Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1893.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4423, 19 May 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1893.

SECOND EDITION

TtmicE has Mr Pownall challenged the llov J. Dukes through our columns to do a certain thing, We , hope he will not repeat the challenge, because to our mind it is one Sugges- . tive ofn blow below the belt, and we ! do! not think Mr Pownall desires to I hit unfairly. What the challenge ; seems to be is this. Mr Dukes is / asked to take up a position which will enable Mr Pownall to bring a \ lawsuit against him. This is an unworthy act on the part of Mr 1 Pownall, We would liko to bring the discussion back to the point ac . which it started, viz., Mr Dukes' ' declaration that a house with an ill reputation should be condemned irrespective of the character of the . applicant who desires a license for it. I Mr Pownall lias not touched this : main issue in his letters, He wants \ a little side show of his own in which it will be all Lombard street to a '. China orange in his favour, Mr Dukes' contention is ut very reasonable one, it impressed us, and possibly it did the publio, as being a point of the first importance. It changed i our own opinion of the situation, and unless Mr Pownall can show it to bo erroneous, it may convince even a licensing committee, This is a proper question to discuss, but lawsuits I We think Mr Pownall, as a matter of good taste, should not suggest them in an amicable controversy in the open columns of a newspaper, more especially when the object of ono would be an estimable clergyman with a slender income, Perhaps Mr Pownall did not mean after all to threaten Mr Dukes, but if he did we trust lie will recojjoisa his mistake and withdraw a menace which should never havo been written. Tug Masterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association appears to be sleeping and passive, while its neighbour, which has its head quarters at Carterton, is awake and active, It needs no prophet to say what the result of this will be, viz,, a strong Show at Carterton next year and a weak one at Masterton, What, may we ask, is being done in Masterton to prepare the new Show Ground for use. Absolutely nothing, we believe, and yet the time when active opera- j tions are necessary is passing by, It I is even said that our local Society is ' so somnolent that the payment of last j years prize monies is still in arrears, j If the Society were a live ose, it i

would be meeting to discuss the Noxi-1 oob Weeds Bill, the Codlin Moth 1 Bill, the Hofsian Fly trouble, and the new question of pork export; but, evidently it is in a condition of suspended animation, Will it wake up, or will it pass imo a stage of torpor from which it cannot be roused. It would be as well if thoso settlers in ihe district who lake an interest in its fate, would look these questions fairly in the face and decide either to stir it up into a progressive condition, or to bury it decently.