The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1876.

Dunstan Times, Issue 765, 15 December 1876, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1876.

Beneath the rule of men ENTiiIEtY Wst ihe pKn 'is mightier than the -SWORD.

Circumstances change peoples’ opinions in a most wonderful manner as is evidenced by a late issue of the Daily Times. Since onr coritempo-, rary has been appointed by bis Excellency the Governor “ The newspaper for all public notifications ” it appears' to have made the discovery, notwith-. standing all that it once said in its favor, that there existed grave corruptions in Provincialism. It is'really refreshing to find that our contempo-. rary no longer sees through jaundiced spectacles, but casts off former prejudices and writes about things as they really are. Anybody who reads t’he leader in the issue of the sth instant cannot come to any other conclusion but that bad and corrupt as ’Provincial Governments were said to be, re- ■ velations show them to have been a 1 great deal worse. The case ot Mr Proudfoot is without precedent, and every liberal minded person may now take heart and congratulate themselves upon the fact that, they are now done with the Macs and the Donalds, and Englishmen and Irishmen have equally fair play with the Scotchmen. Our contemporary’s columns disclose the. fact that Mr David Proudfoot purchased land at a Goa erimeut land sale in May last, and notwithstanding that the conditions were payment of the balance of the purchase money within one month not one farthing had he paid thus getting the use of the public money for seven months without any interest; and it also appears that this precious, railway contractor actually had the temerity to refuse payment, and it was only under a threat hy the Hon. George M‘ enn to sell at the purchaser’s risk, that Mr Proudfoot was induced to shell Out. The Daily Times also hints that whatever the Old Identity element wanted whenever it secured a vote it was obtained. and the applicants went away rejoicing, and this is how the up-oountify districts have been robbed and plundered and their revenues expended upon Taieri and Tokomairiro farmers. In a l l probability the case of Mr David Proudfoot is by no means an isolated upon, and it is hard to say how many Provincial favorites have grown tat and kicked upon public plunder. Happy day is it for up-countvv districts, more especially the goldfields, that Provincialism is no more, and that with the County elections its very name will have disappeared for ever, such rottenness and corruption never before had existence in an English speaking community, and no form of government ever covered itself with such infamy or had such an ignominious end. Even its chief supporter has turned round upon it, pretty satisfactory evj. dencethat it must have been bad indeed.