Page 9 Advertisements Column 1

Otago Witness, Issue 475, 5 January 1861, Page 9

MtR.^T.;B. GILLIES'S REPLt r ■pEtLOW $OLGN*STS OF OTAGO.^-His ;'A • Superintendent "has apoealed to >tt *feali*t the unanimous decision of P ™?r£ P^sentatives in the Provincial Council. He has -brought forw»rd«b-n€w : fact-in-exculpation of his conduct , fcbSP^l^a^ 'aTgiflnent «pon the facts already known. .Big appeal consists almost wholly • of «m attack trponjthedharacters, conduct, and motives of those rwbo Slave taken .part in the expoture x>f Ms Built -^ striving, . apparently, by blackening the character pothers, to render his own less offensive. Had I been the only person wjacked by name by Ms -Honor, I would have ••rait it unnecessary to reply, inasmuch as all of you who know me, and the extent of my private practice, well know that the Provincial Solicitoranlp is an office which would afford me neither honour nor profit— that it would be a serious loss to me to accept of it. But when I find his Honor attacks during his absence the "Speaker of the Council, Major Richardson— a gentleman whom I * m . Proud to call my friend— l feel bound to vindicate him ; and, «s Chairman of the Select committee of the Council who "unearthed these hidden deeds of his Honor's guilt, to reply to the charges made against that Committee. Before, however, proceeding to notice his" Honor's slanders, I would call- your attention to toe fact that, were all his imputations true as they we slanderous, they could not for one moment palliate his crime, or weaken the evidence adduced. Mr. alleged guilt does not lessen his own ; Mr. Dick's or my own ambition could not atop the remittance of the Clutha coalfield l £1000.; the Speaker's pre-judgment could not have spirited away the missing letter out of k H ° nor^ office, 'nor Iwre sealed his Honor's npstromtne exposure ofa known deficiency of the public funds. No, his Honor's guilt and the guilt or misconduct of others are two separate matters. The Council condemned his Honor— they pronounced no opinion on the conduct of othera ; and itis -against the Councils- decision iiie Honor appeals to" yon. JM me shortly recapitulate the main features of the evidence against his Honor. Jn February last he borrowed from the Provincial Treasurer and had the use of it till at least the 30th June— four months. After that it was gradually paid up by the Treasurer stopping his Honor's salary, and "otherwise. This his Honor admits ; but says that he did not know»that it was public money. Mr. M'Glashan says ie told him, and remonstrated with him. So far it is word against word ; and those of you who, like myself, have nad an opportunity of testing the worth of his •Honor*s=*qra,willlthinkadmiUhat the asser**on of the Treasurer is of at least equal 'weight Tfith that of his Honor. But the question does not rest between their respective assertions. You know, and no one better than his Honor knows that Mr. M'Glashan is not a wealthy man and could not have Of his own private funds, £1086 which bis Honor could have the use of from four to «ix months. His Honor felt this when in Message No. 2 he insinuates that the money he' borrowed was the Soad Board money ; and in ma last appeal supplements this by the insinuation that Mr. M'Glashan may have had monies of Ms clients fiom which lie lent the sum to his Honor. Those who know the extent of Mr. M'Glashan's practice, or the mode in which the practice ofa solicitor is carried on here, will not be hoodwinked by such a shallow subterfuge as the latter insinuation, while the plea of the money being Soad Board funds is as admission of the whole charge. Are the Boad balances less sacred than the Immigration balances ? Are they one whit less public funds ? Are they one whit less Provincial funds ? Certainly not ; and the man who admit* to borrowing Uoad funds could have little serupte hi borrowing, if he could obtain it, the Provincial chest as well. And his Honor forgets too, that on 20th 'September last, long before this matter was made pnblic, Mr. M'Glashan writes to him, reminding: him that he had the Provincial balance in his hands, and requesting iiim to explain this to the Executive ; but his Honor dofes not acquaint the Executive, nor, as he now does, did he then give a denial to the charge. These things give a weight to Mr. M'Glashan's assertion which his Honor's evasive statement cannot have with any candid mind. As to his Honor's charges against Mr. M'Glashan, it is for that gentleman himself to reply, but this I will say, that his Honor grossly perverts the facts when he states, that Mr. M'Glashaa "tells the Select Committee that the jßitfaeafigJEaa-in-. the hands of the Superintenn Ui li!l i!l l Uiy i WMLU, ML iiiudliuia-stH** dry confidential notes and memoranda which passed between us,, and which he. appears, lawyerlike to have carefully preserved for the express purpose of proving the very opposite of the circumstances under which they were written." Mr. M'Glashan declined to produce these notes to the Committee ; and it was only after his Honor denied the truth of his statements, and challenged him to the proof, that he brought forward these notes ; and even then he withheld some which were marked «bnrn this at once," or with such like markings. His Honor is not and never has been remarkable for the accuracy of his statements, otherwise I might be tempted to dilate on the fact that it was he, not Mr. M'Glashan, who first stated to the Council that Mr. M'Glashan had mortgaged his private property so as to make up the deficieacy m the pubhc chest, and upon the fact that his Honoreßdeavours to inapttgn Mr. M'Glashan's memory or veracity by bringing Mr. Street, the accountant, as a witness to his having shewn Mr. M'Glashan a certain letter of Gladstone & Co.'s, whilst Mr. Street distinctly repudiates his Honor's statement. Why does his Honor not publish this letter If it would exonerate him in the " Gala " matter? ' . ! Then there is this £1000 which bis Honor drew \ from the Bank on 7th May last, and obtained a receipt for from Paterson & Co. on the pretence that he had remitted it to the Home agents, but which had not arrived «t home in the month of \ October last. Where is this money? Where was it daring the months of May, June, and July ? There can be but one answer to' this — his Honor had it.' And in order to evade enquiry till he could afford to remit it, the Home agents' letter, j which ought to have acknowledged it, and. the: duplicate of that letter, are suppressed by his ' Honor. He says nothing about this little transaction in bis appeal to you ; it is rather an awk- j ward one to explain, even for his Honor. Such are the main features of the evidence against his Honor, and if the Council has jumped at a conclusion, it has manifestly jumped to a right one. Nor was the Council's conclusion .come to without giving his Honor an opportunity of answering, as he insinuates. The " digaity of his office " prevented him affording the Select Committee the explanations which they asked, after stating to him the nature of the evidence submit- ' ted to them, but surely that dignity would have' much more suffered by his being heard like a criminal by counsel at the bar of the House. He sent message No. 1 before the Council came to a decision, and he sent No. 2 after the decision, and. he has sent bis appeal to you, and yet he does not produce a tittle of evidence beyond his own vague and evasive denials, to rebut the evidence 1 brought .against him. ■ if the charges are false,' be, and he alone, can prove them to be sol Why, , then, does he not do so, instead of indulging in: vague denials ? This it is that really injures the " dignity of the office." I now come to bis Honor's imputations of dishonourable conduct to the Select Committee — ■conduct j which, if bht Honor's account be true, deserves to placp every man on that Committee beyond the pale of social intercourse with any honest upright man. In answer to his Honor's charges,, I can .only say that when he states that the Committeomas "a farce intended toimpart a show of fair playto the proceedings of a clique, and that-tteJEhaJejnatter was pre-arranged," he states a wmAr^ deliberate untruth. . The Comnuttee.wJU/Jtfjn sure* bear me out in stating that there waa*o pr^arrangemeat^ no anxiety, pot even a desire on their part to exonerate the treasurer from blam|, no previous communication or arrangement wjth him either, directly or indirectly, and-that the-fbulness of the imputation of his Honor is only equalled by its gratuitous falsity. Of his Honor's attack upon the Speaker I scarcely-know how to speak in terms pfiufficient indignation. This lam sure of, from my knowledge of MajoP'Kchardson— from a knowledge of his high sense- of -honour, justice, impartiality, and every other brave and chivalrous feeling, that-I-am-warranted in -pledging my own reput£ tion that he did not make the declaration stated by.hb Honor. B lisi-well- that , his Honor says honour as. the Speaker, ,. for no man who has khQwn.WsJ3bn.ortc9ndnct would otherwise belteveit. .W^ouldtbe Speaker— would any one of you-rwith^ne^arJtiOf : honour in.his breast, obtam pubhc money on the pretence of remitting it andtbett »P^f 'pro -private purposes? I , trow pot, and Xam confident that bis Honorhas