The Globe. FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1878.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1257, 29 March 1878, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1878.

The time for receiving claims to vote expires to-morrow, and there are no clonbt many qualified to vote who have not yet taken steps to send in their claims. We can hardly imagine any one being so utterly neglectful of his political privileges as to omit to have his name placed on the roll in the present aspect of affairs. Questions of very great importance will, in all probability, be submitted to the decision of the electors before another opportunity of registration comes round. It is therefore the duty of everyone, who has the qualification, to take care that his voice shall be heard when the time comes for pronouncing a definite opinion. The apathy of the majority of the population does not indicate a very deep interest in in the political questions which have been brought prominently forward during the last few months. There is time yet to save our reputation. Those who have not yet bestirred themselves have to-night and to-morrow to make good the lost time. Here a question arises—up to what hour can the claims be received tomorrow ? The Act says that they must be given to the Registration Officer during the months of January, February, and March. Does March terminate tomorroiy at four o’clock —the hour at which offices close usually, or can the claimants send in their papers at any hour before midnight ? We hope the Registration Officer will see his way to study the convenience of those who may be unable to claim before the evening. Mr, Lee would be doing a graceful act if he made arrangements for the receipt of claims up till midnight on Saturday. He might announce that a box would be placed in some convenient place in which the papers might be deposited. Some years ago a similar course was, wo are informed, adopted. Then, as now, the time for receiving claims ended on Saturday; so the Returning Officer made arrangements for the receipt of claims at the Magistrate’s Court up to a late hour. We feel certain that Mr. Lee will be equally accommodating if the matter is brought under his notice.

In an article published on Wednesday the Press adduced certain facts showing how the Government by their arrangements for the grain traffic wore doing serious injury to the native coal trade, and had thrown a number of labouring men out of employment. It was stated that until the supply of trucks was sufficient for all purposes, hardship and loss must bo inflicted somewhere, but there was no reason why one particular industry, especially that named, should bo singled out for sacrifice—that the hardship should bo spread over the entire traffic. The whole point of the remarks was not that the present Government were in any '**B for the scarcity of

trucks, but that they were responsible for the arrangements made in view of that scarcity whereby one particular industry referred to, was singled out for sacrifice. Our morning contemporary, the Times, accordingly comes to the rescue of their friends, and attempts to show that the Press tried to fasten upon the present Cabinet the guilt of their predecessors. “ Ingenious and unscrupulous,” “ pure inventions,” “ warped statements,” “ deliberate departure from a known truth ” are the kind of expressions used, and they would have been perfectly justifiable, if our contemporary had done that of which lie was accused. But the power of “pure invention,” and of making “warped statements” was never more exemplified than by those making the accusation. Nor is that all. The same censor professes to quote a passage from the columns of our contemporary, and in doing so omits the word “ only,” thereby making nonsense of the sentence quoted. Wo should be sorry to say that there was deliberate perversion, but there is such a thing as carelessness amounting to dishonesty, and they who in their efforts to gain the ear of the people misquote the words of an opponent cannot be acquitted of that species of dishonesty. As to the main issue—how far the present Government are responsible for the arrangements which have led to the injury of the native coal industry, not only have they permitted, they have boasted of the arrangements which had been made in -view of the coming grain traffic. They therefore are responsible for the particular injury inflicted under the arrangements, and to call such a miserable expedient as the starvation of a local industry and the men employed thereon, for the relief of another a satisfactory arrangement, is simply to misuse words. But they who both misquote the words of their opponents and ingeniously warp their statements for the purpose of fastening accusations of dishonesty are guilty of a very much more heinous offence than the misuse of words. To imagine falsehood, put it into somebody olse’s mouth, and then call him a retailor of untruths for uttering it is, a new species of literary immorality which it was reserved for the Lyttelton Times to develop.

The Wellington Argus referring to Mr. Larnach’s visit to England states that all sorts of reasons have been put forth to account for it. “Amongst others was one in connection with the negotiation of the now loan which, wo believe, was not altogether without foundation. But few people are aware, perhaps, that Mr. Larnach’s visit to England is mainly a business trip of his own. He owns a largo quantity of land in Southland, acquired from time to time at reasonable figures. Quite recently, however, ho gave what seemed a purely fancy price for some land contiguous to his own, and he will endeavor, whilst in England, to float a company for the purchase of the whole, and will have a good upset price to start with on the basis of his most recent purchase. Mr. Larnach, it will be remembered, when the shares in tho company that acquired Guthrie and Larnach’s business in Dunedin hung fire in New Zealand, took a trip to Melbourne and placed all that were not disposed in the local market. Several paragraphs, flattering to his business abilities, appeared in tho papers in consequence. As the result of Mr. Yesey Stewart and Mr. BroomhalTs land experiments in New Zealand, and indeed as the result of the world being made acquainted with the great value of our laud, it has attracted the attention of British capitalists in no ordinary degree, and we should not bo surprised to hear that Mr. Larnach had disposed of his Southland estate to groat advantage. The ex-Colonial Treasurer, in addition to the business we have mentioned, will have something to do with the raising of the new loan, and, as he will probably resign his seat in Parliament, will probably be able to receive something in the way of payment for his services to his last adopted country.”