ANOTHER SCANDALOUS JOB.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 372, 2 November 1889, Page 2

ANOTHER SCANDALOUS JOB.

T IE Atkinson Government have many sins to answer for, but the latest job is more shameful than many by which it has been preceded* A Mr J> E- Hume

1 (until lately engaged, it is said, in a lawyer’s office in Wellington) has been appointed a sub-lieutenant in the Defence Department. What a fortunate thing it is to have a “ friend in Court,” but it is sometimes most unfortunate for the taxpayers who have to suffer for the favoritism shown to individuals. The fact that Mr Hume, jun., is the son of Lieut.-Colonel Hume may to some minds be a sufficient justification for taking the young man from his scribbling operations, and lifting him high over the heads of many men at least as good as he and with more claim to the position, and making him a fullblown sub-lieutenant in the Permanent Force. The jobbery has been of such a nature that Captain Russell (though he did swallow his freetrade principles) was ashamed to be known as the author of it, and at once issued a disclaimer. We are not aware that Mr Hume has ever passed any examination to qualify him for the post —the chances are that his sole recommendation is the respected gentleman whom he is entitled to call “ pa.” Mr Hume, jun., may be a most estimable young man, and no one can blame him for taking the chance which has been given him. But those who are responsible for the appointment ought not to be allowed to go unscathed after making such use of their position. It must be hard on those who have worked well to qualify themselves for promotion, and as to whose capabilities there can be no question, to see a young man taken from an office and placed above them. It is no easy matter for young men who are in every way qualified for the position to gain a footing in the Permanent Force—unless they have friends in the proper place—but even to those who have some knowledge of the way things are worked this Hume business must come as a surprise, and it will add another to the questionable records of the Atkinson Ministry. Well may Captain Russell disclaim that he was a party to the thing '.