The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 599, 3 April 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1878.

Thk following letter, sent by Mr. Murwtt. a member of the Moeraki Harbor Board to Mr Bremnfk. Chairman of that body, has been handed to us for publication : " Aldergrove, Hampden, '• Ancwst 1, 1577. •■To the Chairman of the Moeraki Harbor Hoard, Hampden — " .c, R _J. the undersigned member of the Moeraki Harbor Board, hereby protest against", the resolutions carried by a minority ..f the Board at a special meeting, held at 7pm on the 18th inst . in respect to byei;.ws and tariff dnes, on the following grounds : _ , " Ist That the tariff charges on many articles are unnessarily high and therefore prejudicial to the interests of >he Moeraki port and the pnolic of the district. "2nd That the resolutions proposed by "r. "Andrew M'Kerrow. and seconded by Mr J. K Breinner. adopting the bye-laws and tariff due* as evis.d, was n-t in writinsr, nor a copy Imndwl to the Secre'ary. m ac ..,,rdam.-e wi h se.-ti-n 4 of the Moeraki Harbor Board bye-laws. •' 3rd. Tiiat you. as Chainna-., did not prt the above resolution, as is required to be d ne under siction 6 if the Moeraki Harbor Board bve-lawp. •' I have the honor to be, '•Your obedi' nt servant, •' WILUAM MCRCOTT."

Mr. Murcott may (xterience some little rroab'e in convincing c-rtain members othe Boa:d that the taiiff is unneces anly hi"h, and he may not—we are not aware . f the views of th« Board on this matter—hut we do happen to know that the tuo other objection, will harmonise with the opinions of at least one member ..f the Board, and that member is Mr. BkEMSKK If there is anything tliat gentleman swears l.v—it i« bye-laws, t t«r reade s will rememb -r that it was because, a bye-law had been pa sed by the Hoard and ratified bv the G' vemnjent. welding the offices of H-irlic.ur Mi>ter and Wharf Manager n.ro oiip, that Mr. P.REMNER. much against bis will', felt compelled to vote for promotion o'he 'person who had been in his employ a-n shopman to those two offices. What sva« it to him, :il hough the change might u rk ill to the di.-t set: nor was it a mailer tor his onsid. ration that C:ipt. LIDDLE, who had been empl-ved for some 15 yeans I y the (Jovernmenr, had done his work laith'uUy and »rown rh. nmaticin th* service, might be -ur plant d bv another whose claims to the nnsiti' n were nil. "I here was the law, and it must be r.dhered t<>, although the observance of such ast-icr- course might have the , ffeet of t-mbit ering the last days of an old nun's life. U hut is a man without principle; or, a man who, possessing them, doe* not adhere to them, ilore especially is it ii. ce-sary th it members of a Harbour Board should act up to the dictates of their c ngci. nces, according to '"' amount of that commodity nature has bestowed upon rhi-m. The eye of the world is upon such. W nat w. ul.l be said elsewhere —ay in the London D-.iks if it were known that the Uo.raki Harbour B.a-d had violated one of its byelaws ? We can scarcely write, so fearful iit to contemplate *>o dite a eonti- gency, and !*o agitated are our nerves. No. It is abso- ! lutefv una eessary to argue such a subjecr, !so plainly is the course whic such men as Mr. BkeM>-ER should pursue, laid down. I his is one of ihe • vils of being a public mm. How keen m Ft have been tliat gentleman's f e ing- when he felt th t there was no other course open to him than, by hivotin" to send poor old (.'apt. 1 IDole adrif°or. the streets. His bowels of com oas-ion were moved, as were those of the soldier—of whom »jb have read somen here—who. in the execution of stern duty, upturned a cradle, turne.l his head awav, and blindly ran his sword through a sleeping infant. Tears dampen our paper as we draw the analogy. We think it was very unkind o' Mr. Mckcott to take action in the matter which will lead the world to suppose that certain gentlemen of the Moeraki Harboin Board h ive not acted in ac ordauce wi h thprinciples thev profess. Had Mr. iVUhCorr mentioned the matter quietly to them we fe 1 sure that everything would have been satisfactorily explained.