PULL V PUBLICITY

NZ Truth, Issue 910, 5 May 1923, Page 4

PULL V PUBLICITY

♦ Will Political Patronage Prevail ? A Predatory,. Profiteering Perfornianea/^l "Truth" believes that sometimes.prevention is better than cure, and to that end this exposure is made. It is hoped that the men involved — from those in high estate who seek to cover the guilty with allthe pu.ll their position gives them, to the mere com- • mitteemen of local interest— will sit up and take notice of this warning that their game is being watched-. But all this is a puzzle. Let's to the explanation. There is great anQ grave trouble in Amen Corner. The information comes directly to "Truth" from inside. In an electorate held by a "Reformer" there dwells a very well-to-do squatter who is greedy as they are made. In order to save a few pounds he rang the changes on the Railway Department by taking disadvantage of one of the privileges allowed for carrying breeders' stock to .and from agricultural and pastoral shows. Mr. Greed took fifty fat she^p to the show, sold twenty-five of them— and rang in twenty- five rams which he had bought at the fair following the show. As an exhibitor, he cou'.d rail the fifty fats back home free of cost. The Railway Department very quickly got; on , to the .game — "Truth" wonders how often the trick has passed unnoticed — and promptly placed the blame with the executive of. the A. and P. Association, which, although It has to- vouch tor" th> :XrtHM^g t< yna quite innocent in this "matter. , But it happens that the executive of that, as of many other A. and P. shows. Is ardently Reform, as Is the real culprit. Having been caught, Mr. Greed, with the instinct of his kind, trading on his wealthy position, is seeking to hush /the thing up. At, his urgent instance, the Minister has been appealed to— to save the trickster who to-day would be charged before the Court if he were not gilt - edged. A poor little farmer, in a small way would have been charged in Court instantly. As it is like many another grasping squatter in this grid- ironed land, he Is guilt-edged. , "Truth" puts the matter as . plainly as .possible. The thing is leaking out. ! The names and facfs are on record in black and white — especially the black. There Is a feeling in the district that the Minister will tall for the face-saving appeal. If he does, it wll) be a clear case of the form of American graft familiar \to readers of "The Plum Tree. "Truth" hopes, for, the cleanliness of our fount of justice, and politics, that the Railway Department will see this thing . through, and that no amount of pujl will be successful in keeping the man out of Court. Here is a test as to whether the Pull Political is raigrhtfer than the Propaganda of Publicity.