The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1890. THE HUTCHISON CHARGES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2090, 26 August 1890, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1890. THE HUTCHISON CHARGES.

The new move of the Government with regard te the Hutchiaon charges is a clever one. The caae will now be taken into the Supreme Court, there it will remain sub judice during the elections, and consequently candidates will be debarred from referring to it in their speeches. That is a good, solid old Tory way of gagging public opinion. Before, however, it goes any farther we may be permitted to review it. Mr Hutchison accused Ministers of maladministration, of public moneys so as to assist the Bank of New Zealand. The charges, formulated in a terse manner, were published in the Wellington Evening Press and subsequently reproduced by us in these columns, as was also the speech in full. It is therefore needless for us to refer to them at any greater length. The next day after the publication of the charges in the Evening Press Sir Harry A. Atkinson wrote to Mr Hutchison to know if he was correctly I reported and he replied in the affir- I mative. The Government shortly |

; afterwards moved a resolution appointpointing a Committee to enquire as to whether “ all or any iof the charges against the Government, and especially against certain members thereof,” were true. , Before going farther we desire to direct attention to the words" especially against certain members thereof,meaning members qf ;the Government.! It wi11... be seen. that great stress is laid on the fact that special accusations were made against certain members of . the Ministiy. These certain members were Sir F. 'WKitakei^”Sitf : ' T H^'"A; , ’' ~A tkias()B;"'an'a i Mr E! 1 MitchelSSni' 'and the special charge' against them!' was that* they were so involved that if they could not pay their way. i! lt is apparent; there-j fore, the chief business for which' the Committee was ■ appointed was to ascertain whether it was true that these three Ministers were Tinder such obligation to the bank, otherwise why should 1 the 1 resolution 1 directs.the Committee 1 to inquire into the accusations made, “ especially r ‘ against ! certain members No ' s&isrj however, had - the Committee assembled 1 than the cry l was " raised that it was monstrous to inquire ’ into hthe’ private affairs of the Ministers referred to. The;Bank of New Zealand was at first ready to exhibit its books, but sub-, sequently changed its mind and refused to dp so. Why did i it' change its mind ?> WasJit because the iM misters did not want their; accounts to be examined ? It looks like it. At any rate the Committee could; not get the information to inquire into what they were specially appointed to examine; and they came back to the House for power to compel the bank to. produce its books. The Government resisted this, and got Mr Macarthur,) one of their most devoted supporters, to move that the private accounts of any member of the Ministry;-should not be examined. This was carried; five members of the Committee refused to go on, and there it endued. First the committee was ordered to inquire “ especially ” into the charges against “ certain members,” -and then* the order was varied, so as to prevent the committee frem inquiring into these charges at all. Now taking this into consideration, and also the fierce effort which the Government made to pack the committee, y?hat can anyone conclude but that there was something wrong? Let. any honest man fancy himself in a similar position, and ask himself what would he do? Would he not turn everything inside out, and invite anybody and everybody to make; the fullest possible in restigation into; everything bearing on it. He certainly would, and the fact that the Government have fenced and prevaricated must condemn them in the eyes of the public. The inquiry into the alterations Mr Hutchison made in his speech was silly. It resulted in showing that he made the charges a great deal stronger than they were reported—a fact which signifies that he was pretty certain of what he was talking about. All this,: and also the terribly damaging speech’ of Mr Saunders, can lead to only one conclusion, and though the ment were to gagg all' New Zealand with thousands of writs the public will insist on some clear and explicit explanation of these transactions; But the most shocking part of the whole thing is that a majority of Parliament; has all along backed up the Government in this affair, We did not think it possible that a majority of 95 men could be found who would unblush; ingly show such insensibility to shame-1 Yet there they are, and they will have the unspeakable assurance of coming before the electors and asking them to send them back to Parliament again. Borne of them will doubtless go back,; but we sincerely trust their number' will be few, for they are really and truly as much to blame as the most culpable of the parties referred to in the charges.

THE DUNEDIN HERALD.

We regret very much to learn that the, Dunedin Herald and its weekly edition, Public Opinion, have ceased publication. Some thirteen years ago a wealthy syndicate bought two papers which were then in Dunedin, and these became the Otago Daily Times. The: dismissed employes of one of the papers raised sufficient capital to start the Herald, and it prospered for a

year or so, paying a dividend of 16 per cent. During this time it was conducted with great vigor and independence, but certain people who had axes to grind bought into it, and it soon lost its outspoken tone, and went downhill. It was changed from a morning to an evening paper, but down it went. It changed hands seyeral times, but nothing could save it. It ruined Mr Bracken and emptied

the pockets of others, yet down it went year after year. We may say that it is a shame for the industrial classes of Dunedin, as well for the working men, that they allowed the Herald to starve to death. 3?or some years past it has been conducted most vigorously by its very able and scholarly Mr Stanford, and Liberal principles, tradesuDionism and protection had no more thorough-going champion in the colony. But those people for _ whom it worked so hard did not evidently extend to it that measure of support which it so richly merited from them, and now they will have to content themselves with being brow-beaten, maligned and misrepresented by the Conservative organs. We shall soon have few Liberal papers in the colony. They are dying out fast, The only Liberal paper in Otago is the Oainara *

Mail; /Canterbury is, better .off with the ‘ Lyttelton/Times'and the Ashburton i Guardian. The fact; is, Liberalism in the newspaper line;does not pay now-a-days, and\the proprietors,. like other people, take the.side, on which the bread is buttered. We regret the death of the Herald, but faKmqre go that iof Fublie:; Opinion, or ..the* Saturday \ Advertised, which the genius of Mr Brapken ooce,.jpade famous. It: was” in the columns of thisipaper the genial Paddy, Morphy poured forth his cheerful “ pomes ” ; It was there' he revelled in wir ind humor, and made a name which the present generation will, T not forget. Mr Bracken made this paper the most widely read in New Zealand, and if he bad.'carried? on ?ori- the same Tines he would/haVc bqeniii to-day. Ha was, howfever, induced to buy into: the Herald,'and make the Advertiser its; weekly issue, just as the Canterbury Times is the weekly of the; Lyttelton Times.; ; The result was not! pleasant to Mr Bracken, but it is unnecessary to go i into ! details [ con-’ cerniUgh'it, Ifiboth papers'were conducted” :0n", the original lines on which tney were started ■; they would have been in; the van of journalism to-day, but wire-pullers and self-seekers gave them a: bad; name, and their death is the result. ? *

; : TEMUKA STOCK SALE. Enteepeise, courage, tact and ability will develop a business anywhere. For years we: have been‘ asking, “ Where is the auctioneering business gone ? How do the people dispose of their stock?” We found no one, capable of giving’ a satisfactory answer. Still the fact remained that no oae couldi see a successful auction sale in the district. Suddenly,* how*: ever, the business has burst up as if by the influence of‘the good fairies we used to read Of in our youngerdajs. A fortnight ago Messrs Mundell and Co. had one of the best sales and largest entries ever held in the district in:; his new byards; - Still <we were doubtful =as to whether or hot it was a forced saleiOMany regarded it fas such, and suggested that the novelty of the thing, as well as the; temptation of a free lunch and some “ speechifying,” had brought the people togetner. We find, however; that for next Wednesday there is still a larger entry, and that judging from present appearances the success of the, enterprise is assured. , We congratulate - ? Messrs Mundell and. Co. on their enterprise, and we trust .the :public will recognise that they are in a sense public benefactors. 1 The holding of i these sales must prove beneficiahto the town it-

self, while the convenience of having so good a market near at hand must be; exceedingly valuable to the farmers. They, could not drive their stock to more distant u markets; without depreciating them ,in value, and also incurring expense. r All this they will save by patronising their own local market, i and it must result in great advantage to them. This they owe to Messrs Mundell and Co.’s enterprise, and doubtless they will recognise their efforts on their behalf in the manner most acceptable to them, that is, by filling up the, yards with stock every sale day. ; : s , V : ■■■-,