THE LIBERAL ASSOCIATION AND ITS CRITICS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3140, 21 July 1881, Page 2

THE LIBERAL ASSOCIATION AND ITS CRITICS.

[To the Editor of the Daily Tei,egbaph.T"\_ Sib, —" True Liberal " is not satisfied with a civil answer to the copious generalities of his former letter, but, apparently emboldened by the idea that I had conceived it possible for him to be a member of the Association, in spite of the manifest ignorance of its rules or proceedings displayed in his letter, he now proceeds to particulars, and quotes the purport of the rules. To show how he does this is to answer bim in the beet possible way, because it will enable your readers to estimate his reliability. He says, "At the first meeting of the Association rules were adopted, one of which was that the officers should be elected half-yearly, and another was that the members should meet monthly for the consideration of the current political and social topics of the day; at the halfyearly meeting also it was provided by rule that a statement of the accountsoor.--thef r .-- the Association shonld be submitted to the members. Now as a matter of fact not one of the three foregoing statements is correct; and " True Liberal" could not possibly have made them if be had read the rules, or if he bad been a member of the Association. I append, the rules bearing on the question : — Rule IV. ; Officers.—There shall be a President, four Vice-Presidents, an Honorary Secretary, and a Treasurer, who, with eight other members, shall constitute a Committee, all of whom shall be elected annually at the general meeting held during the month of November. Rule XVII., Meetings.—The Committee jff shall have power to call general meetings of the Association at such times and places( as they may deem fit. The President and Secretary shall have power to call mittee meeting in the event of any urgent necessity arising. Rule XVIII., Annual Meeting. — The annual meeting of the Association shall be held in the month of November, when the Committee shall present a report of the proceeding of the Association during the past year, embodying the balance-sheet, duly audited, and a statement of the then present position of tho Association. Possibly this may induce " True Liberal" to come to the conclusion that one ought to know something about a subject before writing to the newspapers proffering information about that subject.—l am, &c, John W. McDougall, Hon. Sec. Liberal Association. July 21, 1881.