THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1881. ARCADES AMBO.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2375, 12 November 1881, Page 3

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1881. ARCADES AMBO.

Oub versatile and veracious friend, the special correspondent of the " Lyttelton Times," has been onco more displaying how rigidly he adheres to facts —a trait in his character which has earned for him throughout the colony the soubriquot of Truthful James. Our readers will remember with what a flourish of trumpets this gentleman announced that had it not been for him alone the people of New Zealand —or at least that large portion of them who do not read the " special" special effusions of our friend —would have remained in darkness as to •what was transpiring at Parihaka. There was the usual bombast and self laudation aa was noticeable in' the celebrated epistle containing these memorable words I was attachod to the army of the Potomac as special correspondent," and the hardships and trials he had (in imagination) gone through to serve the public were largely dilated upon. But a change must have come over public opinion when the short but forcibly truthful denial by the Press Association correspondent of all this part of the despatch of the great "Times" special—this Washington of jonrnaliats—arrived. So far from his being able to say—" Alone I did it," had it not been for the Press Association he would not have been able to have reached the telegraph office. So much for our friend. He has a worthy compeer and coadjutor in the gentleman who rules the destinies of our contemporary the "Star." If New Zealand wero to be polled from one end to the other, leaving on one 6ide our specially gifted special, tho Editor of the " Star," Mr. Stout, Sir George Grey, and half-a-dozen other Philo-Maori fanatics, there is scarcely a doubt as to the unanimous approval of the action of Mr. Bryce. Yet our contemporary, with an ingenuity which doos him credit, floods his columns with letters ostensibly from real live correspondents, thanking him for his noble defence of the downtrodden Maori. They resemble nothing more than the testimonials to the efficacy of a quack medicine which, like the pills, are made on tho premises by the ream. We all know the style :—" I ■was a firm admirer of Mr. Bryce's policy. I have read one of your leaders, and am now a changed man. I purpose selling all my property and handing it over to you for the fund to provide the Maoris with counsel." " Tour leaders have done me a deal of good. I hope you will keep on with them," and so on ad infinitum. No one, we should think, has forgotten the fact that in a journal professing to he the leading one of the colony, traitorous wishes for tho defeat of the British troops, and delight at the fact that their artillery was likely to be stuck in a morass, have been given all the prominence possible. And now, by means of leaders and correspondents' letters, our contemporary the " Star " is endeavouring to persuade those who do not know how tho strings are pulled that the public as a body—or at least a large section of it—are opposed to the action of the Government. But any one who takes the trouble to read tho two compositions can at once see through the flimsy device, and will of course appreciate the sentiments therein contained accordingly.

THE INDUSTRIAL, ASSOCIATION. The action taken by two of the newlyelected members of the committee of the Industrial Association in resigning seems to us to indicate the course which should be adopted by the rest. Indeed, we cannot but regard it as an evidence of bad taste that a bare quorum should, upon an important question such as the one on which the majority of the committee resigned, elect new members of committee as they would have done had a member resigned from ordinary causes. No doubt they were entitled so to do under the rules of the Association, but we question very much whether such a ■contingency as has arisen was ever contemplated. What the committee, or the remnant of it, should have done was to return their trust into the hands of a general meeting, leaving the Association as a' body to elect the committee. If they were returned, all well and good, but it would have afforded an opportunity lor the majority of the committee to lay the facts of the case clearly bofore the memhers, a thing which we do not think hae yet been done. In such a crisis in the affairs of the Association, when its very existence is trembling in the balance, we think the committee should have paused ere they filled up the vacancies. Public opinion is so strong in favor of the views held by the retiring committeemen that, under present circumstances, it is very doubtful whether the Association will receive any support at all from the general public. Without that it must degenerate into a private clique, and its power for good will be represented by x y, or an unknown quantity. As a general meeting will be held at an early date, we would suggest to the remainder of the committee the advisableness, in the interests of the Association, of gracefully retiring. If they are re-elected by the general body, well and good, but we cannot but think that, as felt by the gentlemen who have retired, the new members of the committee are placed in a very unpleasant and invidious position. If the course we have suggested J>o adopted, it may be that the breach

now existing will be healed. If it be not, then the caieer of the Association as a useful public body is well nigh run.