NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Press, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1 June 1861, Page 5

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

C. D. Tl's. letter rf|oiU.d.be, a(Jilrcn»Cvl : to.thc},Voliyi«,qoi3e > i.o)r.ito., the Government. . To the Editor of" The Pres^ ,, ... ;.> . Chriutchurch, 2sth May llfel*' , , ' : Sir, - The first number of your paper, published to-doyl, comaiftf' 1 ■ $i funis" a startling inis-sUtcncnt of fort/whlch* t am : ''I , enabled to ronlradiet from my own knowledge. , .'s->!' Tn your fourth leading article headed,' , ' The late Session of 'the 1 ' >^ J'rovinoial Qouncil," arid in the first column ofipage three,Uhe following words occur:—' ' - i , • >■, \ " When Mr. FitsGcrald stood for Akaroa it became necessary to ■ '" hurry matters in the Council. When the writ Was returned tho game was'up. The writ was returned on Friday" morning, and < I,f the, Proclamation prorguiug the Council was instantly issucd,.V> -■,:.« - > In the third coluhui of your 6ixth pige, there is an ad'dreft !« tn • i the Electors of Akaroa" signed by •' James Rd»?ardjl 7 ittG«Uld,' ,|P f ,v -* of which the following words form a portion :-i-i ■ ; "!, ■ ) tir'«/ k t "The writ returning mc your member,'frightened Htt'f-.' 1 Honor out of his proprietary, and occasioned the -intwntatieouft '* prorogation of the Council. lam sorry therefore,! am tfaubJdUo J- : ' ?> serve'you, though; my modesty compels ine to believe (Hie 1 . * «'i*. Honor's tears exaggerated the danger of my , opjposttiott»"<, .•-." nil On the Friday mentioned, I was sitting,on the Bench in'the ! ; Resident Mastrate's Court, together with Messrs J. BealeyantlG ," " ; L. Lee. Mr. Moorhouso being in the Chair. During the siting which lasted, from half past eleven .till nearly two oMockj at; 5 ' about one o'clock to. the best of my reccollcction,—a printed Cazette was hftn|cd to our Chairman. After removing the wrapper,. : , j he passed this*ddenment to lu-j brother Miigiktratce. for person!. It- , • consisted of proroguing the Council IJUave-' ■ ■<', since been informed that other ,;j distributed about Chrktchurch certninJy two, hoursNbeforVr. <ju this particular copy having been the SnptrinjenJentfol , r ; trans>mis!,jon to the Speaker, Air. Bovren, in order that .that gentle- • . man might be spared the needles,''trouble of coming into,tqyvn» t , ,-, t ; About a quarter of an hour after the delivery of that copy of the pnzctte to our Chairman, another ulocunient wus brought to him by a messenger > His Hunor opcued and pereued it, and then handed it also to us for information. It was the wxitforiAltatafvlC returned by Mr. Watson, the proper olßcer, with an endorsement to the effect that Mr. FitzOerald had been duly elected. " '" ~ I (ceUure, Sir, thjt both you and Mr, FitzGerald. {if inded yjjuy « benOtoiuJandUheHame) will bo too glad to support the motio' '" which you have chosen,—" Nihil utilequodnon honestum/—by retracting ilie mis-statement Into which ignorance of "the* teal estate of things'hus betraed you. ' ' 5 •-"'*■**■ •> , , X remain, Sir, Your very Obedient' Servant, H O , WAKEFIBI.d.' f - Wti readily jmblishMp. Wnkolieids letter, J-* .tlicfuctjhe £or.ti<:ulariee4 lias little to do with our area"** ' '* nient.. Wofliad a Very strong reiwori for that foilowrd the receipt of Iho wriK"" Whetlicrit d|(l or not the fact vpmainp the Session of tlje Council wast most ijidqqciitlyJiuiTiod an'tl most discourteously 'concluded. ' VVe do riot know 3 wl'utt, Mr. FitzGerald ,nay think; but wo arc not at alt surprised at his eaying. what luis,,bceujn eywy -, „ mouth, that the eh.inecof lm sitting in tlioUdinicil " was the occasion of these unus-ual and discKslitable » ' I transactions.

EDITORIAL DELICACY OP LANGUAGE. To the Editor of " Tue Press." " He is a traitor to the State, and deserves to be brand ed as an unprincipled scoundrel." Sir, —The quotation above given form the concluding words of a paragraph in th leading article of " The Ly ttelton Times' of Wednesday. The language is rathe coarse, and if it is applied, as I presume th< wiiter intended it should be applied, it will I think bo thought very inappropriate am offensive. The article in question is devoted to "The Press" and its conductor, am the words are to be applied to that gentle man, who is "the unprincipled scoundrel' alluded to. Now, Sir, I have no means of knowing how far the Editor of "The Lytteltoi Times" is a judge of scoundrelism, but: am ready to admit that there has been n< email amount of the article current in poli tical circles during the last three years, ant it ia not improbable that the Editor has become pretty knowing about it. Indeed there are not a few who believe the whole arrangement of the Railway scheme to have been as neat a spoeimen of scoundrelism nt could well have been concocted. Still, ii the delicate editor of the "Times" had nol taught mc the use of that wor,d," 1 should scarcely have ventured to apply so gross an appellation to the mis-representa-tion, trickery, and cajolery, by which this project, so certain to entail disaster on the Province, has been brought to its present state j though now he has started the word, I begin to perceive its appropriateness. Let us see how it will apply. What is the epithet that should be given to the cooked accounts presented as evidence before the Provincial Council, which that sapient body swallowed as turkeys swallow force-meat balls? What, again, is the epithet which should bo applied to the array of figures and calculations exhibited before tho legislature by the late Treasurer, which he is reported to have laughed at out of the Council,and concerning which he repeatedly expressed his utter unbelief, though in more measured langnago,before the Council; he simply said that he gave the figures as calculations, not as representing hie own opinions? What is the proper term foi such a fraud as that, Mr. Editor, of "The Lyttclton Times"! What designation should be applied to a Government which knew that Messrs. Smith & Knight had declined the contract tefore the Loan Bili was passed and yet kept the fact back from the Provincial Council? Or, what should be said of the man who, with the knowledge that the contractors had abandoned the job, succeeded in gaining the Governor's assent to the Loan Bill,, oh tho representation that those very contractors were ready to take a lease of the lino at Mr. Baynes's estimate of profit for the first year, — namely, £24,000 α-year. Or, once more, what is the term you would apply to men whose acts and votes are tainted with direct interest in this Railway job! Sir, I begin to think that the Editor ol v The Lyttelton Times ,, has, after all, though his own application of the term was to an hypothetical case, hit upon the right word. There is scoundrel ism going on in high places, and we look to you to expose it. Between a depraved and indifferent press, scoundrelisnt, or something near akin to it has been riding rampant amongst us. I would fain hope that, through your instrumentality, its days are numbered. Yours, &c, T. S. May 30,1861.