MINISTERIAL CURTAINS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1669, 6 December 1887, Page 3

MINISTERIAL CURTAINS.

It will be remembered that in the last election Lady Vogel’s curtains played a very prominent part. Up north they bad their curtains too, to help them with the election, bat not Lady Vogel’s curtains. In Canterbury, which Sir Julius Vogel represented, and where it was desirable to damage him, Lady Vogel’e sorts ins came in handy, but a different sort of curtains were required in the North Island, where it was found desirable to damage Mr Salience. Up there it was Mrs Ballance who was extravagant, and wbo spent enormous sums on enrtains. The Wanganui Chronicle, the proprietor of which is Mr Carson, who opposed Mr Salience last election, published a paragraph accusing Mrs Ballance of being extravagant “ in the matter of curtains,” and an action for libel having been instituted, it now publishes the following apology

"By an oversight we inserted in cur issue of Thursday a paragraph containing an unfounded statement refiectiag on Mr Ballanos. The paragraph, which we ex- “ treated from the Hawke’s Bay Herald, and was reprinted without comment, escaped tbs close scrutiny that it would otherwise have received, owing to our habit of regarding the journal in question as being especially well informed on matters political. The offensive statement conveyed a charge against Mrs Ballance of extravagance at the expense of the Colony in tbe matter of curtains, a charge which we have said was quite without foundation. We greatly regret having, even second-hand, given currency to such a charge, the more especially as tbe paragraph made free with a lady’s name ; and we now take tbe most public opportunity of apologising to Mrs Ballance for any pain the unfounded and offensive paragraph may have caused her.” How strange that down hers it was Lady Vogel who was extravagant as regards curtains, while up north it was Mrs BalUnoe I It seems to ue that this indicates that a conspiracy was set on foot to invent lies to damage tbe StoutVogel Government, and that there existed something like a secret society amongst Government opponents. It is a pity that Sir Julius Vogel did not take action against tbe Canterbury inventors of tbe story. Tbe beauty of tbe whole story is that Mr Ballance did not occupy a Ministerial residence at all, and that therefore Mrs Ballance never spent one half-penny on curtains or anything else at tbe expense of tbe colony.