THE McCARTHY CASE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13636, 2 July 1908, Page 7

THE McCARTHY CASE.

A NEWSPAPERS MISTAKE

putting the blame os the ■•Mayob.

The Cbristchnrch "PnW yesterday published the following:— We neett h;irdlv say how much we regret having to lay before the public the facts disclosed at" yesterday's meeting of the South Canterbury Chaiituble Aid Board regarding the blind man McCarthy, on whose behalf a number of our readers, have, in the most, generous and sympathetic* spirit, sent subscriptions' to this office. . The circumstances as rfated to us in tha first instance were cenarinly auch as to stir the warmest impulses of the benevolently-disposed. The fact that a local newspaper had taken up me case, and that the Mayor of ..T'inxiru had not only, consented to receive donations*., but hud replied to a. of enquiry from 'an intending subscriber in a manner ' which satisfied the latter that the case was one deserving. of assistance, seemed to us sufficient justification, for receiving the sums which were forwarded to us by sympathetic readers', without making the personal investigation which would certainly have taken plaee had '" 1 he Press " started th% movement in the first instance. Th«re have been many occasions on which we have appealed to the benevolence arid Hberaii y of our readers - , and in every ins.anee their response has been most generous. This is the lii*t occasion on which any doubt has arisen as to the worthiness of the object for which an appeal has been naiie. The Mayor ni Timarn has explained veiy fully his action in the matter, and, although" we conw wish that he had probed, a little more deeplv into the case before lending his official- sanction to it in any way, there is no question that the obvious affliction of the man must have made an appeal to his Worship's, syinpatliies very hard to resist, and that any kind-hearted person in the same circumstances would have felt an equal" reluctance to check the generous flow of public sympathy until he had }iositive proof that it was being directed to an undeserving object.

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. Seen by a " Herald" representative yesterday in regard to the above article, ine Mayor made the following statement: — "it is an entite misrepresentation of the facts to say thajf ' Mie Mayor of Timaru had not only consented to receive donation*, but had replied to ;i telegram of. enquiry from an intending subscriber in a manner which satisfied the latter that the was one deserving of aseistuiice.' I did no.hing to evoke, public sympathy and never solicited subs«crip*ion<f. Had warm-hearted people not sent donations to me as the Alayor ot the town iu which this case of alleged hardship had occurred, thero would have been no reason why I should have instituted the enquiries which lesulced in the breakdown- of the whole affair. But when people did tend subscript.ons, coupled with the implication that they relied oa me to guarantee that the case was genuine and deserving, it became jxecessary for me, not to refuse to act as temporary custodian of their subscriptions, but to satisfy myself that the donors \ were nob being misled. -My action in holding <th&t money, pending enquiries into the bona lidVu of the case, was the only exense the "PreM" hus for saying ...*» I " consented to receive subscriptions'" and everybody will see what a wide diflerence there is between the two.

" 't he hrst offer I received \v:is a letegram fiom'Mr field, oir behalf if. Mr Fleming, oi Banks Peninsula, stating that he would give £lO if the case ijieK.iuoed in ihe "Pr«a>" was. genuine. I teiegraplied back that I would make full euqunits mid write him the r«t>uit by letter. I then began enquiries, tiist with: the "Tiuiarn los>." which had given a lot of

publicity to the ca.se. The "* Post " ]>evple knew little about it. and referred me r to Mr Brown whom they gave as their informant. Mr Brown told me it was a genuine case, but couid give no details. 1 then decided to interview McCarthy himself but could get no • i.atxdactory statement from him ua to how, wlien or where he lust his eyewight. "Ihe details of the interview ..were given in the. statement I made to the Charitable Aid Board t'e*.*rd'ty. I then returned to town and liflled at the "Timaru Herald," to ascertain triiafc your paper had published about it. x-*ira» shown a paragraph containing a tJiort .statement made by the Miirine Band in support of their appeal to the public to attend an open-air concert they intended giving in aid of a destitute i>erson whose name was not mentioned. I told your editor the result of my unsatisfactory interview with McCarthy and found that, as the jtsult of his own enquiries, he declined to as-bcciate himself or the paper with the'movement for' McCarthy's assistance. I (hen went to- the) *• Post," and gave thf-m the-suuw information as I had given tb& "Herald." Then I wrote to Mr Field, telling him that -the man wa.s undoubtedly blind, iitit that-be either could not or would mt give a. enrsiftent and n.iu\ factory account of how he cunie by his misfortune. I regret *hat I did not keep it copy of this letter, bat I have telegrapheil to Mr Firlrf for a copy of it, and will publish it a.* soon as I receive it if lie has preeerved ii. in the meantime, the foliosfing letter which I sent lo another enquirer, Mr E. A. Taylor, of Chritchureh. will show - the general tone of my reply to would-be jsnbiseribera:—"Be the malt

MeCartbv, the ca=e is not altogether a* reported" in the papers, and there is a mysterious something behind it all which ue"ither the police nor the -Charitable Aid Board seem able to unearth-. -The man,> own statements as to where..he came from previous to this past few -tfeeks and also as to how lie met with his .accident, have turned out to he untrue. There is no doubt about the mans blindnets (he.'lks onlv one child, not three as reported). and I think you can r«st assured-that, he will not be allowed to starve, no matter what hi* moral character is.'.' : " That was the effect of , the letter I sent to ilr Field, but before he could have received it, I received from him a letter which crossed mine', in the p;i>U enclosing Mr Fleming's clique for £lO. That my letter put him on his guard .is shown by the fact that lie «*nt me no more subscriptions, as lie had previously said he would do if it were a genuine case of hardship. That disposes of the* second assertion made by the 'Press.' . "In conclusion, I have only-to say that the public will recognise that the 'enquirks I se: on foot through the police and the secretary of the Charitable Aid Board took time to complete, as communications had to be made- with-other places as distant as Auckland. /Until these enquiries had been completed, and the man's history established beyond doubt, I could-do" no more than I did to check the effect of the eta'em'-nfs that got into the papers, nor would- 1 havei b-en justified in refusing to receive subscriptions so generoiasly sent to.me by people whose hearts had evidently-' been touched by what they read.''