The Oamaru Mail MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1226, 22 March 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1880.

The other day we observed in a number of our contemporaries a Government notification giving the date upon which the land tax is payable. This notification was not sent to us for insertion. Being of opinion that the information therein contained was of as much importance to our readers as it was to the readers of other newspapers, we communicated with the Deputy-Commis-sioner in D mied in. From him we received a reply on the 16th that he was not authorised to insert the advertisement in the Mail. We thereupon wired to Mr. Spcrrey, tlie Commissioner of the Dc]«rtment in Wellington, and received a reply on the 17th staging that the Deputy-Commissioner had been instructed to give us the ertisement. The public will doubtless be surprised that the advertising system pursued by the Government should be so slipshod as to render it necessaiy for us, or an} other paper occupying a similar position, to apply for authority to insert an advertisement containing information with which it was absolutely necessary the settlers of this district, in common with the settlers of other parts of the Colony, should be made acquainted,. But so it is. It was the first duty of the Land Tax Department to adopt every means at their disposa.l for conveying the information contained in the advertisement in question to every settler that is liable to the tax. It is certain that there are po other means tliaii the newspapers of conveying such information, and quite as certain that settlers should not be subjected to the unpleasantness and loss of time and money that would be consequent njjon the legal proceedings of the department to enforce payment from those who have departed through ignorance of demands for which the department would be wholly responsible. We do not mean to say that the Land Tax Department, or any department, should advertise in every newspaper. What we wish to convey is that the Government should make a strict investigation of the circulations of the colonial newspapers, »nd so arrange, as for as possible, that evety.body interested m the information contained in Government notifications should be afforded an opportunity of seeing them. This could be done by causing newspaper proprietors to make statutory declarations as to the number of papers they actually circulate. But our main object in referring to this matter now is to enter a protest against the process by which, and the stipulations under - which, we frequently receive Government advertisements. A? we liave previously said, we wired to Mr. R. B. Martin for permission to insert the advertisement in question, and on his pleading inability to grant it, we, on the 16th, wired to the Commissioner in Wellington, who infonued us on the 17th that Mr. Martin had been instructed to insert it. The next communication on tliis matter was received from Mr. E. T. Wheeler, a news agent in Duneclin, and ran as follows:

Dunedin, March 18, ISBO. Manager Evening Mail, Oaruaru. Dear Sir, —Land Tax Act—fleaso insert enclosed advertisement, in terms of instructions contained in voucher sent herewith, and return same to me. Send me note of cost, and oblige.—Yours truly. (Pro E. T. Wheeler) John Grounds. On receipt of this memo., ve wired as follows to the Deputy Commissioner Oamaru, March 19,1850. E. B. Martin, Dunedin. Will not insert advertisement unless sent direct from your office. Wheeler no right to interfere and levy blackmail, and Government no right encGUfage such thing. Reply. Geo. Jones. To this -we received this reply :

March 20, 18S0. Editor Evening Mail. Oamaru. Insert in to-night's Mail and Saturday, 27th. E. E. Maetin, D.C. We reasonably hoped that this -would end this string of negotiations ; but we suppose that Mr. Mai-tin communicated with his friend Mr. "Wheeler, or Mr. "Wheeler communicated with his friend Mr. Martin, and the following extraordinary memo, was the resu It Duneain, March 19, 1880. Manager Oamaru Mail. Dear Sir, —Be Land Tax advertisements, Mr. Martin has desired me to write and say that, although he has sent this advertisement direct to you, it is understood that all these advertisements pass through my hand 9, and wants vouchers for all accounts not already rendered returned to me at your earliest convenience.—Yours truly, (Pro B. T. Wheeler) Johx Gbod>'ds. Of course, having refused, to accept the advertisement .through Mr. Wheeler, and received instructions from Mr. Martin to insert it, we pay no attention whatever to Mr. Wheeler's attempt I to make capital out of us by his perj sistent interposition in business that [ should not concern him. But his memo, is an extraordinary document. If the first statement it contains be authentic, Mr. Martin- is afflicted with painful indecision. However anxious lie may have been to relieve himself of the clerical work which properly appertains to his official position, or to serve a friend at our cost, he would surely not so incautiously invite comment upon his dereliction of duty, or Jus cementing of friendships by prostituting that position. . We admit that Mr. Martin has committed a grave mistake in co-operating officially with Mr. Wheeler in an endeavor to improve that gentleman's commission agency business at the expense of the newsjxipers to whom he lias been instructed to give the advertisements of liis department. All Government otlicials who act as Mr, Martin has done are equally culpable. But we would require something more than Mr. Wheeler's authority to convince us that Mr. Martin's determination tv put 20 j>er cent, commission into the pocket of Mr. Wheeler was as resolute as that of Mr. Wheeler to get it. Mr. Martin's friend, Mr. Wheeler, lias, however, by Ills plain-spoken memo.,

succeeded in placing Mr. Martin in an unenviable position of doubt. It is £ pity that Mr. Wheeler, in his anxiety to share in our profits, should have sacrificed so good a friend j but it is also a matter for congratulation to us that he has at last afforded us an opportunity of exposing -what we conceive to be an evil. Mr. Wheeler's interposition in our behalf ha& always been viewed by us as a nuisance. We have over and over again requested him to cease to act the part of self-appointed canvasser iu our interest j but to no purpose. We did not, however, feel disposed to air our grievance so long as it did not intimately affect the public, and waited for a favorable opportunity of exposing the whole affair. That opportunity has arrived. Surely the pubii/j are interested in the equitable distribution of Government advertisements. How can Government advertisements be equitably distributed under such a system as we have exposed 1 ? Under it it is not publicity that is of paramount importance. government officials—for we .could, were it necessary, refer to another instance s.ijnjiar to that we are now exposing—deem it too much trouble, or of too little imuortance, to select the papers in which to insert their advertisements. The necessity for advertising in a certain paper is too often gauged by fc}ip friendship tljey have for Mr. Wheel ev, wjio, as a matter of business, suggests those papers from whom he receives com' missions. It will be seen, then, that Mr. Wheeler sometimes usurps the power which Government officials are paid to exjerpise, and that he does so to the disadvantage ttf the Press and the people. What right has Mr. to decide whetlier a certain section of the public shall be notified of the intentions of the Govpjmmen-t oy npt? The matter has an ugly aspect, We have not written upon it as strongly as we would have done did we not fear the harassment and expense of a suit for libel. We leave the Government and plie public t,Q pjjnjder oyer the facts we havje placpd tjiefp ? and tqrjn their own conclusions. We think, however, that we hfivp written enough to cause an official inquiry tp hp made, which, we hope, will lead to a thorough reform in the advertising system of the Government.