The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 167, 20 April 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

The.- Superintendent has at length succeeded in obtaining an Executive. The difficulty he has had in tilling up the places of Mr. Reid and his colleagues has been, if report says true, such that, obnoxious and obstructive as the late ministry was, his Honour must

often, during the last three weeks, have wished that they had never resigned. However, by sending to Southland for one, and to Queenstown for another, ne has at last managed to find four members willing to take the responsibilities of office. Their ranks are to be supplemented by a fifth, as representative of what his Honour has called the " clodocracy ; " but who this gentleman is, has not yet transpired, and conjecture under the circumstances would be vain. Mr. Haggitt still acts as Solicitor, though he no longer occupies a seat in the Council, for although the bar is well represented in that body, Messrs. Bathgate and Barton have both, it is understood, refused to accept the office.^ This fact alone says but little for the stability of the newlyformed Government. Mr. Turnbull has accepted the position of Provincial Treasurer, and his well-known business talents sufficiently guarantee his fitness for the office. Mr. Cargill takes the Provincial Secretaryship. Though not a member of the late Council, for many years previous he occupied a prominent position in Provincial politics. Both of these have always been identified with the pastoral interest, and have ever advocated measures, however extreme, which were calculated to aggrandize it. Mr. M' Arthur is a non-official member. Of him we know little. In his own province he took an active part in politics before its annexation. His residence in Southland will likely debar him from taking any great share in the deliberations of the Government, an 1 his pro- able role will be to manipulate the other members from his province when the Council is in session. Mr. Haughton is Secretary of L ml and Works for the time being, with the understanding that wheu the Council meets, a new office, that of Secretary for the Goldfields, will, if possible, be created for his acceptance. Of his fitness, either for the present or prospective position, we entertain grave doubts. He is a clever and amusing speaker, and to be thought clever and amusing seems to be all he aims at. He can expose the foibles and peculiarities of an opponent neatly and effectively, but serious argument- he never succeeds in, and very rarely attempts. He has certainly given no indication of business ability; and for the office to be proposed, a man of practical business habits is indispensably requisite. His propeusity for ridicule has made him many enemies in the Council, and altogether his accession adds little to the strength of the Ministry, if indeed it does not weaken it. He has usually been reckoned a supporter of Mr. Reid. But he can scarcely ever have been regai'ded as a party man. He is emphatically a free lanee — a political Dugald Dalgetty — who has taken the pay and fought the battles of any party who happened to need his services, without troubling much about the principles for which they fought.

The circumstances under which the Government enter upon their duties are not of a very favourable nature. When Mr. Macandrew was elected four years ago, there was in the provincial chest a sum of £80,000, and this sum he promised to expend with all possible despatch. He has kept his word. One pledge at all events he has redeemed — nay, despite the non-progressive and obstructive Government by which he was hampered, he has more than redeemed it. The provincial chest is not only empty, but the provincial account is said to be overdrawn to an enormous extent. Owing to the elections, the Executive business is greatly in arrears ; so that altogether the prospects of the new Government are not of a very cheering aspect.

Trouble, anxiety, and annoyance, in various degrees, are the inevitable attendants of every profession ; and certainly that of journalism has* its full share. However differently some may be inclined to think, it is no easy task to suit the tastes and meet the requiremrnts of a large and scattered community ; in fact, as an American writer says, "To edit a rural sheet successfully is indeed one of the most difficult things imaginable." It is all very well for the uninitiated to picture to themselves an editor in a cosy little sanctum, seated in an easy chair, a, foot resting on each side of the fire, a cigar in his mouth, and a large pair of scissors in his hand, having nothing to do but to amuse himself by cutting and slashing at a pile of newspapers at his side ; but we may be permitted to observe that such specimens of the genus country editor are by no means common. There is other work to be dpne. News from all parts of

the world has to be gathered ; the chief tonics of the day have to be kept before the public; sufficient prominence has to be given to matters religious, social, and political, and last, though certainly not least, local news has to be hunted up, often under circumstances of great difficulty. A subscriber sends a monstrous cabbage ' or gooseberry, and expects a puffin "your valuable columns ; " seeing which, another

forwards a quantity of overgrown potatoes, accompanied by a note, "a local in your next issue will oblige," &c. Public meetings are to be attended, and unintelligible speeches rendered intelligible. Again, the agony has to be endured of wading through a mass of correspondence, most of which is probably written in characters about as pleasant to make out os Egyptian hieroglyphics — altering here, erasing there, until the writers sometimes foil to recognise their own letters when they see them in print. Nor is this all. Communications are frequently received couched in such grossly libellous language that they are instantly condemned to the waste paper basket ; in consequence of which the editor is taxed by the writers with want of justice, fairplay, &c, and subjected to annoyance in various other ways. If any of these communications should by some unaccountable means creep into print — as sometimes they do — the editor is probably accused of being the author; or perhaps an action for libel is threatened, although the p.iriies to whom the thiej.it is I***l*l nn rmr he ill-Lt^i .'.J Wi it'll V illit-'tll'.illll of casting a sti^.-.t on tho eha, 1 •.<!_•.- t.er of the persons aggrieved. On the whole, then, we are tempted to assert that the existence of ?u upcountrv editor is not all s-mshine

With regard to this matter of libel we have a few remarks to make. While we are writing, we have before us several letters of the description just referred to, received from various quarters — one in particular, attacking, in the most unwarrantable manner, the character of a gentleman holding one of the highest and most responsible official positions on the goldfields. It is needless to say these will not be inserted in our columns. These writers would have saved themselves much trouble, and us considerable annoyance, if they had spent their time in a more profitable manner than concocting pap;e after page of splenetic abuse, which after all will not receive publicity. Our columns are always impartially open for the temperate discussion of all matters of public interest, and we shall be ready at all times to lend our aid in the cause of justice and truth ; but we must state, once for all, that any communications we may receive, anonymous or otherwise, which are characterised by a spirit of vindictiveness and abuse, we shall unhesitatingly commit to the flames.