The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1871.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 415, 10 May 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1871.

One ray of light glimmers through the gloom of our dismal evening contemporary, and the strangest feature is that the scintillation has been struck by Mr; Vogel. The heavens were brass and the earth iron till the new mail contract was completed, but now the coming of the boats has introduced to the mental vision of our contemporary a vista of future commercial prosperity for Auckland before undreamt of. It is true he has no confidence in the continuance of the ser vice, and introduces his hopes and aspirations with the qualifying clause; " whether the present mail contract falls through or not." . In fact we question if our contemporary believes that the JNevada has come at all, and if there has not been a big sham palmed off on him by the malignity of Mr. Vogel. Stranger things have come to pass; and it will surprise some people if the citizens have been stultifying themselves in spreading a banquet for an amateur cruiser that has been playing on the credulity of the population, and, worse still, almost deceiving our astute contemporary, who is gifted in a knowledge of these things with which few others are favored. To quotethe favorite Janpua^'e of our contemporary when he cannot believe his own eyes, there may " be some mistake in it;" and the Nevada may not have been the Nevada after all. However, a big ship has come and gone, and " whether the present mail contract falls through or not, the duty of the local authorities is plain " That duty is to go in for a loan of half a million, call the Council together, ignore the Harbour Board now being elected, and prepare shipping accommodation, a graving dock, and all the necessities for our coming mercantile marine. Ear be it from us to discourage the reformation of our contemporary, or to disillusionise him of. a single dream that gladdens his_ dreariness. Nay, it is our delight that moves us to remark on the change that has come over the spirit of his dreams. After the peculiar kind of public spirit that has hitherto characterised our melancholy contemporary, it is refreshing to observe the gushing enthusiasm with which he rouses up our fellow-citizens to action. Their "apathy" is his abhorrence. He, refers to an incident in the remote history of Auckland, which, from its distance, cannot be familiar to the present generation. He says, " Old inhabitants of Auckland remember the story of the removal of the seat of Government, and the means by which Wellington became the port of call of the Panama boats."

.It is not to be supposed that our readers are acquainted with the ancient legend, but there is a tradition that at one time Auckland was the capital of these islands, and the loss of this-pre-eminence was owing to that "apathy" andwant of enterprise against which the Evening News has ever cornbatted. Jn fact, the aid which that enlightened publication has given to the proposals for public works, and immigration and settlement, which constitute the features of the new colonisation scheme, the strenuous advocacy of the "million loan," the generous support which it has at all times given towards the establishment of the San Francisco mail service, and towards the inclusion of Auckland in the line of route,, and, above all, the kind and sympathising and encouraging way in which it has at all times spoken of the integrity and disinterestedness of the Colonial Treasurer, the reputed author and chief agent in the colonisation, scheme, and the enraptured way in which it has pictured the glorious future that will result to these islands from the enterprise now launched, have placed our contemporary in a position to speak eoc cathedra on " apathy " to the people of Auckland. The zeal witL which our contemporary urges a loan of half a million to Auckland's own

hand, for the immediate construction of docks and all. other necessities of commerce, as is well known,, is con-, sistant and characteristic to a degree, and we cannot do better than repeat the urgent appeal to "Old inhabitants of Auckland who remember the re-^ moval of the seat of G-overnment," and to whom our contemporary says in the elegant diction peculiar to him, "If they do not exert themselves to promote the public welfare, who else are we to expect will do so ?" • '