DEATH TO THE HONORARIUM.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2292, 19 March 1887, Page 3

DEATH TO THE HONORARIUM.

TO THE ICniTOK. Sir,—l have long, in fact always looked upon payment to members as a great evil, I have lived in the United States of Ameaica and there it was a disgrace to be a politician. If it is not so.here it is mightily near hand to it. It stands to reason that if ruling the country and making laws is to be a paid trade you will have a class of men for members who bear the same relation to the country as a poor workman does to his employer; that is, if turned oif he must starve. How that poor man has to cringe to-day, and flatter his employer is painful to see. Our paid members whose bread and butter depends upon the honorarium have to toady to their constituents. They have to agree to all their absurdities, and as for retrenchment he may talk about it in the abstract, but as to putting it in practice he dire not, in fact, his being a member depends upon his not bein£ economical, but upon being extravagant. We here in New Zealand took a new departure in building and making a new country ; any man who is not an ass must know that self-denial and elbow grease is the only way to build up,a new country, but we live in an age of invention, and a great inventor invented a trick whereby we were enabled by leaps and bounds to jump at once to the getting of all the luxuries of the rich without going through the preparatory state of working for them. No doubt this would have been very pleasant if it had a foundation to stand upon, hut, like every other thing built upon a slinky Foundation, our getting to be "jam tarts" by leaps and bounds has come to grief, and we will have to begin anew with a weight of burdens, the result of our folly. Mr Editor, our life as a nation depends upon retrenchment. We can never hope for economy as long as we have paid members. One present member was and is in favour of doing away with the honorarium, but unfortunately we will not have him in the next Parliament. It is to be much desired that for his successor we do not have some carpet-bagger or man of straw. It is to be hoped that some one will come forward who is conservative, and who has something to lose if the country goes to the dogs. We don't want men who have nothing to lose ; we do not want men who go in for the sake of their living. Let us avoid such as we would a pest that was going to destroy us. If unfortunately there is not a inan in the constituency who has the patriotism to come forward for the good of the country, if we are to be at the mercy of a lot of rag-tag politicians, vain fools who would like to be knights, inventors of preposterous fads, button-holers who know no more about politics than my cat—if such are the men who are going to come forward, I also will bo one who will seek to represent the district, and I will put a proper nail in the coffin of the honorarium. I will do it by acts, not by words, if I have the honour, if it is an houour, of being member for Waipa. 1 will only, no mistake, except £60 for the session. I cannot afford to looe a penny, but at the same time I would determine not to gain a penny. My time I put no value upon. I would fight to do away with the honorarium entirely, and if gained, I would resign and let some gentlemen take my place.—l am, yours obediently, Harapipi.