THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1908. MR HOGG AND THE TRUST LANDS TRUSTEES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9100, 28 May 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1908. MR HOGG AND THE TRUST LANDS TRUSTEES.

It ia certainly a litHe curious, to say the least, tha*; the member for Maslerton should find fault with the Trustees of the Trust Lands Trust for refusing to recognise an alleged offer, which it was quite impossible for them to seriously consider. Briefly, the position is this, Mr Hogg I says—we have his word for it-—that | the Minister for Justice "agreed" to | a certain offer. What offer may we ask, and who made it? But this by the way. The Minister agreed to the offer, declares Mr Ilogg, and 1 "minuted" it—in his private, very j private, diaty we suppose. Now it ia ' somewhat extraordinary, assuming

that an authorised offer was made to the Minister, and that he accepted it, that he did not notify the Trustees of his acceptance. It is, also, peculiar that Mr Hogg also claims that for months past he has been in possession of valuable information to the Trustees, but did not write to either the Chairman or Secretary of the Trust disclosing his information. Mr Hogg, however, preferred to communicate with one of the Trustees, Mr W. H. Jackson, who comes upon the scene with the somewhat mysterious tale, which the Trustees very properly decline to pay any attention to, and which, as we have previously remarked, we regard with considerable suspicion. Why Mr Hogg should so assiduously address himself to Mr Jackson, and why that latter mentioned gentleman should be so deeply in the confidence of the former in regard to Trust matters, we do not understand. We have, however, on a good many occasions pointed out what war. the true agreement made between the Crown and r the Trustees, and the Trustees are certainly not to be rightly condemned for expecting the Minister to do what it is obviously his duty to perform. So far as we have noticed not one of the new candidates is in favour of voting any Trust money towards the erection of a new Courthouse.