The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1877

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 384, 17 July 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1877

The Otaijo Dally Times, which has become so accustomed to a life of journalistic prostitution that it is totally insensible to shame, bangs away at our very reasonable railway scheme on every possible occasion ; and this it does in an undignified and snarling spirit, which quite unbecomes the " leading journal" of the Otago Provincial District. The last attempt at disparagement is its assertion that "the Waimate County Council was not particularly anxious to second the efforts of the few agitating the impracticable scheme at Oamarn." Perhaps not ; but that will make little difference to Oamaru, and affect Waimate in a manner that will, without doubt, be productive of future bitter regrets. It is only to be supposed that the Times would look approvingly upon Waimate for the

questionable wisdom she displayed in refusing the overtures of the Oamaruitcs, because the person who scribles meaningless and inane paragraphs for that journal is labouring under the impression that such a circumstance must of necessity prove disastrous to the Oaniaru scheme, and advantageous to the proposal that would centre everything in Duneclin. This principle is very good to a certain extent; but we think that the settlers of the interior will have a say in the matter. The Timzs is prolific in assertions; but it is not willing that those assertions should be put to a crucial test such as that we suggested the other day. The fact is, twenty pounds are too valuable now-a-days to be allowed to hang upon the chance of proving a lie to be the truth. The challenge, however, is open for the accepiance of the Times at any period that journal wishes to take it up. In case the tenor of our challenge may have been forgotten by the Times, we repeat that we are willing to jeopardise L2O, to be given to the Dunedin and Oaniaru hospitals, in order to prove that that newspaper's comments on the Oamaru-iSaseby route are devoid of the slightest particle of truth.