The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1868.

Dunstan Times, Issue 344, 27 November 1868, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1868.

Beneath thcßuleof Men EKTIEEI.Y just the peS is mightier than thcswoKD.

It ia only upon rare occasions that wo have been compelled to refer to correspondents’ Iwtt-cra from this disfc ict

when inserted in other newspapers. Two communications which have recently appeared in the Daily Times as advertisements, hearing the signature of “ Ecce Homo,” are such notable instances of ignorance, malice, and perversion of truth that we have been • compelled to depart from our hitherto observed rule. Ecce Homo may endeavor to shield his real name under a nom de plume, but his epistolary productions are so easily recog nisei hie as to leave no need for con cealraent on the part of the author. Messrs. Feraud and M‘Connochic, on whose behalf these grandiloquent emanations appear to have been written, have shown but little judgment in their selection of so versatile and inconsistent an advocate, who has really done more to bring his employers into ridicule than could possibly have been attained had they abandoned the dignity and responsi bility of Town Councillors and appeared as street mountebanks, duly equipped in appropriate cap and bells. The letters in question purport to be reports of the proceedings of meetings of the Town Council of Clyde; but such is really not the case. They are rather the vaporings of a diseased imagination, brought about by some chronic affliction or a stomach overladen with whisky. The cause which Ecce Homo seeks to espouscis,wichoiitdoubt,a bad one. His appeal to the columns of the Dunedin leading journal was met by what is tantamount to a blank refusal. The Editor refuses space among his reading matter, and Ecce Homo, to secure publicity, is reduced to the alternative of disbursing his cash in advertising; otherwise to bury bis assumed troubles in Lis rancorous breast He, however, chores the former as the least of the two evils. Ecce Homo, in his second production, complains of the want of intelligence on the part of the residents in the municipal town of Clyde ; but, before ho proceeds to a wholesale calumniation of a body of rcspectaldo people he should first ascertain his own literary abilities, which, small as they undoubtedly are, those whose champion he is must possess infinitely less, or they never would have sought his assistance. An old saying has it that “ Those who live in glass houses should iot throw stones,”and we would recommend Ecce Homo, before he attempts to bespatter decent people with mud, to first assure himself that a much larger portion is not already adhering to his own person than he. would seek to bedaub others with. Whether Councillor Feraud was right or wrong in the unfortunate Townhall dispute, we have this fact before us ; that, when his resignation was read out at a nn eting of the Council, notwithstanding a more than average attendance of mem' ers wore present, it was accepted without a dissentient voice. The building of a new Town-hall, and the expending of 1,000?. thereon, is certainly a matter for grave consideration in this little “ Feddlington” of ours; but, if Councillors could not agree, or there was a narrow majority on tho question, there were the rate payers to appeal to. No such appeal was made, nor did the rate-payers dissent from the motion upon which Councillors Feraud and M'Connochie were defeated ; and subsequently, when a meeting calling for an expression of public opinion upon the matter was held, the views of the Mayor and those who voted with him, “ That the new Town-hall be built upon tho site of the old one,” was, with two exceptions, unanimously endorsed. Wc did hope, till Saturday evening last, when we received the Daily Times containing Ecce Homo’s second letter, that this miserable and purile dispute had been suffered to rest ; but, when we see a correspondent, without attempting justification of his own conduct or that of those on whose behalf ho wields his pen, deliberately insult and vilely vituperate a whole town and corporation, wo should he lacking in our duly as public journalists did wo not take tho matter up. ; Ecce Homo’s fulsome adulation o£Mr. Feraud and deprecation of everyone else, brings both rcribo and him wiiom ho seeks to cnoblc within (ho

limits of the ridiculous, and we feel sure that Mr. Feraud does not for one moment presume that he is the only enterprising man and leading genius resident in or near the township of Clyde. Mr. Feraud is a gentleman well known in the district, and, by bis enterprise and energy, lias earned for himself a distinguished position. He is a Justice of the Peace and has twice been elected Mayor of Clyde. These facts are so well known that we can only commiserate Mr. Feraud upon the fa’se position which his voluble advocate has secured for him. That he has got more than ho bargained for is very plainly to le seen. The present Mayor of Clyde, Mr. James Hazlett, whom Ecce Homo would so unworthily besmear, also holds Her Majesty’s Commission of the Peace, and by no means is wanting in business energy, enterprise, or public spirit. Still, all that is virtuous and good contained within tho bounds of the Municipality of Clyde is not solely possessed even by Messrs Feraud and Hazlett, we must allow a fair share to belong to other people. A good thing, like good wine, soon speaks for itself; population is not so dense in any of the Goldfields’ Municipalities that any especial good quality possessed by individual citizens, is likely to remain im een, or without being recognised, and, if we were to be asked our unbiassed opinmn upon tho productions of Ecce Homo, we should without hesitation return answer that, previous to sitting clown to write, he must have taken a long farewell of his senses We would recommend Messrs Feraud and M‘ Connochie that, for the future, when there arises any necessity for them to require tho episto'ary assistance of Eecc Homo to satisfy themselves, before rushing into print, that their admirable scabbier has not exceeded his instructions, or the bounds of propriety.

On account of pressure upon our space, we have ben compelled to omit correspondent’s letters, and other matters of importance. The Queenstown Mail, which ought to have been handed round the Town last evening hy seven o’clock, was not received at the time of writing this 9 o’clock. The nominaton for a Councillor for the South Ward, in iho room of J. I). Feraud, Esq., resigned, took place on i Friday lad, at the Town Hall, Clyde; 1 Messers. George Clark and William L. Bailey were nominated. The poll, which took place on Wednesday, resulted in the election of Mr. Clark by i a majority of four. <hi the declaration of the poll, Mr. Clark returned thanks in a few words. The business transacted in the Resident Magistrate’s Courts at Clyde, Alexandra, and Cromwell during the past week being of no interest to the public, wo omit giving a detailed account of the cases. Messrs Fever, Pantlin, and Co. sold on the 19 th instant, the leases of four runs in the Lake Wakatipu district. The following wore the prices realised :—No. 117, 4207.; No. 418, 707.; Xo. 419, 1007.; and No 420, 8007. An Otago journal says :—“ Agricultural settlement has received a great impetus in Victoria through the now celebrated forty-second clause of the Land Act. New regulations came into lorce on the 2nd inst., authorising free selection on all land lying within a radius of thirty mihs from any goldfield. Commissioners were appointed to provide against the land thus thrown open being seized by speculators. The rush for allotments is described in the Australasian as follows : — 1 For the choicer plots of land, which were surveyed in blocks ranging from twenty to one hundred and sixty acres, the applications were eager and numerous, in some cases amounting to treble the number of lots open to selection.' Altogether twenty-nine thousand seven hundred and fifty acres were taken up " A correspondent writing us from Black’s, says,—That the weather for the past week has been very unsettled, but withall beneficial, as it lias replenished tho supply of water that was begining to r m short, A good deal cf gold is Loing obtained, and altogether the district is pvo.-peioas.

The Dunstan District is at last to have a Masonic Lodge, the day of opening being fixed for St. Andrew’s day, Monday next the 30th instant. Many attempts have been made hitherto. all of which have failed, through some insignificant cause, but this time we think we can safe'y predict, it is au fail accompli. In connexion with the opening, a Sermon will be delivered by Y. Pyke, Esq., P.O.M. We learn that Mr. Stafford was elected for Timaru without opposition. There was a large attendance of electors.