The Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPT. 24, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 439, 24 September 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPT. 24, 1877.

"It is men like Mr. Joyce and Mr. Shrimski who are the nuisances of a Colony." So says that oracular journal, the Otago Daily Tines. u Beset with the narrowest of minds, and the most jealous dispositions, they are altogether unable to look outside the immediate interests of their own neighbourhood and consult for the good of a wider district." So says that potent star of New Zealand journalism, the Otago Daily Times. And so, we suppose, must all men believe, so great is the auth >rity that gives utterance to the brief sentences we have quoted. We take leave, however, to call into question the utterances of our ponderous conteuiporaiy. We Lave opinions of our own as to what constitute the duties of representatives of the people. We may be wrong in those opinions ; but we certainly think that the duties of representatives are to see that even-handed justice is meted out to all parts of the Colony ; to guard against one portion of the Colony being pampered and fed with sweetmeats at the expense of the other portions, and chiefly to protect the interests of the particular districts they represent. If these are not the proper functions of representatives, wherein lies the utility of Laving representatives at all \ We might just as well accord to the Daily Times the sole right of saying what shall be done and what shall not. The' j occasion of this outburst of righteous indignation, this outpouring of wisdom. this annihilation of Messrs. Joyce and and Sni I3ISKI on the part of the Daily Times is the action of those gentlemen in opp< sing the construction of the StrathTrieri railway, as proposed by Mr. A incest Pyke, and supported by the gived and influence of Dunedin. Mr. Joyce thinks, and with a good show of reason, that better and cheaper railway communication with a portion of the interior of Otago conld be effected from the terminus of one of the lines already constructed from Invtrcargill ; hence the thunderclap of the Daily Times. Mr. Siikimski believes, and rightly so, too, that the line from Oamaru to Nastby would be the best for the people of the interior, and that it could be made for a less sum than that by the Strath-Taieri. This is the whole head and front of his offending ; this is the reason for his being designated a Colonial nuisance. Had Messrs. Joyce and Sheimski favoured the pet scheme of the Dunedin cormorants, what precious jewels of representatives they would Lave been in the eyes of the Times.' What liberal-mindedness, what foresight, what greatness of soul, what vastness of wisdom they would have shown ! Solomon would have been a fool as compared with them in the eyes of the Daily Times. Bat Messrs. Joyce and Shrimsiu do not support the Strath-Taieri rail-ay. Therefore they are narrow-minded, their dispositions are prone to jealousy, and they are " unable to look outside the immediate interests of their own neighbourhood." At least, so says the Daily Times, and that is a journal that never lies. Lot us for one moment examine the conduct and motives of the Daily Times. Is that journal so disinterested as it would have Messrs. Joyce and Shmmski be ? Is its own visionary organs of so powerful a nature that it is able to see anything beyond the interests of Dunedin 1 Is not its power of vision confined within the narrow limits of that modern Arcadia, that delightful home of peace, happiness, and perfect harmony, comprised between the Vater of Leith and Kensington?

Are our contemporary's motives so pure, its opinions so totally unbiassed, and its actions so much for the good uf a wider district than Dunedin, as it would have us imagine] In supporting the StrathTciieri line is our contemporary actuated by a desire to benefit the whole Colony, and not to obtain something at Colonial expense for the special advantage o*

Dunedin? We think not, and a very large section of the people of the Colony, if not of the House of Representatives, will agree with us in that opinion. Dunedin is the only place under the sun, much less within this Colony of ours, that our contemporary cares for. So

long as the interests of Dunedin are well guarded and fostered, and its wishes and absurd fancies given heed to, the rest of New Zealand may be wiped off the face of the globe for all the Daily Times carts. Dunedin is its all in all, its alpha and omega. This is the grand Colonial pclicy of our contemporary, and this, too, is and ever Las been the policy of the liberal-minded 1 eople of Duivdin. The metropolis has been allowed to expand and wax fat at die expense of the rest of Otago. We blame not the people of Dunedin for looking after their own interest ; but we do most certainly protest against the Daily "i imes and its followers endeavouring t> burke all mention of the claims to consideration on the part of other districts. Such conduct is mean and contemptible in the last degree. Once and for all, we would teli our contemporary that the day of Dunedin's prosperity at the expense of the rest of Otago has come to an end. The other towns in the old Province are determined to stand up manfully for their rights, and the dismal vapourings of the Daily Times will but little. No longer is Dunedin Otago ; it is but a small portion of the Colony. No longer will the members for Otago be found doing the bidding of the Dunedinites ; they have their own districts to lo ,k after, and cannot be expected to east aside all consideration for those interests In cause Dunedin Las some pet scheme of an expensive nature which it wishes the Colony to carry out. Mi ssrs. Joyce and Siti:im.SKl have the satisfaction of knowing that in advocating the legitimate claims of their districts, they are doing their duty. They have also the satisfaction of knowing that the circulation of our contemporary is but small, and that few people indeed pay any heed to the diluted twaddle which constantly appears in that dreary waste, the leading columns of the Ota-;o Daily Times.