AFFAIRS OF THE GREY VALLEY.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 67, 21 August 1869, Page 3

AFFAIRS OF THE GREY VALLEY.

To the Editor of th» 'Nelson Eiaminer.' Sir — Anyone who lias at heart tho welfare and entirety of the whole Province of Nelson, and who deprecates the dismemberment which has been sometimes threatened, must be glad to see information laid before your readers of particular facts relating to what occurs so far from the City of Nelson as tho West Coast. I do not wish to criticize tho mode you have adopted in giving publicity to a private letter, not intended for publication, at the request of an anonymous correspondent, but I cannot sufficiently denounco the want of judgment and of good taste displayed in making an anonymous attack on one who is, from his official position, precluded from defending himself. The gentleman referred to (by name) has been for a considerable time a very efficient servant of the Government in a difficult capacity, requiring very decided ability, »nd very advanced education. No one who really knows the gentleman so unfairly attacked can for a moment doubt either his high-minded integrity or his unquestionable abilities. It is very easy to say »ny man is unpopular who does not join in all the amusements and indulgences of the place ; but if he has the respect and esteem of thoughtful men of the greatest large-mindedness, and in exalted positions in the province, such vague assertions will go for little. It has been the practice of the Government to appoint anyone rather than a lawyer to be ,'a Resident Magistrates, and the appointments of Mr .Broad and Mr. Giles are eminent instances of the success of their determination. Mr. Harris may be all the anonymous writer would represQiit him to be, but it is surely most unseemly to attack one gentleman, who hod strong claims on tho Government, because some other gentleman might have been as eligible for the appointj inenb. Yours, &c, A Subscriber.