The Hon. Mr Ward's Telegrams.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 80, 1 October 1895, Page 2

The Hon. Mr Ward's Telegrams.

(Per Press Association.) Wellington, Sept. 30. In the House of Representatives this evening, .Mr Earnsbaw asked the Postmast*:;.- (Un; val a' lie will lay before this 1 !•.<■-..• '.he insti actions issued by the '■'-■'' ; ""■•_■'• Department to its officers re the : a* warding of telegrams to and from tlie iion. Mr Ward and his firm in lnvercargill, orif thefollowinginstruction i has been issued to the officers of the j Telegraph Department:— " All telegrams whether urgent, ordin- j ary, or delayed, to and from the Hon. Mr j Ward and his firm lnvercargill, are to be given precedence and transmitted accordingly :—W. Gray, 28/4/93." Mr Ward said.no such instructions were ever given, nor was he aware that any instructions of the kind had been sent to any parts of the colony. He explained, however, that when he arrived in Wellington on the day after the late Mr Ballance died, as the result of negotiations which necessarily had to proceed concerning the reformation of the Ministry and also with reference to tbe pesition in the Ministry which was offered to him, he found it necessary to mako numerous enquiries in connection with various branches of business with which he was connectad iu the South as to whether he could accept tbe appointment he now held. As a matter of necessity the communications in reply to his messages bad to be forwarded tb Wellington with the greatest possible despatch. He then, as he had done since, paid for any telegrams of a private nature. All telegrams tb or from his own firm had been paid for in the usual way. This was the only occasion on which any such request was ever made by him. Tho manager of his firm in lnvercargill bore him out in this, as also did his private secretary, and the Chief Postmaster at lnvercargill sent a memo that the business telegrams of J. G. Ward Farmers' Association received the same treatment as other people's. He had not as a Minister of the Crown done anything wrong, nor had he in the slightest degree used his official position for private gain. The matter effected the secrecy of the Telegraph Department, and Mr Ward asked Mr Earnsbaw to divulge the name of the telegraph offcer who had given him the information, but Mr Earnsbaw refused to do so. Mr Earnsbaw referred to Mr Ward's reply to his question respecting the Telegraph Department, and said his information was obtained very far from Wellington ancl not in Wellington as I assumed by Mr Ward. j Mr Ward deprecated the attacks so constantly made on him by members m the House ancl a portion of the press of the colony. With respect to Mr Earnshaw's question, ho said they found the newspapers condemning him before he had a chance of defendiug hiaaself. He again asserted that no such instructions as referred to in Mr Earnshaw's question was issued by him, nor did he know that it was issued. Mr Allen said it was to be regretted Mr Ward had not given an emphatic denial to Mr Earnshaw's statement. Mr Reeves said Mr Allen was most unreasonable. Mr Ward did reply to Mr Earnsbaw in the most complete manner, and his reply was a full and fair statement of the case and an honorable explanation.