The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 58, 1 May 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY, 1878.

A few Government, and dther- ojEU cia,ls, have been considerably-exer-cised at aw strictures -upon the manner m whjch the nusiness of the pijblfa ha,s beenhitherto carried an, an.d; .ih& vials o| Qffipial wrath have, been poured out upon pup devoted head. While we sincerely regret the necessity which causes us to ootue into collision "'with;;* ajaj • of the j^itt^unity, have to announce tha^t Bjich,a, C9^sid.^ra.t^ri will have no/ weigh* with us when an a,bi^se calls for exposure, or- a benefit to the , canvAuntty at large can be effiected by, o,ur- pen. Qur m.o,ttQ ha.s ajways ! been " the gpea.teat goo^ tQ the greatest number," »nd ajthaugh iuf carrying ftut that cardinal prinoipTe we n^ay have to incur- the censure and condemnation oi some, strength-, cued by the knowledge p.ur

actions spring from laudable motives,, we feel convinced that m the end it will have to be admitted by all- that our sole aim has beenihe progres--sion of the district, and the benefit and welfare of the Gqiinty as a whole. In carrying out such a programme it is a matter of impossibility to avoid giving offence to some, and no doubt those persons affected may take" a personal view of the matter," and consider themselves aggrieved. To any suoh we shall say that as it has always been our, aim to do justice to all, acting fairly and impartially to everyone, m future we shall rigidly adhere to that course, giving ' oensure where oensure is called for, and praise and credit where either be due. The task of a journalist is by no means an easy one, and it is far more pleasant for us to bestow commendation than to inflict- censure 5 at the same time,- while the withholding of the first may be an injustice, a negleot of the latter may be often criminal, and followed I with very serious effects. We feel, then, that we, are called upon, to again revert to a matter which certainly requires ventilation. As we stated m our last issue, a hitch occurred' m the running' of the Hal-' combe train on. last Friday, and although that station is, but eight miles f pom a telegraph office, up to ! five m the afternoon (perhaps to a much later hour) the people and j officials at Feilding were utterly ignorant of the oause. "We stated m our Saturday's .paper- that Mr. Patterson, the Overseer of Works, left at ten o'olock m the morning to walk up the line, and the'inferenoe was, that it was m .conneotion with the accident. We are informed by that gentleman that such is not the oase, and that on his arrival at Halcombe > he prooeeded to attend to other business. Certainly, our mistake was a 'most natural one, for m ! seeing_him set "out to walk' along the line for eight miles, ou'i? presumption was that it had some "connection with the break-down. However, we have no desire to saddle, any particular person with the blame, and as' Mr. Patterson says that it was m the prosecution of other business he visited Haloambe, and' that he was I not to be held responsible for Having, the information conveyed to Feild.ing, we publish, the statement '.with pleasure. Purely, however, it* was the, duty of. some, of the officials to see to a matter of suoh importance, and although Mr. Patterson did not^ feel himself called upon to interfere, that there was gross carelessness and negleot somewhere, .is"' most apparent.. It has beenf'stated that a messenger was 4e£^atohed to Peilding. It so, wait he a;x* official who can be mafae responsible for his failure>of duty ?-as' it is certain no suctifnjessenger ever put m an apc ptearance. As' we were most anxious to be a,We to publish the cause of the hitch,' we .telegraphed before" four*" o'clock to Marlon to the following effect ;-=" Nq train from Halcombe to-day ; can gain no information ; can you wire particulars?" The: above message was sent' -to the <'Ilangitikei Advocate," and although its nature- should clearly show that it was urgent,' and the reply utterly, , useless unless forwarded before the closing of the telegraphic office for the night, we heard nothing more of the matter until Saturday > when we received the following « _ v Telegram received 4*lß^ delivered 6.1Q; leave you to settle/ matter" official here." It will be thus aeen that although the message needed an immediate reply, the Marton telegraphist coolly waited to deliver- it until invigorated by hja supper. We wers informed a, few daja since by ' a gen.tlQin.an that he had forwarded, when at Wanganui, a rn.es.sage to an hotel-keeper at one o| the stations, asking him to seou.re, beds for himself a.n.4 party, but on ar-rival found' to, k.\* surprise that it ha.d never been receive^. An naup or so after his ajriral, however, \n walked the i bearer of the message which,, should have beep delivered some six hours . before. We could mention, numerous ' , ath.er instances, but prefer confining ourselves to,? the one m Which we are , moire immediately interested, and we hold thajt the conduct of the Martan official calls for the strictest inquiry. If messages be, pat delivered until such times as make their Contents litterly useless, the money paid by the pubjio is thrown. a,way, ans the use of telegraphy * perfectly nullified. We are not m a position to state i wh.eth.er- the operator at Marton is rea.lly to or not. It may be ' tha,t he ooul3ndt leave the office to deliver the message u.n.tjl tw<> hours Ua.d elapaecl; "but if- so, the branch at Mfa^ttojvaiff conducted, ia nathing/'m.dre or less than a. f/aroe. If auoh provision be not made for the prom.pt delivery of messages as will rn.a.k.e them answer the ends for which, they have been forwarded,, the sooner such, offices a,re closed the better, as otherwise they receive money under false pretences, ajid are calculated to mislead the public. We twist Dr. Lemon will not aljow the matter to pajss over without investigation, and put a, sto,r> to that culpable delay m ,the delivery t of messages which seems only too, prevalent at present. ,