THE BOROUGH COUNCIL AND THE UNEMPLOYED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7829, 23 June 1909, Page 4

THE BOROUGH COUNCIL AND THE UNEMPLOYED.

To the Editor. ■ Sir, —My recent letter on the Borough Council appears to haVe offended someone, and "One Who Was Present attempts to defend Councillor Stewart against what he calls my attack on that gentleman, but which was nothing more than legitimate criticism. In doing so, m your issue of the 20th instant, he states that the Council have some arrangement by virtue of which a citation to the forthcoming sitting of the Arbitration Court was unnecessary. I am somewhat sceptical on this point, since, if "One Who Was Present" be correct, why did the matter require to be held over till the next meeting ? No one to whom I have spoken has knowledge of any such arrangement, and for the enlightenment of outsiders "One Who Was Present" might be good enough to inform your readers of the nature of this com"One Who Was Present" explains that Councillor Stewart's interjection was merely a joke. It may have been so to him (Councillor Stewart), but there are those who did not look upon it as such; and as one of those I can only say that Councillor Stewart is not so successful as a joker as he was as a farmer, possibly because while m the latter profession he was assisted towards success by the labours of his servants, while m the role of joker he is single-handed. In failing to comment on that part of my letter which referred to the rate of wages payable by the Council for relief work, "One Who Was Present" supplies proof that he is more anxious |to present Councillor Stewart m a favourable light than to discuss matters of more importance; but he will perhaps give the public his views on this point of wages when he acquaints them with the nature of the arrangement to which he says the Council is a party. "One Who Was Present" professes contempt for anonymous letters which contain adverse personal references, but he has no hesitation m veiling his own identity under a nom-de-plume when engaged n the process known as "white-washing." Admirable consistency ! Let "One Who Was Present" concern himself not as to the identity of the writer, but as to the accuracy or otherwise of the statements made m my recent letter. If he is actually "one who was present" at the Council meeting referred to, he should experience no difficulty m dealing with letters from uninformed outsiders. I await his further reply with interest. I SCRUTATOR. Ashburton, June 22, 1909.