CORRESPONDENCE.

Northern Advocate, 31 March 1888, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

(We are not responsible for the opinions of correspondetits. Writers must give their names, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.) (To the Editor. 1 ) Sir, — The utterances of the small, half-educated mind are usually expressed in superlatives. You hear a child say, " how awful pretty, how dreadful nice," and smile at the incongruity of the innocent prattle ; but such :ionsese from an adult is purely contemptible. Yet such is the mental pabulum weekly supplied by the silly editor of the Leader to his few subscribers and readers. The following extracts are choice morsels from his purveyance last Saturday : — "We veture to say that there is scarcely a man in the colony whose breast will not burn with indignation when he reads that the Waipu Licensing election has beeu upset." " But the Returning Officer — who, by the way, is a man who uever ceases to revile and slander the Temperance party, who unscrupulously attacks the local prohibitionists with a pen dipped in gall, and who ha a made hi.nself notorious as an open advocate for the abrogation of prohibition." "This case is one of the most aggravated instances of official mismanagement that has ever been brought under our notice." It is amusing, in the same issue, to see this creature twitting the Bell for " not understanding the use of hyperbole. Who ever could understand the "hyperboles" of the Leader ! An hyperbole is a rhntorical magnifying or lessening of the truth, but that of the Leader generally wants the very essence of the hyperbole — a nucleus of truth, the total absence of which transforms the would-be hyperbole to coarse, vulgar falsehood. For the able construction of this class of "hyperbole" I freely admit that the editor of the Leader has attained unrivalled pre-eminence. In regard to the above extracts it is rather peculiar that the Resident Magistrate's breast did not burn, for he saddled the petitioners with their own costs ; neither did their solicitor enlarge on the " aggravated mismanagement " of my mistake in not correctly deciphering an enigmatical clause of a badly constructed Act. But these are gentlemen, and that makes all the difference ! It is a cuiious fact that my misreading of tjae Act has been acted upon at various elections for a number of years past, and I had merely adopted the reading of other Returning Officers, vet the poor editor had never such an " aggravated case brought under his notice !" What an observant being he must be for an editor ! But perhaps this is merely one of his " hyperboles." The parenthesis in the extracts forms an unadultered series of t) c editor's patented " hyperboles," or in simpler language, unvarnished falsehood, knowingly and wilfully perpetrated. Let him produce one sentence of mine written or uttered against the temperance party or nrohibition, and I will humbly cry peccavi. I defy him to do so except by his own "hyperboles." My whole contest is with the practical upholders of sly grog-selling; and whenever total prohibition is proved to me to be practicable or evon possible, I will, with pleasure join the Alliance. The Temperance cause I have always upheld, and will continue to advocate by persuasion and example ; not by virulence, coercion and vituperation. I have attacked openly, and in fair retaliation, the ignorant, vulgar and fabricating editor of the Leader, and the local dispenser of his patent " hyperboles," but none of my opponents has had the courage or manliness to append his name. I make some allowaace for the editor because some of his former environments were not conducive to that high culture, courtesy and polish so necessary in the conductor of any respectable portion of the press ; yet that is not sufficient reason to allow every coarse bully to have his full fling unchecked. I feel sorry for the wellintentioned shareholders of *he " Leader Company," who are now called upon for payment of the eighth call ; but they cannot reasonably expect better success under the present literary (?) management ; for teetotlars themselves; candidly admit that the tone of the paper is materially" injuring the cause of Temperance. — Yours, &c, D. McLeod, Waipu, March 26, 1888.

(To the Editor.) Sib. — I have watched with some interest the debate in your columns between Temperance and Verax ; and must say that Verax, in his desire to give Temperance a hit, has travelled somewhat out of his way to attack our representative at the County Council table. He says, " That some people are unkind enough to say that our Councillor holds his seat as a gift from a sly-grog seller." Some people are unkind enough to Bay that, and much more to the same effect, and no doubt these unkind people are under an obligation to Verax for making himself their tool to spread those unkind sayings. Verax might have also stated with more truth that, had the blue ribbon candidate been returned he would hold his seat as a gift from five sly-grog sellers who are the most conspicuous figures in the ranks of the blue ribbonites at election time, especially when the granting of a license is the question at issue, and surely Councillor McKay might to forgiven should one support him when five, with their connection were against him. As to the bogus votes, it is more than even Verax would dare to say how they voted ; it is well known that many of them were told that "if Mr — (the blue ribbon candidate) is elected I will give you ten shilling." Now, sir, if this offer did not bring them votes the honour belongs to these much slandered electors, and not to Verax and the party for whom he does the dirty work. Were those things done iv sympathy with the law and order ; or is it to bring about the social and moral reforms of

which \Mhs&m. his party love to talk so much about, and which they so much ohstruct in their ignorant zeal. I would not attempt to intrude your valuable space had it not been that Temperance, in his reply to Ver&x, omitted to correct that foul slindef on ofir much respected Councillor. I must say for Councillor McKay that those who formed the party against him were most unscrupulous in thei 1 * manner of conducting the election. All inaiiflSi' of corrupt ver>^r*"s ktctc circulated against him Oil the quiet, just a iuvv ihiys before the election, and had no hance to rebut them, because those who circulated them were not men enough to speak of them except on the aly, and most Bingular, when the election was over no one would own to be the author of any of them. To conclude, I hope that those of us who say that they are working for the benefit, of society will begin by giving a good, example; give up being self rightour, slandering their neiffhbe'ui'3 ; nursing a bad felling towards those who do not expect any good results from a movement guided by coercive, narrow minded bigotry. As difference of opinion is necessary to progress, we should be tolerant with those who hold opposite views to us, and not turn an institution, got on foot for the purpose of forming and elevating society, into an instrument of torture. Blue nbbonism is not the first society that started on the same mission and failed in reaching the desired goal, because too much was attempted, and "the first object was lost sight of ; therefore, when blue* nbbonism becomes a term of reproach, as it is getting to be, let us not get into a rage about it, but lay the blame on those who harnessed the noble race horse to the dung cart, and allowed him to be driven by bigots, smugglers, and sly-grog sellers, who of course made a failure of it. By inserting the above you will greatly oblsge.— Yours &c. Spectatob. Waipu, March 26, 1888.