The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3300, 17 September 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1873.

“ Mind—l do not say pump upon him” was one of the admonitions of an American orator to his audience when condemning the conduct of some one of whom he spoke. But his auditors looked upon it as a very significant hint, and did put the man under the pump. The Premier, in his remarks upon the conduct of the Agent-General, “ hoped members would not travel out of the subject before them to discuss the fulfilment of his duties.” Of course not—after such a hint, honorable members were sure to forbear and give their reasons for it. How could it be otherwise ? Mr Reeves expressed his personal sympathy with the AgentGeneral by reviewing all the difficulties he had had to encounter, as well as those which he had created for himself. He shewed that Dr. Featherston was a friend of his for whom he had deep regard, but at the same time expressed his opinion that, knowing him well, he was “ not the right man in the right place.” Mr Reeves seems to have excused his friend’s shortcomings on account of his natural unfitness for the office of AgentGeneral ji and certainly the .despatches published tend to bear out the estimate he has formed of him. He pointed to his disregard of definite instructions, to the self-will which led him to set at nought the Government whose servant he is, the absence of business ability as shown in the unsatisfactory arrangements for procuring and sending out immigrants, for shipping railway plant, and transacting the general business of the Colony. We have no hesitation in saying Mr Reeves is quite right; Dr Featherston is not in the niche that nature and education have fitted him for. Nor can the left-handed excuse made for him by Mr Yogel satisfy the country. That he “ had suffered severely from illness” is certainly a reason why every one should feel for him, and would tend to excuse much of the petulance frequently displayed in his correspondence with the Ministry. But, unfortunately, business that requires immediate attention and energetic action will not wait for a man’s recovery from indisposition; and as such a contingency as an attack of sickness is one to which all men are liable, it forms all the stronger reason why every department superintended by him should be so completely organised that it may work perfectly, although for a few days, or even weeks, he may not be personally able to supervise it. Illness may excuse irritability of temper, and all men of right mind will bear much on that account, when other qualifications are present. On this ground the Premier might very fairly say, “The Government were quite content to take the responsibility in the matter,” although “ some of the correspondence on the part of the AgentGeneral had been couched in language that should not have been adopted towards the Government.” But what about the inefficiency that led the Government to comment so severely upon the unbusinesslike proceedings of the Agent-General, and which induced bis arrogant and petulant replies 1 What about the shipment of railway plant in so confused and irregular a manner that parts of the same machinery were forwarded in different vessels, at wide intervals and sometimes to different places? What about the faulty arrangements for immigration? The number of irresponsible agents and the meagre results ? All these have never been explained by the Agent-General in such a manner as to satisfy the Colony that he is blameless. There has been no persistency of plan. First we were to have Scandinavians, and there was a zealous hunt after them; but that erotchefc fell through. Next we were to have Germans, and special settlements of Orkney and Shetland men, for special purposes. Fishing and fish-curing, whale-catching, and sealing were all to be developed, and we certainly have had splendid visions of little colonies dotting New Zealand here and there with their industrious families. Yet one by one these visions have faded. One or two of them seem in course of realisationone in Wellington, one in Stewart’s Island—and now the scheme is forgotten. Whatever other qualities Dr Featherston may have, he is net by education a business man. There is an absence of system and of knowledge of details that can never be acquired unless through early drilling. He who has never undergone tb® drudgery of commercial practice in his wly days, can never master it late in life. to a trained mind is trifling labor, is to him severe work. The Colony owes Dr Featherston much for his successful efforts in ameliorating Maori troubles, but it must seek some other method of recognising his services, than continuing him in a position in which his best efforts result in Colonial loss, and discredit to his own reputation.

There was no change of performance at the Queen’s Theatre last evening. The same pieces will be played to-night—namely, “Pygmalion and Galatea,” and “The Crown Prince.”

An inquest was held at the Switzer’s Hospital, on the 27th ult., before Mr J. H. Hood, coroner, on the body of Perry Adams, a miner, 60 years of age. Deceased was admitted to the Hospital on the 25th August, and there being no doctor in the district, he was attended to by the master and matron. He died from the effects of a severe cold and diarrhoea a few clays after his admittance. Deceased was a native of America—a colored man —and it is not known whether he has any relatives in the Colony.

A large Reform Convention recently held at Boston, United States of America, amongst other resolutions, passed the following :—“That while not ‘undervaluing the short-time movement, co-operation, financial reform, or free trade, it is an especial object of this league to concentrate attention upon the fact that property not founded upon a labor title is robbery ; and we demand the entire abolition of profits and the restoration of existing wealth to its rightful owners.” To use a Yankee phrase, we guess that would not be agreed to in many countries. The following letter appeared in the Nelson Evening Mail &Lw days ago “Mr Macandrew, representing the progressive Province of Otago, recently appeared in the House of Representatives in a suit of Mosgiel tweed, with hat and boots of Dunedin manufacture. I wonder how many of our Nelson representatives appeared in suits of Nelson tweed. It appears to me that we are wanting in that regard for Colonial and Provincial manufacture which some of our more progressive Provinces display. I’ll vote for the man who patronises local manufactures, ”

It will be remembered that when the lads Gately and Mulligan were charged with being neglected children at the Police Court a few weeks ago, the master of the Industrial School impressed on the Bench the evils that would follow were the former to be sent to the school. The Bench, however, not wishing him to associate with the criminal class, ordered him to the Institution, He ran away one day last week, taking Mulligan with him. Search was immediately made, and Gately went back the next day; and Mr Britton took Mulligan from his father’s house.

We understand that a new Building Society, upon the permanent principle, is now in course of formation in Dunedin. A meeting of gentlemen favorable towards it was held on Monday afternoon, but was adjourned until next Monday evening, in order to allow of such means being taken as would secure the society a great success. In the face of the fact that the present building societies are now paying handsome dividends, and in view of the vast addition to building which is certain to take place within the next few months, there cannot be the slightest doubt but that there is now sufficient room for another society.

It is a frequent practice with some colonists to disparage New Zealand, and loudly sound the praises of the “Great Kepublic.” Those failing to succeed here imagine that, were they to reach the United States, they would find everything to their satisfaction. The land would be far superior to that of this Colony ; the climate would be all they could desire ; and, in short, that there they would find everything which would be conducive to their material prosperity. A few years ago several settlers left this Colony for America, in the hope of bettering their condition ; and others, amongst them the late Mr Young, of the Grange, visited the agricultural districts of the States for the purpose of selecting a suitable place, should they find the prospects of success in America so much better than in New Zealand. The Herald mentions that Mr \oung has returned to Auckland more satisfied with it than he had formerly been. The best portions of California he found inferior to many of the districts in the Province he nad left. Another old Auckland settler, writing in April last from Olympia in Washington Territory, on the west coast of the United States, says“ The inducements held out to immigrants to go to the Australian Colonies can bear no comparison to those held out by the United States Government. In the United States anyone can take up 160 acres of land, and by living on it and improving it for five years, can go to the land office and get the title to it by paying about L 3 for the fees. But there is better land in New Zealand than any I have seen about here, and what is called good grazing land is poor compared with what is found in New Zealand and Australia. The greater number of the farmers about here are poor. They have to ship their grain to England, but they make a good living. Farmers in New Zealand, who have good farms, make more money than they do here. The grain costs more per ton to ship from here than it does from Australia. Beef is selling gt ad per lb. Wool-growing pays better than anything else, as there is a large duty on wool imported into this couiatry,” The Council and apb-Committee of the Otago Rifle Association -wifi rpast jp. Mr Sydney James’s office to-morrow (Thursdayat 4 p.m. A slight error crept into our police Court report yesterday. In the case against Mary Forbes, the Mayor was made to say that the Bench believed that the prisoner bad stolen the handkerchief, whereas it was the theft by her of the prosecutor’s money that their Worships had no doubt about, though, in their opinion, there was not sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction.