The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1886. PRESS MISREPRESENTATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2463, 29 November 1886, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1886. PRESS MISREPRESENTATION.

We have known honest and capable publio foen retire from positions of usefulness which did honor ,to themselves, and which were of marked service to the community, simply because they found themselves the. object of persistent and vindiotive press misrepresentation. Men who fill ,worthily public positions do so in a colony like New Zealand at the cost of a good, deal of their time, • and an expenditure df much of their energies, but if they find they are still further | taxed by abuse and dishonest critioisto, l they are apt to free themselves from labors, which under other circumstances ] they might be willing to discharge, i We may regret that such men should be so thin skinned as to. heed the venomed dart oi a literary assassin, but men with self respect m usually

aenßitive to unjust treatment, while at the same time they are above paying that black mail which would secure their immunity from hostile corame.it, The latest victim to be misrepresented after this fashion has been Mr Charles Macquarie, of Alfredton, and a recital of the manner in which lie has 'been "got at/' may prove to be an interesting illustration of the malpractices to which we have referred, and may assist is rousing public opinion to denounce them. In the early part of this month our local contemporary put on his his war-paint, and, as it were, " went" for Mr Charles Macquarie. Quoting the article which was devoted to that gentleman, our contemporary said" He (Mr Charles Macqnarie) "called a sort of hole and corner meet"ing in the Eketahuna School-house "for the purpose of denouncing the " County Council, and practically sua"pending the Counties Act in the " Alfredton Biding." In this' extract there is a distinotj' and definite, charge mad# by our contempor ary against Mr Charles Macquarie which cannot well be misconstrued. Probably many of our readers may not be surprised to learn that Mr Charles Macquarrie did not call the meeting referred to and that his presence at it somewhat resembled the appearance of the well-know fly in the spider's parlor. On this occasion the rol£ of spider was filled admirably by a well known Eketahuna resident, who is reputed to be the "own correspondent" of our contemporary. The Eketahuna spider wrote to Mr Chas. Macquarie, the Alfredton fly, asking him blandly to come over with his friends to Eketahuna, and talk over county matters with the settlers there, he, the Eketahuna spider, arranging to convene a meeting to suit the, convenience of Mr Macquarie. The fly, in the innocence of his heart, accepted the invitation went to Eketahuna, and was well re. ceived in the spider's parlor, which we beileve was the local school room, and was encouraged to express his views on the County question. The Eketahuna spider then, it would appear, sent a singularly distorted and untruthful report of what the poor fly had said at the meeting to his big brother, our local contemporary in Masterton. He made him, Mr Macquarie, say words which he never uttered and propose motions which bo nevor moved. The Masterton spider, on receipt of the mangled remains of the fly proceeded to do his part to dish them up by throwing in 4 little seasoning in the way of attributing to the poor fly improper and interested motives, What chance had a poor, honest country fly in such company but to become a meal for the spiders! We do not hesitate to refer to this glaring instance of preßs persecution because we hold documentary evidence which absolutely proves that the Eketahuna meeting was convened by the Eketahuna resident to whom we have referred and that the statements made with respect to Mr Charles Macquarrie were absolutely false. It ia for our contemporary or for his Eketahuna correspondent to explain how such manifest false statements came to be published, It is something monstrous that men holding . a public position in this district should be subjected to apparently deliberate and malevolent misrepresentation, We regard the manner in which Mr Charles .Macquarrie has beeu treated in this matter as afc outrage which ought not to be permitted in a civilised community, Apparently he was trapped into attending a meeting at Eketahuna, and when ho in good faith went there, was misreported, misrepresented, and abused. No public man in the community is safe if journalistic outrages like this are allowed to pass unchallenged, If our local contemporary has been misled or deceived by his Eketahuna correspondent or any other interested person we trust he will lose no time in making amends to Mr Charles Macqaurrie for the false and calumnious statements which he has published at his expense,