Mr Arthur's Performances.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 517, 11 October 1890, Page 2

Mr Arthur's Performances.

TO TUB EDITOR. Sib,—Your contemporary into ecstacies over Mr Arthur’s successes, and according to that account he is a e-reat statesman and tactician, f lr and ’ superior to Sir Harry Aikinson and Mr 3. D. Ormond, to say nothing of the other 92 members who are too insignificant to mention iu such a connection. Before Sir Arthur entered the House, he described Sir Harry as the one ereat, strong (and so on ad (ib) man of the House; ergo, now that Arthur has been there, accord! nt to the opinion of the H-e-r-a-l-d, and the latter Atkinson is dethroned, and Arthur takes his place. Wesduti tnee, O.' wool king, and bow with all due reverence to thy unparalleled superiority, and crave thy indulgence, while we venture in required humility, to piss in review the two great points on which the Herald befouls you with praise. Where there is such an abundance of excellence, criticism on two small points cannot bort 1

First, then, the Harbor Board Act has been passed, and Mr Arthur is credited with saving some £15,000 to the district. Now, supposing this to be true (which I wry mnch doubt, but will for argument sake admirt, if anyone can be accused of robbing us of that amount, it must be the party whose representative made such a mess of a certain Bill, and that another representative of the same party should restore it to us would only be just Bnt that it should be reckoned a matter deserving of praise, would make us intensely obliged to every thief who takes and returns our purse. In the end one is not quite certain whether Mr Arthur or Mr Bell got ths Act parsed, Thera is. however, an appropriate story which only requites an application. I cannot of course h- answerable for the exact application that will ba made:—There was a man who was something of a coward. He was in the house one day with h's wife, when a baar walked in. H» was awfu ly afraid of bears, and lookinground for a wav of escape he seized a ladder leading to the rafters, climbed it, and drew it up after him. His wife was a courageous woman She seized a weipon, nut her twn chl'dren behind her, and boldly faced the hear, hitting the animal a terrible Wow as it approached. Ths man's sympathies were all with the woman, and he really hoped that Retry would ba successful. As the fiehr went nn ha grew excited, then hevan to rhout and encourage the brave woman, crying “Well done. Betty 1 That was a good knock I Now take him on the other side t” As the woman succeeded he heoamo still more vociferous, until Batty gave the hear a final blow and the bear gave a final kick. Then the husband came down from his safe retreat ‘‘Wall,’’ axel aimed he, •• that’s a hi -ger hear than I thought It was, B»'tv and I consider we have dona gloriously" 1 Wh-n the work la done ft law. or I; when tha work ia to he done it Is you. As to tha second perf irmsnoe—the much talked of clause in the Native Land Ao', .Standing the tim° far making applica'ions under the Act of 1889—a f w words of explanation mav open eVan Mr Arthur's eyes. Six months was ailnwad bv the 1889 Act, and this was amnio titno tn get everv application in. Those whn intended to make application were however hopeful that with Mr Arthur’s help the Act wou'd bo ameoded, and so the applications were h“ld over un'il the opening of Parliament, Mr Arthur’s hands were lied, and the only levis'ation that was dared to b* brought in was that euggeatad by the Judge to m«e‘ such cases as Mr Arthur's. Those who held over th’ir applications did so with thelt eves open, and wore quite prepared tn have Indeed th’m intim»if It had been neo-ssarv. Tha extension of time, however, gives them a longer period tn hold oyer the payment of fees which are nnt Ugh'. The ex'onsinn fnt another six months will have 'ha -fleet of prolonging the Oommissionera' n(fie« for g much greater period than would otherwise have been necessary, and oonseqnentlv the Commissioners’ salary will al«o continue. If Acts of Parliament a-e passed for pnnr people 'hev tjre generally compelled to obey th»m ; a native land pnrrli’eer can live in hopes that something will torn up. If Mr Arthur claims that he ws< ths cause nl the period being lengthened. I think it a matter on which he shon'd he silent. Those who neglect tn use doe care and di'igeooe cannot ba excused on the ground that they a-o •' w*i'I say little nn the discredit that has been cast on the district bv the obtaining nf a clause by the most shabby trickery, which is an jnsuit to every eleo’or who voted for those who were against ths olansa, and i«a lasting disgrace to those member, who condoned if, Iq the previous session amu«what similar means were attempted to get through a validqtioo clause which would make legally hon-at all the shameful land jobberies that nnserapulons speculators have perpetrated fn the Waikato and qther districts. If such methods were resorted to to secure legislation jn favor of the industrial olasass they would 'be denounced from one end of the colony to the other, and particularly so bv workmen theming for something tq turn up," selves,—l am, eto., Elsctob.