W. WHITE AND THE LYTTELTON TIMES.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2490, 24 April 1871, Page 2

W. WHITE AND THE LYTTELTON TIMES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PBES3. Sib, —I find that the requirements of my business will prevent mc from going 0° with this controversy with my dear WilliamYou will understand that while I am writing to newspapers I am neglecting my work; but this is just the reverse with my rnena. A great many men like to see their names in print; and if Mr Bolleeton and Ido so, wo should be very grateful to the Lyttclton Time*; for in one of its late articles I counted our two names about thirty times. I understand he means to keep on ; so much so, that lie haa sent to England for a fresh supply o£ Wβ. Bat before I bid you good bye for the present, I will relate a little anecdote to t your readers, which they will not forget when they see these great displays of! w s; and which, pray believe mc, is perfectly true:—

In the year 186.1 Mr Moorhousewas Superintendent but for some reason found it advisable to resignrrand Mr S. Bealer_wns elected in his stead for the remainder ot his te **m of office. But before that term haa expired, the Lyttelton Times thought it advisable to get Mr Moorhouse back; and anrnments were brought forward to show that the bargain with Mr Bealey was that he should make wav for Mr Moorhouse whenever he should be" ready to take office again. 3£ r Bealev did not understand it in that and'so refused to give it up; and I think there are still a great many people •who will remember when the Lyttelton Times tried to make mc the catspaw by which to thrust Mr Bealey out. When the Waimakariri threatened by its overflow to take charge, and to defeat all our engineering skill 0 of that day, Mr Bealey took the work out of their hands, and gave mc charge of it on the terms of "no cure, no pay!" At this of course our Engineer sent in his resignation; the Executive resigned on account of the conduct of the Superintendent towards the Engineer. Mr Moorhouse was then one of the Executive. The Lyttelton Times party thought Mr Bealey could not form another Government; but with the aid of Mr Rolleston he did form one. I have written so much just to show when and wherefore the Lyttelton Times took such a bitter dislike to Mr Rolleston. At the end of Mr Bealey's term of office, Mr Moorhouse became Superintendent, and again resigned before his term of office had expired. Now, Sir, I think I can show why my dear William bears such hatred towards mc. . We were again in want of a Superintendent. The office was going a-begging* It was offered to Mr C. C. Bowen, who was willing to take it, but did not consider the probable salary and precarious tenure a sufficient recompense for the heavy responsibility. There were seve? ral meetings of some of the leading citizens of Christchurch, convened to suggest a fit person for that office. I was, fortunately or unfortunately, at one of these meetings; whereat Mr John Hall was proposed and supported very strongly, but another proposed Mr Rolleston, and all hands but mine were held up for him. But of course I agreed to work with the majority. The next consideration was how to secure his election. I proposed that we should enlist the services of the Lyttelton Times. My proposal was laughed at and lost. Another proposed to send round the next morning requisitions for Mr Rolleston ■ to stand. The meeting separated at 2 p.m. ] But I thought I would do a bit on my own hook. So I went to the Lyttelton Times and " interviewed" my dear William. I told him that a great many people had agreed that Mr J. Hall should be Superintendent. He stared at mc with the eyes of a wild cat! He said he had not agreed, and should not agree ; he would oppose him " tooth and j nail""! I " let him rip " for about fifteen ! minutes,—putting in a word or two now and then. By this time I thought his bile was at welding heat against Mr Hall, and none left for anyone else. With some timidity I ventured to say— ** How would Rolleston do " ? " Any one," he replied, sooner than John Hall; but he is out of the j way." I said—"send him a telegram!"! He called out to one of his men, " bring mc a telegraph form." The telegram was sent to. Wellington. I proposed that it would be advisable to get out some requisitions at once. My dear William, like a lamb, set two or three hands on writing out requisitions. He supplied mc with six ; and then commenced a leader for the next morning paper. I started back to the merchants' office where we had held our meeting, just as the clock struck four. They were both in. I related to them what I had done, and produced one of the requisitions in William's hand-writing : which tickled them to such an extent, that they both began kicking the coal-scuttle about the room ; and in half-an-hour the six requisitions were sent to six different parts of the province ; and the article came out in the Lyttelton Times next morning, namely, on the 17th day of April, 1868. Well, Sir, I related this affair to some of my best friends—and it is a true saying, " save mc from my friends !"—one of them has told William ; and so in return, you see, the Lyttelton limes is giving mc a hammering. Perhaps it serves mc right; but I thought all was fair in love, war, and elections. So, when your readers see these displays of W's, they will remember what it is for. Your humble servant, William White. P.S. — Lyttelton Times and weekly papers please copy.