THE RIVERTON AND OTAUTAU RAILWAY.

Southland Times, Issue 1794, 16 September 1873, Page 3

THE RIVERTON AN D OTAUTAU RAILWAY.

(TO THE BDITOB OF THB TIMES) p IB< The " Old J. R. Settler's" letter has evidently given serious offence to the Limestone Plains settlors, to have caused so many of them to rush into print, to have a fling at poor " Old J. R." The latest (though by no means the best) of these scribblers gives vent to his injured feelings in your weekly issue oi the 6th inst. This wrathful settler has, however, made a discovery : he has traced the authorship of the " Old J. R. Settler's" letter to "an Otautau settler," and forthwith commences a tirade against him without hesitation or compunction. In England a tiller of the soil is termed a farmer, in Australia he is called a " cockatoo," but in Southland he obtains the more dignified name of settler ; and as I am the only tiller of the soil or settler at Otautau, it follows that the serious charge of having " lacerated the feelings" of the Limestone men is brought home to my door. It has been said that a house built on sand will not stand ; a B'ructure reared up on falsehood also comes to the ground. What then becomes of all your correspondent's unjust strictures, when I inform him that I am not the author of the " Old J. K. Settler's" letter, and that I neither directly nor indirectly have had anything to do with it. Being naturally of a bashful and retiring disposition, I have hitherto refrainud as much as possible from interfering in public affairs of the district, hoping thereby to escape observation. Occasionally, however, when the importance of the question at issue has demanded that I should emerge from my usual obscurity, I have made it an invariable practice to state mv views freely and openly, at public meetings and through the Press, caring precious little whether the same were acceptable or not to the Limestone Plains settlers or any other section of the community, bo long as I felt satisfied that these views were calculated to promote the general interests 1 df^the district How then does this " Limestone Plaint Settler" presume to place me on a level w'th those who find it necessary to assume the " anonymous cloak," under shelter of which they are enabled to vent their spleen against . their neighbor, .by vile insinuations, &c, soihat one is not safe from' their attacks even should he v eside so far distant from them us the Otauiau ? - Does the " Limestone Settler " really believe or wish others to believe that lam capable of descending to the same pitch of moral cowardice as himself, when he attributes to me the authorship of the obnoxious letter referred to. His real object evidently has been to bring down on -my "-devoted pate " the concentrated hate of all the Limestone men. It is a matter of thankfulness that men of your correspondent's stamp &r6 , "few and far between," ard I Irust are hot at all to be ; ifound J outside of the Limestone Plains. I have attended a meeting at Riverton called for the purpose of preparing a memorial to His Honor the Superintendent in reference to the Riverton and Otautau Railway, and your __ correspondent's statement that " Otautau settler has bt-en going the round of th&'meetings held in the Jacob's Biver district for* "the purpose of considering the "proposed route of railway,'* is simply untrue, as it is wellknown that I only attended one public meeting in the Jacob's River district, yiz., "the great gathering" at Limestone Plains, in Mr Mollison'a house, a report of which appeared in your paper. The propriety of altering the line of railway fiom the west to the east side . of Jacob's River, was discussed for several hours. The position of the advocates of the western line was trying in the extreme. The Limestone men having attended en masse in this stronghold of the opposition, and with a lion in the chair, it required a man of no ordinary nerve to do justice to their claims. A. plucky settler, named Macdougall (probably a descendant of the ancient house of Lome), at length came forward and stated that he was a Western man. His firm tread, and the glance of defiance cast around him, seemed to imply that he cared not a rush f>r all the lions — aye, or bears either — about the plains, or anywhere else. In indignant tones he proceeded to relate that no notice cf the gathering bad been serve i him. It was bj the merest accident that he became aware of it. He had even the temerity to insinuate that the meeting was a packed one, when an ominous growl from the occupant of the chair, giving promise of a terrific roar, made Mac quickly " pull in his horns," and beat a retreat. The decisive moment at length arrived when the votes must be taken pro and con. " A mountain was in labor, sending forth dreadful groans, and there was in the district the highest expectation ; but, after all, it brought forth a mouse !" The actual majority in favor of altering the railway line to the eastern side oi Jacob's River was five votes ! The chairman proclaimed in loud tones that the motion was carried by a large majority. The public, however, have now an opportunity of judging for themselves if such was the case. In reference to the letter of "Old J. B. Settler," had he consulted your humble servant, my advice re him would have been not to select Mr Quin as an object of special remark, as in the first place he did not deserve it, his speech at the " great gathering" being well delivered, and in many respects to the point. Again, Mr Quin having the bump of combativeness largely developed, and being an adept, is able with equal facility and dexterity to wield-eithe^ the pen or shillelah to perfection™ — "to- the veins of nicety," in fact. " Old Settler" should therefore have been careful not to provoke his ire— a precaution which would have saved the poor old fellow the severe castigation recently administered to him by Mr Quin through the Press.— l ,am, &c, Jambs Mackintosh. Strathmore, 12th Sept., 1873.