CLYDE AND ITS CORRESPONDENT.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 246, 28 July 1874, Page 5

CLYDE AND ITS CORRESPONDENT.

To the Editor 0 f the Cromwell Argus. Sir,—The Clyde correspondent of the Southern Mercury keeps that paper well informed of all local matters. His pen and power of using it .are rapidly raising the literary reputation of the whole district. Of course, his services are leading up to a lucrative billet as one of the staff of that mighty journal. A purse, a presentation, and a banquet on his removal to the Provincial metropolis are matters to come off in due course. Cromwell also has its indebtedness to the correspondent of the Southern Mercury, and is never behindhand in showing its sense of obligation for favours received, and will not be behindhand in the coming time of need. Our correspondent informed the Southern Mercury of the appointment of Mr MacKellar to the' Secretaryship of the (Joldrields. This of course was a blunder, but the appointment even might have been forgiven had hs been removed to Dunedvn, where

there are post office, telegraph station, and other civilising appliances at the command of all public servants. As Cromwell is behind the age in these respects, the residence of the Goldfields Secretary here is such a monstrous arrangement that it puts the strain upon our correspondent's patience even to think of it. Having neither mining iuterests nor mining associations in and about Cromwell, how can the Secretary be interviewed by the public? How can the mining population seek a redress of their wrongs, or secure a vindication of their rights, with the Secretary located in this most remote part of the Province? Our correspondent appears to have penned his communication to the Southern Mercury in happy ignorance of an existing decree in Council fixing the residence of the Goldfields Secretary at Clyde. A reference to the evergrowing figures in the monthly escorts from Clyde might have suggested to our correspondent that at an early date some'such inexorable decision would have been hit upon, in favour of such a richly auriferous field as the Clyde. But now think of the happy surprise that is soon to overtake our correspondent and his friends ! Think of what a holiday appearance the West End of the town will show, when it is known that the old New Zealand Bank is to be put in trim order as an office, and Dr Shaw's late place of business as a private residence, for the Goldfields Secretary ! When the tenders are called for by the Government, what a flutter of joyful expectation to the artists, decorators, and tradesmen, to find that the lowest tender will not necessarily be received, but that local talent will in all cases have the preference ! With a fireproof apartment for the safe custody of official records, and due prepiration for a goodly staff of clerks and assistants, Clyde has a new history to begin, and our correspondent new matter for criticism and comment. As sailors never look down an empty hatchway for the North Pole, so the diggers must look elsewhere than to fever-stricken, Godforsaken Cromwell for the Secretary from whose appointment and residence in their midst they expected so much, but (if the arrangement sketched above be carried into effect) are henceforth to receive so little. To the blustering communications of our Clyde correspondent, we may in future look for the downfall of Cromwell and the resurrection of Clyde. Our Clyde coi respondent proceeds to moralise on decayed walls, forsaken chimney stacks, and other grinning remains of bygone occupation. His exuberant fancy finds in these hideous forms of ruin, religious types of things and persons in the Cromwell district. The Rev. Mr Wilbey (1 follow the orthography of the Clyde correspondent, and that must be right) had to'leave us, and "retreat into a more genial atmosphere," anl all the wrong of his removal is charged upon the members of his congregatioa here. And the only fitting emblems of the reprobate members referred to were suggested to the bright imagination of our correspondent by the roadside wreck which stares upon the wayfarer in mockery of former hopes never to be realised. At the first, it wns seen that the gentleman's strength was not equal to the daily demands made upon it. And whin the last remnant wa3 spent, and he was thrown on a bed of afilicti n, the sym-' pathv of sorrowing friends rose to the occasion, and he w s watched day and night with motherly tears and tenderness. And with all this green upon the memories of the people here, is it a meet return to compare their moral condition to tumble-down hju r s and deserted gardens matted with sorrel, the sad relic of Heaven's displeasure upon man's disobedience? When i the rev. gentleman left, his loss was felt as the loss of a friend, a Christian, and a minister ; and he knew, and knows still, that the cause was his own misfortune, and not the fault of his people. But admitting that we have done wrong in driving away one clergyman, Clyde has driven away three.—an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, and a Wesleyan. The services of the latter gentleman were hired till the Clyde friends could be better suited, and then he was dismissed to make room for the pr sent incumbent, and was told to find "a more genial atmosphere," and not to come there again. If we have sinned once, what must be the threefold brazen offence of Clyde ? Besides, it is not after the manner of diggers to receive a clergyman, or any other agency, upon the mere decree of distant aui'loritv, and to have all questions of fitness decide! without their consent or veto, and all appeal against that decision prohibited. The chain of Apostolic succession is a long one. The ringbolt, some say, was in trie hands of Peter; others say, in the hands of Paul, Timothy, and Co.; and some even say, Judas had a hand on it. At any rate, after the fifth century it dipped, and many think that much false metal mixed with the true as the forging went on. Into all the intricacies of the doctrine of the successionists, the digger has neither time nor taste to enter. He must judge of persons and things as they appear before him, and deal with them according to their own merits. In conclusion, the Clyde correspondent ought to know that the religious barrenness is not so bare as perhaps he thinks. We have still Christian institutions and Christian ordinances among us. Though one is gone, one is left. We cannot say how soon we may drop back into heathenism, but that calamity has not come yet.—l am, &c,

Cromwell.