A "Daniel Come to Judgment. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 36

A "Daniel Come to Judgment. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — Tn bit pronouncement on tha Education Board imbroglio the ltev. I'^ B. Fraser assures us he bus given a perfectly fair'account of the whol* business. I propose to put 'his pretensions to the test. One sentenoo is atfollows :—"Mrl'ryde,coming into the aichitect's oirioe, happened to notice that he was purposing to make tbe entrance from Jetty street, and at once caid the eutrance w<ju tobe ftom Crawford street— a moet,natural and not improper thinfj to do in view of Uic expressed mind of the meiiibera of (he board." Now, nothing can bo clearer than tbat this seutence presents a most incorrect statement, of tbe facts. Th« members' of the board had not, either individually or collectively, expressed any opinion oa the subject/ for the question had nev^r been bt fore the board The board had done nothing b«yond reaolving to build ofliosa on a certain sit-'. On the architect; submitting a sketch plan to the secretary showing the entrance from Jetty street, that oflicer look it upon himself to say' "The entrance must be from Crawford street. I must; have it there, Somerville." Mr Fraser tells u« thi» wns it most natural and not improper thi»£ to do! In addrc3»iug tho architect in thi« way th» secretary was simply exptesftiag his own mind, and I challenge Mr trwaer to point 'out any cvi ienco tending to »Uow that the aeoretarywas giving effect to the expressed will of the ooard — except on tho assumption tbat the secretary is , the board. Mr Fr*per, in his solicitude for tha secretary, has niix-.d things up considerably. He ha* obviourly proreeckd en tkc- assumption that the interview referred to took place after the board had " expressed its mind as to the Crawford street elevation."

In the next step in bis argument the Rev. Mr Fraecr has gone even furtfeer aslrty. I refer to his laboured attempt to explain away tha evidence an to tbo alteration of the signed pUn. Ha tell* us ttiat at one interview tbo secretary would not agree to the alteration because it involve a change in the elevation approved by th» board, and that at a later interview tho secretary cave hla " approval to the final arrangement." It ooei not suit Mr ITraserV purpose .to refer to the evidence as to the manner in which the secretary gave hiH approval, but it is to this effect: that tbo recret.ry said to tlio architect,, " Woll, do It that way, then, Smuerville " ; that tbe architect euggested a difficulty as to altering the plan without the ea.nc.tion of tbe board, and the secretary ovci ruled it. This evieleaoe is ua* contradicted, but Mr Frieer finds it convenient to ignoi c it. Otherwise he could not have come to the conclusion "that "it was done provisionally" with the'intsntion of getting the formal sanction 7 of the board." ' \ • Mr I'Yiucr fondly imagines that he has given * fair account of the Ini-iness, and I must leave it to your readers to form their own opinions with the above Hpocimeaa of his method of argument before their). To roe it appears an exceedingly unfair, perverted, »Dd cot fus*d account, but then I am possibly one of those people referred to by Mr Eraser vvhote inicdd are " prejudiced and shallow." Mr Kraser throughout this inquiry has ftllied himself with Mr J. F. M. Fraier, and consequently he need have uo compunction in refuting: to include me amongst the righteous judges, "of s whom he claims to be one. He cannot surely have failed to notice that Mr J. F, ST. Fraser is pUying the same part in this inquiry that he did in the WuUreka one, and that Mr MacGregor and myself havo hal to fight the same battle for fair play that we fought for the Rev. Mr Fraier. If the reverend gentleman has not noticed this, his friends throughout Otago have, and I can assure him they are not a little, surprised that he uliould allow himielf to be used ia such a manner by his legal namesake. - In conclusion, I may say that royidei of ths functions of a judge is that he should strive to ascertain the facts, and when he thinks ha has' succeeded, then he should state them, without regard to consequences. The llev. Mr fc'riaer's object seems to be to show that everybody has told the trutb, and especially the secretary, and to prove this he has twiated and distorted the evidence in a manner pardonable in a hired advocate, but to my mind unworthy of a judge and a fair man. — I am, dec., J. J. Ramsay. Anderson's Bay, September 27. [This correspondence is now closed. — Ed.]

The expert of coal from Greymouth last week was 1116 tons, the Blackball Company contributing 693 tons ; and the quantity of timber ex* ported was 7744 ft.

The return euchre match bstween representatives of the Flag Swamp' and Wailconaiti clubs took place on Wednesday, 22nd. Play was commenced cborlly after 8 o'clock and continued till 10.30, when the Waikouaiti player* were again victorious by five games, the aeores being— Flag Swamp, 16 ; Waikouaiti, 21. Afe the conclusion of the match both teams weta hospitably entertained by Mrs M'Gill, Mr Russell acknowledging the hospitality in a neafe speech*