THE HON. MR. FISHER AND HIS CRITIC IN THE AUSTRALASIAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9108, 17 July 1888, Page 5

THE HON. MR. FISHER AND HIS CRITIC IN THE AUSTRALASIAN.

The New Zealand correspondent of the Australasian, who is believed to be Mr. E.; Wakefield, of Wellington, recently wrote severely criticising the Hon. Mr. Fisher, Minister of Education. Mr. Fisher has sent a. reply, of which we give the following portions : ... ~~

Sir,— it can possibly interest the Australian readers of ', a carefully compiled [and high-class journal such as the Australasian admittedly is, to wade through a column of fatuous fanfaronade, the output of a disappointed and likewise a discarded and despised politician, whose privilege it is to fnrnish you with "New Zealand Notes," under the pseudonym " Taniwha," is a thing that passes the comprehension of all persons in New Zealand of healthy and honourable mind. For in New Zealand we know "Taniwha." It cannot, be_, ; and it is not of course believed, that Tit '.',■ is. the desire ,of the conductors of -the ;Australasian to j speak offensively or discourteously of those public men in this* country, who, at the present moment, are engaged in the difficult and thankless task of extricating the colony from the consequences of many years of vicious: legislation,' and of the still more vicious financing;, of a Treasurer of evil repute, who is not now a resident of this country; and .to us in New Zealand the wonder therefore is that your columns should be permitted to be r used as jtf vehicle for the public expression of the. malignant and,. splenetic outpourings, of a former member of the New Zealand Legislature, who, in consequence of certain peculiarities in his past political career, could not now secure a seat for any constituency in any part of the colony of New Zealand. ( It is true (as "Taniwha " says).X am a compositor, one who, having " served his time " m a well-known Melbourne printing house, migrated to New Zealand, became a Hansard reporter, • mayor of the -capital city, of this colony, member of Parliament, Minister of Education in the Ministry of Sir Harry Atkinson, j All of which, is not disgraceful, but it is nothing to the purpose. i What is to the purpose is this : Does it accord with the fitness of things that an unscrupulous person who is totally without influence in this country .should, have , access to the. columns of a great and powerful journal in Australia, when it is, to us at all events, clear beyond all question that the /evident and, only object of this person is to hold up to public ridicule men upon whose characters there rests not a stain of any description—men who, it is admitted, are throwing whatever energy and ability. they a possess into, the effort to retrieve the fallen fortunes of this country by build- i ing up its public credit abroad as a first and essential step towards the restoration of its prosperity at home. Surely, sir, as a matter of justice and of right, this person ought no longer to be permitted to use your columns for such a purpose. " Taniwha's " political lampoonery is not new to us, as I have said, for while a member of Parliament he was compelled to apologise on the floor of the House for having, as an anonymous newspaper correspondent, most shamelessly slandered many of his fellow-members, whose genial intercourse he had been permitted to enjoy, and with whom he was for the time allowed to exist on the most familiar and friendly terms. The " apology " scene will ever be remembered by those who witnessed it. For its pitiful abjectness it has never been equalled in this country, within or without the walls of Parliament.