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Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3869, 29 July 1873, Page 2

If the Manager of the Anglo-Australian Press Association does not intend to utterly damage the repxitation of the intereat for which he is the responsible agent, he must treat his constituents considerably different to the way in which he has served this office during the last week.. We had a latent dread of what would result when once the Press Association was fairly out of the field, but we confess we were not prepared for guch barefaced neglect, and such a reckless contempt for the dues of a constituent as we — and, through us, the public — have been made the victims of during the last few days. Telegrams that reached Wellington on Tuesday evening last, before eight o'clock, were so kept back that they did not appear in the Independent until Thursday. Worse still, telegrams that were received on last Saturday evening were again kept back, and only appear in our columns this morning — thus defrauding the public out of the news for a whole day. If this statement be denied, and the records of the Telegraph Department are referred to in order to disprove what ia here distinctly alleged, and they should show that we are in error, then we shall be r«ady to apologise for libelling the Manager of the Association— rbut not till then. This may, after all, appear a very small matter to the manager ; but we regard it as so flagrant a breach of contract that we truat his principals wijl inquire into the case, and endeavor to prevent the recurrence of such wretched mismanagement in the future. If other papers are treated on a par with ourselves, we have no doubt a remedy will soon be found by adopting some fresh arrangement ; but if the policy is to play one against the other alternately, the difficulty to overcome will be greater in proportion to the want of unanimity—one paper perhaps having little or no cause of complaint, while another maybe very badly treated. But even under those circumstances ire would

not despair of organising a system of reciprocal telegraphy which would meet all ordinary requirements ; and once such a thing were done, farewell to the prestige of the Angk>-Australian ! We understand that the Hon Mr Stafford has convened a meeting of his late supporters, to be held on Wednesday, for the purpose of taking into consideration the policy of the Government as enunciated in the Financial Statement,*which is expected to4>e delivered to-night, and of deciding upon the course which the Opposition — of which, we presume, he has again assumed the leadership — will take in regard to it.