THE KNIGHT AND THE AUCTION. EER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 59, 25 March 1881, Page 2

THE KNIGHT AND THE AUCTION. EER.

The squabble between Sir W. Fox, Mr Travers, aud Mr Wallace continues to develop. As everybody expected, Sir William Fox has far th c best of it, and by simply quoting M

Wallace's words places that gentleman -jp-a very unsatisfactory position. wwillbe remembered Sir William Fox _aid at the Marton meeting that he had received a letter from the , Secretary to the Railway Company, stating that the point of junction hail not been fixed, and that Mr Travo s had no authority for his action. Tthese statements Mr "Wallace rcp'iar that his letter to Sir "William was ; private one and should not have been used publicly ; also, that he had not made the statements alleged. These assertions Sir William Fox demolishes in Wednesday's N. Z. Times. In his letter he says :— As to the first, it was not in my opinion a private letter. It was not headed "Pri-. vate" or "Confidential." It commenced. "Sir William Fox, My Dear Sir, "-not exactly the formula with which my friends usually commence their private letters. It was evoked by a purely official letter from myself to Mr Wallace, commencing "Sir," and ending, if I remember rightly, "your obedient servant," in which I requested him, as secretary, to remove my name from the list of directors. Mr Wafirce _ letter was in fact a semi-official letter, one written on official business, but not probably entered in the letter book ; and was certainly not of the class the contents of which, as part of a "private" communication, any man would feel himself prohibited from reading at a public meeting called to discuss the snbject to which it related. Then as to the misapprehension. The following are Mr Wallace's words : — ' ' The deep interest that you take in carrying out this great work will not, I sincerely trust, be damped because Mr. Travers has taken upon himself to say at what point or place the junction shall be." Is not this an acknowledgment that Mr Travers did make the statement, and thafc-he was not authorised to make it ? " This point will have to be settled hereafter." Mr Travels had told the Palmerston people it was settled already, and had strongly denounced the other lute via, Foxton. Now, sir, where, I ask, is my misapprehension as to Mr Wallace's meaning, as indicated by the telegram, or by any part of my speech, which, as carefully reported in the Marton Advocate, has probably before this been . seen by yon and by Mr Wallace *