AKAROA ELECTION.

Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 3216, 21 December 1875, Page 3

AKAROA ELECTION.

TO THB HDJTOR OF T»B PBESS. S^— Mr Montgomery has -written to the local journals complaining that .on th&tfoxnination day the returning officer did mit him jto make two speeches to my one, and in the report of the day's proceedings he isjrepresented as haying charged mc with making personal attacks upon him. This is utterly contrary to facts, and no one knows this better than Mi Montgomery himself. In truth, it ie I who ; might find fault with Mr Montgomery's constant habit of caHing hie opponent hard names. It haa been my misfortune daring this political contest either not to have been reported at all or to hare been misreported by persons incompeteat to fill the office of reporters. On that ground, and also for the reasonthat I have hitherto refrained from using your columns for the' purpose of "meeting certain strictures passed upon mc by yourself and Mr Montgomery, will you kindly allow mc a little space to touch upon what I said at Akaroa last Saturday -in replication to these strictures. What I stated at my meeting at Little River on the subject of the/.Board of Education's extravagance and mismanagement, was that education in the province had.cost in a given year ; some £90,000, which had been exceeded by r eome £16,000. These figures were household words in the Provincial Council, and when, at Little River, I: appealed to Mr i Buchanan, M.P.0., he quite concurred with i mc. To this statement Mr Montgomery applied ugly words, and hinted in hie sinister, sombre manner of speech, that his opponent I was making, in » deliberate manner, statements diametrically opposed to the truth, <fee, kc. I then made it my business to 1 examine official records, in order to find out into what depth of degradation I had unconsciously plunged myself, J got the following figures, which I brought put publicly, at the came time, I have no doubt, giving myself rope enough with which to be hanged by Mr Montgomery—£Bo,2Bs had been the cost of- education daring nine- months ended March, 1875, but of which were engagements entered into amounting to £17,660, and an overdraft for maintenance of £8,548. There was besides upon record a letter from Mr Chairman Inglis, dated January 22nd, 1875, asking that a special warrant be issued at once for a further sum of nearly £8000 "to meet the pressing wants of education for additions, alterations, &c, to present school buildings, together with contingencies." This amount was refused. A large majority in the Council had been of opinion that the Board had been extravagant and somewhat irresponsible, and the representatives for the Peninsula, Messrs Westenra. Buchanan, and myself, did all they could to oust the Montgomery Administration, because in this matter, as weU as in the question of furnishing country Road Boards with funds, Mr Montgomery had clearly shown that he was, doing all he could for the cities and ignoring* country districts. Referring to the Education Board's loose way of doing things, I instanced the Lytt el ton school, where several thousand pounds had been spent on erecting buildings on land to which they had no title. My authority for the statement was information given mc by the Minister of Education before leaving town, but since my return I have learned that a title for the lite has been discovered some few days ago in the Government Buildings. I did not say that the Board had spent £1530 on a schoolmaster's dwelling house at Timaru, but that it had sanctioned £1350 for the purpose. I also referred to the fact that the legal boundaries of educational districts, as gazetted, had, in many cases, been so wretchedly described as to preclude the education collectors from the possibility of recovering their rates. While Mr Montgomery had gone about stumping the country with the cry that more money had been received by the Peninsula while he was in office than before or since, I positively denied the correctness of that statement, calling upon the Road Boards to prove whether, in many cases, the monies voted to them had not been allowed to lapse, and instancing the £1500 voted for roads near Akaroa and Okain's Bay, £1075 of which amount the Montgomery Government had retained. Tet, when that Government was in office the land revenue had been greater than before or since, the returns for the year endiug September,. 1874, showing £632,000 as against £214,000 for the year ending Sept., 1875. The cry has been raised that being a Catholio I was in favor of sectarianism in schools. The fact of my children never having attended any schools but Government echools would speak for itself. I hope you will find room for this letter —other matters which have been carefully left out by the reporters I might touch upon, but I will refrain. The sudden political conversion of Messrs Buchanan and Westenra to anti-Montgomeric views, and the mess made by the Montgomery administration of the Lake Ellesmere drainage scheme are two of .the most notorious..: The reports were sent by two of my opponent's most active canvassers, and zeal for their favorite Candidate might perhaps naturally replace ; professional skill to which they lay no claim. Suj?_pressio veri, suggestio falsi, seems to be the motto on my opponent's side. Yours, &c, "Walter H. Pilliet. Christchurch, December 20th.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE PEESS. '. Sik—As M r Pilliet made some very erroneous. i statements affecting mc on the hustings, and ■ ias T could -not''then, obtain permission to reply, I beg you will allow mc space in your columns for what I think will be considered • ia complete refutation of all he advanced, to :my prejudice. ■ ' " * '" ""'-j. i !He stated—" With'reference Jo figures lie :: 'admitted that he quoted them in. a"loose, sort of way ; tie admitted that he had stated that the Board of Education in i one given' year had spent £90,000, besides an overdraft of £161000." V . '.' "But from following facts from the audit office he :found thatthe exact figures for nine months ending March, 1875, were £80,000, besides i :an_overdraft,of £8548." ~-.-. ; \ I- thought thia matter required clearing up, and I wrote to the auditor enquiring ■whether such alleged " facts" Tiiad; been ' from tie office, and received the I loUowing reply :— ... • ." Provincial Audit Office* : i i - --''"'■- - "December 20th, 1875, j"-W.- Montgomery; Esq. , • "JDear ; tSirj-r-No "concwnißg the provincial accounts cotild emanate from ; this-.office inconsistent with any official re- ," bottwhich'was laid upon, the table, of the : Provincial Odancil at ita last session. That i repoitidietinctly ; shows that there was an ' excess of fxpenditure. oyer the vote, for-the maintenance of Bchobls and the departmental contingencies amounting to £8548 r frsrlM. .;:*«?; -..:■<'>■ ■'■ '--'•"• ■'''■ t ■ " If, however, the whole expenditure upon ' edacationtj iucluding the Normal school and the various" buiidingSrbe classed together.it : Will be seen that the wotesiof the Provincial Council for the general purposes of edocation k iavenbt been exceedjad. ! ' ; i] j The undet edoc»tion:»were £72,434 f tptib&i nine months ending the 31et March ; last, _and_..the^eatoenditare—-£62,€2sj,—thus s leaving a credit bateittea&r|£g6oß. ! (" I have tig* hosdr to *fe, u&tt X f *our ' *■*>/-, , f { <g--* «JOHN OEIdEiIEB, *Y£ ■ I t " ProvinciiSt^Auditor." \ This letter corroborates therßtatement I i on the S7th ; and ehould seftte the questim—the .Pro* , vincial-ABditor the highest -Mr ; . Pilliet cannot the matter, i or he would never have'qiiofed the following t: letter of the SedreMy-of; Ihe !s&td, pf-Kdo.----b ic|iti«h January WF&r* v > I I« Board ■ idf SB&aaWffi'W. fti&ZfltnmL I January Pro-

L I hare, to r felL. Jhe - oonalietalimi y °° r . J 30 ™*" 1 * which will be required to meet tb* P™ ! # m S • waoteof Educational district* lor cdi^ lollo - --l alteretronft.and report to ifee preeeot lebv" 01 - baildißge. 7 Theeetimeteis #7415 ISs 7d f and i lam to inform jya. that tbe Board have ewefull j considered the refujrements ef ftbe ■ several districts, and think teat this araotrni ia needed si the present time. It does not include sums required for new schools, the consideration of which they hare postponed until the meeting of the Provincial ConnciL '■ The Board proposes that a special warrant should issuofromMβ Honor the Superintendent for the sum named, with additional amount for £500 for contingencies. - fi' 1 1 hare the honor to be, * p "'• Tour obedient servant, J ; <U F. Maeswabino, ■ •*■« Secretary.'" i After reading this letter, he said—" If yon ! add this to the £8000, it makes £16,000." The audience was led to believe that the Board obtained the money and spent it, when the. iacte are, that the money was asked for, and wae refnsed by the Government, so that- this: £7415 was a myth, as the letter of the Provincial Secretary, of the 17th 1 February, 187&, will show. The following is a copy:— . "To the Chairman of the Board of "Education. " Provincial Secretary's Office, " Christchnrcb, Canterbury, N.Z, '• February 17th, 1875. " Sir,—ln reference -to the letter from the secretary to the Board, dated January 22nd, in which the Government are informed-that the sum of £7415 5s 7d is required fox school buildings, &c, and £500 for contingencies, I have the honor to inform yon that, understanding from yon at an interview between the Government and yourself that, though the works named by the Board are urgently needed at once, yet they are not absolutely required for a month or two, and that no pledge in regard to them basbeen made by the Board, the Government considers that, notwithstanding any inconveniences which may occur in consequence of delay in proceeding with these works, they would not be justified in authorising so large an expenditure beyond the appropriation co short a time before the meeting of the Provincial Council, and they further consider that in all probability the price of labor and material will be much lower two months hence than it is at present, whereby a considerable saving may be made. "The Provincial Council will meet in the beginning.of April, when. the. above sum of £7415 5s 7d will be included in the Appropriation Bill, which will be submitted to the cansideration of the Council. "In reference to the special warrant for £500, which the Board state they require for contingencies, I have the honor to inform you that his Honor the Superintendent will be advised to issue such warrant. " I have the honor to be, sir, " Yonr obedient servant, " Edwabd Jollie, " Provincial Secretary." So that, so far from the Government, of which I was a member, sanctioning an overdraft on account of school buildings they absolutely refused. But these buildings were provided for in the estimates of the current year, and the amount voted by the Provincial Council without demur. As an instance of the maladministration of the Board he accused it of " spending £7000 or £8000 on building a school on another man's land in Lyttelton." This would have been rather a serious matter for the Board if it had been a fact, but, unfortunately for Mr Pilliet, it is a fiction. The school in Lyttelton is built on what was once a reserve for a market place, but was conveyed to the Superintendent for school purposes by Crown grant, under the seal of the Governor, dated 7th November, 1872. I went to the Government buildings to-day, and examined the deed myself. Mr Pilliet further stated that " out of a provincial grant of £1500 for road making, the Montgomery Government withheld £825 from this grant, while they had a million and a half in their chest." Now, as far as I know, there never were any special grants for roads withheld, but, on the contrary, progress payments on contracts were duly provided for. The money was always ready to be paid as the work progressed, but the Government very properly refused to pay, I think £250, for a special work to a certain Road Board, until the contract should be let. There never was a million and a half in the chest, nor anything like a million. I am asking, perhaps, too much of your space. I regret that it is necessary for mc to do so. I shall not go through the other matters on which my opponent touched. I have given samples of his accuracy. His remarks were all personal, and evidently intended to injure mc in the opinion of the audience, of whose intelligence he must have formed a very low estimate. I think more highly of the electors of Bank's Peninsula than he seems to have done, and I venture to say that he will find by experience before many days, that a greater regard for accuracy on his part would not have been out of place. . Youra, &c, . W. MONTGOMBKY. Christchurch, Dec. 20th, 1875.