The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1882.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9417, 18 May 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1882.

Ths members of the T ; "T>a Harbor Eojrd who for some time pasi "silently sleuth-hounded tbe late so far as they could pos&ib'y do so, eeem pot to be satisfied without foHowrag him into his grave wuh the view Oi throwing odium on his memory. At the meetmg of the Board beM last Tuesday, Messrs Sutter it was no duly of Cap'j.in M*'.ls to cv-y to save the C ; ..y of Perth auer she had beeu abandoned by her own crew and capta : *i, and that it was owing to Irs recklessness that he and several others lost their lives. In fact they seem to aim at nothing short of bringing in the deceased guilty of causing Irs own death and the death oi those who died with h ; vc. For the purpose of inquiring into tbe mattec a Committee was appointed, oue of vhe quesJons which was proposed to be asked is, was it tbe duty of the Harbor Masuer lo try to save tbe City of Perth after she had been abandoned by hev crew 1 aud was he justified in going off to the vet.se 1 1 We think it was, if he thought he could do so, and if he had not clone so, Messes GuLter and Turnbull would hhve been ihe first to pounce upon him next day. What else was he for but to try and save vessels? Has there ever been a vessel wrecked in T.anava that he was not the last to leave? and why was he not questioned as to his right to have been there 1 There are a few questions wh'ch we shoahl like to ask at that inquiry, when it place, if we were in a position to do so, and these are they :—lf it was not necessaiy for Captain Mills to have gone to the City of Perth, had tbe reflectors thrown on his courage by Messv-s . Sut!er and Turnbull afc previous meetings of the Board iaduced him to risk hisb-e in this perilous undertaking ? D ; d Mr Tuvnbu.U and Mr Sutter say very recently at a meeting of the Harbor Board that the CUy of Cashmere had been lost through the Harbormaster's "want of nerve 1" and were they not likely to have said so again if he had not undertaken the d uty ? We should also like to examine, the consciences of Messrs Turnbull and Sut'oe-, if they carry such things about them, and try lo ascertain whether they feel completely irresponsible for the untime'y end of Captain Mil's and the brave men, who sacrificed their lives in his company. We should also l'ke to ask PuVic Opinion whether it does not be I; eve Capt.vn Mills to have s;>co. ; aced Irs l ; "e to show his persecutors that then' esamate of his courage was wrong 1 We the answer to the last ques von would be that Captain Mil's undertook the perilous duiy, in which he lost hi.s T'e, to remove the st : gma thrown upon his charae'er by his enemies, and that he d'ed a victim to their sp'eea and maHce. We should like to ask all these questions, and we feel confident that whe.i they were answered, Messrs Turnbull and Sutter would feel very uncomfortable. Of all the mean, contemptible, base, cowardly actions we have ever heard of, that of Messrs Turnbu 1 ! and Sutter in th e ; r attempt to bring odium on the memory of a brave man who died in the execution of h : s duty stands foremost. As we have frequency observed, the late Captain Mills was never accused of the slightest dereliction of duty until they had irnmped up the City of Cashmere as an excuse for dismiss'ng him, a-?d there is no doubt that the charges made against him had a great deal to do with his undertaking the task in wh'ch he lost his life. Messrs Turnbull and Slitter'know this, know that pub i; c opnvon condemns them, and it was to try to give themselves some relief from the accusations of their own consciences that they took the most contemptible course that men could be gailfcy of at the last meeting of the Board. Captain Mills, as brave a sailor, as kind a father, as true a friend, as good a citizen, and as genial a company ns could possibly be, is gone, but a whole community mourns his loss, and there are few in that community who do not feel contempt for the maiicious few who have so persistently persecuted him. A day of reckoning will come, Messrs Turnbull and Sutter will again seek re-election, and we trust the mean, contemptible spirit they have shown in this matter willn fc be forgotten for them. Another view of the matter which nearly escaped us is that it was Dot in trying to save the City of Perth Captain Mills lost his life at all. After having done what lie cou Id for thdt vessel, Captain Mills had reached as far as the shelter of the Breakwater, and was out of danger when he noticed a boat which followed him capsized, and its occupants drowning. It was in a heroic effort to save the lives of these that he lost his own. Be was not responsible for those following him, if there was any responsibility in the niatrte, and if on'y his own boat's crew had gone no one would have been drowned. Captain Mills and those who died with him lost their lives in trying to save their tellow creatures, and the heroism which they Bhowed deserves to bo placed side by side with the

noblest and most memorable in history, and none but cowardly, dastardly, coldblooded poltroons would speak except in terms of admiration of their conduct.