THE "WHETTER GAME" AGAIN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 21, 6 April 1870, Page 5

THE "WHETTER GAME" AGAIN.

To the. Editor of the. CiiOJiwk.j.l Arc;us. Sir, — AH the vindication that Mr Wlietter requires from the insinuations of his detractors is a clear statement of facts thrown into the shape of a readable narrative : such as shall do common justice to his public spirited efforts to improve the district in general and Cromwell in particular. This I have here attempted, whether successfully or not, your readers must judge. Mr Wlietter is no now chum. He is an old settler, as age goes amongst us. lie was hero at the beginning of things, lie took up his position | when matters in Cromwell were in the small, j He was mixed up with some of the first, public i movements iu the town, His name is found on | Committees of management from the beginning, i When the funds of the School or of the Hospital ! needed replenishment, or any other private or i public charity required help, his refined musical I t iste was always available, and the sick, the ig, ' norant, and. the unfortunate can all testify to \ the timely aid accruing to their various neees, i aities under his able leadership. Ho was early called to act in public -first as councillor, then as mayor, and then ho was put in the commission of the peace ; and although ho brought to the performance of these various functions no deep scholarship and no brilliant genius, he brought i what was infinitely more valuable to society at 1 large, a business habit of thought—a plain- ; hearted and honest purpose of serving the inter j rests of his fellow citizens in the best way lie was i able. He has filled a large space in the eye* of the public in this district for some years past, They feel themselves in some sort custodians of his known and trusted integrity and respectability ; and they can no more see him robbed of : these than they can see him robbed of his stuck* ' in-trade. Various and slanderous articles respecting him : arc exported from our homo market here, and • from time to time they return upon us, ticketed , as foreign imports. Hut even novices iu the , mysteries of authorship are not deceived by this I odd device. They are well known to he patches | of a rag familiar to most of us ; ai|d when we I meet with them they bring hack upon qs lost recollections : far-faded visions of old Huhrow ! I’hinehas arc revived afresh ; we see again his i broken-in hell-topper, his seedy old swallow-tail coat, the dusty bag, like a dirty Basil, hanging from his shoulder, his eollin-like countenance, and hear again the pensive cry, ‘‘Old elo’ ! old clo’ !” These second hand goods are intended ehietly for home consumption ; hut by a trick of the trade, they are passed round to clo duty at,a distance first, and then return by a land carriage with a fresh brand, and improved, too, for homo use, like wine after a ten voyage, Tim genius of the threadbare print referred to points to the period j ,o£-Mr Wbetter’s oliioial rais-doing as setting in with his re-cleotiou to ofiice after Mr (hmdgers , resignation, Hart.* the “ Whettcr (lame” was initiated, ».nd at It crowded it btnjiuno deeper

add iiioi-p decojvjng! First luiuwlml as nft sdmed mayor, and now ho is hoadhig a tyrranio,iv\ majority, ns couneillov, to All progress amt promote all evil! The idjnvois butamild pietiiWVof tljo “Wlioti tfr Uamu" as banded nmUd to tl'.o provincial prints by his opponent o.u the north side of Mol, Hio'-e-strcot. allow ir\o, sir, to give the uloci. <\ brief account of .Mr WJiuttor’s election to tho Cromwell Corporation, that My at hud may ua how far the aboyo hideous pjet'.iro is fair amt truthful. j In the first Cromwell election Mr Wbettor Was elected as councillor under Mr VV. J. l>arry 4 as mayor, being re-elected,to the saute olHco.Um following year. In t)>e third election, he was re. turned aa mayor. When, the last election was about comiitg all' ho declined being put in nonii, nation, and gave, as reasons—not that ho was ton pure to his seat with “ publicans and sini here’—but that he had been a, siitterer both i \ time and trade. Up therefore.gave his support, to his successor, Hid this look like a gteed of; olKcc, or the love of enconiums resulting? Mr Coodger and-Mr Booth were the two candidates, Soon afterwards the poll was declared, and Me Booth was nowhere, Mr (}, W. Coodger wa* then declared “ opr Worshipful Mayor. " Messrs Kelly, Burves, l>agg, and Fraer composed the Town Council, Just at this point all was con, fessedly legal. The elections were never chal-. longed. The “ eoqiurate machin'a”. worked witlu out fret or friction, or only such as is inherent to all deliberative bodies where different opinion* are brought foot to foot, ami face to face with each other. The skeleton came into the Munici, pal house at this stage. From whence did it come ? Who introduced it ? Who is responsible ? A true answer to these cpiestions will put the burden op the right back, and the blush on the right.cheok, Mr CoodgUr and Mr Kelly resigned. Here the door was opened ; and all the mischief that ha* resulted,to the Corporation from that time to

this hail its beginning here. What has happened since is only the state fruit. This, aiid thid only, is the tap nipt of the thm of all evil: ouu of the councillors was suppose! to he tainted, The sensitive sainthood of (Jr. Kelly was shocked, at even the prospect of contact with suspected impurity. In the interests of Humility he sunt in his resignation to the Town (,'lerk!! The Mayor elect followed his example—not at the same time, hub soon after. Mr (Joodgcr’s purity did not rise to the same fierce level at the moment, but it came in afterwards ; and if also was found eipial to the occasion. Both resignations ware, tabled. This was on the 2nd .of August last. The first day of the month was Sunday, and the Ist is the day appointed by the Ordinance for the. election of Councillors. A clause in the Act, however, provides for this contingency. When the Ist day of August falls on Sunday, the oldmayor and councillors oan legally act on the 2nd, and two days afterwards if needful. Under cover of this clause, the old mayor and Council met in the Council Chamber. The'minutes of previous meeting were read and confirmed. At this meeting the resignations of Mr Coodger as mayor and' Mr Kelly as councillor were received' 4 The resignations were lead, considered, and accepted, th;>t of the latter at his own special request. By, this stroke of childish policy the

town was left without a mayor ; ami here it was that peace aiul the Corporation part ml company.

This was the act that put a drag oh the wheels! of progress, that’gave rise to all the litigation, all the loss of time and of tamper which have followed. T!i e subsequent evils of which these two apostles of an over-done morality goniplaiu are of their own producing, Before O. Kelly left the meeting above referred to, he proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Whettor for the eilieient manner 111 which lie had managed the business for the past year ; and then, saint as ho was, In? made tracks. And now lie who came forward iu the emergency aiid stood by the Corporation in its season of deepest need is heslimed with the mild and gentle'oharacters of impostor, intruder, pretender, usurper, and many othei tender terms. After the ratepayers had made an etl'ort to ro-. turn Mr Ooodger and place him at the head of the poll by a large majority, ail’d were proud to see him there and expected much from him, ho mocked the confidence they placed hi him, and gave in his resignation under a sanctimonious pretence .that sickened the hearts of all that heard it, Even his best friends could not receive it without shame and sadness. None such thing might have been expected from C'r. Kelly, from his known zeal for high morality ; hut how Mr Coodgftr, otherwise manly iu his hearing, should have hdiliM Aimwtf to follow the example and loud himself to an act that p! uuge I the Corpora- ! tiou into a sea of troubles, wash his bauds ot all responsibility, and when Mr Whetter came to | the rescue to save the town from utter disgrace, !to brand him u traitor and a common tunny.' ■! !we cannot understand. Hero is the absurdity ' of all absurdities : lie charges Mr- W better with ! the consequences of a chaos of his own creating, i and ho hangs about his hock Chiof-Justice Holt s ! precedent, Judge Ward, the Supremo Court, j Howorth and Co., -and a piece of provincial | pinch-back, like so many mill-stones, to sink ! him to a Tophir of his own digging. Hut the j standard of morality must be upheld by public i men. Loyalty to conscience is a solemn and a ! personal duty-granted. Hut this excuse will | not hold water for a moment. Are noli ; the principles of morality immutable? Word i they not the same on the 30th of August as they 1 i had been on the 2nd? Did conscience condemn i on the 2nd wliat it was willing to accept without an effort a few days afterwards ? Ami lime now ? ! Has the upper Mel more-street Kthiopiaii whitened i his skin? or has the mayor and Or. Kelly length : cued out their consciences ? For two transparent | vases may now ho soon at the same table with i the flawed piece of Westmoreland pottery—eon* ! science and morality notwithstanding ! Here I i must draw to a conclusion; There is no doubt) ! but that Mr (icodger was the best mayor than j Cromwell ever had before Mr Whetfer gave place Ito him So long as the olliee was in prospect ho promised well. On every public’ occasion whop hu could Ijnd elbow-room for two sentences, one of them was sure to he auoiit putting the Cor! poration op a better footing -a sounder footing j _a n|ore satisfactory footing. So that the ratoi I payers had come co.thiifk that under his mayor-. ! ship they should have a little commonwealth i placed mi something like a satisfactory footing. I But unfortunately where they begun to look fori i this municipal multiped they found only ii cracked wooden log. | Witlj your permission, Mr Editor, I will nil i sumo this subject short-y, as thero are marly 1 i strong points iu Mr Whuttor’s favor which yi.'S 5 ! remain to bo spoken of, but which you would 1 j pi'oiiably not have room for in your ;■ : issue, I am, fte..