The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1887. GROSS CORRUPTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Issue 2690, 2 September 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1887. GROSS CORRUPTION.

Thb following paragraph appeared in the New Zealand Times of yesterday: " A curious story ia being told and vouched for on good authority in Yoluntcer circles, Recently |an examiuatiou of Volunteer officers was held in Wellington, the greater number of the candidates in which were plucked. Among them were a number of gentlemen from Wanganui, Naturally they were not highly delighted at their failure, and it is freely stated that, entirely owing to the representations of the Wanganui candidate!!, the examination has been considerably altered and made much oasier."

■ indifferent reader will probably peruse the foregoing paragraph with but scant interest and attention, and yet wo are in a position to declare that it relates to perhaps the grossest job that has ever yet been perpetrated by the Government. The facts are few and Bimnle. The examinations of Volunteer offers aw held at Wellington by meads of examination papers—the examining officers being of course ignorant ,of. the authorship of any •parjiiGutyr paper..' At the last exaniwatiqn by far the largest proportion" of'.volunteer officers who attempted to pass failed in so doing. The number of marks which qualify are 60 out of a possible 100, or three fifths of the whole. The officers who Med on the occasion in question were located at Auckland, Wanganui, Duriedhv and elsewhere. All but the Wanganui officers accepted tho decision of the oxamihers in silence, bat not so the Wanganui failures. Why- should thoy? Was apt the member for Wanganui also iheDefenceMinister of the?colony? Was riot the general eleotion approaching? Was not the Minister's seat somewhat insecure ? Suffice.it to say that the Defence Minister was approached, and that he issued instructions that, for this-occasion only,- the maximum of qmlifywg mrh was to ; beridmitoW\instead 0/60. .These .Volunteer officers' were unable to pass a particularly easy examination, and to the fact of it being election time—after the examination had takeu place, and the oxaminers had made their repdrt,' the qualifying marb,y/ere reduced from three-fifths to twbiffcjjis. •These', facts cannot bo gainsayed';-;and : wo. can conceive, no •more corrupt and no more dangerous abuse ofs'official power than this. If; , such a thing happened iu ; .though .indeed it could not possibly happen, there—tJho Under Secretary of State responsible would be utterly: : and irretreviably ruined. Tho,matter •opens up ihe whole ■ subject of'the; ■Defence Department,Jwhich is grossly mismanaged, arid the.sooner a flood of light is let'iii upon it,.and the sooner the relations of tho Minister to the combatant branch of the service are placed upon a paper and decent footing, the better for the honor and safety of the country. On another occasion we will return to this subject and give some details which we think will prove apalling to any person who hw the IwM military knowledge.

Our Carterton contemporary,'referring to Mr Bunny's provincial services, claims that his. Government opened up_the country, notably in ..the Manawatu'dißtViot by the'construction' of roads and bridges. This is quite true, but what the Wairarapa members, of the .old Provincial - ■Cqtmcil'' complained whs that he sold Wairarapa land wholesale to find ways and ineahs ; to open up.the Manowatn, Our con>; . that Mr Bunny, was the' iflbvinjf'tod active 1 - spSit" of that Government.' We were certainly under the impression that the policy of that Government .emanated from the fertile brain of Sir William ffjtiher-. Bert, and that Mr. BuDny's merits were mainly those of a smart exequtiye officer. We recollect that when a vote of ;W.ant of confidence was carried--in the Provincial Council against Mr Bunny and his colleagues,. the intendent came to his rescue, and 'declared.that Mr Bunny's {policy was

lis (Mr JFitzhcrbert's) policy,. arid that to, woulcl not therefore accept his

resignation, Twenty years ago, Mr Bunny was admittedly a capable public man, l>ut the Mr Bunny of to-day, is not the Mr Bunny of twenty years, ago, and it is'no reproach to him that after so long an interval, there should be manifested signs of failing powers, A man who picked a' horse because it was a good one twenty years- ago, would be laughed at, and to select a Parliamentary candidate on,such a. basis, is almost equally unwise. Mr Bunny's friends are right from one 'point of view "in going back twenty' ■years to find bottom. Things .that bapponed twenty years ago, are more easily colored than events, of.;«,laterdate,