IN REPLY TO MR CLIFF.

Wairoa Bell, Volume V, Issue 205, 7 July 1893, Page 8

IN REPLY TO MR CLIFF.

(To the Editor). Sir, —Kindly allow.'me space to reply to the communication from the proprietor of the Paparoa Hall, appearing in your issue of the 16th June. It is certainly a matter for surprise that Mr’Cliff, after making the distinct promise referred to, should have so allowed the matter to escape his notice that he has now no recollection of it whatever. ‘ To the best of my knowledge....a piano was not mentioned.’ Now, Sir, I will, with your permission, take this opportunity of jogging the proprietor’s memory, and at the same time of informing the readers cf the Reul as to the time and place when the promise in question was made. When the Hall was erected, Mr Cliff called the adult population of the place by invitation to an opening ‘ social ’ party in the Hall, There was a fairly representaiive gathering, and some thirty or forty friends partook of the owner’s hospitality; An after meeting was held, when Mr Cliff, in the course of a speech, broached the[subject of handing the building over to the public, It was then that he made the statement, that if the project of the settlers taking control of the Hall as a public institution failed, the proceeds of the opening concert should go towards the purchase of an instrument for the use of the building. As a further aid to Mr Cliff’s memory, which has served him in so iiekle a manner, I may state that it was on the evening of the 30th July, 1890, that this took place. I have the authority ofMr Tibbits, whowasat themeeting, for mak ing this statement. At the subsequent public meeting, a committee was appointed to canvas the district to induce people to take shares in the ‘ company ’ which it was proposed should take over the Hall as a public enterprise. On this committee fell the duty of making preparations for the opening concert, which took place in Octobor, 1890, Now, I would ask, is it likely that the gentlemen on the committee would have gone to the trouble they did, in making arrangements, etc., that singers and instrumentalists would have come for miles to assist at the entertainment, or that the public themselves would have turned out, en masse, as they did, to witness the concert, had they known at the time that the proceeds, some £3O, if my memory serves me right, were to be pocketed by Mr Cliff ? I should think not ! And I remember the indignation being expressed, amongst others, by Mr E. Tibbits, who was on the committee and worked hard to make the concert a success, and also by Mr M. Nutsford, who conducted the entertainment, when they found that the proceeds, which they had expected to go to a public benefit, went instead to swell Mr Cliff’s bank account ! Mr Nutsford, when writing to persons for help at the concert, and stating the objects of the same, explained to the parties the proprietor’s promise of an instrument for the use of the building, in the event of the public not taking control of the Hall themselves. I notice Mr Cliff in his letter is quite silent as to how the proceeds of the concert have been appropriated, that had a piano been placed in the Hall, this ■would have been a public benefit, as it could be made use of by any of the public, or by the Brass Biyjd, cr by the Show Committee, when they engaged the building. But supposing that I am wrong, and that, as the proprietor states, ‘(failure was not thought of,’ in connection with the project of handing the Hall over to the public. By this Mr Cliff of course implies that those who attended the opening did so under the belief that it was a public affair. Then why on earth has not he made some public explanation as to what has become of the £3O proceeds which is„to all intents and purposes public money ? Your correspondent is also at a loss to know ‘ why I should go outside Paparoa to make such a My desire is to call

public attention to a flagrant injustice. I have never spoken to Mr Cliff personally on tho subject : I consider that is the duty of the committee and not my business. There is another point in Mr Cliff’s letter which needs correction. He states that he erected the Hall ‘at a cost of £300,’ Here the proprietor’s memory has again proved him treacherously. I have preserved the figures given by the two gentlemen who waited on Mr Cliff to ascertain the cost, etc., in order to lay a statement before the public meeting. They gave as the total cost £259 14s 4d. So Mr Cliff’s generosity in offering the building to the settlers, for ;£2so,"is not so great after all. In_ conclusion I may say that in calling attention to this matter lam not prompted by any petty spite, or by a desire to create a commotion merely for the sake of doing so. lam contending for justice and truth.—l am, etc., H. Hook, Paparoa, Paparoa Own Correspondent. June 29th, 1893.