LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 620, 6 June 1865, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

*_• The editor is desirous of affording ,every reasonable facility for the. discussion of public subjects, and the criticism Of the acts of public men ; but it must be understood that he is in no way responsible for the opinions expressed by correspondents. Sic, — Cardinal Mazarin used to say "preserve me from my friends, I can take care of my enemies myself," and it is true tbat nothing injures a cause more than injudicious advocacy. There is nothing more damaging than to back up a case, however good it may be, with incorrect statements. I use the word incorrect advisedly. If a man states that which he knows not to be true his assertion is false ; but if he speaks in ignorance of the facts, I can only say that he is incorrect. Q. E. D. in his letter gives strong evidence of ignorance of anything connected with what he writes about. In the. first place, the letter itself was uncalled for; it was "tilting at a windmill " ; there is no opposition. Everybody is perfectly convinced Qf the very self-evident truths which Q. E. D. appears to consider his own peculiar discovery 5 but Q. E. D. has backed up his needless argument with a curiously incorrect amount of misinformation, which; if there .had been any opposition, would have been unfortunate aud probably injurious, but is now»only^ amusing. In the first place, he says the rent of the land of the Apostles is £700. I fancy the most he can say respecting this is that' he has been told so. I have been told the rent myself by three or four gentlemen, any one of whom I should have considered quite likely to be well informed on the subject ; but as they all differed, I came to the conclusion that the amount of rent paid is, as it ought to be, known only to the parties concerned. So hei*e is a loose assertion to begin with. Q. E. D. says the land rented is 220,000 acres. Now I know something of this rim personally ; and, speaking with caution of unsurveyed lancl, and taking a general average of opinions, 33,000 will be eventually found not to be very wide of the mark. Whether the land is 220,000 acres or 33,000 acres does not affect the argumen. as it stands, but it does shew how absurd it is 1 to write in ignorance on important subjects. Then again Q. E. D. says that this unfortunate Apostle's run is good agricultural land. There is one part of the run where I have not been, and I am told that there are about 3,000 acres of good land there ; but for the greater portion of the rest, all I can say is that no man in his senses would attempt to cultivate it; the dry land is thin surface over gravelly subsoil, and a large portion is raupo swamp. I say this not from hearsay, but of my own knowledge. Now I have not written tliis to abuse Q. E. D. ; for neither I nor any other man can difter from his genei'al views, however much lie may have beeu misinformed as to particulars. I only want to point out that in addressing the public a man has only a right to state as facts that which he himself knows to be true ; and that for any one to write on subjects respecting which he has no knowledge, though it may be amusing, is certainly injudicious. With every wish for the success of the good cause which Q. E. D., I believe, has not much injured at present by his support, I am, &c, Fact. Napier, sth June, 1865.

Sir, — The name is now pretty generally known of the gentleman (?) who insulted not only the singers but the audience, and more especially the ladies present, by making a dog howl during the performance of one of the pieces, at the last concert given by the Choral Society. This silly piece of ungentlemanly impertinence has been commented upon as it justly deserves, and should any similar misconduct occur in future, on the part of himself or "any other man," the feeling on the subject is so strong and so general, that the cry of " turn him out" will be promptly acted upon by willing hands, aud the offender will be subjected to very summary ejectment. I am, &c, One op the Audience. Napier, June 3, 1865.

Sir, — I have noticed with pleasure the two letters in your valuable. paper on the subject of Artesian wells. As the Council is meeting now, I hope they will take the subject into consideration.' The most rigid economist could not object to a couple of hundreds being spent in obtaining necessary information on such an important subject. The calculations given by " Aquarius" would lead to the belief that a much smaller sum would suffice ; more especially if it be true, that tlie water will probably be found at between 30 and 40 feet. I miglit suggest that Clive-square would be a good place for the first experiment. A fountain and chinking basin there would not only be useful and ornamental, but it might set an example. that would be quickly followed by the efforts of private enterprise. If the experiment proved snccessful, the value of all the property in Napier would be .considerably enhanced; and the sum risked is so small, I trust that the amount will be voted for the purpose. I don't think any of the country members will vote against it, and surely some of tlie town representatives must be aware that judicious expenditure is one of the elements of sound economy. Besides, it would relieve me from my present unpleasant state of existence, which, though useful, is fatiguing and unsatisfactory. lam quite tired of being the Old Pump. Napier, June 5, 1865. Sir, — Your correspondent '* Q.E.D.," in Saturday's Herald, has a fling at the so-callod Apostles ; but, as usual in these attacks, exaggeration and misrepresentation have been the weapons employed. The Apostles, says the writer, have secured 220,000 acres ! Why, I question if the plains altogether contain tliis number ; at all events, the quantity leased by the terrible twelve is just 14,000 acres — 1400 to each man. The cost to each for necessary improvements is something, like .8800 ; and the result in the shape of an export is likely to be far more beneficial in a public point of view, than if the same land — -held as it is on a somewhat uncertain tenure, and only part of it

being fit for ajgLjtWng purposes — had been devoid/to the purpose of a semistarvation small Vfaim settlement. The cry about tnese .mall settlements is one of the greatest humbugs of the day. Yours, &c, Damper and Mutton. Sir, — In the present extraordinarily low state of the General Governmen. exchequer, when the postal authorities. canno^ afford a sufficient quantity, of gum to make the t stamps adhesive, it would not surprise me if the present Ministry — after having taxed everything to the utmost, and finding after all that their receipts are very small compared with their gigantic expenditure — -should some day take it into their heads to make an attempt to carry out a suggestion of Dean Swift- viz., to place a tax iipon female beauty, and allow every lady to rate ' her own charms. If such a tax.were possible, Hawke's Bay, I think, would be. & very extensive contributor to the general, revenue. Yours, &c, Alphonso. Napier, June 3.