ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 769, 27 August 1853, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the New-Zealander, Sib,—l enclose a Idler, which lam desirous should appear in the New-Zealaxder to-mor-row. . I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Fred. Whitaker. Auckland, August 26, 1833. Auckland, 26th August, 1853. Sir,—The calumnious statements and insinua lions in the lending articles of the New -Ze a lander of the 20th and 241h instant, so far as they relate to myself, are wholly destitute of the slightest foundation of truth. H is true that on the 1 ith of this month I received a letter from thellcv. John Morgan,—that on the following day I made an application to Mr. Brown in compliance with my instructions, —that, on receiving his answer, I expressed a wish that nothing should he published till I could hear again from Mr. Morgan in reply to a communication I intended immediately to address to him,—that Mr. Brown slated “ he would consider of it,”—and that from the non-appear-ance in the following number of the Southern Cross of the letter addressed by Mr. Morgan, not through me, to that paper, I inferred that my expressed wish would be complied with. But it is not true that I gave any “ opinion” to Mr. Brown “that it was better the letter should not come before the public;” it is not true that I held any “ conference” with any man ; it is not true that any “conclusion’ was come to, as staled by you—“that both copies of (he letter, that to the Cross , and that to theNEw-ZEALANUER should be kept backin short, the whole story, as told and insinuated by your newspaper, so* far at least as T am concerned, is a pure fabrication.

1 have no! yel received any reply from Mr. Morgan; and from the time 1 made the application to Mr. Brown to the present, I have had no communication with that gentleman whatever, directly or indirectly, on the subject of the publication of Mr. Morgan’s letter, its contents, or any matter connected with it. In endeavouring to delay the publication in both newspapers, of a letter, having for its object to sene alone the interest of the write# - , and sent to me for perusal and advice, I used, to the best of my judgment, the discretion with which, as Mr. Morgan’s legal adviser, I was invested; —and that without reference to any other man's wishes, interest, or opinion. For the exercise, whether wisely or unwisely, of that discretion, to Mr, Morgan alone I am responsible,—he alone is in a position to judge, and to him alone am I ready to account. 1 regret that it is impossible for me to allow yosr publications to pass without notice, —I feel that 1 have great reason to complain of so gross an attack as that which you have made on me; ball am happy to be able to say that this is the first time during a residence of twelve years in New Zealand that I have been compelled to publish a single line either in explanation or vindication of my conduct.—l am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Fbed. Whitaker.

/To the Editor of the New-Zealander. Sir,—- A letter having appeared in the columns of your contemporary of the 12th instant, headed “Slaughter House Abominations,” perhaps you will allow me also to make a few remarks on the same subject through the medium of your journal. In the first place, it strikes me that “ Scrutator” should not have been content in merely finding out a-public “Abomination,” but if really anxious for a reform, should at the same time have put himself to a little trouble to think of and point out some remedy, with a view to public benefit. It is very true that the stock yards at the Kblic Slaughter house are at present in a very d state, but it must be remembered that those yards have only got into that state during the present winter, and that it was almost impossible to have repaired. them during such weather as have experienced the last few months. To put the yards into the order requisite for their purposes, would cost (although scoria is lying about in all directions but which in its present state is really of littleor no use for paving) a sura of not less than £3O. As regards the other subjects, if “Scrutator” were present during the of slaughtering, he would see many Offensive sights; but instead of describing the OEtablislnnent in the darkest colours, allow me 0 point out the cause of itspresent defects, which Poffinps will lead to suggestions from abler heads U cr / i * a * or (S ” or a, y own, that may remedy In the.first erection of the Slaughter house the Wdens.of the Auckland Hundred endeavoured oo all in their power to make the establishment .. Perfect as tlm funds at their command would cottiv in their power to bine .comfort with accommodation, in proof of c “» they .made every alteration that was sugBera at the time of its erection, by LJV ho '? ere su PP os od to have a practical alarw “ e re( B Jireinen t ß> They expended sum above the means in their hands, and for tha* per3onaJl y Answerable to the contractor tW p a,a oonti.and at the present moment one of lentleraen, X am informed, is liable (sup-

posing the Government should think proper to call upon him) to pay a sum of £3OO advanced under bond towards payment for the erection of that establishment. Since that gentleman has been out of office the Wardens of the Hundred have done all they could to get rid of the establishment by having' it transferred ; but as they have not been relieved of its charge, they have not expended any more money than could be helped, considering that they could not with justice expend money, which properly belongs to the depasturing purposes of the Hundred, on an establishment the chief objects of which are, to contribute to the cleanliness of the Town, and to the security of life in preventing the driving of wild and infuriated cattle into the city for slaughter ; more especially as the funds hitherto derived from the establishment have not been adequate to the amount that would be absolutely required for its own repair and improvements. The revenue hi herto derived from the establishment is about £l5O per annum, and thu expenditure has been the salary of the keeper £35 ; labourer to clean, &c., £39 ; and annual repairs about £3O. Now it is evident to any observer that the establishment requires alteration to render it any thing like complete for the public service and to give proper accommodation to the present, increasing trade of the Butchers, which alteration and required improvements would cost a probable amount of £2OO. The Wardens have therefore very justly considered they had no right to run the holders of depasturing Licenses (mostly milk, or dairy men, —not butchers) into debt for that purpose, or to tax them to pay such an amount. But even suppose such improvements had been made, it would be necessary to have a code of Regulations immediately proposed for the proper conducting of the establishment, and those placed in charge of it, should have power to see such Regulations strictly carried out, otherwise the repairs of the establishment would amount to upwards of £‘so per annum. At present numbers of persons are allowed under the Ordinance to slaughter in the Town, and the Butchers consider that such being the case they are unfairly dealt with, they therefore take no care of the establishment, its tools, &c. and pay little attention to the keeper, viewing him in the light of an obnoxious tax gatherer. If Mr. “Scrutator” would take a walk out to the establishment at the time of slaughtering, he woidd see the necessity of some stringent regulations, to ensure not only mutual convenience to all using the establishment but also to preserve the health of the inhabitants of Auckland who consume what is slaughtered there, as well as to protect the establishment itself from wreck. In one place he would see a person watching an opportunity to take a shingle from the roof to make what are termed sets ; in another place one will be busy throwing stones in the yard at the cattle to drive them towards another place to snare them, the ropeingpole used for that purpose having been either broken or lost by its previous user; another, too lazy to take the entrails of the slaughtered beast to the proper place for depositing the manure, empties it in the centre of the house, indeed almost every one appears to cry what mischief he can do, dropping ropes, blocks, axes, in fact everything belonging to the establishment, amongst the blood and dirt collected during the slaughtering of the day, and the keeper finding it quite useless to endeavour to have it altered, his authority being in fact neither allowed or respected. You may therefore judge from this, sir, that it is absolutely necessary for the Health of our city that something should be done with regard to the slaughter house, and that proper regulations should be made, the want of which is the principal cause of the existing slaughter house defects.

But, sir, this is not the only thing required in connexion with the public Slaughter house. The Inspector should have power to prevent unsound and otherwise unwholesome beasts passing through the slaughter house into the Auckland market for co: sumption. “Scrutator” may consider it very bad to eat meat hung up in the slaughter house, but how would he like to see veal exposed for sale, being calves taken from cows after death, and other cattle evidently diseased, but so dressed as not to be detected. This certainly requires looking into, and some authority established compatible with the necessities of the case. The remedy then, Sir, for the present defects must be manifest—•

1. The Establishment should not be in the hands of the Wardens.

2. The need of proper regulations for conducting the Establishment. 3. The premises require alteration, drainage, &c., to facilitate cleanliness, and to afford more accommodation.

4. The Inspector of slaughter houses should have it in his power to prevent unsound and unwholesome meat being sent into the market. To secure a reform like this, an amendment in the Slaugter House Ordinance will he necesary; and I have no doubt that the members for the Suburbs, will consider it a part of their duty to bring the subject under the notice of the Provincial Council at an early day. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, 1). G. Smale.