SIR WILLIAM FOX'S POCKET PISTOL.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 83, 27 October 1880, Page 2

SIR WILLIAM FOX'S POCKET PISTOL.

The Marton print is on the wav-path, and it hungera for the scalp of ouv County Chairman. The journal whiob is published for the two-fold p'uvpo3es of belauding the Knight of Westoe", and bespattering the foes of its proprietor, is wroth because Mr. Macarthuq would not subsidise th« precious production, ard bolster up it falling fortunes with, money taken jrom the County's chest, and it curses like a veritable dr,ab! L'ke the Eilbacchan weavers, its daily prayer must be, " Lord, send usp'qnty of conceit of ourselves," and •yidentlr for qnce the pi»/»yeri of fch« wii'ke.4 h»ve b.a«n hea^d. Poor Marton ! it must have been long since sick and weary of its so-called Advocate, wlose pen wa3 never inked, nor v.oiet heard m furthenanc* of its interests: whose cardinal prnic'ple was self, sslp. BBC.F, and whose motto, eyev and always has btea " THB AIAIiaHTY 130CCA4." Thoiigh tbe supposed representative of Rxnglt^kei; not one, but all of th» hundred eyea of th.c sordid A'rjus are streiched i.i lo.n<"-i>ist copefcousness after tin fleib-pot^ 0: Mpriawalu, and f '■on its lonely perch afar off, it glides at t u e Pronv'sed L*nd from which it is excluded. The -'a a>'o th,"c» papers m Manawafcu, and t|^?y all lira and flourish, while, the ox^a supposed representative of the sister County seeks to draw its life bjo.od from elsewhere. The Advocate place's great weiglit upon the fact— or at least wliafc it asserts to be a fact — tbat co« p ; e3 of it? issue can be found m t'le Upper ivlunawatu. But granting even that b\*» assertion be true, what does it prove? Nothing! no more than we are to imagipe tbat much more than half the array of advertisements m its sheet to be genuine. When the boasting aHinle waa wpjUen, the prompter forgot, to acquainj; his editor that such nnother boast the means of covering him with confusion upon a former occasion. Begging lettevs were sent into Manawatu offering to advertise for seventy-five per cent, be.low the charge made by this paperj; now.'no doubt finding no sale for bis sheet m his own town, he has adopted a generous distribution m order to be able to -bomt of a circulation. For months and months it ignored the meetings of the Manawatu County Council as far as sending a representative was flQnce'r.ned, merely cpntentingittelf with a mock display of intare»t by inserting m its columns reports extracted from the very papers against which it mow mils. But although th* information might iqterest its reader*, the journalistic coffo-s were inja lan gushing state, reports unsupported by advertising favors, were worse than padding, ajid another, e.fforb should b£ rnatje to secure the. "A! mighty Dollar." ' To the surprise of all, tbe Marton r«pr»jentatiTe took his scat at the reporter's table amid undisguised insinuations about " loaves and fishes," and sure enough h's advent was followed by an humble appeal for patronage,. Qf course the. Chairman refused the application, and bence the vials of the MaHonic wrath have been poured

«-«*ißful rivals. Therein two lifctlo fal?le*, tlio perusal ond application of wbich >y.e would •arn«stly recommend to our egotistical and ambitious contemporary, " Tne I)og and the Shadow," and the Frog vhich sought to be a Bull." Had the Advocate striven to makt itstlf useful to the tajall commuoitr amongit which it does c'k'cplaU, and stuck to the bone of whic& jfc had posseisio» ? initeud of followijjg a shadow elsewhere, it would pot be to-day suffering from the pangs of hunger, or turning wolfish ayes to where there is no hope. Its ridiculous aim wa» jto become a Coast, rather than a Gounty paper, and the consequence is, that, while it has no friends at homoj its unsolicited guardianship is laughed' at and treated with the utmost contempt abroad. It is really amusing to hear the inspired scribe dilate upon the anxiety of the Advocate for the interests of Manawatu. Can he refer to its files and point out |one tingle action towards this county m which the Almighty Dollar did not bear a prominent part. No ! Between two stools a person is apt to come to the ground, and the Advocate, at one fime too big for its bpota, now finds that after enlarging its sheet, genuine ady^rtisementa are not to be had,' and notwithstanding the price of subscriptiqn ))as been reduced to thirty-three por'oaat. below the Manawatu papers, £he p&qole of this county will not hare it at ajiy price, or a reduced tariff will not charm into a useless expenditure for advertising. When the sale of a paper is contemplated, it may be politic to increase its size, fill its column* with dummies and scatter each issue broadcast gratuitously Such conduct, however, is the reverse of honorable, and should a purchaser fail to be hooked, the public cannot b* hoodwinked nor the proprietor's purse bettered by such a shady transaction. Our opinion of the Advocate's sincerity is no newly-formed one; we have summed it up and pronounced our verdict m times gone by. The questions of right or justice hay« naver weighed with its proprietor : the Almighty I)ollar was the (Joldari Caj.f befopa which lie bowed hU head m reverence ; and the " Bread and Butter" policy was the cardinal point oi the compass by which he steered, and which was emblazoned on his banner. The " pockot pistol " of Sir William Fox may imagine it self a rery |{ hig gun," but it is sadly mistaken. If its power for eril were on a par with jt* inclination ov its venomous dppostion, it would be a vsry murderous weapon indeed, and woe to the hapless victim left to its tender mercies. It now knows definitely that ho more gold-n favors need be expeuted , roni our County Cquncil, and we will wait with curipsity to 'find whether the deliberations m the future wj)). be deemed wo.'th reporting. If such over-weeqiug vanity and egotism be open to advice, we offer it some m perfect gopd fyith : It is this ; Gome down from the sublime pedestal upon which you are perched, but which has been reached at a very great risk of future safety ; rtfiain from grasping at a position which you never can obtain j try and make yourself useful m the li railed and fumble sphere m which you may yet shine ; for if not, you wjll out day find your editorial barque stranded m the Rangitikei River, wrecked m tht shoals bstwe'on the two counties, while a strange craft lies snugly at rest m your present ha rbor, and as a warning your epitapli shall be, " The vaultambition which o'erlcaps itself."