THAT ROLL STUFFING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XII, Issue 9513, 13 September 1879, Page 2

THAT ROLL STUFFING.

TO THfa E3XKCOE. > SiR,-4-Bsin^[ almost a s.trangqr in ]^'anganui, I am unable to i: judc;e whether it is ignorance, malice, f>p « desire^ ,to be senjsational which 'produced' ! the" "deliberate distortion of facts to be found in the Editorial of that "public censor and guide," the Wanganui Chronicle, .yesterday morning. -T am inclined' s t 6 tnink though, from the high character which> tbeiaßle elditorrioe I ditorriof >> .that organ/ 1 be'ara> ffo r sincere Christian :s&,&,s it is ignorance both of politics and] persona that ha 9 led him to write that torrent of Te Whitian prophecy, which . will,- no doubt be verified aaWere tlie prophecies of the Ultimate triumph of the Fox party at the hustings. \ Whilst making every' charitable allowance^ < however^ - ;for r his 1 'ignorance J bhf general subjects connected with Bay oE\ Islands politics, I cannot help fancying that he has been guilty of- pulpabie mis?' representation "when - referring to "the Report of the JRoyal Commissioner on the roll stuffing' question, ihe'c(uite-;ig]3 f orep the fact that both' Williams ari&jtiUndbnj according. to the above • mentioned^ report, 1 were equally guilty of roll stuffin'gj, sand the editor of the Chronicle, if he had read the report carefully and honestly, could not fail to have noticed that, Williams, of two, deserves more' blame, as with his high political influence, and that of his brother, the K.M. and Registration officer, to help him, he had not the same temptations to, or cause for, illegalities as had Lundon, n who'. .' taas entirely, when entering the political arena, without either prestige or , influence^ Without defending Lundon's illegal "a } cts in any way, I hold that it is disgraceful that the power pf the press should /ha ipjo'stituted « 'as it was yesterday morning, by taking two political rogues, and whilst both are equally guilty, trying to befool the public by canonizing one, and damning tb,qo^h;er.) ■ The consistency, however, of the sapient editor of the Chronicle commands myj admiration as he is ; far Seeing enough to per- , ceive thaftP. Lundon/M.H.R.,hk'ii done' in the Bay of Islands exactly what- has been done in r many other, pajrts of the Colony! ': -^Namely, break; up, the ' fossilized .clique of old settlers, and give better and more liberal minded menfa-.phanoe. • , A glance at Mr Bryce's repbrV willl show the truth oi: this, as he says therein :— " Up to the year 1871, political feeling in the Bay of Islands was in a state of which may be .described^ calm'an& peaceful.*-' The l old mission families, their connections and fit lends, rested placidly in the calm assurance that they, had r,a jprescr^ptlv&ripjitt to control the public, , filling and>])o'Uiicfil{ action in the district, in wliich' they resided. * * *„ Atlhe G|-e'ner4 flection of 1871, however^' the serenity -of the political atmosphere was rudely^dis^rb^ed.; For it was'found'that their chosen candidate, Mr Caxlton, -was to be opposed by Mr MpLeod, and incredible as it must have seemed to bia'ny,' the 1 latter'genileman was actually returned as the member for the district. *. *, ,* 7l *', The result of the election was saidj at the time to be mainly due to the active' exe_rtio.ns of Mr John Lundon." The italics in, the above ( aijeiny own. ■)'!"' > : '•'-'' - ! ' l '-' >'- { In 1873, on account of the resignation ofMr McLeod another election took place, when Mr _Wilh>ms,the present- jansucoeasfttl candidate defeated: Mr pqafjipn by,a. .small majority owing. I believe to 'couni sel rendered 1 by : his brother,;'Mr "Di'M. Williams, the Registration and- Returning Officer for the district, .Mr White, the E.M. of Mongonjui, and Mr.ypn Stunner, . R.M. of Hokianga, - who, though' aj) government officials, united w ppjppsing Mr

Lundon, and keeping intact the supremacy of the Williaj&i' cliflu^.tTJndpr circumstances such as thepei is itjl to* Be, wondered, at that the._mubhj villified'Str Lundon determined to^fighjt.his^ine^mftjß with the same tactics whicjhNih'ey, used themselres, and therefore, as the ment, (that is "Williama & Co., and Continuous • Ministry) would • not; give - him polling booths in his own districts he disorganized theirs in the manner and style known as ßoll Stuffing., Xliave^-'atiJeirapted during^tKe-foregb'in^ letter r t6 / '-B'S o a§ magnkuiiffa# 'jfe l possibl£ towards the unfortunate" CErohicTerahcL I would not have taken the trouble to! write this in refutation of its editorial had I not known that the " infallibility of th^ press" is thoroughly believed in by somp people who never see that the spicy cdi; torial, the aslf laudation, and venality of some papers is merely dictated by avarice, maliae, or spite, and never whilst reading the festerings of such stop to think wh6 is pulling the strings. It is merely to set the casual reader aright, not from a spiri| of recrimination that I have thus dropped on the Chronicle, as it is but melancholy satisfaction to strike an already beaten and fallen antagonist. • *

Let the Chronicle then take the olq Pythagorean advice of "abstineto a/obis* and Bit quietly by and wait to see which side pays beßt, which course I am certaiii would be better for the Chronicle and al] concerned. 1 Publish this Mr Editor when you have some spare time and oblige

Fair Play.