COLONEL FOX AND THE PREMIER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9477, 5 April 1894, Page 5

COLONEL FOX AND THE PREMIER.

WHY THE COMMANDANT WISHES

TO RESIGN.

EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENTS. [BY TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.) Wellington, Wednesday. The Ministers to-day received from the Premier Colonel Fox's two letters, in which he suggested he should resign on certain conditions. Colonel Fox expresses his desire to be released from his contracb -with the Government conditionally* upon his being granted the sum of £1000 as reasonable compensation for the loss he has sustained in coming out here, and the termination of his engagement. A farther condition is the payment of the passages back to England of himself and his military servant. In the event of these terms being accepted a formal resignation is attached, and the reasons why a conclusion of the engagement is desirable are given. The reasons are very numerous, bub the chief are:— the Premier, as Minister for Defence, controls the whole of the defences and the defence force, in consequence of which the force has deteriorated ; that he has retained the services of useless officers and non-commissioned officers, and corps recommended to be disbanded—presumably for political reasons, as the Premier knew the money was urgently needed for the chief ports; that the Premier has refused to allow him bo take up tho duties of Commandant, and he is, therefore, Commandant only in name that he required a staff-officer, and recommended the appointment of one, and his recommendation was ignored; thab the Premier sent his Acting Under-Secretary for Defence to make extracts from his (Colonel Fox's) letter-book behind his back ; that the Premier laid the Volunteer Report on the table of the House of Representatives in such a manner as to prejudice him ; that the Premier sent that report to various persons asking ' their opinions upon it, but only published that of Sir William Jervois, which differed in some respects from the report, and did not publish that of the Colonial Defence Committee, which was in favour of it that be (Colonel Fox) was detained in Wellington for a month doing nothing, on the ground that he was to be consulted re an ammunition contract which, however, had not yet been pub before him ; that the Premier asked his opinion as to the Martini-Henri rifles contract, and then sent his memo, of advice to the contractors ; that on receipt of Sir William Jervoi&' letter, the Premier suspended the arrangements which ha (Colonel Fox) had made for sending six big guns to England to be chase - hooped; that the defence plans were transferred to the Public Works Department against his recommendation ; that without reference to him the Premier consulted a subordinate officer as to what stores—which he (Colonel Fox) had said were required—should be dispensed with. Colonel Fox further stated that as it was apparent that his advice was either unsought or disregarded, he was commandant only in name, and therefore the Government must approve of his action in resigning.