A SMART "SPECIAL."

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1614, 25 September 1874, Page 369

A SMART "SPECIAL."

The Dunedin Evening Star says :—Our contemporary the Daily Times has a most invaluable Wellington correspondent. Who he is, or what he is, we are not curious to know ; but that he is a man of genius is evident from the brilliant creations of his fancy. He has a special faculty, too, regarding particular individuals of note; he watchestheir movements, dwells upon their words, learns their conversations, and penetrates their motives. Mr Stafford cannot walk the streets of Wellington but every motion ot his body is watched : Mr Vogel cannot speak to'Mr Stafford but every word of their conversation is listened to. Mr Fox was at one time under this peculiar surveillance, but since he has devoted his talent to the temperance cause, he is not so closely inspected : his prestige, in the estimation of the Wellington correspondent of the Daily Times, has waned. This jewel of a correspondent is not confined in his efforts to these eavesdropping operations. His genius is equal to all occasions; for more than once he has even anticipated the House of Representatives in priority of information, and sent copies of documents to the Daily Times, that had not the title to be called public property. Our readers will agree with us that our morning contemporary has obtained the services of an agent that cannot be too highly appreciated, considering the backward and forward opinions on political subjects that ornament its columns. It is convenient that so versatile a journal should be aided by a genius so well adapted to its needs; for whispering tongues can poison truth, And constancy dwells in realms above. During the session of Parliament, the eminent qualifications we have alluded to were certainly exercised, but only acquired prominence on one or two special occasions. They are now brought glaringly into requisition, and, as in duty bound, our contemporary does full justice to its agent, by placing his contributions in a most prominent position. One of the latest discoveries was the detail of an alleged private conversation between Mr Stafford and Mr Vogel, in which there was a delightful circumstantiality. Had the narrator been present at the meeting he could scarcely have been more explicit. Reduced to a scene in a play it might stand thus s Vogel (loq.): Stafford, I'm in a fix: The cares of State oppress me, and the weight Of public works and public burdens too Are more then I can bear. Dear Stafford, Help me or I sink : I'll give up power And leave to thee the honor And the future glory of this land. Let me go Home, and sit thou in my place. Stafford : Not I: thy proffered honors I decline. I see in thee a dreadful cunning card, That, having placed the country in the mire, Would make a scavenger of me to clean The dirty wheels of State. I'll none of it. We might pursue the subject further; but we are not gifted with the brilliant inventive talent of the Daily Time's correspondent : and, unfortunately, the thing is not true, and we are unwilling to place ourselves in the position of the narrator in the story of the " Three Black Crows," who laid himself open to the commiserating soliloquy of the truthseeker— Bless me, how people propagate a lie !