A WORD WITH AN OLD FRIEND.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 81, 8 October 1879, Page 2

A WORD WITH AN OLD FRIEND.

Wis hare norer bnen an admirer o? Si" WILIiTAM Fox politically, we hare good reason to kuow that a« an anonymous correspondent ho was by no means truthful and far from honorable, we were not a rubid follower of b'm m his teetrttai crusade, but certa'nly untfl lately we gave him the credit of sincerity, and, m common with others, honored what, we deemed his honpsfc intention to alleviate a great calamity. We now find that he "is the same m no matter what role he appears, and •whether as a political or t-pmperan^e reformer, his component pa'*t3 are equally the same — maliro and spleen. When he casts aside the bulkier of warFare fo assume the garb of the philanthropist, thrre is no change m his sentiments, and tho man lie is supposed to res»cn o from affliction mnst first bo subjected to the scalpel he has ever at command. Tho groat French Emporor once said, " Scrape the "R.uss and thn IVfascovite would appear." IVfetamo'*phose himself as ho may, tho Fox wPI come to tho surf are. A few weeks since, m common with all lovers of justice, wo expressed our opinion unon tho hardship of tho en so of Mr. 'Schultzb, m having his licenip tnlcen from him, and our remark* havp b^«n made the pretext fora repetition oF tli^ parable of tho Pnbliran nnd toe Pharisee—which being the Publican and which the Pharisee, it is needless to say. Our article wan written m a most temp*, rate spirit, for wo reverence, aye far more than Sir William Fox can do, those true Apo.«tle,s of Temperanoo who win recruits to thpir banners, not bully, denounce, and disgust, them. Foiled m his opportunity of a busing his brother legislators as " The Occasional Correspondent," be- has managed to contribute a column to his T>op.ke(. paper, the JRangitihei, Alw.rtfa, (in r l the editor of this journal is tho subject matter of the contribution. Were not tho' letter so palpably glittering, .-with animus, we might possibly take the trouble to point nut the in«onsistencip«. ignorance;^>r wilful perversions which fnrm its composition. Sir WtMjTam first states that Awahuri is sihnated five miles from each of tho townships of Palmerston, Sandon. and Feildinsr. Is that statement made from ignorance, or something worse? Considering his knowledge of the district, is he not aware that it is eijrhfc 'miles from Palmerston, and seven from Sandon. Then aeain. he has a flincr flt the editor of this paper while glorifying- another, because that gentleman expressed an opinion that Mr. Scfitpltze's hotel was not -wanted, bnt how was it he allowed him to go scatheless when, m the same article, a new hotel was advocated for Feilding, whom there were two already? Sir Wttllam: Fox wishes to know who asked Mr. Schultzr to start. his hotel. If Sir Wiilia^i Fox had the. slightest knowledge nf what lie was writing about, he would have known that this pnor Tapa te Whata — whom we suspect is of tho Chinese persuasion — " child-like and bland " — not, only sold tho land to Mr. SoriPtTZR. but got a good figure, for what he now wants to make valueless. But why proceed ? We have on a former occasion applied the knout to Mr. Fox m such a manner that the recollection of the eastijration needs a safety-valve for him which has again been accommodatingly provided m the Marton paper. The worthy Knijrbfc h»s a decided objection to th'o phrase "unking men sober by Act of Parliament," but lie has no objection to make men beggars by the «nme means. He is of that class of philanthropists who would, w-ithout, compunction or compensation, take away a man's livelihood-— to benefit one class op humanity at the expense oP f,h P . other, while he stood-by and smiled with grim satisfaction at his handiwork; but we v<»ry mu,cb qnostion if ha would part with onp of his thonsandß of acres to a less foi-tunate brother, although mayhap they had been obtained under circumstances and thronsjh advantages not to be met -with m these days. Wo "mAy/b* wrong, but we hnvo never heard that m all his efforts to swoop existing licensed houses away* Sir. Wiiltam Fox has ever advocated compensation to those whose vested interests he sought to destroy, and this m itself is the very strongest proof that his ideas, if not. the outcome of selfishnfits, aro certainly not those of sincerity. When the British nation tried to stamp out tUftLbje^ upon humanity, the slave

trade m the Indies, th^y went a jus} 'and honorable way about it, and ovcy unit m the Empire contributed his quota to the cost. For all tho good that Sir William Fox has accomplished — if such has lalcen place — we give him credit; but we very much, doubt whether his intemperate, illdirected zeal be not the very best means to defeat the end which we presume he wishes to attain. Sir William Fox refers to his Maine experience, and sneeringly asks what has the editor of this journal to say to that. Perhaps the scoffer will be surprised to learn that great traveller as he deems himself to be, the writer of this article — who served his apprenticeship m the Great Hepnblio— can boast of yea™ of the commodity to Sir William's months. Mr. Anthony Trollope, whose knowledge of the colonies was gleaned alone when seated astride an engine, also set himself up as a great authority upon men, manners, and. morals, and we all know tho worthlessness of his utterances. No donbt ho is a great authority at home, but we lenow better- Sir William's Maine statistics may please the ear, or read pleasingly on paper, but there happen to be a few who know bolter. We do not know whether Sir William Fox has been ever unfortunate enough to be the vicHm of the degrndingvicehc holds m such abhorrence. With shame and humiliation we confess we have. In fact, we have not sufficient presumption to say that of ourselves alone we would never agai'i succumb to the weakness. We hope and trust not, and we give Sir Wtlltam credit to say he will re-echo that prayer. We sympathise with weak, erring humanity, make allowance for its failings, honor those who try to reclaim it, and will yield to no man m our wish to subdue the evil, even though he have half the letters of the alphabet attached to his name.