The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1883. The Last Word.
Were it not that he has brought himself into his present position solely through his own misconduct, we should be inclined to feel sympathy for our local contemporary. His condition is indeed a truly pitiable one, and, although it is hoping against hope, we trust that the lesson we have tried to teach him will have a salutary effect upon his future conduct. It must be confessed, however, that as yet there is no evidence that this hope will be justified, as the Mail this morning returns to the attack upon the member for Ashburton, and not only devotes a leader to the subject, but also publishes a letter from Mr A. E. Pe<vche, which latter is accorded the high honor of leaded type. Although our contemporary evidently values greatly this new assistance that has come to his aid, most people will, we imagine, be able to estimate the effusion at its true worth. For the instant, however, we will let the amateur scribbler pass, and deal with the editor. " The stoat," says the old aphorism, “is difficult to kill, but we do not love the stoat,” and the Mail may fitly be compared to this unsavory animal. So tough is his skin that when you have thoroughly belabored him on one side he is quite ready for a drubbing on the other. This business of the visit of the Minister for Public Works is an instance of this peculiarity. A charge is brought against Mr Wright that he, to serve his private ends, deliberately kept secret Mr Mitchelson’s intended trip to Mount Somers, and the Mail to prove his case cites as a matter of fact that the member for Ashburton hired the buggy for the purpose of conveying the party to its destination. This is indeed the only tangible fact that is put forward, all the rest about Mr Wright’s motives being pure surmise, coined out of the brain of a man who presumably would not hesitate to act in the unscrupulous manner he imputes to others. But when a distinct denial is made of the one so-called fact, what does our contemporary do ? In face of the contradiction it was impossible to adhere to the original assertion, and it is virtually admitted that a misstatement was resorted to in order to injure the member for Ashburton. One would have thought that the only manly course to take would have been to admit the error and withdraw the charges, but manliness is not a striking characteristic of the Mail , and instead of this he cunningly shifts his ground and says that after all the question is immaterial. At any rate it suits Mr Ivess to consider it immaterial when his unjustifiable conduct is exposed, but he will probably find that the majority of his constituents will apply a very strong little Saxon word to his part in this disgraceful transaction. Following his usual tactics when the only definite evidence is refuted, our contemporary takes refuge in mere generalities, and reiterates his former charges as to Mr Wright’s motives. To attempt to answer accusations such as these would be undignified, and the member for Ashburton acts wisely in passing by the slanders with contemptuous silence. Let Mr Ivess flatter himself as he will, the time is assuredly coming when he will learn that his attacks upon one whose shoe-string he is not worthy to untie have, by disclosing his own character in its true colors, injured him irreparably in the opinion of the intelligent portion of his constituency. Mr PEACHE’sJetter only calls for a few words from us, although he expresses his opinion of the Guardian pretty freely, and indulges in some clumsy satire of a bucolic order. Our contemporary complacently observes,
“Mr Peache is a gentleman whose word can be implicitly believed.” and we have certainly no intention of impeaching his veracity. Fate, however, has placed him in the proud position of chairman of a Little Peddlington Road Board, and although he has no doubt sufficient ability to preside over the deliberations of that body, an interview with such an important personage as a Cabinet Minister was too much for him, and a little imperfection of memory may be easily pardoned under the unaccustomed circumstances. This is, we know, a charitable view to take of Mr Peache’s rashness in rushing into print for the purpose of contradicting 3 plain statement made by the Minister for Public Works, but we can afford to be charitable in a case like this. It would be purely a waste of tissue to get angry with a harmless critic of this kind, and if Mr Peache cannot see in Mr Mitchelson’s message a “ distinct repudiation ” of Mr Ivess’s report, all we can say is that we are excessively sorry for him.
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Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1026, 15 December 1883, Page 2
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813The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1883. The Last Word. Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1026, 15 December 1883, Page 2
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