THE PURLIONED LETTER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3058, 19 November 1888, Page 2

THE PURLIONED LETTER.

h|i Tracing It Home' •»>, \ At tbe4cpUolueion of the Mnstetfou. itpadf- Board meeting on Saturday lasti - the cliairraau "(Mr- W. H. Beetham) said;— I have a few remarks which 1 should like to make. I regret to say. I left a private letter on the .table a{ the Board's" meeting at the end of i)une._ By some means or other it 'Jame into tlio hands of the peojilo who made it public,' *"1 wrote to v Mi' Moore,' from; whom the letter, apologising that I ii'ad left the letter where; it had; got into the wrong-hands, aiulbeen read in public; causing him annoyance.' 11 think the settlers up there have quite enough to annoy; them without , this private letter (which was so evidently • a private one) beiug read before them. I met,Mr K, Meredith in the street' after I saw the letter published,- and I said to him: " What have you done with, my private letter ?" He replied: Your.private letter!live done nothing with your private letter. I saw a, public letter, whiohi: menced: ' I write to you as Chairman' of the Board,' That: was,' read at tlie.vßoard's,'meeting," t ■ I iaid never it at the meeting', .-and. no other member read it,-or saw it. .It waa: addressed to me as a -private letter, and commenced f Dear Beetham," Do ;you. - think, anyone would refer, to your father in such a style as MrMoore didiin the postscript in that letter," if it had. been meant for publication." He still maintained it was a public letter, :

Mr'R, D. Dagg : As a member of this Board I have never failed to attendits meetiug. . I think it is my duty to state publicly thai the' letter was never read at any meeting of this Board,

Mr W; B. Buiok: I nevoi' heard the letter read; '

Mr J. Stuckey: 1 never s(twoi heard anything of the letter, until- ] saw it in print,

Mr R, Wilsons (Clerk to ;the Board) : I would like you to go a little further, Mr Beetham, and state all Mr Meredith said. .Mr Beetham: When I asked Mr R. Meredith about the letter he said "lsawacopy of the letter in Mr Hogg'soffice, and went to the Board's office to see the original. I don't wish to say anything to reflect upon Mr Wilsone. Iweuttothe Board's office and asked Mr Wilsone to let me see the letters, and that was amongst tlie'm.. Mr Wilsone said, 'That's a private letter. Don't take notice of that.'" 1 • ' 1

Mr R. Wilsone (to the Chairman); Mr Mereditlisaid in tlie first place he got the letter from Mr Hogg, and now lie goes to you and says I gave it him. It was impossible for me to show him the letter. • I never saw the letter nor heard it read, and knew nothing, of its contents. He has been telling the most 'deliberate falsehoods that ever came out of any man's lips.

Mr Stuckey: Supposing he .had obtained the letter from Mr Wilson, it shows the character'of the. transaction to go and make itpublio.when he acknowledges : that Mr Wilsone told him it was a private letter. Mr Wilsone: I never told him anything about the letter. Why did lie shift his ground.. He said at the meeting of the Whareama: l ßoad Board that it was Mr Hogg who gave it to him. His statement is a scandalous and deliberate -falsehood, I never saw the 'letter. >.■

Mr Dagg: To prevent the possibility of therccurronce.of auoli a trauaaotion I will move ".That no person bo' allowed to come into the office of the Board except when upon business and that papers and documents be locked up when not in use," Mr Wilsone: Here is the minute book with the minutes of the meeting held oil tno 80th Julie. You willsee that that letter is noteiitered as having beeii read,

"Mr Beetham, referring to the minutes: Thero is a letter hore from Mr Moore to me as chairman of the Board; that was read, That cauie along with the private letter and was what Mr Moore referred to when he said " I havo written to you as chairman of the Board, I will now put Mr Dagg's motion. Mr T.Brown;'l will second it; ' The motion was then put and carried.

Mr Stuckoy; It is very difficult to deal with dishonorable people. It is all very well to say we are goiiig to lock the papers up, but it is not easy to prcvont anypersonsgetting hold of letters when they are so-mindod, Mr Beetham: I can't say positively that I left the private letter on the table, but I had it here. Imay havo dropped it somewhere, but don't think so.

Mr'A. W. Hogg (as the meeting Wfis breaking up) smd; I ucvor sfiw the letter until I saw the copy read by Mr Meredith at the Whareama Road Board meeting, and that was in his own hand writing. The statement that has been made about me taking letters out of the Koad •Board Office is thoroughly untruo. It s quite likely Mr Meredith came up to my office after tho meeting in June, and saw my notes of the letter written by Mr Mooro to tlio Board, but the accusation that 1 took tho privato letter is not true. I never took thfet nor any other leltora from the ofiico of the Board. Mr Wilsone can bear me out that I have never oven asked for a letter to take away.