THE DRAUGHT OF THE FRENCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9933, 29 December 1893, Page 3

THE DRAUGHT OF THE FRENCH

•' FLAGSHIP. TO' THE EDITOR.

, Sib,—Be draught of French veflsel, your correspondent is surely in error: 23 millimetres are nearly lin only, not 17ffc 6:n. At first glance, I thought he was mixing the French nomenclature, which is somewhat confusing to English. However, as 23 metres nearly equal 75ffc, 23 decimetres nearly equal 7£ft, 23 centimetres nearly equal 9in, 23 milliinttreo nearly equal 15-lGihs of an inch, I think the conclusion must be that the veßsel did not draw " 23 " of any French measure.—l am. &c, Dunedin, December 28. H. M. Davjsy

THE POMAHAKA PURCHASE, TO THE EDITOK.

Sin, —Mr Scobie Mackenzie cannot be allowed to evade the plain questions I asked him in my lipt. Let rfiQ restate the position. On the 6th

i\ovenibef he made a very serious ahargo against the Hon. rfohn M'Eenzie, and used w6rds (whiah I hive twice repeated) which were generally regarded as. intended to impute corrupt action to the Minister. He has &een nolroH frt >)ti TVTlfVlfll'onT Tllfil slßti^PVOlifl statements, and up to the present time he has not brought forward one fragment of proof to substantiate his accusation, neither has he withdrawn. No, it can be of no interest to the public to know who I am,- and I, therefore, having impugned no one's veracity "and made no personal attack, decline to give my name, which is of no importance in the 'matter. The only person who has attacked Mr Scobie Mackenzie is Mr Scobie Mackenzie himself. At present, in consequence of his own indiscretion, I am obliged to believe that for electioneering purposes he attacked the Minister, and that without any proof in his possession. He at present occupies a most unenviable position, and there. I must leave him, merely reminding him that the incident will not be' forgotten; As to his threats (now three times repeated) about what he cduld say if he would, I treat them with the contempt and unbelief they deserve. You must either prove what you.have said, Mr Mackenzie, or admit that you are—what you have been called. And now let me remind him that for some nine years we (the public) have had from the member • for Mount Ida one Beslseiess, rotmd of fault-finding as regards all the other political men in the country. The position of the critic in the common* wealth is & useful no doubt. I am not one of those who hold that' you may-

. t ... . ~ ■,', Assobn ' ' .. - . Hope constancy .in V?in<3, <* corn in chaff, - Believe a woman or an epitapßV., > •■;-. 1 Or any other thing that's false, before ■; . You trust in critics. On the contrary, the unsparing denouncer of wrong is one of the most useful of men in a de-mocracy-Mmt then he must not always be fault flnaing v .;>He must.do something to build up as well ad prill flown; jjo.w., in. the case of Mr Scobie Mackenzie, 1 and fcariy Sth^ra have been in the habit of reading his speeches ia and 0.^6 of Parliament with much sense of amusement« but afterthe course of plain-speaking criticism, and nothing else, has been pursued for some nine years, it palls on me. What, Mr Scobie Mac-kenzierai-e the leading men in public life in New Zealand all .political spielers, or phenomenally stupid, or impostors, or poor d Is ? : Are there no righteous men in the modern Sodom ? Were the late Sir Harry Atkinson, Sir Robert Stoat, and Sir John Kail, and Mr Rolleston all alike wanting in that true inward grace of ability, or honesty, or power, or the gift of leading men? Has ifc not been your good fortune to find Jn all these past years one single leader to whom you could give your loyal and hearty devotion & Do you positively, nevef trußt ( anyone wholly? You have, indeed, again and again been of great public service in exposing • what was wrong, but now, though I, for one, have studied • .allyour. speeches carefully, yet I am as far as I ever from knowing what yem, thinlc right. . •:, ■ "Scbbina"means, in, English, "rasp";'but the function of a rasp is not the highest or best, you know, and: if, used without first-using the chisel, or the mould is apt to produce little. Is it any wonder that the electors have at last Tisen-in-;their wrath, and given you three years td think it over ? As one who honestly admires your great gift; of speech;, may I suggest to you to, spend the next three years in rnakitg yourself master. .of j-isomeV one subject thoroaghly. Thersites was not an amiable character nor a. very^useful one) and he perished at last by a blow from the fist of Achil'.eß. Try and find, ont someone whoni yoft can follow-; You will not. be. fit to s .leSd rihtil yon hafe learned to bbey.-^I am,; &c., " .'■ "■ : ?; December 28;.': ' ■ •• w/etGh.1-