Hewke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 19,1895. WANTED.—AN EXPLANATION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9892, 19 January 1895, Page 2

Hewke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1895. WANTED.— AN EXPLANATION.

Here Is a little pnzzle. JL.aet year, when the Premier was herd, he asked the Press Association's agent) what he Was going to send away about Ills speech. The agent replied that he was inatrneted to eend from 1500 to 2000 words. Mr Seddon denounced the association', and the Government] organ tbo next evening followed salt. Tha agent also received a memorandum stating that arrangements had been made to send a fnll report to the Government organs, the New Zealand Times and the Lyttelton Times, and he was requested not to send to those papers. He followed Instructions. An excellent summary of about a oolumn and a half was prepared for the association by Mr T. Morrison, who waa specially engaged. The " special ll report was about a third of a column, a dreadful " hash " of the speech, and aboab a third of it was devoted to an atbaok on the Herald and the Press Association. The association's message had to be sent to the head office at Wellington, for the uso of the evenlog papers there. The N.Z, Times got it and printed it. Not so the unlucky Lyttelton Times, which came out with its small mangled reporh, while the same morning its contemporary, the Cbrlstohurch Preis, published the association's report. A furious urgent telegram to the association's agent here came early in the morning, and an explanation was forwarded. The result was a meek " Please send your reports in future nuder any circumstanoes," and the publication of the association's report in the Times a day after Id appeared in the Press. The association also instructed its agent la future not to give any information to Ministers as to the length of telegraphic reports (o be sent, in consequence ot the Premier's violation of the confidence reposed Id him. Yesterday a representative of the Herald waited upon Mr Seddon, and, as waa anticipated, the Premier asked what the association's instructions were as to a telegraphed report of his speech. The information was refused, and the reason bluntly given. Last night at the Gaiety Theatre Mr Saddon abused the Press Association for not pandering more to his inordinate self-conceit — he didn't put it quite that way— complained that last year the agent here had instructions to send only 1500 words, and this year he was instructed to " confine his report to anything new." That ia an tbsolnte fact. Bab how did Mr Seddon know it ? Did he cause those in charge of the Telegraph Department to violate their duty and their instruction.", and to divulge the contents of a private message to him ? We can see no other explanation. The colony has witnessed the Treasurer making use of secret information from the Property Tax Department in a correspondence with an opponent who carried too heavy metal for him in a fair fight. Has Mr Seddon condescended to equally miserable tactics ? And if so, what are we to think of the boasted secrecy of the department, when a Minister can at his nod learn the contents of any private telegram he chooses to demand ?