THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 1870.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 42, 31 August 1870, Page 4

THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 1870.

iTFthere be one quality by which BritißWshbv jects may be known, and by which they may be distinguished from all other nations, it is that which inclines them to take the weakest side. Other peoples do this—do it in the same way, from the same motive, in individual cases. But with Britons it is a national instinct It is not a virtue in them —it is a natural necessity. The Briton is certain to take the weakest side if he take any side at all. And he takes it for no other reason than that it is the weakest side. He does not plan this course :it is prompted on the spot. Let him.* only see the stronger uppermost, and the weaker giving in from sheer weakness, and his sympathies go over to that side. He stays not to reason, or to ask Why or Who ; it is enough that there is the weakest, and he sides with it. There may appear to be exceptional cases which do not support this statement, but they occur from lack of information. The side that is the weakest is not seen for the moment, and staggering and uncertainty follow. A sudden shock to the binnacle, may send the needle but give it a few momenta. and it jll toaster the disturbing!

cause and show itself true to its nature and its polar tendencies. A born Briton may strike on the wrong side from ignorance, but never from choice or instinct. If you Kftpt,. to find out hia nationality, many other tests may fail in a given number of cases; but this never. Show a Briton .mastering strength domineering, and subdued weakness waiting for help, and you need no other test. If he does not answer to this, he is of mixed blood. Foreigners will often respond to the beseeching look of weakness because it is the holier and therefore the fitter side for sympathy; but the response of the Britisher is spontaneous, right or wrong. He will shout with the mob, “ Stop thief!” and no one will be able to decide from what country he hails ; but let the knee of the constable be on the chest of the wrongdoer, his hands in irons, and his head bleeding, and the national proclivity of the stranger will at once show itself. If the officer is needlessly cruel, others mayinterfere from choice or from nature : they may —he must. In 1834 this national characteristic displayed itself after a national fashion. Britannia went forth with twenty millions in one hand and a manumitting hammer in another, and freed helpless slavery from its fetters. We do not rate this quality very high among human virtues; it is there and must take its course among the rest. The story has been told a thousand times of a haughty old Greek who hawked a brick through the Grecian markets as a specimen of a building he had for sale. The British household is not in the market yet: when it is, the natural feature above referred to may be of use as a sample. > In the case of Mr WhkttEk, which has often turned up in our columns,* the national tendency had a spontaneous illustration. He had become weak where it was no dishonor to be so—where his weakness could cost him nothing but money. Then the natural propensity of his countrymen came to the rescue. It was latent before, like fire in the black flint; but the blow that struck him down suddenly enlisted many strong hands and brave hearts to hold him up; and be became strong where it is the pride and glory of every true man to be strong—in the esteem and goodwill of his fellow-citizens. Hitherto he has not come to grief for doing his duty to the town and Corporation, and it would be a fatal mistake to allow such a thing in the future.

The Intercolonial Conference •which met j c in Melbourne closed its sittings on the sth 1 alt. Whilst in progress, various and ira- 1 portant matters touching the good govern- t ment of the colonies were discussed. No- a thing, of course, was finally settled. The c Conference did not possess any independent t legislative powers, but it represented all y the centres of legislation in the colonies, of j which the members were delegates. The'c Conference is in itself a great fact, apart 1 from its discussions and recommendations, i It is a symbol of progress : it is a sign of 1 our freedom as British subjects. Personal 1 government is often nothing more and < nothing better than the dominion of igno- < ranee and brutal cruelty over the intelligence i and well-disposadness of a nation. But it i is the glory of a free people to be governed i by the united counsels of superior wisdom i combined in conference for the general i good. We look to the Intercolonial Con- 1 ferehce, and take hope for the future. . Many questions of great moment to the i colonies were introduced and determined, i so far as the Conferetlce could determine anything. An improved postal management, a uniform charge upon letters, and {such other mail arrangements as may inour facilities of communication between port and port, and people and people, were discussed. Aerial and submarine telegraphs were recommended between coast and coast, to bind the straggling populations and shorten as far as may be the distances between the scattered subjects’ of the British Empire in: the South. Extradition laws were introduced, had a share of attention, and were recommended for adoption. It will be seen at a glance that such laws will depend for much of their good effect upon some such system of telegraphy as the Conference proposed to establish. There is a small class of criminals among us, who have served a goodly number of apprenticeships to crime. They are not deterred by any moral weaknesses ; nor are they amenable to any law but the law of . personal, inconvenience. Society has n® warrant for the good behaviour of such, but that which is to be fouud in a speedy and certain detection. The hardened remnant referred to will not despise the whispering tricks of a telegram. When they know their downward way is lighted up with sparks, and tongues of)fire are telling the tale of their theft, violence, or bloodshed in every settlement inj the Southern Hemisphere, that knowledge will hang like the hand of fate over their line j |of march. Every wire will be to /them ! j like a detective, and every iron post jhko a i |l gibbet, * / i

Another, and by far the most important |I subject in tho debate was our intercolonial || 1 protective duties. "With the foremost—jjy thinkers in tlie colonies and e wor over, protection is becoming uupjular. p|| little light in tho midst of inucluarkne Hi is a precious thing. We tlmnkjhe Co Hf fcrence for calling attention' \o ti prote Hi tive, and in some cases duti* H| which are seriously interfering nth oi Hi I colonial trade. They have gnied tl H|| right path : the thing is to in it HU leadings to an emancipated commerce on free trade. Protection is dead at the heai IB of Great Britain : it is a shame and asi Ml that it should live In any of its distar JJ members. The surplus productions of on colony here cannot be sent duty free to th || unsupplied wants of another. Our policy |l ought to be directed to the ’Hftof short !| ening the distance as far as possible bo I tween the producer in one place and the 1 consumer in another, and the cheapening li of the charges of transit all the way to the A lowest possible figure. Instead of which, VsWj wherever nature has conferred an advantage on one people over another, tho sur- f| plus thence arising is shut out from all tho ||l rest. Our very sensible statesmanship, by if# its protective policy, forces it to remain* 7 j there, to rot there ; 'or if sent to the near- I est colonial market, the tariff charges raise ;1 the cost to the consumer, so that the trade :|| languishes and becomes unprofitable. The fl natural gifts of heaven, meant for all, are j a local incumbrance—a burden to a few I! rather than a blessing to many. Wheat I] 1 in Adelaide, wine in Victoria* fruit inTas- li 1 mania, are like Nature’s hand in the mar- M : gin, kindly stretched out; and. the straight :f| i finger is directing them to open markets " j ! and free interchange. The one cry which/ I t is heard the loudest from all the producing I I classes in this colony is for cheapness in the I labour market: the demand of the protec I tiouists is for dearness everywhere els' m * which simply means poverty and distre fl - to all those who have nothing but labo H - to sell, and all otSer things to buy, Ch( fl 3 labour and protection cannot, ought not j- fl co-exist: they mutually' conflict at all" points and everywhere they meet. If by 1 J a suicidal tariff we insist upon doubling i I the cost of all the necessaries of life to the i, woi'king consumer, is it not heartless to v ask him for the only article he has to sell (j at such a low price as lie cannot render it Q at without privation to himself and all in dependence upon him ? Cheapen his mode 6 of living, and he will supply the markets j n of New Zealand with labour, which above | II all other things is the most needed, at a IS reasonable rate. Free trade in the oldfl ie country was a radical reform successfully SB a applied to long-standing monopolies. Wep have adopted the alternative-«PAV I .i + *d"*’| leading us into all kinds o{ wrong ways, | and is preventing our sister dependencies from going in right ones. Tie long list of 1 it charges to be exacted from the produc -r j ;h before he can reach the consumer, and rev | j a- lise upon bis productions, ought to be pro- \ a- tection enough to home industries. There o- are the expenses of land and sea carriage, ie commission, damage, delay, insurance, re- il it tail profits, and other incidentals, whicli r ill when taken together, constitute a law of lj of protection in themselves ; and to add an- i lie other charge in the. shape of a duly, is to rt hang a millstone about the neck of com- j is. merco. Protection may secure benefits to j of the units, but the thousands must suffer al loss. In support of this gigantic clog to id colonial progress, the exploded literature ,o- of a whole generatioi of protectionists is ce ransacked and furbished up, and a rehear- JL it ing is demanded for it by our shallowH ad statesmen. “ Protection to native indudryHH im and a demand for free trade set in togeha aflj •al some thirty-five years ago in Great Vfl >n- tain. The former was in possession, pi H •e. had all the advantages that posseson HI he gives : free trade for eleven years had cly fl •d, a common-sense theory to recommend t\ H ne and the battle was fought with this dud- H je- vantage till 1846. Within the above peiod I nd England has nearly doubled its wealth, .lulfl in- nearly doubled its revenue ; and now iu MM ie- second-rate lawgivers send us to Engl? ' flfl nd whose wealth, they say, is reason eno flfl ib- for her free trade policy. But this is 1 BH be- inverting the order of things : itislookinH| ig. to the grand result of free trade as the onHfl as safe reason for adopting its principles. jH -he America was one of the nations of irr|H in I portance that raised the dead body of prl Bi ro- tection, healed its wounds, and gaveif pa Hj fere mission to live ; but it Improved to the j H sen “ the man of sin,” “ the root of all evil H for It laid the foundation of strife llftwet H ich North and South, and has written on “t' H ro- iron page” of history a leaf red with t |fl ass blood of a million of their brave .peop, VI 1 a Protection forced the States of tlie SouVfl ne. to deal with the merchants of the North ■ ak- to pay higher prices than in the British fl aw market for an inferior article, on shortci fl credit, and with houses of far less estab I ha- lislmd reputation. This political blundot I md led on to other evils, which ended in tl -he civil war. Slavery helped, but it was hi. l de- aftftr-birth ; protection was the first-born, I im. the Esau that sold the inheritance of free I ■is trade. These colonies arc committing! fire themselves to the same, mistake: onjfl ice, against another. We want populatie-jfl the all say this. Homo say, we want pre fl ivill | tiou. If these two wants are coneurrei B ine j supplied, the labour market must be ov H mm | stocked. cap labour will become ai H ;o n j cessity*fl f -\stiirving poor will be utvhH < another to make flesh ataH

| spirit stmt together. Tk nalfe will be able to set his own price upon bis Ij productions. Protection will shut the im« " )>orter out of the market, and thus a monopoly will be possible in favour of a few, and a fierce fight of competition among the thousands. Weave iiumigrationists to the backbone ; but so long as wo are so hopelessly overgoverned and tax-beridclen, the immigrant has no fair chance among us. The amount of gold transmitted from Cromwell by last escort was 1900 ounces. It will bo observed by advertisement that the right to hold the grand stand and booth on the Cromwell Race-course during the ensuing Spring Race Meeting, is to. bo offered to public competition bvAlr W. J. Barry on Wednesday next. . 'Y The attention of intending purchasers is directed to an advertisement in our present issue, announcing an auction sale of a large mob I cattle, the property of Mr Lancaster, on the *7th of September. Mr Barry is the auctioneer! and the sale is to be held at the Cromwell cattle yards! . At the weekly meeting of the Waste Land Board held on Wednesday last, Messrs Gillies and Street, on behalf of Messrs J. D. Feraud and George H. Walker, applied for a lease of five acres of land containing lignite, and situated at Doctor’s Flat, Bannockburn. The applicants we#flß&rmed that the runholders’ cor^pt ~,wi the c o«ijy|, iotb prisoners were ial at the ensuing irt, to be held' hj proximo. ISMJ irge of the of&feri guard of mot if was m, Lake * ny scream; uu a cuarge of having committed an indecent assault upon a young girl whose parents reside at Pembroke. The prisoner was lodged in the lock-up here on Saturday last, and was conveyed to Clyde on Sunday by tho Sergeant. He will be brought ,np before the Resident Magistrate to day. ' A notice posted at the Telegraph Office here states that telograns can now bo forwarded from Cromwell to any part of Great Britain, Ireland, or France. Tie charges are—for the first ten words, £2 4s ; and for every additional word, 4s Gd : address, signature, and date to be charged for. The ordimry New Zealand rates to be charged in addition. Tho route is by mail steamer to Sau Francisco, and tbcncc by wire and Atlantic cable. A most attractive p-ogramme has been issued by the Bannookbun Entertainment Committee, particulars of whidi will be seen mi referring to the bills. The irst part of the concert will consist of solos md ducts, comic and sentimental, by local amatairs. The “ Bannockburn Minstrels” are to maki their debut, and will make up the second part o’ the evening’s programme with songs, glees,and choruses ; to be followed by a Terpsioboreai performance by one of the “sable” troupe. Ater the concert there is to be a ball, which will cmcludo the evening’s amusement. We trust thaithe people of Cromwell will show their apprecation of the efforts I made by their Bannockburnneighbors in behalf of the District Hospital—forthe benefit of which the proceeds are to be given—and that the concert will be as numerously fttsnded by Cromwellitcs as pur entertainments invariably are by tho peopl^bi^hnockbairftF Sir, "in 1 uuu —oJ&jMiijr— -rrrwjr, About throe Wcpis Mr W. , ■VMIBf bertson mot with a severe accident white' at rk on Messrs Sbanly’s farm, near Croravmh large wild boar, which had been frequently n on Mount Pisa Range during tho last four five years, was observed by Robertson in tho inity of the piggery, and, with the help of ee dogs, an attempt was made to drive the ite off. The boar, on seeing Robertson, disro(led the dogs and pursued the man, whoipj^ acked in a savage manner, seizing hicnAffi ■ thigh and ripping it up dreadfully, ithtt mal’s tusks were about six inches in length,. iMrnd tad it not been for the interference of the would probably have boeu killed," r attacked he had a long-handled / * V hands. The hoar was u Itimately Robert3on > wll ° ■ to the Dunstan Hospital^: u di ‘ possible. On the following night, I (jp the boar again made his ap?4- the same place, and a dotonnined to capture or kill him. After, ||Wrt hours’ hunting, Messrs John Fleming and; Hunter succeeded in yardinj him, with Mrthe aid pf homeland dogs, and a billot fro^y

No. 2 West.-—Work is suspended iu this claim, tenders being called for sinking the shaft an additional 50ft. AURORA. REEF. The Aurora Company have struck the reef. They aru bringing quartz to grass, and will commence crushing immediately. They bavo reduced the price of crushing to 16a por ton for 100 tons; 20s for 50 tons ; and 25s per toil for any quantity under 50 tons. COLCLOUGU’s REEF, Tho now machinery for tho prospecting claim on this line of reef is said to be almost ready for transmission from Dunedin to the reef. NEW RKEF. A new reef has been lately discovered at Bendigo by Mr David M'Lauchlan. It lies parallel to the Bendigo reef, and about 200 yards to the south of it, on the adjacent terrace. The stone Iboks well, gold being visible to the naked eye all through. The prospectors have already got a considerable quantity of stone raised, and will soon be ready for a trial crushing at the Aurora battery, 3 DEEP SINKING. Alldread and party’s drive is nowin over 1000 feet. They have been passing through from two to four feet of washdirt. The ground stands well for a single drive, but requires timber when “ blocking out. ” This claim is very systematically worked, and there is every probability of lucky shareholders taking their “piles” out of it. When the tunnel is at the further end hf the claim, additional hands will he set to work.