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New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1875.

We are not aware who it is that sends special telegrams -from Wellington to the Auckland Evening Star, nor are we overburdened with anxiety to find out, his talents lying so evidently in the domain of fictional literature that they would be useless to us. But whoever he is, his inventive genius is only excelled by his audacious disregard for truth. Not long since we had a leader pointing out without commendation certain action taken by the Queensland Parliament in reference to its Hansard (an action since we see carried into effect by the Government there), and offering some suggestions as to what seemed to us a more economical and practically useful mode of publishing our own Parliamentary reports than that adopted at present. The mode we recommended would furnish day by day a sufficiently full record of the previous night’s proceedings, and this account would be at the continual service of the various papers throughout the colony, who would then not have to wait weeks, and to wade through a tedious Hansard, to get at any important debate which they might wish to publish at tolerable extent. It is unnecessary to add that our suggestion evoked the usual local distortion and misstatement which we and the Wellington people are so much accustomed to as to totally disregard. But we were .scarcely prepared to find the Wellingtoucorrespondentof the Auckland Star telegraphing this distortion and these misstatements, with additions, evoked from his own internal resources in the art of untruth. But so it was. In this correspondent’s telegrams we find our suggestion put as a proposition, “that the Times should be subsidised to print reports prepared by reporters paid by the Government.” We are anxious to characterise this by the briefest known word expressive of an untruth. What we did say, and what we repeat, is this ; that Hansard as at present published, is utterly useless to the colony, that we have not the slightest intention of doing that which circumstances will not permit, namely, giving each morning an extended report of , Parliamentary proceedings, that such an extended report would, however, be far more useful and cheaper than Hansard and its reportorial staff ; and that if it be required, it will have to he paid for. In justification of our intention in future, except in very rare cases, to give a more precis of Parliamentary proceedings, wo may point to the following passage from a contemporary—“ The London papers have discontinued publishing lengthy reports of the proceedings of Parliament. Where fourteen or so columns used to bo devoted to Parliamentary reports, the debates in both chambers are condensed into about five columns or less.

The Daily Telegraph, in four columns, reports the whole debate upon the address in reply. The other papers have adopted a similar plan, and although members who like to be fully reported complain, the plan is not likely to be abandoned.”

A harbormaster, a piermaster, a deputy harbormaster, a rigid set of wharf regulations, and a harbor code, and still the shipping affairs of the port are bungled. It was a great point with those who advocated the appointment of a piermaster that every facility should be offered to encourage the shipping trade, and the members of the Chamber of Commerce one and all agreed that, in order to secure expedition and avoid complaint on the part of shipmasters, vessels loading should give way to vessels discharging. Yet, in spite of all this anxiety to advance the material prosperity of the city, instances occur daily to show the great disparity between the promise and the performance. The enterprise of a Dunedin firm has led to the establishment of a pretty considerable trade between Wellington and New South Wales, by means of a direct steam service ; but instead of fostering this trade we seem rather to put ourselves out of the way to mar it. The Easby arrived yesterday with a mail, a large number of passengers, and a quantity of cargo for this port. The wharf regulations—upon which the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce debated for three months before they were finally decided provide that the outside berth at the wharf shall be kept open for any vessel carrying mails and passengers, and, in the face of such a regulation, the Luna, then lying alongside the Government hulk, was permitted to drop into the berth being reserved for the Easby, the consequence of which was that the latter vessel had to anchor in the stream and laud her mails and passengers by means of boats. It is, perhaps, incorrect to say that the Luna was “ permitted” to do this, for neither the harbormaster nor the piermaster were present. Captain Fairchild, therefore, may be presumed to have acted upon his own authority, and if he did so, the action does not testify to an accommodating disposition, for the Easby had rounded Point Halswell, and Captain Fairchild did not require to be told that, being a vessel of heavy draught, she would require the outside berth. But why were the harbormaster and the piermaster absent from their duties ? Captain Halladay was at Somes Island, Captain Mundle was nowhere to be found, and the deputy-harbor master refused to accept any responsibility in the matter despite a most explicit rule which justified him in ordering Captain Fairchild to take the Luna out of the berth. A 1 great, deal more might be said upon the subject, but it is to be hoped for the credit of the port that such an- instance of mismanagement will not occur again.

As some misunderstanding appears to exist regarding the traffic receipts of the Wellington and Hutt section of the Masterton railway, we may state that it has paid a great deal more than working expenses. The province is credited with the surplus, which goes to reduce the interest on cost for which it is liable by law. It is the balance which has been taken to account, and which there appears to be some reluctance to pay. The law is explicit, however. The Government had no option in the matter.

We understand that those two distinguished provincial statesmen, Mr. Duuup and Mr. Hardup, have, at a meeting of their political friends, arranged a programme tor next session, and that resolutions to the following effect will be proposed :—l. That the power of the creditor has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. 2. That any restriction upon, or interference with, provincial indebtedness is subversive of constitutional freedom. 3. That provincial liabilities to the colony are destructive of proper finance, and that their payment upsets all the calcidations of a provincial treasurer. 4. That a Bill to compel credit and to abolish-recovery of debt be forthwith introduced. The announcement of these resolutions was received with applause, and promises of support were freely given. Mr. Spendthrift, from Otago, who made a long and oily speech, emphatically stated that a policy of that kind was essential to the prosperity of that province.

We have no desire t 0 al - o use the wrath of the Auckland Echo, but we cannot avoid, in justice to ourselves, pointing out a mistake made by, or for, that estimable journal. In a recent issue it contained certain telegrams in reference to the now notorious Smith and Macassey case, and in these -telegrams it was stated that the New Zealand Times had obtained and published the well-known Ward-Chapman telegrams in a most discreditable manner. Now, this is something too much. We can put up with any quantity of local perversion of our sayings and doings, such perversion being a means of livelihood to some who otherwise would be without means ; but we cannot think that it is necessary to the existence of our Auckland contemporary thus totally to misrepresent us. If' it be so, however, we shall be happy to express regret for having taken notice of this circumstance. If it be not so, wo arc confident that the Echo will not need a hint from us to do what is proper under the circumstances.

By our exchanges we notice that whilst the members of the Otago Provincial Council did not hesitate to vote the construction of railways involving a cost of nearly half-a-million of money, they refused the construction of one railway more important than any of those agreed to, namely, that to the Tokomairiro coalfields. The Bruce Herald, a journal rather remarkable for plainness of speech, gives the cause of this refusal as being an amount of monetary influence by capitalists who have invested in another coalfield, to which there is already a railway open, and the fuel from which is of very indifferent quality ; as well as to that wretched district jealousy which, under the provincial form of government, is carried to excess. We write from personal knowledge when we say that the Tokomairiro coalfield railway was one of great importance, and would have opened up resources and supplies of a very excellent class of coal unparalleled in the province. But as we have said, one of the beautiful outcomes of provincialism doomed it. It was rejected through no notions of economy. This is shown by what Mr. Driver said in the Otago Provincial Council, that members seemed branch-railway mad, and were in an agony of > fear that should the Colonial Government step in and bring their little reign to an end, without the province being first pledged to construct a railway to their own doors, the country would be ruined. As a matter of fact then, the Council has rejected a most useful work which would have only cost some £l-1,000, and has plunged into others of questionable utility at a cost of half-a-million.

Sneit curious developments have from time to time come out of the Ward-Chapman and its successor, the Smith-Macassoy business, that we really question whether its ,late result, an appeal to the ordeal of personal combat, has excited much surprise. Our Dunedin correspondent gave in yesterday’s issue a sweetly simple account of. this affair of fisticuffs. Smith called Gillies a blackguard, Gillies threatened to punch Smith's head unless the words were retracted ; the disinclination of Smith to retract them caused Gillies to carry out his threat until the desired result was attained. Altogether Dunedin, in the exercise of some of the professional duties devolving on its inhabitants, does not seem to be a socially choice spot. Mr. Gillies it seems is chairman of the Board of Directors of ■ the Daily Times, and adds to this the merit of being able to punch a lawyer’s head. Not long since a Mr- Turnbull, who was or is a member of the directorate of the Otago Guardian, said that newspaper articles were written to the order of Boards of Directors. Messrs. Smith and Maoassey have been writing to one another with a refreshing candour, as regarded the personal and professional character of each, only excelled by ladies who take in washing, and quarrel whilst hanging out the clothes. Further it would appear that during the Gillies-Smith encounter some very bad language indeed was made use of. , Mr. Gillies not so long since, if we mistake not, delivered a touching address to a young men’s society, ‘

and Mr. Smith enjoys the title of gentleman by Act of the Imperial Parliament. These little matters all read nicely when put together. What outsiders may tlxink of them we are not prepared to say.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18750626.2.10

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4452, 26 June 1875, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,912

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1875. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4452, 26 June 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1875. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4452, 26 June 1875, Page 2

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