The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1889. LIBELLING NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2250, 11 October 1889, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1889. LIBELLING NEW ZEALAND.

The pleasure which some of our Eng contemporaries seem to experience in persistently running down, nay iu libelling our little colony is — to uso tbe phraseology of bothern, in tbe character of Lord Dundreary—'" One of those things no fella can understand. " Everything that can be possibly raked up to New Zealand's disadvantage is made the most of, and everything to her credit | studiously kept in the background. This is no mere fency picture. The circumstance has been over and over again remarked by the colonial press, and now we have the testimony of a shrewd observer — one of the shrewdest men in the colony—to the fact that the prejudice and unfair treatment complained of are even worse than has ever been supposed. In the course of an interview with a representative of the " Otago Daily Times " the gentleman referred to (Mr Galcutt) —who has just returned from Eng land, where he spent five months — mentioned several English papers as constantly decrying the colony. He says they had articles and paragraphs daily on the subject, that " nothing was too hot or to heavy to say against this little colony, and it was looked upon in the city circles and in the large towns as the last in importance of any of the British colonies. lon daily and hourly would meet persons of very fair intelligence and connected with business matterß, and they would have the old story of the enormous debt and the paucity of the population of the colony ; and the daily papers would chronicle the exodus from New Zealand with capital letters and cross-headings, ' Another exodus from New Zealand.' You have no idea out here of the terrible reputation that New Zealand has at Home." Why there should be this special delight in vilifying and depreciating New Zealand we are at a loss to imagine, but of the fact there appears to be no doubt whatever. That fact is to be greatly deplored, and the more so that it is not easy to suggest a remedy. Probably the best thing that could be done to counteract the mischief which is caused thereby would be to take care that the journals in question are regularly furnished with the statistical and other reports issued by the different departments, so that at least ignorance may not be allowed to be the handmaid of prejudice; and it would also be well if returned colonists residing at Home, and others paying visits to the Old Country would help to give the English public a correct view of New Zealand aud her affairs by writing frequently to ilie paperß, giving interesting items of information, and supplying facts and figures as to her position and prospects,