ADVICE TO MR DIVE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6962, 30 October 1909, Page 8

ADVICE TO MR DIVE

(To tha Editor " N.Z. Times."! Sir, —I notice in your issue of this morning Mr Dive, member for Egmont, is trying to belittle the good work of Government Advances to Settlers Department by endeavouring to mako political capital out of an advance made, as he states, io a Government supporter, over J;SOU, alter the wild limit of advances was reduced to .£SOO. Presumably if the advance had been made to an opponent of the present Government, Mr /Dive would have been silent. Well, for Mr Dive's and hia friends' information I winli to Bay ono of the strongest opponents of the Government in tho Stratford, electorate informed mo last spring (1 will enclose his name to you, Mr Editor) that ho had just received a pleasant surprise from the A.S. oflioe. They had forwarded him a mortgage for signature for .£IOOO. Ho also said, "I am satisfied now tho Advances to Sottlej-s Hoard are non-political, as everyone knows my politics, and they had reduced the lijnilt of advance to .£SOO, although my application had been in previously to the "limit being reduced, still it is very pleasing and. acceptable when money is to tight." This was from ono of Jlr Dive's friends and supporters. .No one knows better than Mr Dive himself that during tho last eighteen months if it had not been for the A.S. oilice coining to the rescue a hast of small farmers m Taranaki would liaye becvn in a very )>ad way; in fact, thero would have been wholesale selling ur> by the private money-lender and mortgage companies, and plenty of good farmers would have been ruined. If Mr Dive is so anxious to lind fault _ with the Government I Wiould advise him to ba sure of his ground before making such ilimsy cliargcs agjinst a department that is non-poditical and one that has done such good service to the f'airmors and town workers of the Dominion, and especially for the farmers Mr Dive represents. It is well kuswn that iktboiis employed in the A.S. office and the Income Tax Department are bound to secrecy by ouith the same as tho Post and Telegraph officers are. That being no, Mr Dive and whoever gave him the information have committed a very

strious olieiicc j , cne for divulging confidential inlornmiian from the A.S. oiiieo and Mr Dive for receiving same, knowing it to be contrary to all. the ethics oi secrci-v. limy would ill- Dive like to be a borrower from the A.S. office and have his name banded about the f'truct. lit is a serious injury to the oiiics and every mortgagee. 1 would advise llr Dive to attend to matters of importance to his constituency, otherwise h» will find himself left at tlio n-w-t general election.—l am, etc., JOSEPH McCLUGGAGE. "WeU.ingtoai, October 2StU.