The Akaroa Mail, FRIDAY, JULY 19.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 209, 19 July 1878, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail, FRIDAY, JULY 19.

With the last issue of this journal ended the second year of its existence, and in commencing the -new year we desire to thank the district for the support which has been generally accorded, and the help that we have received from many quarters. We trust that the efforts we have made from time to time to ventilate questions of-public importance, and which-we feel sure it will not be denied, have been productive of much good to the district and the public at large, will have been recognised, and that the usefulness of a local journal is now firmly established. It is true that in aiming at the general weal we may have sometimes unintentially touched sensitive points in the nature of some private individuals, but this must always be the case, and, though deploring that this should be so, actuated solely by the mens conscia recti, we feef that the purity of our motives, will be accepted against accidental offence. We venture to assert that a local journal is not to be regarded as solely a commercial transaction, but rather as an institution in which all with whom it is more immediately connected should feel a common interest. As the medium of public opinion, a local Press occupies the position of a useful public servant. Through its columns abuses and evils are laid bare and exposed, which Otherwise would fester in our midst and corrupt society ; other matters of more trivial nature aud lesser importance are dulyrecorded, seemingly, at the time, of no moment but often referred to in the future with more or less instruction and pleasure. There are many more strong and valid arguments to be adduced which would all tend to prove the utility of a local Press, but we feel assured that that has now become a recognised fact in this district, the prosperity and advancement of which will ever -be fearlessly striven for by this journal, and standing in the place that we do, with such a motive as the basis of our actions we feel that we may always rely on the public to support us cordially as they have hitherto done.

On the 14th June there appeared in our editorial columns an article commenting in severe terms on the apparently cri minal neglect of the Colonial Secretary's Department in failing to acknowledge the receipt of the by-laws of the Akaroa Borough Council. This article elicited a telegram from the Colonial Secretary, dated the 18th June, which has led to an enquiry with which all our readers are familiar, and which terminated on Tuesday evening, in the Council accepting the resignation of the Town Clerk.

We have no wish to dilate upon a subject of so painful a nature, but in justice to a Government Department, which we, in ignorance of the real facts of the case, have unjustly accused of gross malfeasance, we arc compelled once more to refer to it. There remains now no doubt that no communication on the subject of the by-laws was ever despatched from the Borough Council offices prior to the 28th June, 1878, and that consequently the strictures passed upon the Colonial Secretary's department have been wholly unwarranted by facts, and we therefore cordially and frankly withdraw them.

While offering this hearty apology for any ungrounded charges we have made against the Government, we must at the same time, in justice to ourselves, assert that we made no accusations which did not appear to be warranted by facts. It is the duty of a journalist to expose any apparent wrong-doing on the part of public bodies, great or small. As to his facts, he must be guided by the ordinary rules of evidence. In this case, we drew for our facts, not upon common rumor or hearsay, but upon the official records of the Akaroa Borough Council. Our article has been styled " unique." On looking into a dictionary, ■we find that " unique " means " unparalleled." As we before remarked, we hope the circumstances attending this case are " unparalleled," and we hope that they will remain "' unparalleled " in Akaroa for ever.

One word more, and we have done. It has been the fashion with a section of the Council when tired of quarrelling with one another, to abuse the Akaroa Mail. We hope that it will not be forgotten that to that much-abused journal is owing the elucidation of this mystery, and the final forwarding and consequent acknowledgment of the bylaws. On the 12th June, on the motion of Cr Bridge, the Council ordered that the Colonial Secretary be communicated with at once on the subject of the by-laws. It is needless to say that no attention was paid to this order, and it is not too much to suppose that the Council might have been successfully deceived for a long time to come, as in the past. But a copy of the Mail containing the report of the Council's meeting, and our comments on the subject reached the .Under Secretary's tabic. This led to tho telegram of the 18th June, when, as concealment was no longer possible, it appears that the by-laws were forwarded on the 28th, and the explanation followed, with which our readers are already acquainted.

The time being close at hand when the collective wisdom of the colony will be in Parliament assembled, the member for this district should be apprised of such local requirements as it may be necessary to seek at the hands of Government. Foremost among these is the matter of new Court-house buildings, which has been so long and unaccountably delayed. The question, too, of better wharf accommodation is a very important one, and should not be lost sight of. The grounding of the Union Company's boats, and the delay consequent on this -in their regular services, is a matter that, unless speedily rectified, must do a great deal of injury to this place and its trade. Here, then, is a subject to which the attention of our representative in the Assembly should be directed, with a view to obtaining assistance from the Government. Akaroa has had very little of the Public Works' funds expended on it, and may fairly claim an amount sufficient to make the necessary improvements to its principal wharf, for that is probably all that we shall obtain, if we get any aid at all. To extend the present jetty seems very much like perpetuating an egregious folly, and we submit that the proper course would be the construction of a new wharf, at a point on the Wharf Reserve, somewhere opposite Messrs Garwood and Co.'s store, by which, at a considerably less length, far deeper water would bo obtained than at present. This is what we think should be done, but it is highly improbable that it will be, and we shall have to be satisfied with an additional crook on the end of the old structure. However, anything would be better than remaining deficient, as we are at present. We trust the matter may be properly represented to Mr Montgomery, and that he will urge upon the Government the necessity of making the requisite alterations. There .are many other questions of importance that need representation through the same channel, and in order to ensure this, we sound the warning note to the proper authorities, that it is full time to take the matter in hand.