The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19. 1889. A POOR REPRESENTATIVE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2284, 19 November 1889, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19. 1889. A POOR REPRESENTATIVE.

According to our generally well- ! informed contemporary, the " Oamaru Evening Mail," Mr Cowan, M.H.R., who was sent to tho Australian Btock Conference by the Government as one I of the representatives of New Zealand, jj ! has proved the reverse of a success. In I point of fact ha has beon performing the j feat of ■' opening his mouth and putting hia foot m it," or to use another colloquial phrase, ho has been " crying •stinking fish T " This is what tho " Mail " says about it : — " Mr Cowan has disappointed all expectations. The only occasion on which we havo any record of him is one on which he demeans himself m a most inexplicable manner — as though, indeed, he had been sent over to malign New Zealand rather than to assist the Stock Conference to wise and advantageous decisions. It was the deaial by a Taßmanian representative of a printed statement that scab existed m Tasmania that drew Mr Cowan out of his shell. Mr Cowan then, with silly candour, said ' it was hoped at the last conference that scab would have been eradicated from New Zealand, but he regretted to say that it was still presont m several districts. He must bo frank and say that the present state of affairs did not reflect any credit on them, as they had been dfa<ng with the disease over 30 years. The mountainous character of the dountry was somewhat against the efforts made to eradicate the disease,' etc. Mr Pasley, New Zealand Sheep Inspector, who was Mr Cowan's associate on tho Conference,, hastened to protect his own reputation by avowing that he ' was quite sure the Inspectors of Sheep were doing all they could to eradicate the disease. The country was so mountainous, however, that it was almost impossible to get at all the sheep.' These utterances put all the fat m the fire, and Mr Bennett (of Tasmania) moved ' That this conference requests the New Zealand Government to take more energetic measures to eradicate the disease of scab that still exists m some of the New Zealand districts.' Then ensued a discussion m which New Zealand was handled rather roughly, and Mr Cowan, frightened at the storm he had raised by his unnecessarily sweeping statement, wanted to know 'm what direction it was intended that more energetic steps should be taken. No men could bring more energy into their work, or more knowledge of the subject, than the Inspectors of Sheep m New Zealand. He must dissent from the [ motion, as the terms of it were too strong.' Mr Pasley 'considered the i motion too strong. The officers were taking every step possible to eradicate the disease.' Mr Cowan's protest against the motion must have made the other delegates stare. The motion was actually based on his own i assertions. First of all he implied that scab existed to an alarming extent ; that . this was a disgrace to the New Zealand ; authorities, and that more effectual * measures should be taken for its supr pression ; and then, when a motion was , moved m harmony with his statements 7 and ideas, he question the possibility of , more energy, eulogises the Inspectors, ' and says the motion was too strong. It is hard to please men like Mr Cowan, ' who ask for two things which are m J direst opposition to each other. Ono of ' the worst features mMr Cowan's con- - duct was tbat ho entirely misled the > Commission by his wild assertion as to tbe prevalence of scab m this colony. Ho said that there were 30,000 sheep infected and conveyed an impre.sion that the whole of JNcw Zealand was so mountainous that it was iv many places inaccessible. We have an official document before us mado up to the 12th of October last, m which it was shown that scabexistßin only three isolated districts and that only 13,000 sheep are infected." It is quite evident from the foregoing that Mr Cowan has succeeded m conveying tothe Conference an altogether erroneous impression as to the condition of New Zealand flocks, and it will take a long time to disabuse the minds of | Australians of the misconceptions thereby caused. Under these circumstances few persons, we imagine, will dissent from our contemporary's con- , elusion that ft it would have bepn better had we sent no representative at all than to have sent a man who evidently took 1 no trouble whatever to make himself acquainted with the most important facts m connection with the matter under i discussion, and whose assertions were such tbat outsiders who did not know better would be led to believe that New Zealand is a country that should bo carefully avoided."