THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, SEPT. 5, 1874

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1850, 5 September 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, SEPT. 5, 1874

The divulgence of telegrams seems to have given the Government a great deal of difficulty lately, A great many of the members of. both Houses of Assembly spent the {greater part of last session in endeavouring to discover how it was that certain telegrams came to be published in the 'Otago Daily Times,' and-apparently without success, for at the end of the session the Committee asked the Government to appoint a Eoyal Commission to continue the investigation. A case similar in some of its features has just emerged here. Certain telegrams appeared, in the ' Otago Daily Times' concerning a correspondence with Mr Yogel. At first, the authenticity of these was denied, but the denial was not credited, and the Government were obliged to lay the whole of the telegrams on the table of the House. In our case also, the Government have seen fit to publish certain telegrams, exceedingly ful and curious in themselves, which we publish in another column. There was, this difference between our case and that of the ( Otago Daily Times'—when we published the telegram at first we distinctly stated from whom we bad obtained it, and did not ourselves guarantee its accuracy. We now publish the Government version, supplied to us by Mr. James Maokay, as the mouthpiece of the Native Minister, and if Mr Wilson has anything further to say, we shall let him have an opportunity of saying it. Mr. Mackay, by the way, in a letter to our contemporaries, takes the opportunity; of lecturing us upon the moralities of journalism, and says —" Would any respectable journalist have published a document procured under such circumstances?." We might plead the example of the ' Otago Daily Times,' and remark that although the case was keenly criticised in all its bearings, no one ever blamed the newspaper for publishing the Ward-Chapman telegrams when they were offered. We think, too, that there is a wide difference between telegrams sent from one Minister to another about public events, and telegrams concerning particular persons, and when bundles of telegrams are found amongst waste paper in the streets, it is fair to consider that their owners are quite indifferent as to what becomes of them.

But the telegrams as published, and as guaranteed by Mr James Mackay (we do not think his guarantee a bit better than that of Mr Wilson), give us an opportunity, which we have ofteu wished for, of seeing something of what went on behind the scenes in last December, when it was believed that Mr Mackay, without the slightest foundation, accused the miners of the Thames of planning an armed invasion of and, happily without success, attempted to get the Government to commence a series of State prosecutions. We say all these things were believed of Mr Mackay,- and the telegrams published by him will now confirm the belief. Mr' McLean starts with saying that Mr O'Korke is "no doubt fully acquainted with the diggers' excitement about Ohinemuri." Now, the "diggers' excitement" was a fiction of Mr Mackay's own brain. ' It will be remembered that the affair arose in this wise. A Native Lands Court was held in Shortland, at which a number of cases affecting land at Ohinemuri were set down for hearing. When these were called on, the public were astonished, and also the great body of the natives, when Mr Mackay, acting on behalf of the Government aud of the two or three obstructive natives, rose and got them all adjourned indefinitely. A good deal of conversation took place about the matter in town, and it was contemplated, by some of our leading citizens, to make a representation to the Government on the subject, for it was felt to be monstrous that the Government should actively interfere to prevent the country' from being opened. Mr Mackay, however, voluntarily came forward, and said that if a deputation would wait upon him, he would give a full explanation of the procedure of the Government which would satisfy . everybody. In compliance, the most influential body of citizens we ever remember to have seen on any deputation, waited upon Mr Mackay next morning, when he flatly refused to tell them anything at all. .So. far as we can gather, he then commenced to telegraph about "diggers' •excitement," whereas not a single digger ■had appeared in the matter at all, and he so alarmed Mr McLean, in a desire to gain favour by appearing zealous, that that gentleman commenced to telegraph wildly all round. He implores his somewhat lethargic colleague, Mr o'Rorke—"l hope you will exert yourself in Auckland to see the editors connected with tho Press, and endeavour to refrain them from adding to the present irritating feeling which is being created between the races." This is most outrageous English at ' all events, and. Sir Donald McLean's panic

must have been great whoa he so wrote. He seems to know his men vtita). he sent Mr O'Eorke to direct the'fens of the editors of our Auckland contemporaries. We remember being quite astonished at the fierceness of the Auckland newspapers in denouncing the filibustering propensities of the miners of the Thames, when we had neither heard nor seen anything of the matter here. We see it all now. Mr Mackay alarmed Mr McLean, and Mr O'Korke " exerted himself and stirred up the editors of the Auckland papers. We may-remark, by the way, that we do not think it would require much exertion to do that. A Minister's wish is all-potent with them, especially when they are only asked to abuse such harmless people as the miners' of the Thames, who cannot even say, "Stop my paper!" Then, the "irritating feeling which is being created between the races," must have been another figment of Mr Mackay's brain. The majority of the Ohinemuri natives wished to open the country, and any "irritating feeling' was against. the, Government for backing up the two or three Hauhau obstructives who, against the wish of the majority of their countrymen, wished to keep the country closed. And so it was with-the Europeans, who. knew that Ohinemuri was not being kept closed by the natives. The rest of, the first telegram is simply ridiculous, and gives us a lower opinion of Sir Donald McLean than we 1 ever had before. Surely he ought, from previous knowledge, to have been better acquainted with Mr Mackay than to have allowed himself to be The 'AttorneyGeneral aud Mr Whifcaker are to be consulted as to the legal steps to be taken in the. event of a. rush-.which, was never dreamt of; the telegraph office is to be kept open; the Superintendent is to be seen, so that the General Government' may act in, concert with him "in the : best means of repressing,- the present' violent agitation," and so on. There was no violent agitation, nor any agitation at all | but those citizens who had gone to ,Mr Mackay's house, at his invitation, to hear all about Ohinemuri, were slightly irritated at him for having "sold" theny That was the'whole of ; the irritation and agitation, - -

We think that* as the Government have gone so far they might as well make a clean breast of the whole-affair, and let. the public have the whole of the correspondence wMch passed=■' at that momentous time. .••If ;it shows that we have done Mr. Mackay any injustice we shall be happy to admit our error.

Te Hira "did" Grahamstown yesterday, and we hope that what he saw will do him good, It was suggested to Mm by Mr A. J. Allom that he might take a drive through Shortland and Grahamstown in a clo3e carriage, and visit the Telegraph Office, where he might if he pleased, communicate with the Native Minister. Te-Hira readily agreed, it being understood that he would probably not be recognised by European or Maori. A carriage was procured, and Te Hira started off, accompwied by Mr Allom, Mr A. Hogg, and Mr J. Glibbons. The Telegraph Office was visited, where the working of the. system was explained to Te Hira by Mr Bull. Messages were sent by Te Hira to Napier, Maketu, Rotorua, Tauraaga, Katikati, Taupo, Wellington, and other places. At some of those places Te Hira had friends, who . replied. . A. message of a friendly nature was sent by Te Hira to the Na?; tive Minister. In reply,.- Sir Donald McLean; stated .his satisfaction at receiving the communication,' and also his intention, at Te Hira's request, of visiting Te Hira and his people as soon as possible. The'parfcy then went to the Manukau battery, and afterwards lunched at the Governor Bowen Hotel. Before leaving Grahamstown, the railway train from Tararn excited the attention of Te Hira, who appeared to be much pleased £t having seen it. It was explained to him that, ho had now. seen the pakeha system of carrying words by the wire, and passengers and cargo by the railway. ' Te Hira might then have been taken.to.see. the, big pump, and down the bright Smile shaft, but he appeared, shortly after lunch, to be satiated with sight-seeing, and remarked that he' had seen enough of the workings of the pakeha for one day. He was then brought [back to his location in Shortland." '

The case brought in reference to the legality of the late election for the Kauwaeranga Highway District has resulted in the unseating of Mr Bjgaall, on the ground that the voting by show of hands, especially when a poll waa demanded, was illegal. We presume that the Superintendent will care the defect by nominating those gentlemen, who were elected as-' trustees. ■ i ■

• It will be seen that a number of claims to-' have land in the Ohinemuri district put through the Native Lands Court, so' that they might be sold to Europeans, have been again adjourned at the request of Mr Mackay, acting on behalf of the Government. 'At the sitting of the Court in December last the same course was followed, and the public were ledto understand that the Government were going about the work in a way which'woiild be quicker and more satisfactory, and that the country would' be opened very soon. Here,is the old farce repeated, Mr Afackay does not think it worth his while to attend personally this time* or. to ask a deputation to attend to receive an explanation and then give them none. ■ Whether the, Thames miners will be accused again, of attempting to lip expedition, ; remains to be seen, <■■• ■'•■> ; ■•"■•

• His Worship gave 'judgment yesterday ia' - the case in which Nikorima was sued for rate 3 - at the instance of the Parawai Highway BoarjLjIt will be remembered that the point relieow* upon for the defence was that the second part of the Act was not in operation, never hayingbeen proclaimed. Two copies of the Aet were produced—one in which the word 3' 'andseoond 1 ' ••• occurred, and the other in which they did not, His Worship reserved judgment, to enable him to examine the original statute roll, printed on parchment, which is-kept in Auckland. On ; • examination of that, tie found the words "and ■;'. second" had been written in, and initialed by the Speaker of the Provincial Council. ; In c9ii- : sequence judgment was given for the plaintiff. Mr Macdonald, it will be seen, made some very strong remarks in refereace < te what he considers an unjustifiable tampering with the statute roll, and which is certainly, to say the least of it, a loose and unsatisfactory way of doing business.

Mr Hogg, the proprietor of the Waihou flumills, Puriri, shipped to Auckland, per cutter ' Undine,' 101 bales of flax, weighing 15. tons, This was the result of a week's work. -

At tb.3 Police Court yesterday, Biclml Jouei/.was charged with, drunkenness, but it having been his first appearance, he was let off with a caution, _ v