MR RUSSELL AND THE "CLARION."

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIII, Issue 13714, 3 April 1905, Page 6

MR RUSSELL AND THE "CLARION."

We are very glad to publish Mr G. W. Russell's indignant letter dissociating himself from Mr Lewis's charges of pruriency against the " Clarion." We are pleased that Mr Russell does now indignantly dissociate himself from the charges, and of courw we withdraw the imputation that he joined Mr Lewis in slandering tha paper. But "unfair, unjust and untruthful" are hard words. Mr Russell, we know, attacked the paper on religious grounds, but he sat by white Mr Lewis attacked it on other grounds. He had presumably seen the article on which Mr Lewis founded hii charges, and still when Mr Lewis repeated those charges more definitely ha sat without a word. He accepted Mr Lewis's vote against the paper, and he allowed Mr Lewis to influence the Board against it, although he might at any time have taken the honourable -• course of saying that so far as he knew the "Clarion" was riot given to the publication of offensive matter. It was a natural assumption that he agreed with Mr Lewis, and the public did make that assumption, and even now he does not tell us that he disagreed with Mr Lewis. He might, at least, do that justice to the "Clarion." Of course-we had no intention, and' v« certainly have no desire to " slander " Mr Russell. His reference to something "after November" suggests an election, but Mr Russell has been announced ;for no and we are certainly not going to fight, any political battles before they are necessary. When we know that Mr Russell proposes to contest any seat it will bo time enough to discuss his political views, and his suggestion that we have used the " Clarion " episode in order to discredit him in the eyes of the electors of some constituency is about in keeping with his silence when he permitted the " Clarion "to be unfairly, unjustly and untruthfully slandered. The public will, judge between us whether Mr Russell wants them to or not,. and w« can only say that, even now, after he has r disclaimed any connection with Mi#Lewis's attack, he would be wise to'allow them to forget the incident as soon as they will.