MR RAMSAY IN REPLY.

West Coast Times, Issue 2509, 16 April 1877, Page 2

MR RAMSAY IN REPLY.

(To the Editor.')

Sir,— : Ad Mr Ingram usfefl my name "pretty freely ih' a letter iii this morning's '{taper, will ybu allow me space to say a leW wbrds iti fbply. Mr trigfdrh says " had trie committee' called b'n him ah'o iiifbnhed hirfi of the mistake, he would j Mve liad the dewing 6'ver again." . Any I jjefsoii vfitb! cphlm'rin se'rise ivoulfl kuo'iv that- such a tliirig could not take place two days afterwtfrdsj with fairness to any one concerned, as a great many ticket-holders were present at the drawing who knew ttie'^ baa riot got a prize"; arid probably destroyed, their tickets.. He tlieh says he kiiew hbtliing of,. Mr krim'sa'y's list, lie rieyef saw" it. That is stiiibly untrue, he riot only saw it, But wanted it from me before leaving the place that night. I said i no I would keep it, and liti brie would take a copy iii it until lie got his tickets returned from Kumara. That list was in ray shop until the morning of the published list appearing, and was not shown round the town; On the morning Milligram's drawing appeared, I compared my list With the published one, and it did not tally, fdur numtJefs being' wrong. I theri went to" Mr W. Rb's"s, who had another list^ and asked him to compare his list, :iud that did riot tally, the same numbers being wrong. We then compared °ur two lists and they tallied, as did" the whole tfciree on the night of drawing. I then' went tb : the West Coast Timfs office to see if they had made a mistake in copying the orie;lrial list: Bat what did I find— a part of the original, and that part the committee's signatures, with a set •df new figures on it. I then 1 went to Mr Ingram's shop with my list in my pocket not for the purpose of getting my prize, as he says il wad one of the first to get it, but to speak to. him about the mistake.. Ad I entered tlie" door he was there outside tlie counter, and before I could say anything he said " OH, wHat prize did you get;". I said "I believe the 23rd:" He passed intp another room and brought it out and laid it on the counter. I then said Mr Ingra'm,' those numbers published are not correct. He said how are they not correct ; because they do not correspond with the copy that I have. He said, very tartly aud stiubb'ish; I know nothing about your copy or any other 6opy ; I have got the original list ; you have not published it then. He' said He Heard it was at the Times office. I said, Mr Ingram, I have been at the Times office before coming to you and have seen it. He said again (Bnubbishly) are you going to take your prize. I looked at the man, but not a move, I took the prize ahd said that will make no difference, as my number is correct. I then left snubbed as I thought. As to Mr Irigram's conpludirig remarks I pass them over, leaving that for the public to judge. I am, &c, W. Ramsay. Apirl 14, 1877. MR STANTON IN REPLY TO MR INGRAM. (To the Editor,) ' ; Slit— Will you allow me space in your columns to reply to Mr Ingram's letter, which appeared in last Saturday's issue or your paper. I wad about to say that lam astonished at the assertions made by Mr Ingram in that letter, but that would be Avrong, for nothing connected with the art union, either has, or can surprise me, after J the publication of a falsified statement. Mr Ingram aays "he did not see the drawing take place, so whaieyer alterations Have taken place, it had been done before 1 he saw it, or done by some one going in and out of the shop." It is ray opinion that he kept but of the way purposely, for I have been present twice before at the drawing of tickets for his art unions, and on both occasions he was there. The refer* ence to the falsification of the sheet prior to his getting it, is perfectly untrue, as the sheet was in no hand, but mine after being signed by the conltmttee ; and as to the numbers being altered by any person going > in or out of the snbp, it is perfect humbug,

for if any one wished to.see the sheet, either lie. or .s'b'riieo'h'e w'b'uld be there to give dhtl receive, it Oack, ahd consequently must have Meh fche alte'f atißris being made; and then tllferi tfie huftioers' could not be altered, as tile HurhHe'H (iiriginal) were taken dbwri bj/ niyself ifi Ink: Then again, if tlie numbers' we're altered by one person he fhust HSve' Bwned tig^fe'ls to correspond with the falsified numbers, aud it would have taken tyru some .time to lv.ok through the sheet and do the dirty work. But, if I the tickets did not belong to one person, then the sheet must have been altered by the persons who held tickets corresponding to those n-imbers, and so the sheet will show the figures were not all formed by one p-erson Mr Ingratfi tbrisiderS it wduld have been more prudent for the committee to have called on him and compare for Rhinitilyg 1^ with tfae left at his place, supposed to be a dorrect one. I can assure Mr Ingram that it was not a supposition at all, its accuracy b&rie an established fact, it having been compared with Mr Ramsay's list prior to* beltife delivered to him. He also has the impudence to say " he never knew but what it was a correct o'fie." He' mMI tfHtHfully^ say that rite .could. swetr to the accuracy of the' dheet when I gave it to him. Mr IngrdW s't'e'fiis s.urpfisso! that Messrs Ramsay arid" iMetcher were the first to call for their prizes, knowing that the published nuriibers were incorrect. I consider that they showed go'bd Serise, 1 fof if they had dela^a ari hoftfr of two longer their nuriibefs riifg'ht haVe uridefg6rie the same mystericfUß pro'ces^; Mr Ingram! expresses his sorjoKy that suchl a sfimpl'e ot men should ha]ve been appointed on the committee. Well, Mr liigram m,ay b£ sorry, but I don't believe the public wilt join him. I can tell Mr Ingram that the committee w,as. appointed, to see fair play* and if they had tompromised with bird by tiavirig the tickets! drawn again they would have done a Very' gross injustice to the ticket-holdejs. . Icl conclusion, I think that instead of Mr tngram inviting the committeeraen to meet him last Saturday evening to" compare sheets,- he should have appointed s&m'e evening' in* next week and have given me due^ notice, that I might have had a chance of seeing the sheet, foi, from what I can learn, the published sheet was not made out bf me ar. all,, but by s'oihe 6ne else; I a'rri sbr'ry for Mr lugrarn's lij'ss—a loss which enriches no orie else, and makes him r/oor indeed. I wbtild advise the whole of the six cofrimitteemeri tb clear out as soon as possible, o'tberwise they niay soon be doing penance in Mr Cleary's hotel. . Hoping that I may not share the sa'riie fate, I arii, &c, Wm. S. S. STAtiTdti.