while some electors, in the absence of Avorthy candidates, refrained from going to the poll. The fault, however, does not always lie with candidates. The electors themselves frequently reject worthy men for those who are unworthy. During the elections many become excited, and are then unable to tell a good representative from a bad one. The best speech and the most promises at the hustings often decide an election. Electors forget that wisdom does not lie in the tongue. For proof of thi< re? (I Hanson! for the last three years. How many vapid, windy speeches are there recorded at the expense of the colony. " Cncorthes loqitci/ch" one mutters as he reads the columns. And why in it so many mere talkers sit in the Senate ? Is it not because too many electors imagine that a man cannot bo a statesman without being an orator, and reject efficient business men because they caunor make a fluent Speech P Another way in which eleotors err is by binding their representative to vote with a certain party. They allow no latitude. He may differ from his party, but ho cannot vote against them without incurring the displeasure of his constituents. An honest, strongminded man must sometimes dissent from the views of his party and of his conatitu« ents, and yet too frequently electors insist upon his promising to vote always- with one party. And, again, electors are often more anxious about their own corner of creation than they are about tho whole colony. A bridge is wanted over this creek, a road is wanted somewhere else, and the man who proxniees to look well

after these things, no matter whether he be worthy or unworthy, is elected to the House. A man may attend to his own constituency, but this cannot justify electors in sendintr him to vote in matters

with which he is incapable of dealing. Surely worthy men could be found who would attend to their constituencies and jet be competent to deal with weightier matters. If electors would only see that what is most beneficial for the whole colony is most beneficial for particular districts, and would vote with a view to general progress, many inefficient members might be kept in their proper sphere. Different parts of one constituency are frequently anxious for improvements. Each part wants a representative who will attend to it first, and so amid the general excitement ability, character, and principle are overlooked. Passion, not judgment, holds the reins, hence the gross blunders committed by some constituencies. What then is the result of sending inefficient men to our Senate? This question needs little answer from me. They who have lived any length of time in the colony know the result full well. Large sums have been voted for various objects to gratify members of parties ; money has been wasted in most reckless passion ; the colony has been plunged into debt ; and now we are condemned to pay an mquisitorjal tax, in order to meet our liabilities. The evil lies not so much in the present as in the past. Ministers are now bent on retracing our position, but the source, of error still remains. Our houses of legislature want purging. There are men in the House of Representatives receiving public mone}', whose proper place is the plough tail or the store. There are men lacking that honesty of purpose so requisite in public men. The character of the House is lowered. Intelligent men have not patience to follow its proceedings. The opportunity for purging that House, at least, will soon be afforded the electors, who will do well to say to many of the present members, you may go ; we have had enough of you. There are, indeed, some who have shown a breadth of view and a firmness j of character which render them valuable men, but there are others who have shown themselves totally unfit for public confidence. A a lover of the colony, who has her best interests at heart, I appeal to the various constituencies. Let them not be carried away by a fluent tongue or liberal promises. Let them not desire so to bind their representatives as to keep honest men out of the House. Let not the confusion and din of party strife drown the voice of reason and of conscience. Let them choose men of principle and of known integrity ; and then instead of the intelligent public turning with disgust from the proceedings of our Houses of Parliament, it will feel that those Houses are composed ot men who can be trusted, and who will make personal convenience subordinate to the welfare of their country, and instead of a system of useless expenditure and waste, we shall have good government, safe policy, and sound finances. — I am, &c, Raglan, Sept. 25th. Observer.