Early Departure

NZ Truth, Issue 1194, 18 October 1928, Page 3

Early Departure

we had t;o start m Dunedin," said Taverner. (Dunedin, of all .cities m the Dominion, forsooth!) "A complete mess was made of the arrangements and we should have preferred to have ' begun bur tour m Auckland. . "»Had I been here a month ago, I believe Sve should have had an immense crowd." ; • ' ;. Having unburdened ' himself of these airy nothings, Taverner began to reveal the gall of indignation m his blood. He forthwith; opened his broadside 'attack • bn "Truth." ; "There\is a paper called: 'Truth,' " he contiriue^rwith a marked note of wellsimulateiW^corn in' his 'voice; "but I am sureiffihv of you have seen it." (Only a p>ltry 96,000 odd. readers, Mr. TayerneiifilV , . ■ "I have invited the editor to meet me m Wellington," William thundered, "and either he will make- amends or he will 3'ustify the opinion the paper has "expressed." '■'■■ ' ■•,-■■■ Taverner read out for the edification of the meeting a copy of a letter he claimed to have sent to the editor of "N.Z. Truth," m which — out of a maze of statements about himself, his scheme and this paper's attack— there emerged the main points of his discourse. It appeared that his early departure and the limited time at his disposal made it difficult for him to stay and ta^ke proceedings against "Truth" for it's attack upon him. /Taverner hi tended to be generous, though. He would give the editor this one chance to make amends! When, at last, he f could purcfe his spleen of the indignation he felt because "Truth" had dared to question Hie financial comings and goings of William Tavernef, he pot down to the details of his wonderful Q.D. and H.P. ventures. : # v "The companies must have, shareholders to comply with the law, but they are not out. for profit," he said. "At : present, there are about 35 shareholders, but you could not become one if you offered me £5000! It is personai service that has made Quarterly Dividends. We have ho paid agents and even the secretary ''and myself receive no wages." His gorge rose once again. "Yet this paper suggests that I have been having a good time," ne boomed. He did not collect the five shillings commission for new members, as he believed m leaving this to the local people.