OUR LETTER BOX.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5581, 29 July 1910, Page 2

OUR LETTER BOX.

(W» are not responsiblo for opinion, „ pressed by correspondents.) RAILWAY MATTERS. (To tke Editor.) Sir,-I noted Mr Fred Armita« c ' B letter of last week on nbov o a»« • tors, which was couched in teiapw~ ate and courteous terms, but i must remind him that we had olh«t evidence besides Mr Fletcher's letter of eutii-c misrepresentation t>y jj Stewart, of the Taur a nga' ConferenJ and the Tauranga League's attitude in the shape of reports of' his remarks at the meeting of the Katikali League, published in « 0 Wthan three newspapers, for all which he is known to u ct as -'Q^-. correspondent" at Katikati. ■ Turning to Mr Stewart's letw published in your issue of. \V«W day last, it i» ro a lly amusing t soo how indicant lie waxes, YilJi according to his showing, ho & »j, victim of '•a.hsolulely false" state-* nunits, and "misrepresentations," j,,. stead of the Tauranga League [' seems to expect some sort of apol* ogy from the Tauranga League for their resolution censuring him f 0 ! misrepresenting the doings of th ! s Taurangu Conference. «ud the attituT ot the Tauraiig'aj'lvpugw. I cow assuj Mr Stewart he is vei-y unlikely to i«+ anything but further Icensure f^ anybody who knows the. truth about the above matters, unless he lap re I pared to prove that both the foU lowing extracts from, press reports of his own sayings a t ti lu KaUlaiti meeting are grossly incorrect a eircuinstunce which, judging'f^ lus known cam»octopn wit^' theij^. l>crs c«mocrn«l, scorns highly probable. In the Bay of Plenty Times o t June 24, Mr Stewart is represented to have said :— ; "Why ,dirl this TaurnJOga? iJeama urge tho construction down tho coast to Opotiki, turning their •backs mi- V'arhi •? The \\\%\ connection having heon s!uipl v ■introduced us a bliud.". • And again :— ""'lt was. further, in. his opi^ca), « piece of pi-esunmtion for two or three gentlemen vX Tauranga to expect tho 'Audln.ml Railways I/eague to be in. corporaled with Uwin as .. ■minor body."• The statement in the first of theio two extracts is a deliberate insult Uj the seven 'other fi'dntletoiou "\\iit)f fp, pother with l\lr Stewart, comprisod, the Railway Confei'enct which met in Tauranga on June 8, ami ravo seiittad Waihi, Katikaiti, l\vuranpi Te Puke, and Taneatua. rllm statement in the second extract is shown to be vabso^ut^l.y MKso 'by t'hft already two or three times puluinhed platform of the(. Tauiianga Lo^uo on tlve fed(>ratiow 'question. i H scorns, perhaps, sui)erf\uou« to ask you to publish the second a, tract, bein,g one frdm the WbHiJ Daily Telegraph o f June 21 under the ,he.aidi,ng; "Kiatikati R a i)vray , Le*Siio." This represent.^ Mr Staved to have said :— '■'Why (did thas "TtauraTTß'a Len'SUa ; urge the construction lo Open • tiki. Tho Opotiki league w^ \ ported the Rotorua comwe. ', tion, quotjing the rescS'jtion' s passed at Tauranga Railway ' League meeting, held on June 8, ndvocathifl: construction down the, const, Waihi connection fc. ing simply introduced as R blind, as a herring thrown ac-oss our pativ. It was furth. or a piece of presumption Jor two or three gentleman" etc, etc. The only reason I desire thissec ond extract .to appear is Ijfecauw the insulting charge of duplicity against all tho other delegates to the conference who. except Mr Stewart, unanimously supported theW lution, passed a t Taurang.a on June' 8. is even more grossly made tfuuf tV i"° Port suPP««i ta the Tto« Tf Mi' Stuart can explain S tho insults ond misrepresentaS nTh i".^ ra^. it will-Si 5 - "^..Railway. League, and certain. - 1> Tauranga has ], y no m s £ monopoly thereof. j n th is Sn«? t«o«.lean conclude ith Z SE \ able gift ot introspection whioh tho i Tam:^^" 1^I^lo^^ | J«iy so. iojo." ARNOIt D, WAmi;