TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 203, 17 January 1873, Page 5

TOPICS OF TALK.

We lately had something to say about the cheese-paring policy that pervades the General Government's management of--the Telegraph department;. Now, we wish to point out a few matters in reference to the Naseby Court House, also a General Government matter, Being condemned .for some hours, at a late sitting of the District Court, to attend, we had ample opportunity to take a few notes as to the accommodation, &c., offered by the this important District Court. The files of representing many thousands of pounds, are pigeon-holed from top to bottom of one side of the building, many actually lying on the ground, open alike to the hand of the unscrupulous, or the dropt match of the careless. On the other side are like pigeon holes stuffed with papers of'air descriptions, many within eight inches of the stove-pipe. As the Government are their own insurers, it might be prudent for them to put these very valuable documents into a building more fit to receive them. "We are quite sure that no Eire Insurance Company would take such a risk at all. The accommodation for-the legal talent, is absurdly inadequate. To seat three or four lawyers, the Clerk of the Court, end a reporter at the table, would be an impossible feat. Eor the public, a space of about fourteen feet by ten is all that is available, so that in any case of interest, it is the strong, and sharp elbowed only that have, a chance to hear or see what is going forward, We have so often complained of this disgraceful building,'in our columns, with little or no result, that we are not very sanguine of attention now. ~ Nevertheless, it is our duty, looking forward to the very large increase- of business that the Public "Works will speedily bring into this Court, to point out the great inconvenience to the Bench, the public, the Bar, and the Press, and to warn the Government that, should loss of valuable documents occur through fire or otherwise, we, at any rate are free from all blame. We do not hesitate to say, that the Naseby Court House is a source of constanb danger to the property of the public, whose interest it is, strangely enough, supposed to protect.

The weather-wise tell us, that if the drought sets in early in the summer, and is continuous till the turn of the days, that the weather afterwards will be broken and wet. That is our tribute to the prophets. We are sorry, however, to have to qualify it by saying that they did not give us the information till after the rain had fallen last week, making us once more hopeful of good times once again, and heavy escorts for Mount Ida.

The talk of the last week has been the advertisements in ;our last issue, put in by the Provincial G-ovemment. It •is pretty generally believed, that these contracts are intended to test the real willingness and ability of the [District residents to construct these works as far as their meaus will allow. A great deal has been said about the necessity of letting in sub-contracts, that the men here are uuemploved, I and that the Government should take i advantage of the dull times, etc. The authoritiss have certainly met the people in these matters, and it now remains for the miners to be united; and go in for these contracts with judgment, but, above all, with de 'ision. If, by a want of energy and pluck on our part, we force the Government to 'Construct these works by means of large outside contractors, we cannot -expect that they will be commenced in the face of the very high rate ruling for a few weeks in the agricultural districts. Parties of ten to twenty men should well be able to tender for a five mile contract, and earn good wages, and something besides, by s so doing.

The report drawn up by the outgoing Committee of the District Hospital, and laid before the annual meeting of subscribers, deserves consideration. The financial affairs are satisfactory in the extreme. Still this should not stay the hand of the supporters, for we never know when ur-

gent cases, through special causes, may be thrown upon the institution. It is to be hoped otherwise ; still, increased activity in the district, may lead to

accidental injuries oi many kinds. It is a matter for consideration, whether too much importance is not attached to what is called the settling of the people on the l.md. Given good land in any civilised country, and a peaceful Government, the land, some say, will always settle itself soon enough, and what is of more importance, will realise its full value. By, however, forcing men of no capital on to land at a nominal price, a system is created that tends to promote bad farming, and a pauper agricultural population, something similar to what used to be the rule on the cottar-farms in the Highlands of Scotland-—-living on the barest amount of food sufficient>to maintain life, and rearing a totally uneducated generation to come after them. Every question has two sides, and perhaps there is some truth in this side. ~