THAT THREATENING LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 143, 14 July 1909, Page 1

THAT THREATENING LETTER

MORE ABOUT It. CHISHOLM ROBERTSON. Two letters -which appear in the Maaa.wa.tu Standard contain s'omc fur-, ther particulars regarding E. Chisholm-I Robertson, whose letter to the Premier was construed into a threat upon Sir I Joseph Ward's lifp and gave rise to the report that the visit of Detective Cassels to England was for the purpose of protecting the person and life of New Zealand's Prime Minister. Neil Whyte writes':—"lt is very regrettable to think such a letter should have been written. I think you will agree with me that Mr. Robertson's ease has been a very hard one, when I teil you a few facts about him. R. Chisholm Robertson, M.E., author of 'Modern Infidelity Exposed,' was induced to coinc to this country 'with the prospects of securing a good position, bpt instead of this' we find that hchas been reduced to penury, as he states in his letter. Mr. Robertson -was a well-known figure in mining circles at Home. He has also held responsible position in India and Borneo, was through the South African war as a war correspondent; he was wounded there. When we come to aimly*.'c these facts, it make one think that he was capable of occupying a better position than that which he had been offered shortly after arrival here. He was given an offer of navvying on the Main Trunk line. However, that was declined with thanks, as he was incapable of doing it. Now, does it not appeal to any right-thinking man that a promise given to a man of Chisholin Robertson's capabilities should have been fulfilled? It doesn't reflect much credit on the, Government of our colony to think that such treatment is' meted out to emigrants. As a .personal friend of Mr. Robertson, I can only conclude by saying there was no necessity to apprehend any danger as. to the Premier's safety from that source, as Mr. Robertson is a true Christian man and a true patriot." W. F. Durward writes!:—"l wish to protest against the various statements that have recently appeared in the Press regarding the man who is alleged to have threatened the life of the Premier. He has been called a dipsomaniac, a desperate character; he has been com;ared to Dhiaagri, who murdered Sir William Wyllie, and various other com- i ments have been made about him that , I venture to say ,would not be made ' were he here to defend himself. Two | years' ago Mr. J. Chisholm Robertson was in Palmerston for some weeks. During that time I saw him almost' daily, at various hours from early morn-I :ng till- late at night, and never once was there so much as a smell of a drink about him. So far as his being a 'desperate character' is concerned, the term would lead one to imagine that he was a Species of particularly blood-thirsty Bill Sykes. On the contrary, he is nn educated gentleman, gentlemanly in appearance, conversation and manners. He is a journalist of soma standing. He acted as war correspondent for several of the best Scottish papers during the Boer war; incidentally, he >wos entertained by a number of leading Glasgow men before going out to South Africa, the Lord Provost of Glasgow being in the chair. Ho was a. member of a Royal Commission set up by the British Government to enquire into the working of coal mines. It is not likely that a man who could be fairly described as a 'dipsomaniac' or a 'deinjrate character' would be honored in sii, \ways. As to the threatening letter, p 'islied in some caves with several headlines, there ; s no threat contained in it. The writer of the letter states explicitly that he would not shoot the Premier. I had various conversations with Mr. Robertson regarding the treatment he stated he had received from the Premier. He spoke strongly on the subject, but by no means violently; in fact, I have heard many a New Zcalander, whom one would hesitate to brand as a 'dangerous character,' use much stronger terms, and certainly more damaging statements about political men, If the letter published is the cause of Sir Joseph Ward taking a detective with him, then Sir Joseph is very easily frightened."