THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1573.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1666, 6 December 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1573.

One of the most extraordinary news- . ipaperial productions that we have yet seen emanate from the colonial press comes to us in the shape of a campaign paper which has ju3b been published at Wesfcport. s Extraordinary it is in mere appearance, but much more extraordinary is it in the character of its contents, its code of morals, and its sense of professional etiquette. So thoroughly opposite is it to anything that the Press has produced in this Colony that we are warranted in noticing the spirit, of ita i articles, and condemning it as a publication, rather' than welcoming it; as we naturally would any creditable addition to the representatives of public opinion on the Coast. Not in .the history of the Press on the West Coast has there been published a paper remotely like unto this one, and, instead of finding friends among its contemporaries, it cannot fail to find in; them uncompromising rfoes, unless its 1 ; conductors very materially alter their 1 manners, and their estimate of . thpse whose 1 professional reputation they assault and insult; v > Beginning as they, do by . attributing all sorts of base motives and most discreditable professional practices to the conductors of other journals which ' have for years enjoyed a ; reputation for honesty and fair dealing, they mustr.npt; be surprised if they are, denounced as Ishmaels of the profession, nor can the public- be surprised should, there be, on the part of .the' established Press, the : warmest expressions of condemnation and contempt. In its opening article, we find, for instance,, the egregious assertion that the presence, of liars in the profession of letters, and, their practice of persistent lyiug, is, one of.'.the features of the ins titutinmof. the Press, aud especially as that institution is represented , in' Kelson and .on *tbe : West Coast. "The '•creatvirdAvhb writes it ( culls' from some stray essay some sentences : on ;a subject \yhich he has apparently, made ,. .his ..peculiar studyTT-false- ; hpp^ahd^'startingnwithf the: insinuation i t that; .those .connected^ with-i tha; Press V maketino scruple ito, tell a lie, ".proceeds to Say-r-r ; ;^i// ■■,■":-: ■'■■['i : -'-• '><'■■' A-' 1 -^ 1 '- 1 -^-' \ " W ; e-were struct iwitK astonishment v pon ; reading thej t abo vej- . Jand \ \ Idesiring to contradict the statements of Mr LeighlHuntjiirhmediately referred to such; issues of the^ Nelson arid West Coast as were' to hand; arid were siirop.rised to find that the opinion formed by Mr Hunt was, in; many: instances,' fully ,• borne out by the perusal of those papers ;— the reports; of . ; tlie meetings held by Mr Curtis, as a. candidate for the Superin'tend'ericy" of the Province, being very often, if not always, materially incorrect, strongly in ' ]\|r 'Giir'tis's favor. 'Hope still, remained, that, these, reports were uniritentiphally iyirong ; bub, reference being made to the leading artigles and general tone of the papers, littlo doubt could be entertainfd by an unprejudiced judgo

that lielp had been called for again*", the popular candidate, and liberally bestowed." And so on lie goes in the same strain, aud in some scarcely comprehensive sentence, concluding with the would-be suggestive sentiment — " We shall religiously guard ourselves against the charge of wilful misrepresentation and deliberate falsehood." And not only in this article* but in others, and in a series of party telegrams and correspondence which none but an idiot would ever think, of publishing, there is a repetition of the allegation that proprietors, editors, reporters," and printers have entered into an unholy alliance to do that which the public could at once detect, if it were attempted— to niisreport, misrepresent, and mislead as to matters of fact. The telegrams, for example, though flatly contradicted by the facts, continue reporting; suchistatements as these : — " Greymouth, November 14 The Cobden meeting unanimous in favor of Mr O'Conor! The papers are grossly abusive. Mr Curtis's Westport meeting suppressed;" "Greymouth, November 21. Mr Curtis held a meeeting at Oobden. Want of confidence resolution carried against him. Don't believe reports of papers." "Nelson, November 24. The newspapers more abusive than, ever, aiid suppressing Mr O'Conor's success. Remote slanders are industriously circulated. The tolegrams from the Coast as published are favorable to Mr Curtis !" "Cobden, November 21. The little hian was hanged in effigy yesterday afternoon on his arrival at Cobden, after which he went to Gteyinouth, mustered all his forces and held a meeting last night ; he got his resolution carried by 27 against 17, but that is no criterion to go by— one half of those in his favor were not voters." Upon this pretended basis of facts, but half of which are falsehoods, the lively scribe who has now come forth to enlighten the world I achieves bathos and bosh by saying :-- "Perhaps there never did exist sueh 1 a systematic combination of the Press against any man in the world. When we consider that many of the conductors of these papers are the personal enemies of that gentleman, the matter is somewhat explained. It may also be explained. It may also be stated that this is not the first time that Mr O'Conor has been subjected to this injustice. The writers assume the virtue, if they have it not, that they are fighting for the public good. Thank heaven, that deceit is exposed, and. the people now begin to open their eyes to the cunning conspiracy. We conclude this simple statement by showing to the reader what is meant by fearful odds. In Nelson City alone there are thirteen issues a week against him, and two opposed to him butshowing fair play in their opposition. In Greymouth there are fourteen issues a week furiously personal against him, and no open column forhiin." .. / Thanks to Heaven*! The deceit— the cunning conspiracy — the personal enemies of the gentlemau are exposed. Fudge' and fiddlesticks ! For what possible purpose can people who have nothing to gain or lose by his friendship or enmity, who have never gained or lost, and who never will gain or lose a farthing's worth by him, save their own self-respect by supporting him, so readily convert them-: selves to personal enemies. The assertion is simply trash. But it ; is less of that ridiculous allegation than of the assertion that "in Greymouth there is rid open J column" that we complain. It is a' gratuitous assumption for which there are no. grounds, and could not possibly be any grounds within the knowledge o the writer. And of a piece with it are the statements that Nelson and West .Coastpapers are suppressing items of news arid inventing others. The facts, so far as we have been able to ascertain, have in-; variably been fairly represented, nor could any attempt to the contrary be^ ■successful, if it could for a moment have been ; contemplated. Agents for the j I transmission of telegraphic news owe 'allegiance to their employers and to the •truth, or, departing from the latter, they iwpuld very soon be parted with by the former. ; To the silly scribblings of election clerks and touts, of course, we should give no more notice than .they, deserve, or thau they : receive freni'oHr many respectable contemporaries who have been at,fpne .with iis : onthis subject,, but it is deplorable and highly reprehensible that-, a pretended public organ should commence its career by characterising its established i Contemporaries as the production of men';; spending their midnight oil and exhaust-; ing their energies to trick and to lie to an observant and intelligent public- -

Dr Hector is at present , on a biief visit to Greymouth, having travelled overland from the East C^ast by the Hnrunui aud Teremakau.. .His starting point was Picton, from which ; he proceeded down the East Coast JoCanterbury, his object being to complete" certain of his geological surveys. Among other objects seen upon his journey, jQr Hector speaks of the' Hurunui hot-springs as interesting phenomena, the existence of' which is certainly known' and less a^pre^ ciated. ....' :'...' : The San Francisco* 'mail for' England, Continent of Europe, America, &c., closes here on Monday morning, at 8 o'clock. It proceeds overland to Christchurch to catch the steamer leaving Lyttelton on the 11th inst. A cricket match was played on the Camp Reserve on Thursday between eleven of the Greymou'th* 'Cricket "Club .and- twenty.twb all-comers. Mr A R. Guinness acted as captain of the twenty-two, ■ and Mr Fraser Martin in the same capacity for the eleven. ;The all-comers .went out for 47, and the eleven won the game with a. score of 79.. ( In order that the best eleven may be chosen rto i; play in the return : match : against the Grey" Valley Club, which i 9 to be pkyod on the Camp; Reserve, Greymouth; on ■iSaburday, the; . 13^h jiusti.i it ;has >bsen • decided that »" scratch match would be played upon the ; Gamp -Reserve -this afternoon, at.two o'clock, between the following - elevens :— Messrs Matthews, Guinness, M'Kinney.-Dave. • Twahill;iPirani, M. 'Davitt..Pau],; Heaphy, (Mont-.; gomery, Grut, and Fox, against * Messrs - Martin, Cresswell, Dan Twohill, Pat Twohill, North, Newton,) -Jas' Alurner.l Wjodsj^,. Masters, Bish, and Gleeson. It is re-, quested thafy any of. the playei-3 who cannon make it convenient to attend will procure substitutes, in order, that the wickets 'may be pitched at two p.m. sharp ' The meeting convened by Mr Whits, and which was to have taken place at Rosa on Tuesday evening was unavoidably postponed for a few days. . . ; The.block of land set aside for the purpose of the Westlarid Loan Act is thus described : ;— A block of land not exceeding in the whole two hundred and fifty thousand acres, ■situated and being within the' following boundaries,' vi£,;— On the n'ortnthe' Wai't'aba .(River ; ou' the south the Waitaroha River ; on the eas.fc the boundary of the County j and on the west the oqast line.

Mr F. C. Tabart has been elected chairman of the Ka&ieri Lake Water-race Company. Mr O'Toole of Addison's Flat has taken his dep irturo to Sydney. As an evidence of the permanent value of claims on Addison's Flat the Westport Times mentions that..Mr.j O'Toole aold His one-ninth share in the claim, named after himself, for LSOO. Just about twelve months since a similar share realised ! L 450. Lurline, the winner of the Canterbury Cap race, has been -purchased by Mr Red-; wood for 750 guineas. ; There are thiree nominations for thej vacancy caused in the Borough Council of Hokitika by the resignation of Air Prichard, ' ! viz., Messrs Dalrymple, Hudson, and Learmonth. Three hundred more shares in the Kanieri Water- race Company have been taken, up in Christchurch. ' ' : '•■■•'•■ We ( West Coast Times) observe that the' Gas Company have alieady commenced tO| lay the mains in Stafford street, and it may . therefore be confidently anticipated that: with a very short time, operations will be j ! sufficiently advanced to allow at least a portion of the townto be lit more brilliantly than it is at the present momeut. Some cases of intimidation, says the Charleston Herald, .occurred' during the day . of election and also in the eveniag, one or more of which is likely to prove a subject of niagisturial inquiry. • For ensuring the liberty of the subject in this district it is absolutely necessary that : these attempts of intimidation from fanatical fools should beat once put down by the strong arm of the law, and that Severe examples be made of those found guilty of such disreputable proceedings. The Nelson Examiner Jearns by a telegram from Blenheim that the Yernon run, in the Province of Marlborough, part; of the estate of the late Henry Redwood, Esq., was sold by public auction at Blenheim, recently, by Messrs Fell Brothers, to Mr Charles Redwood, for L 65 ,100. The Westport clergymen are setting a good example. Next Sunday has been fixed upon as hospital Sunday, Throughout ''the district special services will.be held morning and evouiug, and collections made at all the churches in Westport, and also at Addison's, German Terrace, Giles's, Deadman's and Hatters's. ' Two bales of New Zealand tweed (manufactured at Mosgiel, Dunedin) formed a portion of the cargo of the ship J. N. Fleming, which sailed a few days ago from Port Chalmers for London. The tweed was sent to the order of a Glasgow firm.