"LET THE GALLED JADE WINCE."

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1706, 12 May 1886, Page 2

"LET THE GALLED JADE WINCE."

(to the editor of the standard.)

Sir. — *' Whenever the Times takes up a question, &c, Ac," vide Times leader of Bth, and does itself the pleasure t» pose a La Pecksniff, as the friend of man-kind-in general and. of the settlers- in this district in particular, it or he, the pugnacious Editor, should be careful there is no rent in the pecksniffian garb, to allow the public to detect the thin disguise and to unveil him in the sorry occupation of " grinding his axe." For myself I cannot allow him to rent his spleen on the Manager o£ the Railway, and desire the public to believe he is writing for their benefit. u Too thin niy friend, too thiu." With your permission I will quote from his leader of the 3rd May. He commences about the iron horse first coining to Paliuerstbn,' the benefits expected, but the ruinous reality to the settler troin high freights. I will ■ now quote him verbatim, "At the pres- : •nt time there are for instance a large surplus stock of potatoes, and the tubers are selling at fair prices in outside markets." Then he tells us that uo one can take advantage of this because the railway charges are from " Longburn and Palmernton 9/2 and 10/3 per ton. 1 ' He does not say for one too or a ton, but at per ton 1 And yet he says this is not misleading. Will any sane man say tiie same? I trow not. Then he winds up with " slinging muck" at the Manager of Railways. This is no doubt what he. intended when he commenced his precious leader. I would just ask him what he calls a producer ? Is it a man who has a " surplus stock" of one ton to export! Really, it is the silliest of the many -illy productions he or " any other man" ever published. To set myseif right in the eyes of your 1 readers, I determined this morning to come into Palmerston and interview the station master, aud saw , him in his office ! The following ar« the questions I put to him in writing, and his answers.

" What are the charges par ton for potatoes from Palineraton to Fox* ton!" ' ' . , -; : Answer " 5/8." -; " Why then did yon tell the editor of the Times 10/3 ?" " I never told him any such thing. Mr Smith wrote to me on Saturday last, the Bth, asking the rate of one ton. Palmers* ton to Foxton. My answer was 10/6 for one ton, and 5/8 per ton for two tons and upwards." ' Is this the irate for potatoes on the South lines?" . ; ■ :: *' Yes, for the Fame distance^ with an addition of 1/2, 1/1, and if 4, to Christ-, church, Dunedin, and Invercargill, respective! yi" V' "If the editor of any of the papers, or any- oue 'else asked you the question what is the ; rate of potatoes per ton, Palinerstou to Foxton, would you have said 10/6 ?" / ... " : "Certainly not. I should have said 5/8. I very likely should have asked him how. many tons he had to send. Thenf-W he had said one ton only, I should have said 10/6." - •:.■•.«?**** I, now, sir, leave it to your readers to : say where is the ingenuity,- and fy&leopS lent innuendo, he speaks of in mV first* letter, or rather in your letter, Representing me as an imaginary corresponddent!! I ' .. ■ .-, - , % *. .. In his leader of the Bth h*; roSke*tine enquire from the guard the /ohaig«B|'^|or a ton. My letter^sayi: no : 'Bubh^TK*n|| ; my letter aaysjper ton, and ,{i received the same answer from the guard as I did from the Stationmaster. In the . Times leader of the 3rd May, he says "per- ton, 1 on the Bth," a ton," aud on the 10th he varies it by " one ton." This is no doubt correct and the question he asked originally. And now, sir, I will leave him by declaring emphatically that the whole of his writings ou the subject were simply to "Grind his Axe," and not for what he whines, " for the good of the district." I am, etc, ; Settler. Kartrft, May 10.