The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1896. MR T. E. TAYLOR'S SLANDERS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9330, 3 February 1896, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1896. MR T. E. TAYLOR'S SLANDERS.

When a man of Mr. T. E. Taylor's stamp once throws self-respect to the winds, it is difficult to say where he will stop. Judging by his letter which appears in another column, however, he has now descended about as low as it is possible for him to go. His attacks on the Press newspaper, which began in the very first speech he delivered, we have allowed to pass by unnoticed. His personalities regarding the editorial management of this journal have been treated with the contempt they deserve. He has now descended to publishing the grossest falsehoods regarding subordinate members of our I staff, and this we shall not allow to | pass unchallenged. These gentlemen are not in any way responsible for the comments which have appeared i upon Mr T. E. Taylor's candidature. No doubt he thinks their mouths are closed and that he may slander them with impunity. We knew from his Cathedral square addresses that he was very 7 reckless in his assertions, We snow know him to be a coward to : boot. - ' Mr. T. E. Taylor commenced, it will be remembered, by accusing the reporter who attended his Knights- : town meeting of giving an exag- i gerated account of what he said. < The Mayor of St. Albans, who "i occupied .the chair, and Mr. W. : Jones who asked the question, the : answer to which was the Bubject of dispute, promptly wrote, completely i justifying the aco-racy of our report, i Mr.-Taylor, thus discredited, did not 1 stop here. At his meeting at ; Waltham he said— ■] "He knew members of the Press who ' went to the Savage Club and listened to ( smutty yarns' there every night; talked j what they dared nob talk to women; and * : who went home in a state of drunkenness." The President and several leading members of the Savage Club at once ( wrote, contradicting in the most em- j phatic terms these vile slanders. ] They used language to Mr. Taylor - suoh as we have never before known a gentleman to use* in public to any public man. We have known Mr. Taylor employ similar language to the Premier of New Zealand, but that, as Mr. _____.g would say, is another j story. We may add that we do not i usually allow such strong language to < appear in our columns, but in the in- * stance under notice, considering the < provocation, we thought it amply i justified. i Few men would sit under such i language tamely. Mr. Taylor, in the ' communication we publish in another i column, cringes before the writers of 1 those letters, and before the members f of the.'Savage - Club generally and x humbly apologises to them all, hatinjt

hand. Members of the Savage Club have ; votes, and can influence an election, j So Mr. Taylor now explains that he • wished his remarks to apply solely to members of the Press staff, who, it is true, have votes also,- but in any case are not likely to use them in Mr. Taylor's behalf. Now what foundation has Mr. Taylor for making these disgraceful charges against men who, we venture to say, would be upheld by their ■ brethren throughout New Zealand as a credit to the profession to i which they belong ? Fortunately ! Mr. Taylor supplies us with the ground on which his remarks are I based. Some time ago a contributor Ito our columns wrote a paragraph, which Mr. Taylor quotes, protesting i against some sort of ritual with which ! it is stated the meetings of the Savage | Club are, or used to be, opened. That ritual, it would be seen, contains a kind of exhortation to the members to be always guarded and circumspect in their language. Our contributor urged that it would be an insult to gentlemen j such as those comprising the Savage Club to suppose that they would ever be otherwise than particular in this respect, and he protested against the ritual, therefore, as unnecessary. We venture to say that is the plain obvious meaning of the extract to any man wno approaches it with a mind free from prurience or prejudice. Will it be I believed that Mr. Taylor twists it into lan admission that " members of the ! Press" pass " every night" at the Savage Club " listening to smutty yarns"—no other members of the Club, according to Mr. Taylor, taking part in these unbecoming proceedings— and finally ; conclude by " going home in a state of drunkenness." Mr. Taylor talks of leaving our " insinuations and misrepresentations" —which, by the way, we are not conscious of—to the judgment of the electors in future. We can safely leave him to their judgment in this instance, and we ask them whether we have not proved him to be so utterly reckless and unscrupulous in his assertions as to be quite unworthy of their countenance and support.