The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1883. Reporting Extraordinary.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1084, 26 October 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1883. Reporting Extraordinary.

We have had reason more than once to call attention to the manner in which our local contemporary sometimes.does his work, but recent experience goes to show that he has not yet forsaken his evil ways. When Parliament was sitting the Wellington correspondent of the Mail exhibited a sublime indifference to facts when any political end was to be served, and it will be remembered that in one instance the name of the member for Ashburton was omitted from a Committee appointed to further the ends of the West Coast Railway League. To be sure when taken to task for this flagrant delinquency, an attempt was made to shift the responsibility upon the shoulders of that very convenient personage, the intelligent compositor ; but it is doubtful, if this, transparent subterfuge deceived any/ body* The latest example of. our contemporary’s misrepresentation occurred some short lime back, but we''Jiave deferred drawing attem|on to it before this for reasons think our readers will consider sufficient. At the end of last mHa ploughing match was held at and at the inevitable dinner that place afterwards, one of the speakers, Mr John Louden, referred to the possibility of the Chairman, Mr J. C. Wason, coming forward as a candidate for a Parliamentary seat at the next general election. Post-prandial speeches are, as a rule, couched in jocular language, and Mr Louden was perhaps only indulging in a little chaff at the expense of the member for Wakanui, who was present. However that may be, there is no doubt as to what was said, which was to the effect that if Mr Wason came forward to contest the Wakanui seat, he (the speaker) did not know but that he would support him, although he had preferred Mr Ivess at the last election. Had the latter gentleman possessed the slightest grain of humor, he would have accepted the observation in the spirit in which it was made, but instead of this he only saw an opportunity of venturing his vindictive spite, and accordingly in the Mail Mr Louden is reported to have referred to the probability of Mr Wason standing for the Ashburton seat, presumably in opposition to Mr Wright. The object of this gross misrepresentation is not far to seek. Mr Ivess can scarcely be so dense as not to have recognised long ere this that the chances of his being returned to Parliament again are infinitesimally small, and he consequently did not like to hear one ot his whilom supporters say, even jocularly, that he would do his best for a probable opponent of the present representative at the next election. Many a true word is spoken in jest is an old distich which possibly occurred to the member for Wakanui, and we can quite understand, and even in a measure sympathise, with him in regard to the situation he found himself in at the Methven dinner. Indeed, a man who discovers that his ability is not on a par with his ambition

is a fit object for piity, and this is exactly the position held by Mr Ivess at the present time. The establishment of a telegraph station or two in outlying districts, the meddlesome but ineffectual interference with the decision of a Licensing Committee, and a few speeches of a windbag order make up the sum of his political achievements, and it is hardly to be wondered at that influential people in Wakanui are beginning to ask themselves why they chose such a representative. But making every allowance for Mr Ivess’s stale of mind when he heard Mr

Louden’s frank confession, we cannot admit that any excuse can be put forward for his having twisted the words so as to convey an entirely opposite meaning to what was intended. If matters of fact are to be misrepresented in this way, all confidence in the integrity of the press must be lost, - and the Mail in this instance has been guilty of an action demanding the severest reprobation. As to the motive that prompted it, we will not insult our readers by referring to what must be very obvious to everyone who has watched Mr Ivess’s short political career, no feature of which has been more marked than his enmity to the member for Ashburton—an enmity that has found its latest utterance in the report of the Methven dinner. The reason we did not refer to this matter sooner is that we wished to hear from Mr Louden a denial of his having spoken the words put into his mouth by our contemporory. Owing to various circumstances this was only obtained the other day, and it need scarcely be said that the gentleman mentioned absolutely contradicts that he either spoke the words attributed to him or intended to convey any such meaning. In fact, the speech as coming from Mr Louden, who has no vote for Ashburton, and therefore no interest in an election, would have been simply ridiculous. How could he give or withhold his support from an opponent of Mr Wright, when he is a settler in the Wakanui electorate ? Whether our contemporary will fall back upon the old excuse and blame the intelligent compositor in this instance, we know not; but we have done our duty in opening the eyes of electors to the manner in which false intelligence is disseminated, when a political object is to be gained.