CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8063, 26 September 1887, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

"POOR TOLE'S" LEAFLET. TO THE EDITOR. Sib,—Saturday's leaflet, circulated by the Honorable Mr. Tole, is, indeed itiggQi* tive ot desperate strait*. or straits mud be desperate, when not only St. Andrew's University and an unoffending door-plate are invoked to provoke sympathy, and thereby lure voters, but when even the Honorable, the Minister of Justice has to resort to falsehoods to divert attention from truths. Great heavens! What a mockery of the term the Honorable the Minister of Jostiok • and how much more appropriate for the Honorable Mr. Tole would be the title of The Dis-Honorable the Minister of Injustice. A cause must, muted, be hopeless to require such devioen ; and a State must, indeed, have fallen low where such a representative of Justice is tolerated. Moreover this mode! Minister of Justice is evidently ignorant that personal motives -even if ever so ignoble— cannot affect the truth of statements, or the soundness of inferences, and, apparently thinks that the definition of a gentleman is a man whit in gentle, even to what is wrong, if only the wrong be committed by Mr. Tole or hie patrons. But he forgets that " nothing emboldens Sin so much as mercy." No donbt it is galling to have awkward f*<-ts exposed, and irrefutable inferences drawn from them ; but if the Honorable Mr. Tole will publioly announce himself at traitor to his conscience and his creed ; and, if he will aid in bringing disaster and misery on the colony by associating himself with ignorance, incompetence, and wrongdoing—even in the ignoble capacity of a sycophant— should not whine like a cur when he has to bear some whipping for de* linqaenciea of himself and patrons; especially when there is consolation from a deluded country to the tune of £1250 a year and allowances. True, the remuneration is grossly inadequate for the Honorable Mr. > Tole, but still it is—something. The Honorable Mr. Tola's attaok, moreover, is ungrateful, because, knowing his humble position in the Ministry, 1 have been especially careful to avoid reflections upon him personally as a Ministerial wrong-doer— treating him as a mere offioial nonentity. Scotchmen, particularly the graduates here of St. Andrew's, will indeed be surprised to learn from the Honorable Mr. Tole that degrees are now sold by the most ancient university in Scotland." But probably not more surprised than the Honorable Mr. Tole's "best friends " will be to hear that " consideration " has been offered to them by me to desert their idol. Let me remind The Honourable The Minister of Justice that if lie can point to anyone during this election who has tried "to induce for consideration " any voter, then he must well know that his duty, as Minister of Justice, is clear, viz., to nnfliuoningly direct a prosecution under the very stringent provisions of the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1881; and that he Is a conniver at —particeps criminis— if he does not do so.

I may tell The Honourable The Minister of Justice, however, that already there are grave suspicions against him,, or his party, in , respect of breaches of the Act. The Honourable Mr. Tole writes of a letter which i seat him, and endeavours to produce the false impression that I, by it, asked or sought office or favour, but he forgets to add that, notwithstanding the letter was marked private, and notwithstanding he was then Minister of Justice, he not only disclosed its contents (permission for whioh I would willingly have granted had it been asked), but so misrepresented them that they were published in the Auckland Press in a form cal> culated to hold me up, during my absence, to ridicule. I need aoarcely remind him that the only name for one guilty of ' suoh conduct is far from a parliamentary one. Of his C.M.G. reference it suffices to say I have never applied to the Ministry or any member of it for any suoh favour. This was fully referred to in the Hekam> of 15th August last, in my reply to Mr. J. J. Crofts. It is evident that the Honourable Mr. Tole feels the hopelessness ot attempting to reply to my criticisms on the Ministry or himself. Hino illse lachrymse. Bat it is, in the cause of public morality, melancholy that the Honourable the Minister of Justice was not content to leave the catalogue of wrong-doings by Ministers unadded to; but must (" to his shame") rush in to further degrade the Ministry by oonduot so unworthy of a Minister of Justice.

alas! " pooh Tolb." R. Laishlky.

FRANKLIN NORTH. TO THK EDITOR.

Sir, —At the dose of my address, delivered at Utahnhu on Friday evening last, a gentle man ascended the platform, to all appearance for the purpose of adversely criticising my opponent. lam now credibly informed that this gentleman is oharged with having allowed himself to be used as an instrument to accomplish for me what I was either un» willing or incompetent to do for myself. In justice to this gentleman, therefore (together with the desire to 'exonerate myself and my supporters), I declare that prior to his appearance on the stage 1 do not remember ever to have seen him, and certainly had no direct or indirect communication with him, and I feel justified in saying as much for every member of my committees. Of course, the gentleman deserves my beat thanks for his manifest intention to further my interest, - Nevertheless, I was gratified when the Chairman ruled him out of order, owing to 'his being a non-elector, especially as his ■well-meant observations were calculated to disturb the harmony of one of the mojt orderly and enthusiastic meetings I ever attended.—l am, &c., F. LawrY, September 24, 1887.

EDEN ELECTION. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —Notwithstanding the contradiction of Mr. J. A. Connell, I assert that Mr. Council did make use of the words complained of towards Mr. Bollard at the Eden hustings. If Mr. Connell now doubts that he uted the words, I would confidently refer him to the Returning Officer, who stood next to him, in support of my assertion, and to the gentlemen on the platform with him. If still dissatisfied with this, he is at liberty to appeal to the 16*2 electors present. As to the Herald not publishing the objectionable words uttered by Mr. Connell, as an old journalist I can well understand a respectable paper like the New Zealand HkrAld not wishing to soil the paper by publishing offensive remarks concerning one of our most respected fellow colonists, even although uttered by Mr. J. A. Coanell. As proof that Mr. Connell has been in the habit of applying equally objectionable epithets towards fellow citizens, I have only to call attention to his own pamphlets containing reprints of his speeches, viz, 4ih July, 1887, page 8; ditto page II; 11th July, page 6, ditto page 9. ditto page 11, in which are (go use a mild term) uogentlemanly expressions made use of by him at public meetings, which in his reprint he has felt it incumbent in cooler moments to qualify, or apologise for.— am, etc,, E. Hadbill.

TOLE AND RETRENCHMENT. TO THE EDITOR.

Sib, —I do not know whether Dean Swift's " Art of Political Lying" has been one of the text-books studied by members of the present administration in scheming oat the plan of their electoral campaign, bat certainly the principles of that remarkable work underlie all their addresses and manifestations. The Hon. Joseph Tole, for instance, claims that during last year the Government effected a saving in expenditure of £124,000, and at bio meetings patted himself liberally on the back for the extraordinary results in the direction of saving which he has, he declares, himself effected. The Hon, Joseph is, in fact, very fond of patting himself on the back, and of blowing his own trumpet very loudly on the smallest possible provocation. According to his own account, be is the author of all the most remarkable measures that have enriohed the Statute Book for the last few years, and I believe he would, if challenged on the subject, acknowledge that he was not only the donor of the Newmarket workshops, but also the discoverer of gunpowder, and the inventor of the art of setting the Thames on fire. The hon. gentleman is, in taot, the principal topic that he discourses on, except when giving way to what Tennyson calls

" The Kihool-boy heat, Th» blind hysterica ot the Celt," he goes out of his way to throw dirt at opponents or any persons who may happen to differ from him. Otherwise it is all about " I," with a very big capital.

" So youthful Horner roll'd the roguish eye, CttU'd the rich plum from out his Christmas pie, And cried, in sell-applause, 'Ho good • boy amir-

Like Jaok Horner, Mr. Tole has likewise culled a very rich plum from out of the Cabinet pudding; he has, indeed, been pulling the plums out for the last three years, and, naturally, does not want to b«

interfered with la the pleasant operation. Ha and his colleagues will do everything for everybody if only they may be allowed to retain the emoluments of office, and Mr. Tole cries with Biglow's candidate

" I da believe the people want A lax on t«» an' coffees,. Th»t nuthlD* slat extravagant— Porrldln' I'm In office." But, strange to say, with all bia advocacy of retrenchment, Mr, Tole baa no notion of seeing his own salary retrenched. Petty darks, with a hundred or so a year, are indeed fit anbjeota for retrenchment, but £1250 per annum with allowauoes and a big house,, whldh bring the yearly plum np to about £1700 or £1800, is, in' the opinion of the Honourable Joseph Augustus Tole an income quite incommensurate with his exalted merits, and ridiculously inadequate to the requirements of his office ! But how about the retrenchments whioh are claimed to have been effected ? Bunkum, gammon—non-existent the whole of them ! Men without influence have been turned out of office : these have been the victims of retrenchment, bet new billets have been oreated in other departments for friends of the Ministry, or of persons whom it was advisable to conciliate, or whose influence it was deemed important to secure. It has been a oase of robbing Peter to pay Paul, of taking money out of one pocket and putting it into the other.

If this economical Government has affected the retrenchments olaimed, how comes it that the expenditure for last year was £351,000 in exoess of that for the year in whioh the Stout-Vogel administration came into power ? How is it that last year there was a deScit of £193.000, although the revenue was £65,000 in exoess of that of the previous year? How could suoh a deficit occur, notwithstanding that Sir Julius Vogel had derived a handsome addition to the year's income of £104,000, by the appropriation of the accumulated sinking fund, and that the revenue has been relieved from any further payments into that aoconnt. Yet, with these damning figures before him, Mr. Tole has the audacity toolaim tha his Ministry is the most eoonoinioal that has ever carried on the business of the country, and that its policy is one of retrenchment I Great Scot 1 When this very Honorable gentleman does go in for romancing, he sets about it thoroughly. As a Yankee remarked to a traveller, who was taking very full advantage of a traveller's proverbial privilege : " I guess, stranger, that if you were to write a novel it would sell." This retrenching and economical Government has actually outrun the constable with an annual deficit to the tune of £250.000 every year since it took office, and now goes to the country after a cool proposal to increase taxation by no less a sum than £325,000 per annum. Theie are facts and figures which it be« hoves every elector to ponder on and consider, for they point the moral of Monday's issue. If this system of reckless extravaganoe is to be oontiDued, and the rain of the oolony completed, then by all means return Mr. Tole, with his colleagues, Messrs. Stout, Vogel and Co. Thanks to Sir Julius Vogel occupying the position of Colonial Treasurer, the name of New Zealand stinks on the London Stock Exchange. The land policy of the Ministry, and its implied repudiation of the rights of property, have driven capital from the oolony. Only by a thorough change of administration oan the good name of New Zealand be reinstated, and the confidence of English financiers regained, confidence in the soundness of our present stalius, and in the future stability of the colony. You have pointed out in to-day's Herald how totally unworthy Mr. Tole is of the support of the electors ; how ready he is on any emergency to face South by North, or to sacrifice his most saored convictions. In any case he is not the stamp of man that any constituency should send to Wellington at a orisis when sterling honesty of character, candid enunciation of principles, and staunch adherence to expressed convictions should be the indispensable characterises of every member returned. A a member of the Stout-Vogel administration, every elector who votes for Mr. Tole is a traitor to the true interests of the oolony in general, and of the North Island in particular. In Mr. Withy, on the other hand, we find a candidate with an unblemished reputation, and a name that he has never had reason to feel ashamed of; a gentleman of sterling honesty, of transparent oandour, one who will remain true to all the pledges which he has given on the hustings, and suoh is the stamp of man we require.—l am, &0., W.

THE MANUKAU CONTEST. TO THK EDITOR.

Sib, Although the elections are already upon us, perhaps it may not be too late to remind the eleotors of Manukau of the great benefits their late member, Sir G. M. O'Rorke, has conferred not only upon them but the whole population of Auckland, and it may not be amiss to name some of these benefits, which may be the means of in* duoing electors to pause and oontemplate before erasing his name from the ballot paper. It must then be admitted that few candidates have done so much, and have left such lasting evidences of their capabilities to represent their constituency in Parliament. The first in prominence to be named was the obtaining for the people of Auckland the Albert Park. Seoondly : The One-tree Hill reserve at Epsom. Thirdly The reserve at Onehunga, of some 50 acres of recreation ground. Fourthly: The obtaining the grant for the University of Auckland, whereby the higher branches of education are open to all. His noble conduct in throwing up his seat in the Ministry, when he considered the honour of Auckland was placed in jeopardy, ought to be remembered to hie credit. Besides, it would not only be a local, but a national loss for the best Speaker in the Southern Hemisphere to be deprived of his seat in tht House of Representatives.— am, &c., An Elector.

MANUKAU ELECTORATE. TO THE editor.

Sir, —It is reported that Mr. S. S. Osborn favours the formation of a Ministry which would include Sir K. Stout and Mr. Ballance among its members. This is not true. He agrees with Sir R. Stout's views only where they are truly Liberal; but, in strongly supporting retrenchment and reorganisation of the Civil Service is decidedly opposed t those gentlemen.—l am, etc.,

PROSECUTING FOR RAILWAY OF-

FENCES. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —I wish to invite your attention to the case which was heard at the Police Coar on Friday last against Smith and Adamson for a breach of the railway regulations, and ask how is it that Mr. Cooper was engaged to prosecute such a trivial matter, when the police authorities should do this work to save the State expense. Supposing Smith or Adamson has committed a breach of law, why in the name of justice should they have to pay costs for Mr. Cooper? The fine is quite sufficient to pay in these hard times, and if the prisoners are unable to pay th> country must.—l am, &c., Thomas Laing. Newton Road.

THE KOYAL OAK G.M. CO. TO THK JEDITOK.

Sib,—Mr. Woollams has replied to my strictures upon the management of the mine, but upon further inquiry I find much that still calls for comment. As to the hack* neyed complaint ment anonymous writing, I am surprised that a person of Mr. Wool* lam's intelligence should exhibit such weakness. Anononymity has been honoured from time immemorial as a powerful weapon in the correction of abuses, of which the letters of "Junius" are a foroible example. Anonymous letters having a slanderous import are unjustifiable, and not admitted into the colamns of respectable journal)). That, however, does not apply in this case. After full inquiry lam convinced that this company can be more economically and better managed from Auckland for the following reasonsl. The larger number of shares are held in or about the city. 2. Auckland directors would not expect to be paid a guinea « meeting prior to the declaration of a dividend, nor would they expect nor claim £50 each baofc pay in honorariums, in a mine that was let under tribute most of the time, or had only two hands at work. 3. It is desirable that directors shoald hold a fairly large int*« rest in the concerns they control; now I find that two Coromsndel directors are very small shareholders, one holding something under fifty shares, and the other until recently had a like number—now he holds 150 shares. The inference under such circumstance* being that to such directors the honorarium, would be of more Importance than a divw dend. In Auokland we are still in ttae dark as to the working of this mine, and then appears to be no disposition to give us light. Why is this company's property managed id a manner that is so very different *1111 obscure as oompared with others?—l am-,.. &C., SHABBHOU>Wi,