A JOVIAL COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Issue 5073, 9 June 1879, Page 2

A JOVIAL COUNCIL.

TO THB EDITOR.

Sir, —In your issue of Saturday, under the above heading, I notice that you copy from the ' Clutha Leader' the items of an account for champagne, etc., paid by the Balclutha Borough Council to Mr John Dunne. The remarks you make on this account I have no intsntion of commenting on, as they were, no doubt, penned in ignorance of the cause which induced this seeming extravagance; and my only purpose in inditing this letter is to inform you, and those among your readers who may take any interest in > so trivial a matter, that' this expenditure was incurred on the occasion of the Governor's visit to our township, and was, and it, approved by every citizen with whom the writer has had an opportunity of conversing. The misfor*

tunes we have lately suffered, oni which yott remark upon, are aclually to blame for this expenditure, :as otherwise the Governor would have been allowed to go on hiß way rejoicing after listening to a few trite expressions of welcome nnd loyalty. But thi* prno'.ical Corporation had no intention or letting Sir Hercules off bo lightly. # They have had other opportunities of bearing testimony to the desirability of a Governor in his ornamental capacity, and they determined to embrace this favorable occasion of affording our latest gubernatorial dignity an opportunity to demonstrate his utility. They consequently drove him round tho t;wti, pointing out the comparatively vast expenditure the citizens were being put to in getting their streets in order. Then they t*>ok him to view the ruina of the bridge, and requested him to ute Mb influence iu having it re-erected, with as little delay M possible. This he promised to do, as ho recognised its necessity—not only locally", but as an important link in the trunk road between Dunedin and Inveroargill. After this Satinfaatory assurance he was invited to partake of th» "glass of wine" which has called forth this explanation. The bad taste —to give it no harsher term -shown by the editor of the local organ in ptibiJuhing the account In extern > withouta wori of explanation flan assuredly not be attributett to fcis being a menlbef of the 1.0. G.T., without .ißting a most undeserved slor upon a very worthy body; in fact, m exasperated one or two of the principal Ideal members at his action that they purpose sending in their resignations sooner than remaining fellow members with himself. Those who km*f him are not slow to Bay that had the account' been sent in by any other hotel-keeper, no undue prominence would have been accorded to it in the ' Clutha Leader,' nor would tho attention of a journal of standing such as the STAR have be«n directed to it, as I cannot for a moment suppose that the reports in the local paper of the doings of our borough councillors are of sufficient importance to rivet the unaided attention of the editor o£ a leading Dunedin daily. ;fi conclusion I would rejoice to learn that a lew of his fellow-citizens had digested the following apothegm, which was happily placed in your issue of Saturday :—"Revenge is a momentary triumph, of which the satisfaction dies at once, and is succeeded by remorse ; whereas forgiveness, which is the noblest of all revenge, entails a perpetual pleasure."—l am, etc » Ratepayer. Balclutha, June 9.