CORRESPONDENCE.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 52, 18 April 1877, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

9\ [Our correspondence column being open, no responsibility can be accepted m respect to opinionseipressed by correspondents.]

, ■ . TO THE EDITOR. . Sib i— There, is no accounting for taste, and fortunately we are so constituted that there is health, m diversity of opinion, and room for all to enjoy the advantages accruing from the open colT umn of the English press;. ., At the same time how necessary is it for those who indulge m the pen to abstain from that morbid twaddle which has become of late so fashionable m most of our papers at Home and abroad by correspondents who prowl about the country under. : fictitious titles, and who try to, be . f funny " at the expense of common sense and personal feelings. L Wit and intelligence combined does one good, and notwitnstanding a nasty . trath may be presented under such, circumstances, yet to an intelligent mind this will seldom give offence, but on the contrary often produces a salutary effect. In your last impression, Sir, you were generous enough to appropriate two col- ' umns of your valuable space to a correspondent who informs us he is a"bag- " man," but as that is rather a vagueprofession to comment upon, it -might, be observed that as he places considerable confidence m his "bag" we presume there was " something m it, 5 ' and if so, it will probably have the advantage pf its owner. As a visitor he commands our respect', and before he leaves he may be a wiser and better bagman, and as headdresses our guiding stars as " men of progress and reform," a few suggestions from a

humble individual might not be unseasonable. In the first place, as he says he is m pursuit of pleasure, probably nature pure and simple is far more productive of real pleasure than the gratification obtained from those establishments which derive all their honor from the " bar." Can it be possible that surrounded by such circumstances the mind cannot rise higher than one's "boots? " And have the fourteen-inch boulders' no further significance than their circumference ? Alas ! poor Hugh Miller, did he not think that every honest stroke of the pick rang out " Advance," and a ray of hope twinkled m the distance, and although Jimey at the kiln might have " talked low English badly," his pr-ofession is a spoke m the right wheel — " Progress ; " would there were more of them. However, as we are thankful he was pleased with what he saw, might we suggest that if on another occasion he may honor us with a visit a microscope will enhance his enjoyment, and he will find wonders will develops and unfold, -producing far more profitable and lasting results even than the aqueous solution m the glass bottles, and many will drink with profit and delight any investigation he may make. As a stranger he is m a position to offer suggestions and improvements others would fail to recognize — suggestions which would benefit the community at large ; or probably he might offer encouragement or assistance,. if not to the complications of a punt-builder, at least to one of our begrimed charcoal-tinted settlers among the stumps, who need a- little encouragement " just now." I trust, Mr Editor, we shall not be misunderstood. We want visitors ; we want critical visitors, and above all we. want investigatdrs. Bu'ti by all that's good, let us each try and do something to leave New Zealand better than we .found it.— l am, &c, ■ , ■ A New Chum. Palmerston, April 16.