THE COOK ISLANDS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1562, 4 October 1912, Page 6

THE COOK ISLANDS.

. —4 . (To tho Editor.) Sir,—ln regard to tho debate- en ■)■'■■ Cook Islands, which took placo oi: .■•.■;•- tember 24, I ask leave to make sciiio. remarks. The necessity for on open inquiry inn the conduct of matters in these- !•.■!■- ■'-•■.; appears to have been nt last n. nnd such being the case, whate\ finding of the M—Z Committee, 11. tion has served its purpose. Hi late lamented Government been sc dent they had nothing to fear f thorough ' investigation into the : fictitious charges, it seems imp:that they would have burked I;. poated demands with such per.' ;, ■:. Tho fact was, they could not nil ■ '. ■ sustain further damage to th'eir . '. • • > : discredited party. The Massey Government aro n' Rponsible for tho abuses and neglect ' 'iiprevailed, nnd still prevail, in thoii ','•-. fie possessions, but it remains for '•'■■■■■■■ to prove their honesty of purpose •.< ■ fulfil their promise of a general cli v ;. i; up by instituting, without needless •'.• •..■ a Commission which will set right f]> ~;, mismanagement and placo the Islan ; .:: a sound administrative basis; and i< i" not thole-ast task among the manj v.'t savoury legacies they have inherited. 1 lias repeatedly been said that nothing n ;. wrong there—the agitation was that i-.' ; trio of "malcontents." Then, how it that several improvements these •"■>• contents sought have been accompli. l !..u , !■ (a) The removal of Mr. Siiiith.i (b) Tho proper cquiipaisint of l> hospital. (c) The appointment of two medii.t!' •officers. (d) A better control of tho liquor trade or distribution. (e) Tho investigation of Native l;-;vi titles. (f) An amendment of tho laws. These need no comment. \. Tho evidence I gavo before tho Cv-n mittee is not untrue, but only un-üb-stantiated, and when a genuine iiu.nin , is set up, it will remain to lv >. v, whether it is or not. Dr. Chesson (ciulfJ by Mr. Waldegrave), in his evidence, 1 simply contradicted what I said. He was six months at Rarotouga. ' I was eighteen. His evidence wns valuable. He; was instrumental in proving two mom "slips of the'pen" embodied 'in tho Chid Justice's report. The member for Lyttdton, with the in-. temperance which distinguishes the mnjor-. ity of his clique in the House, hns mado ; best use of Uki privilege permitted him,* feeling, it can be assumed, secure in the : protection it extends. Even among Ilia electors on the Lyttelton wharves, (hero aro men I am sure who would pause tn tliink before committing themselves to' euch language, even to a fellow wlforfworker. They have an honest and ingenious way of dealing with men who use such terms in earnest. This Christian politician niny derive satisfaction from his' coarse attacks on the characters of others.i but I would prefer to commit myself to whnt appears a wilful niiE-stolcinent in the matter of a few words written, in a letter over six weeks old, and be tho sub'* ject of his cheap venom, than pose as a. pillar of the Church, and be the disseniiV, ator of a string of abuse designed to injure a' fellow man who has not the same pp% portnnity.of reply. '. The evidence on liquor matters and their outcome, which nothing can gloss; over, this temperance (?) member carefully-■ avoided. . In regard to the letter which I denied contained anything disparaging to tho Committee of 1011, not knowing what letter it was, or being aWo to call any such spntence to mind until rend to mj; I would point out that it is peculiar that monibers of the House who had no access to the Cook Island files, whence the letter had been referred by the Hon. Mr. Herdman, should have been acquainted with ill? text of it before it was rend. Mr.. Clarke hnd a foreknowledge of its contents or lio would not have pressed Hw matter ns ho did. If letters on tho Departmental files are to be handed about in such a. manner, it does not speak well for Hint rtepartment. T defy Mr. I.aurenson to brine: against m<; the .ircns3ition of lying in aiiv nf tho widence I havo given; also, I clnllenye Mr. Lauronson to repeat his reuiarks in nny public plaro or to mo Dcrsonnily. when his mind is doflated of its political lKimbnst; which, of courfc, -will strike him ns quite another mutter. In Hie matter of mv romnoundiiif n. felony mid similar childish talk, it lVsimply. Hit ,l red herring across tho scent; and-in krppins witli tlm lactic* of (lie person whence it cmnnated. Had it harl any sub. •ifeinro, it is positive _ thnt t.hp 'Ch'Vf .Tnstiee would have hnd it Inid befoi-o him when nt Harotenpn. , instead of it bein» ns a bmmikin's bogy befove th< Committee's minds.—T nm. etc... . W. EEVELL REYNOLDS. 2dth September, 1912.