The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1876.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 99, 2 June 1876, Page 4

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1876.

At the Athenteum meeting on Monday night, Mr JohnMacdonald ascribed the failure of thatinstitutionto the absence of support on the part of the 'editor of the Clutha ILeader, and assured the meeting that had it had the newspaper influence, which would; have, been extended to it by every other journal in the country, it would '■* have -proved highly .successful. . We feel flattered by Mr . Macdonald's, estimate of our influence in all such mat ters^'and-' assure him that, he has not.over-estimatjsol that influence. But, as is usual with! him, Mr ' Macdonald - 'seems - unable to icom.prehend the position, we have all along maintained witli reference' to flier ; Atheneaum. We don't expect thatfmy ex£ planation \re can give will enablehim to comprehend ' thisy but "his statement on Monday evening renders it .absolutely^necessary :thajr we put ourselves right with the piublic. WeihaveV therefore, to say we are inconscibus of ever; having missed a single fitting opportunity for bringing the matter before the puolic,. urging its olaims, and asking for the Athenseum a cordial support. '<" C

; We. did so when it was first being br-3 ganised, and have done so as occasion * 'presented ever since. But Mr Macdonald must not again misunderstand * us. While wo. fully appreciated the y necessity lor establishing an Arhetiseum ~ in 'Balelutha, and the benefits which would result therefrom to the young 1 men amonsrst us and the community generally ; while we firmly believed it was practicable to start such an institution, and that when once started upon a proper basis, it would receive a very hearty support; while such were, and still are our con vietidn's, we did not ' consider thnt- the matter was gone about in that prudent manner which, would reasonably lead us to. expect success* On the contrary, we believed it was undertaken t in : . a; grossly reckless arid extravagant manner, and that the result could only prove a complete failure. ' We, therefore, did not applaud the. ac-' tions of the Macdonalds and the Campbells, whose advice was taken and carried out. We . did not - condemnit, and , this we now much : regret because had we used the influence MrMacdonald holds lis to possess,' we no ; doubt would have^beeniable, to thwart the counsels of such unwise counsellors/ We confess, however, we shrunk from exposing ourselves to the masked back- ' shop batteries to which the performances^ of our duty would, have exposed ;;jis?*& We are glad that Mr Macdonalfof has " had the courage for once, to come out of his concealed fortification, and it beingnow open firing, we shall give our reasons fbr withholding our support from some of the actions of the prbmbtersof ■' the Athenseum. , First, then, we did ■■.■■ not approve of erecting a building in y a back street, at a cost of ahou,t!£7oo y upon a piece of ground to which no title had been got, and without any prospect of the projectors ever being in • a position to pay the. debt they were so • eager to incur, and this more esr|pally y as an equally suitable and convenient-' building could have been erected for less than half that sum in the main street. We half guspected there was some interested motive at work, and that some of those who were the most eager for a fine building would in thft end shirk the liability and leave others • to bear the burden. We are now informed that our prognostications; have proved correct, and that Eome" of the most extravagant -6f the promoters never even, paid the subscription fee necessary -^to fqualify themselves as members. They had gained their end ; they had got up a fine building in a certain locality, and their further efforts were unnecessary. They helped to incur but not to pay the debt, We may tell Mr Macdonald/ the Clutha Leader will have to change its policy before it can approve of such a course of action. Again, ac the opening of the Atheuasum building, the first meeting of members, we thiuk, — the attendance - jvas secured of a majority in favor of : opening the building on Sundays. Wq,> bave expressed no opinion as , -to-? tbi/ propriety or otherwise of opening on Sunday. We simply disagreed with the arbitrary, despotic, and hasty manner in which this was accomplished. It " -was unfair to those who were not present who ought to have got notice that such an important question was to have been brought up. •«: : Besides, it wasysure to have the effect 'of alienating; the ! Sympathies and support of a considerable number, and ..tbafe^po. at fa time when 'the iristitutie^^guired all the support it was .p.ossihl^td. bring tcT'it. In conseque^ceJ,o^£this caption on the part of a tyrannical majority, members have withdrawn from the Athenaeum. Here, again, the action of the Macdonalds and Campbells have s proved destructive to the institution. Once a wrong step 1 - is taken it is generally difficult to .retrace the steps. , The likelihood is. the. "broad way" will be persevered iij. So it has been with the».._. Athenaeum. false, step was taken at first and others nave followed. It was overburdened with debt and the attempts made for relief has only sunk it deeper and deeper in the mire, at the same time complicating the difficulties. After spending the Government liberal subsidy there remained a debt op the building of some L 450. To meet this if was resblyed r to still Jfnrther ( increase the debt and rent the reading-room to various Friendly Societies, so that the interest might be met by rents. Now We regarded this as a very questionable proceeding. The hall was built partly by public money given for a reading-room, and which only could be. given for a reading-room — certainly not.; for a friendly societies' hall, and it' seemed very mtich like, a breach of faith with the Government to devote it to such : '",: a ;, Jmfpose. ; , r • At ; present a proposition is before, the members to abandon the reading-room altogether, and only give put books , tip read twice a : week. , ,' Whai . ? ' Prom the statement published x Vel^ewhefe' it will be seen that the magnificent gum of L 25 bnd : been" ©aid to ! M;he Education

j Board for the Juhenceumi library It Thus we have a buildingy towards ; the erection of which the Government paid L 235, the Committee gave their personal secu rity foF L4so^ : an<Miave incurred other '<■ debts ambunting to LSO, all to provide accommodation Lfor a few periodicals, besides a library of books, which: cost the Committejß) only L 25. Of course there is the old library, but this was not; paid for: with any part of the funds collected for the Athenseum. Be it remembered that while the Committee are individually responsible for

„' the debt, and they deserve all praise _^ for having come under so heavy an obf ligation for so laudable a purposp, neither they nor the inhabitants of Baltjlntha have any bett< r legal title to the ground or the ouildmg, than they have to the Fiji Islands. Litt|e wonder "then; that neither the Clutha Leader nor th« public generally have seen their 'way to give an unqualified support to the promoters ofthe Athenseum. Mr Macdonald is right in his estimate of the influence of the Clutha Leadkr in such matters, but we may Inform him that that influence has been established, and only can be maintained, by an honest and straightforward course t>f action on the part of its conductors, by an advocacy of that which is prudent and critically right, and by seeking to establish anol cherish a healthy moral nnd political sentiment. ,T.o seek to support a course of action which we believe to be wrong "would— and should — destroy the in- • ftuence of any paper. We need scarcely tell Mr Macdonald that this we shall never do to please any man or nny body of men, ot to preserve iv ex : s a ice the y^best institution that ever was established. We regret having been forced Into remarking as we have now done • tipon the subject of the Balelutha Athes >aeum. Had we consulted our own 'feelings ojr wishes, these remarks would not have been made, and any pain they may occasion must be laid at the door •of the gentleman whose rash imprudence called them forth. : « As the date fixed for the Mayoral election approaches, the question is frequently being asked as to who is to be the next occupant of the civic chair of Balcluiha. So far as we have heard answers given to this question there has been an unusual unanimity of opinion ; they have invariably indicated the same individual — Mr Peter Mason. An equal unanimity exists as to the grounds upon which the opinion is founded. Mr Mason has occupied a seat at the Council Board almost ever since the municipality was created. He has been most regular in his attendance at the meetings, and has taken an intelligent, active, and prudent j part in the business As a member of various committees in connection with tb.9 Council he has done some hard work, and has been of good service to the ratepayers. In other matters, outside the duties of Councillors, such as recent public banquets and celebrations <fee, he has taken a leading part and carried them to a successful issue in j spite the secret and treacherous opposition of some of whom better things . might at one time have been expected. In every matter which appeared to him to be for the best interests of the town, and according to the wish ofthe inhabitants Mr Mason has cheerfully given his assistance. He certainly is therefore fairly entitled to the honor of being elected Mayor of Baiclutha for the ensuing teJrm of office, and it is gratifying to find that, so far as has been ascertained, there seems to be a unanimous desire in the mind ofthe inhabitants to do honor to whom honor is so justly due. Those who have served the public so faithfully and energetically as Mr Mason has done, are entitled to be placed in those positions of honor which at the disposal of the public. It is, besides, good policy to confer such honors only upon such men as it holds out an inducement to others to follow in their footsteps ; it will shew to all that it is the mind ofthe public in this quarter that honor is only to be conferred as the reward of merit. Were such a course invariably followed elsewhere as 'well as in Baiclutha, we should soon find in power only a true and superior class of men, and the interests 'of the country would be better attended to in the future than they have been in the past.

We beg to call the attention of our % readers to the Road Board elections, ~tke dates of which have been announced *in our advertising columns. We have been informed that in some districts, in former years, great apathy has existed in connection with these elections, and hence our referring to the matter. We would urge upon every settler who is qualified to vote to exercise that vole as a matter of duty — that he should not only see that vacancies are filled up, but that they are so filled up by the best men in the district. Every ratepayer entitled to vote is qualified for election, and therefore should go to the nomination prepared, should he be called upon, to become a member of the Board, unless he can shew good reason to the contrary. No man has a right to impose upon his neighbor a duty or an office which he is not himself prepared to undertake. He has no right to assume that his neighbor's time is less valuable than his own. It would be utter selfishness to do so, and yet how "common it is, for we cannot in any other vrny explain the indifference which has been shewn in some districts in regard to these elections. Surely it is an important matter for farmers to have good roads to their farms, and we all know that mere grumbling at bad oneg — a very common thing — will never mend matters. Let each individual ratepayer, therefore, be prepared to spend a portion of his time, if called called upon so to do, in assisting to carry out the provisions of the Road Boards Ordinance, and so secure the formation of good roads. In this work every encouragement has been given

by the Provincial Government, and,i during the past three years, by the; General Government, in the way of subsidising local ratea. If settlers have failed to take advantage of the liberality of the Government in this respect, they havo themselves alone to blnoie. In sonic district? we should say, judging from the many miles of roads thiit have b j en fornaed and metalled, ther^ hns been no lack of interest in such matters on the part ofthe settlers. They have j not been penny wise and pound '.foolish as others apparently have been."" They have not only taxed themselves tor tlie expense but have given their rime and attention to the carrying out of the works, and the money has been spent as judiciously and to as good a purpose as any public money in the country. In consequence of this they can now cart away their grain, potatoes, &c , at any time, winter as well as summer, and can thus send their produce to market when the prices are highest, not only, as with others, when the roads will admit of it.

We shall endeavor to have all the Road Board elections throughout the Clutha and other adjacent districts fully reported, and hope to find that the settlers have turned out well, so* that thos* who may be elected may have the su'.isfacfion of knowing that tbey have been placed in office by a majorit}' of the electors ofthe districr, and not only by a few individuals who happened to be present.