A CORRECTION.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume I, Issue 72, 10 May 1873, Page 3

A CORRECTION.

TO THB OiOIXOK. Sib,—l was reading with some degree of pride and pleasure jour two first articles in last Saturdaj s issue, when I was suddenly pulled up by an editorial strongly reflecting, and in no measured terms, upon the conduct of a gentleman well known m Tauranga. Now, I admit the Press has a right to comment upon the public, conduct of any public man, but it has no right to interfere or drag before the public the private arrangements or character of any person, and more especially m the disrespectful manner in which you have done. You may depend upon it that, if such is repeated, your career as a journalist will soon come to grief, as no one would be safe if bo in anywise incurred your displeasure, and I hope for your ow[n sake I shall never see the like again in your otherwise well conducted paper. My principal object, however, m writing to you is to correct an error into which some mischievous or m-disposed person has led you concerning myself Ifc i 8 alß ° Well known that he retains against the expressed wish of the corps, a private secretary at an emolument double that of the present drill instructor, who has offered to perorm the duties of the office without additional ™-f thU ? ®? cu . n “S» frea of cost to himself, the jp - 8 clerieal assistance ,/br his own private affairs. This is a downright falsehood, and 1 hand you the minutes (for perusal) of a meeting of the corps held on 21 st October last, at which do members were present, from which you will perceive that Sergeant Downey receives the same as myself for far less work. He only hag to attend two parades per month, and call the roll. There is no private instruction or drill, however much it might be required-nothing beyond a nominal attendance at parade. Not so the secretary :he has the states and plenty of matter to do. So that he might well say he would combine the two offices 5 but at the same time he is well aware that oy the regulations he cannot perform the duty of secretary. As to Captain Norris securing iFe ® of T c ° Bt ' 1 g ivo the « lie ” daeet. Whatever I do for that gentleman he pays me for, and everyone who is acquainted with him knows tall well that he is the last person to ask anyone to do a thing without recompensing wT f ° r »! t j sf “ wcro otherwise, what right has anybody to interfere with what I do. I treat yonr informant, whoever he is, with contempt. 8o long as they require my services as secretary, they must pay me. When I cease to act T cease to receive pay ; it is a matter of indifference to tsa “ t °° honour of being among the first who formed the first Volunteer corps in Victoria some twenty years back. and I may say I have been a Volunteer ever since, and therefore know something of the economy of a Volunteer corps, and am not to be humbugged by the words honorary ” and “ gratuitously," nor do I think I could gull those three vehement speakers of Saturday last to supply me with “boots and labour gratuitously. I may add that Captain Norris will not see this until he sees it in print.—l am, &0., rp -a . . J AMES T. BbJOXLBT. To Papa, April 28. 1873.

TO THE EOITOE. Sis, You will oblige me by inserting this letter, to correct some rather grave mistakes in the report of the annual meeting for election of a JJistncfc School Committee, lam reported to nave said, “that those persons who were supposed to send any children to school were by far the largest part of the subscribers to the fund.” What I said was the very opposite, “ that those who did not send their children were by far the largest subscribers, and that Mr Henry Clarke’s subscriptions alone equalled in amount those raised from among the parents of the children attending the school.” This I mentioned to con* tradict the insinuation contained in your leading article, that those who did not send their children to the school were not likely to be interested in its welfare. Mr Clarke did not say that, “he did not think any other committee could attend to their duties-better than the committee of the past 7? ar ‘ 1r ,™ r Clarke is not the person to commend ™ euc k egotistical expressions. 1 believe M,r McCaw, the chairman of the meeting, stood up and spoke to that effect. But to put those words ip Mr Clarke’s mouth is to give an erroneous impression. I am sorry to see a reporter’s account so distorted. Mr Clarke’s allusion to tnere being but one paper was simply an apology for bringing the leading article on which he commented before the public.—l am, &c., _ Aeexandeb Tovey. Tauranga, May 7, 1873.