THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1560, 5 August 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1873.

Some ' time ago, and with several other journals, we noticed disapprovingly the sentiments and style of a speech spoken by Mr Joseph Ivess, a' member of the Nelson Provincial Council, to a meeting of his constituents at Reefton. The speaker in question was somewhat slow in replying as he has done, in his own peculiar way, to those remarks, and we have^ not been 1 able to publish his letter so promptly, as we could have wished. We now publish it in the spirit in which he is courteous enough to suppose we possess —the spirit of fairness— though we have misgivings "that in doing so there is not that exercise of the spirit of charity which should intervene in such a case as that of Mr Ivess. That excellent virtue would, we believe, be best cultivated by consigning the communication to the Balaam box, but, as "he that maun to Cupar will to Cupar," it may be as well to permit him to sacrifice himself and the proprieties once more. It would be equivalent to the breaking of a minute entomological specimen on the wheel to seriously discuss with Mr Ivess principles which he is incapable of perceiving, or to condemn further his departure from .them'; and we content ourselves therefore with mexelyinterpolating in his letter such passing comments as may be required, leaving the reader to form his 'own conclusions i as to the spirit which it, and the preceding speech, so palpably reveal. .These, casual comments will be distinguishable from the text of the letter by being placed within brackets. The letter is as follows: — • '

Sir,— As you have done me the honor of devoting two leading columns of your paper to a criticism of my recent address to the electors at Reefton, I have no doubt but that your usual spirit of fairness will induce you to give insertion to a reply, and, also afford me an opportunity of briefly alluding to a few important matters connected with the Provincial Government and the late session of the Council. The object of your article in question is to defend certain representatives, and in limine expresses a desire to "nothing; exteuuate or set down aught in malice." Had this professed desire been adhered to, I should not have troubled you with any remarks ; but I think there ,w no one who has read the article who can arrive at such a lame and impotent conclusion as that the performance in any degree bears out the profession. Sou accuse me of seeking to be a ". ruler in Egypt," and of doing this ; over the necks Qf° other men, and "at the sacrifice of their sensibilities, of their reputation, and the truth." [Mr Ivess was not "accused of seeking to be anything of the kind. There wa3 nothing in the shape of an accusation in that regard, or any suggestion that he had not, like his prototype in the pit, been "sought for."]- — -I ■emphatically deny the grave charge that I have sacrificed either their reputation or the truth.— -[Pray, .what' of Mr Pinkerton's plain affidavit ; of Mr Guinness's as plain letter to the Nelson Examiner ; and of some of Mr Ivess's own recent admissions 1 And if the truth was sacrificed, does it require any straining of legic to discover that, when men's 'reputations are involved, these are sacrificed also.]— —l may have touched their sensibilites. I may have trod upon their corns. This I allow, and notably on those of the hon. member for the Buller (Mr Alexander Reid)i and here I may remark that the style and tone of the article in question bear so suspicious a resemblance to the style and tone adopted by that hon. member in the Council as to leave no room 1 for doubt as to the writer.— [Now, suppose the resemblance were " suspicious," whatever grave crime that may conceal, it is our humble impression that the late member of the Council who is referred to here has no reason to . care whether he is confounded with the writer or not, nor need the writer care if it is the same with him, in regard to their individual " style and tone." While deploring the necessity for any personal references of this kind; we may say (Shortly that a writer might find nothing

very reprehensible in having his identity mixed with that of a representative who, on retiring from the Council, is thus referred to by a respectable Nelson journal: — "Mr Reid was one of the few members who never spoke unless he had something to say. He was always listened to with attention, and considerable weight was attached to his opinions. He will be greatly missed in the Council."] The eulogistic terms in which the Argus commented upon my motion for a de-tailed-statement of the expenditure of £187 in procuring signatures to the antiseparation petition, when contrasted with the article under notice, also evidently betokens the presence of another " man at the wheel."— — [Extraordinary discovery ! — we should rather say, presumption, and in a double sense, for if Mr Ivess imagines that, because once, he is ever to be " eulogised," he had better dismiss the delusion, from his mind.] 1 may be guilty of a breach of journalistic etiquette in ascribing the authorship of an article to any particular writer, but when your readers are made aware that the author of the article is only endeavoring to administer a rattling good Roland for my Oliver, rather than a defence of our representatives, I am inclined to believe that any depreciatory remarks upon my political conduct will ba received with the greatest caution. [Those of our readers who have read the speech and the article, we are sure, will come to no conclusion of the kind. Even with any identity such asthat referred to existing, if there was an Oliver in the play at all, he was so Liliputian as to be unworthy of a Roland. To Mr Ivess's " political conduct" — political fiddlesticks ! — there was no depreciating reference made by his colleagues or commentators. He was simply challenged j when he came upon the public platform to "libel at large." If there is fault, it is he who, I elevating himself into a Sir Oracle, among men with whom he sits only as a supposed equal, and who bear him no responsibility, pretends to teach them their lessons according to his crude conceptions of the practice of public bodies, or of what constitutes a mind conscious to. itself of right.] — t — There is no denial of the accusation laid by me against the member for the Buller (Mr A. Reid) of shrinking from recording his vote. The "dog in the manger " excuse is a very lame one, and simply amounts to this, that should "the whole business of the session " be for the special benefit of the settled districts he, as a goldfields representative, would offer no opposition because he and the other goldfields members were powerless to obtain corresponding benefits for their constituents. — -[Amen.]- — With regard to Mr 3. D. Pinkerton, M.P.C., riding about in Mr Mirfin's buggy, about which such a hubbub has been raised, I can only say that I had it from that gentleman's own lips that Mr Mirfiri had kindly placed his buggy at Mr Pinker ton's disposal. [Who raised the hubbub ? And was this the story he first told ?] After an unintelligible allusion to some unpleasant effluvium, the writer proceeds- — "The continuation of the speech is one series of personal insinuations, which cannot possibly be justified by any plea of public interest or policy. At the cost of facts he does heinous wrong, not for the first time, to his colleague at Charleston." Now, I did not insinuate anything. What I had to say, I said outspokuigly (sic) and fearlessly. In the opening part of the article, I am accused of sacrificing truth. lam not an admirer of the tit, quoque style, but I must say that the assertion that "at the' cost of facts he does heinous wrong, not for the first time, to his colleague for Charleston," ■is false, and, what is more,' it is knowingly false. [Very good, Mr Ivess. This " style and tone " are easily recognisable, and its author should congratulate himself that, practising it, he has so far continued to be recognisable by his friends. It is not everybody's good fortune.]- — - What I stated I knew to be facts, and I have yet to learn that in thus exposing any abuse I can, "at the cost of facts," do anyone a heinous wrong. But I should, in my opinion, be doing a heinous wrong to my constituents if, with a guilty knowledge, I should connive at or endeavor to gloss over any abuse. So come, Mr Editor, letus bave the saddle put on the right horse. [Gladly, our jaunty friend ; and we believed we had done so, to our sorrow in discovering that the animal is one of inferior degree. Seriously, and notwithstanding Mr Ivess's " outspoking and fearless " assertions, we hold to our estimate of what insinuations are, and we were sufficiently well informed to say what we then said. The' matters to which we referred are now sub judice, in connection with a charge of libel, and it is sufficient to say that, until they are not so, we say no more.] 1 may with justice complain of the unfair handling my address has received at the hands of the writer of the article. Isolated sentences, or even parts of sentences, are picked out and jumbled up with a species of bastard playwright's jargon, and thus held up to the ridicule of his readers, who doubtless think it Jamazingly clever. — — [A very poor estimate of our readers.] It may be sb, but it is not a fair method of .criticism. [No ; it was caricature.]

"Sou lately copied a paragraph into your columns, charging me with returning the compliment of praise to Mr O'Conor at his meeting lately held at the Lyell. Without adopting the example set me by Mr Pinkerton in making a statutory declaration, I beg to deny having uttered a single word in praise of Mr O'Conor.- — [It is usually when men are slandered and scandalized that statutory declarations are resorted to.] The facts are these : — At the conclusion of the meeting the electors called upon me to come forward to address them. To this invitation, I remarked that as I did not represent them, and as I should be addressing my Reefton constituents in the course of a few days, I considered I should be out of place and season in responding to their invitation, and merely thanked them for the compliment they had paid me. The author of the paragraph is too well known at the Lyell for his gross misrepresentation to require its refutation, but your readers generally may not be aware of the wondrous facility with which he manufactures his astounding statements. The fact is anything written or spoken against Mr O'Conor is received with the greatest gusto by the Westport Times and Gliarleston Herald, who are notorious opponents of that gentleman! [Are they ? It is very intdresting, but the fact, if it is a fact, has no particular connection with our criticism of Mr Ivess's speech. Nor do we believe what he says is so notorious, for in the Westport Times we have not noticed for a year past a

solitary critical reference to the gentleman to whom Mr Ivess has been described as a lob-lolly-boy.] But now I have no hesitation in saying I sincerely wish, in the interests of the whole of, the West Coast, that we had a few representatives of Mr O'Conor's type in the Council.—— [Mr Ivess, we confess, knows something of types, but it is not types of character.] If W e had, the present iniquitous administration towards the gold-fields would no longer be tolerated, the shameful absence of tracks would not be apparent, and the long-suffering West Coast Goldfields would receive some measure of justice. It is to be hoped that a different stamp of representatives will be selected for the new Council— men who will, irrespective of friends, consideration, or prospect of office, fearlessly discharge the trust reposed in them. [Insinuations again— from a suckling !] 1 regret to say the Gold-fields members, though forming a miserable minority of the Council, did not work harmoniously together, and in many instances the interests of the Coast suffered in consequence. — — [Opinions differ. Mr Reid, we notice, in his address says:— "While regretting that, through the absence of the thing in nature, the rule was not without its exceptions, I take this opportunity of acknowledging the spirit of cordiality and courtesy by which other West Coast members were generally influenced in the treatment of matters concerning your district, and of their mover."]— —So long as representatives of this stamp shall be returned, so long will it be futile to expect any amelioration in the state of our neglected gold-fields. Instead of fostering the industry which contributes most materially to the welfare of the Province, the Government prefer the suicidal policy of obstructing and retarding its development. Their great anxiety seems to be to ascertain not what will best promote the prosperity of the goldfields but how little can be expended on them. The Executive are a laughing-stock to any intelligent community, and I would fain hope that in no other corporate body in the Colony but that of the Nelson Provincial Council would there be heard the tones of insulting defiance which were hurled at the members during the late session by the two effete gentlemen representing the Provincial Government of Nelson. [What a pain,- and yet a privilege, it must have been to have witnessed the "hurling" of those "tones"— so novel a thing in nature.] To resist this, the Council contained too many docile supporters of the Government. The Executive certainly reflect no credit upon the Superintendent, who by-the-by promises, if re-elected, to effect a great change in the pe*sonnel of his Executive. This is certainly very complimentary to the two worn-out gentlemen who have stood gallantly by him during all his trials and vicissitudes. [Not a word has been ever said as to changing the personnel of the present Executive, either by or for the Superintendent.] It is, indeed, to be hoped for the gold-fields that no such opportunity will be afforded him, and that neither himself or his Executive will ever again be permitted to interfere with the management of our public affairs. . I am convinced if a little independent and plain outspoken language had hitherto been indulged in the Council, a more wholesome state of affairs would now exist.>— «•— [lmpertinence and presumption to say that there were not " independence and plain outspoken language" in the Nelson Council before he, forsooth, appeared. It surely must be.]-^— lf our gold-fields are to be developed, and the straggling miner is to be provided with tracks, then the extravagant and wasteful expenditure that now obtains must be avoided, and the present Government must be unseated. Let the mining community pause well before they record their votes at the approaching Superintendent's election, as upon their selection the future welfare and prosperity of the gold-fields may depend. It will be imperative to cut down the excessively high departmental expenses, and to trim the educatioc'al and charitable votes before .we can possibly expect to have any money conceded to U3 for the construction of tracks. In conclusion, if my outspoken and independent conduct during my trial as a representative should have elicited the condemnation of the Nelson Government and my insincere colleagues, I shall be fully compensated by learning that a reformation in the existing state of affairs has been effected.— l am, sir, yours, &c, Joseph Ivess.

It was rather good of Mr Ivess to expect, and it is slightly good of us to consent, that he should use our columns as we have permitted him to do, for the publication of this evidently electioneering epilogue of his. But the rounded periods, and the so perfectly fresh truths which they represent, were too much for us, and we trust he will appreciate our selfdenial in not inserting in the last few lines, even a single interpolation expressive of either admiration or astonishment. We confess that, to some extent, the pen was at fault, for it failed us as we contemplated the etherial form of compensation of which he is alone ambitious, among a parcel of " insincere " colleagues, for what he, with characteristic modesty, calls "my outspoken and independent conduct." With such a sense of modesty maintained, and undisturbed by any misadventure such as happened to his ancient prototype, there will be propriety in the Inangahua constituency imitating the example of the officer who was captain of the guard of Pharoah, by permitting " him to find grace in their sight, and serving them, for Joseph is a goodly person, and wellfavored."

There was an alarm of fire last evening, and the Brigade wer« out quickly, and brought the engines out more quickly, but the fire was , out most quickly. It was a flame from a chimney— a moment seen, then gone for ever. As certainly as Dr Carr selects an evening for a lecture; either professionally or for a benevolent object, that evening proves wet. This, so far as Greymouth is concerned. And last evening was no exception. A fire alarm, a Fire Brigade meeting, and a Jockey Club meeting were also circumstances to interfere with a large attendance at even a farewell and complimentary benefit. That they did so we hope not, but we are not aware, for we had no representative at the lecture, nor gushingfvisitors at its close to give their estimate of the contessed " oleverness " of "the Doctor." At the Resident Magistrate's* Court, at . Ahaura, on Saturday, Peter Mvlvey, on remand, was brought up, charged with shooting with intent. The examination occupied the attention of the Court the whole day. An elaborate Burvey of the ground, prepared by Mr Surveyor Hall and his Btaff, was sub.

reitted. There were few new facts elicited, and at the end of the examination the accused was fully committed for trial at the Supreme Court, Hokitika.— Jamen Godfrey and wife, charged with stealing, were, owing to the lateness of the hour (7 p.m!), remanded until Friday next, b?iil being allowed.

At the last meeting of the Hospital Committee, it was resolved that, for the purpose of preventing imposition, no subscribers holding tickets should obtain admission .to the Hospital until they had been in possession of their.tickets for a month. There had. been a practice, it appeared, of patients purchasing tickets immediately before admission, and solely for .-that purpose, . these cases occuring principally in town; Of course, it might happen that there would occur some rare cases in; which the Committee's /rule might have to be departed from, but into any such special inquiry would require to be made; otherwise, the rule will be adhered to. ....."..

Those persons who are interested in sporting matters, and more particularly in the annual March event, will be glad to learn that the members of our local Jockey Club have, last night, commenced to bestir themselves for the next year's meeting. The evening's proceedings were the election of a new committee, with the , following poll :— Messrs M 'Lean, Thompson,,, Strike, Revell, Nichol, Tonks, Kerr, 'Jas. Hamilton, F. Hamilton* Jas: Middleton, D. Carroll,; and P. Cameron. The next business that was brought under the consideration of the Club was a proposition by Mr Hamilton, that a revision of the rule whereby the members of committee were elected should bes considered for alteration, and, after' debate it was resolved that such election should take place on the first Monday in August, instead; of 'in May, as formerly. The new committee will meet to-morrow night, at the Albion Hotel, when the election of the different officers and ground committees will be made. The plant of the Hokitika and Greymouth Tramway Company is advertised for sale. Mr S. M. South and Mr C. E. Button, of Hokitika, advertise that they have exchanged offices. Do the learned gentlemen refsr to the Crown Prosecutorship, non-professional preachership, or what ? Meetings of the Railway Communication Committee, and of the Masonic Lodge, E.C., are appointed to be held this evening. There is a sitting of the District Court, at Hokitika to-day. There is only one criminal charge set down for hearing, of prison breaking against Jans Hatisen, who escaped from the lock-up. - The whole of the plant, &c, of the Excelsior Gold Mining Company, Jones' Flat, is to be offered for sale on Wednesday. lief erring, to the roport, of the County Council Committee on the collection of tolls on the Christchurch road, the West Coast Times remarks:— "lt is no wonder that under such a system it was found that some of the toll-collectors received more in salary than they collected in tolls, while, : in one case — that of Chesterfield, we believe — the gentleman enjoying the salary had not been able to ' toll ' a single passenger. Such a billet should be a desirable one to those inclined to a quiet life, unoppressed by heavy responsibilities, arid blessed with the comforting reflection that a guaranteed income is receivable from the County Treasury. It sounds, almost, like retiring into private-life on a Government annuity, the only drawback being its instability, and the danger of some lynx-eyed Councillor like Mr Kennedy upsetting it some fine day. We are unaware what sort of place Chesterfield is, but it is to be hoped that the scenery in the neighborhood of the toll-gate is of a character sufficiently cheerful to compensate the tollkeeper for the absence of travellers, on horseback or in vehicles." ■" --T■ "■

The Canterbury Press "Loafer in the Street " is exceedingly candid on the subject of the Assault on Constables Act, wnich renders "any fellow assaulting or inciting others to . assault a constable liable to a fine of LlO, or two months' imprisonment." He says :— " This Bill does not affect me in the least. Far from it. I invariably go along quietly. I make it a point to do so. ' '■ It is a real shame to hit a policeman, especially when you know that he could, if he choose, hammer you in about two'minutes. That is my view. There are some fellows who, when they can muster up a drunken trio, think it good fun to punch one policeman. Tt's: unsatisfactory to the one poh'ceinah to get, his eyes blacked and his coat torn by pugilistic drinkists. In the. Bill I have just alluded to I trust half the fine goes to 'the policeman. It might be an'inducerdent to some good men to enter the force. I would get a punching once a week myself on these terms, and if I were in the force I'd take jolly good care I did get one too."

There is, reason to believe that that useful mineral, rock salt, exists in the Green Island district, Otago. In a section contiguous to one of the district roads a spring gushes out from the side of the hill, the liquid from which, more especially in summer, is as salt as brine. The inference drawn from this is that water percolates through a stratum cf salt, producing these results.

A short time ago an enterprising flax manufacturer in Otago conceived the idea of testing if the roots of this plant contained any coloring matter. Some of the roots were boiled, and a portion of prepared, flax was cast into the decoction. Upon the material being examined next day, it was found to have assumed a brownish tint. It is well known different shades of color can ; be obtained from many of our trees and plants, and it is suggested that a small bonus might be profitably given for the production of dyes from indigenous plants. :

For some few days a prisoner named Bickle —undergoing sentence in the Timaru gaol— has b?en on the sick list, and consequently excused from working with the labor gang outside. On Saturday afternoon last, between three and four o'olock, while the hair cutting and shaving operations of the prisoners were proceeded with, Bickle went into the yard unseen by the gaoler and .picked up.a razor and went into one of the closets . One of the men missing the razor, and suspecting who had abstracted it called, out to Mr Cotter, who upon opening the door of the closet saw the instrument in Bickle's hand. The gaoler, who was near at band, wrenched the razor from Bickle, who then j fell back as if dying, and exposed a slight gash in his throat, from which blood was trickling. The wound, which was just in front of the windpipe, was sewn up by Dr M'lntire, and the man handcuffed with his hands behind him. The following morning Bickle, taking advantage of the absence of bis comrades, contrived to work his arms to the front of his body, and, after wrenching the handle off a tin pannikin, ripped the wound in his neck ODen with it. He then attempted to strangle himself with a cloth.

A correspondent of a Dunedin contemporary pictures the following scene as highly probable in the Mayor's Court, had a certain aspirant to the office of Mayor (whom he does not describe as Mr John Barnes) been lately elected :— "His Worship (to defendant) : So complainant called yer a liar, did he ?—Defendant : Yes, your Worship. — His Worship (to complainant) : AH as I say is, then, that it satved yerfright ; and if yer'd called me a liar, I ? d a-smashed yer the same as this ere mon has doon. I'll dismiss the case.— Counsel: But, your Worship, in the parallel case of Robinson v. Wright— — . —His Worship : I doau't care about larapel cases, and I arn'fc a-going to be domineered over by you lawyers. I'll give the vardict howl loike.

ounsel : But I submit, your Worship, that •"he law strictly provides that no man shall take the law into his own hands and strike — -. —His Worship (foaming)' -: Domi the law, and ye too! I'm Mayor of ' Dunedin, raid I'll be guided by my own common sense. [Counsel mutters something about ignorance, whereupon the Mayor throws a book at his head, and the Court is dispersed amid general confusion.]" ; Among the victims of the wreck of the Atlantic was a lady formerly known in Nelson. ; Many of our old settlers -(says .the. Examiner), will •remember the visit of the brig William Stoveld, Captain Davidson^ to this port,, about twenty-eight dr twenty-nine years ago, with a young lady, Miss ■Dm'phelby, as a passenger. The lady had come out from England to be married to some one in Taranaki,' but circumstances had occurred which came to>her knowledge only after her arrival here, which prevented her proceeding on to New Plymouth. Disappointed in the object of her visit to New Zealand, she was desirous > of returning to herljiends in England, but was not provided with the necessary funds; The worthy captain, who waS a bachelor, considered that the easiest way of solving the difficulty was t6' take the lady home as his wife. He accordingly offered her marriage, ; was accepted, and the ceremony was performed in Nelson. Mrs Davidson, then a widow, and hsr daughter, were passengers on board the Atlantic on their way to Halifax/ when the: wreck took place.

The bunyip has again came to the rescue of reporters — this time on the Lower Lachlan. A correspondent of the Wagga Wagga Express, states that .this animal has, again been seen twice within the last thre^ months in the watera of Cpwel Lake in March last, by aparty of surveyors, whose account can be relied on, who were in a boat and saw the animal about 150 yards off. ; They describe it to have a head something resembling a human being, or, in their own words, •"like 'an old man blackfellbw ; with lo,ng dark-colored hair." When seen it appeared to.be going in a straight direction*, rising out of the water so that they could see its shoulders, and then divingias if in chase of fish, and rising again at intervals of about six or eight yards. They tried to get closer to it, but could not for the pace it 'was going; consequently could give no description of it lower than the shoulders. , Another time, a blackfellow and a white man, who were out in a canoe,(say they saw it about ,a fortnight since. They agree in giving the same'description of the head and hair as that given^by the surveyors'. The animal was swimming straight towards them, and' when it saw them dived and disappeared. ;■ .- ' {I .'. ;