PUBLIC OPINION.

Patea Mail, 21 July 1882, Page 3

PUBLIC OPINION.

Contributions, Letters, Inquiries and Answces thereto, are invited on Farming; Commerce, Politics, and matters of interest to the Patea district. Names of writers need not be Printed. UNGENTLEMANL Y GONE UCT. A letter has been published, signed “ No Nonsense,” charging me, as custodian of the Harmonic Hall, with “ insulting those who seek to engage the hall.” The letter also makes these serious and untrue statements :—“Last Monday evening a guard was put at the door of the ball, with positive instructions from Mr Taplin not to allow a certain society to meet there unless the rent were paid in ,ad vance. _ The hall had been taken monthly, and no question of the kind was before raised ; but taking advantage of the absence of the secretary, who was also a member of the Hall Committee, Mr Taplin has become exceedingly nasty, and acted as no gentleman would have done under the circumstances.” Now I have to state that every one of llii.se allegations against me is untrue ; and not only so, but is without any foundation. : Being myself a-,Mason, T; may say that no meeting was ordered to be held last Monday, and could not bo held without the usual notice to members. I did not instruct the care-taker ciiher to admit or refuse members of this society on Monday or any other day. What the care-taker said or did, he is able to answer for; and I have no doubt lie did not depart from the standing instruction respecting the hall. It is not true that there is any arrangement for holding monthly meetings in the hall by that body. The Committee did agree to let the hall at a certain price for each meeting, but the society is not bound..to pay unless it uses the hall, and the secretary has always paid when engaging the hall for a particular evening. No one engaged the hall for Monday, and therefore the hair was not open. The care-taker did happen to be working in the hall that night, and this is what is meant by saying I put a guard at the door with positive instruction not to alllow a certain society to meet. The public will see from the above that I knew nething of the matter until it was all over, and then I had to learn it through, a letter published with the object of insulting and grossly abusing me.

It is also surprising that such a letter could be published in any decent newspaper, seeing that the accuser was ashamed to sign his name.

Samuel Taplin