TO THE EDITOR.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume II, Issue 123, 17 January 1874, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —In the leader of your paper of tJie 20th December, 1873, you make many. statements concerning the Bay of Plenty Volunteer Cavalry upon which as a member of the same I should like to make a few remarks. To commence. I consider that Sub-Lieut. Connelly was perfectly right in contradicting aspersions on the troop which in your issue of November Ist you had cast upon them. The impression here is that if any ill-feeling exists between the troop to which I belong, and the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles it is mainly owing to the steps you have taken as a journalist in making remarks that were quite uncalled for, and could only have the effect of creating an undesirable feeling between the two troops. We have got to learn that the P.B.M.R. endorse your sentiments. We have heard nothing from them of their views on the subject. Surely if they consider themselves aggrieved in this matter they are men to fight their own battles, without your taking up their cudjels in such an enthusiastic manner. You say we have so comported ourselves towards the P.B.M.R. “ as to raise a barrier that compels all future intercourse between us to be carried on by means of a hostile friendship.” Pray what is the barrier we have raised, and what might you be pleased to designate a “ hostile friendship ?” I admit there may have been a slight misunderstanding between the two troops, which it appears you have by your uncalled for interference attempted to nurse into an actual ill-feeling. I think I can assure you that you have not succeeded in your amiable attempt, as not one of the Opotiki men have a word to say against the P.8.M.R., unless it should turn out that they have enlisted you as their ehampion. In the same number of your paper Captain Simpson’s name appears. He also seems to have jumped at one or two rash conclusions, one of which is that money is the primary object with the Opotiki men. To judge by his concluding sentence, it cannot make much difference to us his being surprised and disgusted, he haying become in one respect a recipient of “ nature’s bounty” to such an alarming extent that he mentions. In conclusion, I may add that if the Opotiki men are desirous of firing a match with the Poverty Bay men, and they feel inclined to accept any challenge we may send them, we shall be able to arrange all the preliminaries ourselves, and if it is not a friendly match (whatever sum of money be involved) it will not be the fault of the Opotiki men.—l am, &c., Laurence A. Levy, Trooper B.P.V.C. Opotiki, Bay of Plenty, January 7th, 1874. [Mr. Levy’s letter is even a worse production than Sub-Lieut. Connelly’s, and sufficiently condemns itself without any assistance from us. Haring discharged our obvious duty, we leave the matter of the challenge in the hands of the P.B. men. We may, however, say that we are their “Champion,” and hope to remain so.—Ed. Standard.]