The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 293, 13 December 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1870.

Once again has the Colonist returned to, the charge on the matter of the circular recently addressed hy the Superintendent to the members of the Council on the railway question, but on this occasion it has taken care not to repeat the mistake it made the other day in loudly asserting that there was no need for his Honor to bave asked the opinion of the members, as it was quite competent for him to deal with the quesliou without taking their advice. It was so utterly absurd to advocate in the same breath that in the first place the Superintendent had not said enough in the circular referred to, and in the second place that he should not have sent it at all, that we feel sure our contemporary could not have I duly considered his article of Friday last I before allowiug it to appear in print, and we trust that he is duly grateful to us for haviug pointed out his error to him and thus haviug been the means of preventing its repetition to-day. This morning's article is devoted to a discussion on religion ; reporting an imaginary conversation that is supposed to have beeu heard in the streets; and a short sketch of the rise and fall of the railway negotiations. With this latter we bave nothing to do this evening, we have never referred to it in the present discussion, nor do we intend to touch upon it now. The sole dispute between ourselves aud our contemporary arises out of his uncalled-for snarling (we thank thee, Colonist, for teaching us that word) at the Superintendent, first for not having expressed his views at large in the circular now become so famous, and secondly, for having ventured to ask the opinion of the members of the Council before taking action in the matter. Nothing that our contemporary has urged has altered our opinion ou this head. Our view of the case is as follows : — the Superintendent finds from his London correspondence that the negotiations for the railway are not likely to prove successful, and although he is empowered by the Council to act entirely upon his own judgment in carrying on, or bringing to a close, these negociations, he thinks it but au act of courtesy to consult the representatives of the people on so important a question, but instead of putting the province to the expense of an extraordinary session of the Council, he adopts the more simple method of asking the opinion of the members by letter. Such a course, says the Colonist, "is unusual and seems unconstitutional," but even in the face of such an authority we are quite sure that the people at large will be of opinion that it was the right one to adopt. "It is not pleasant to hear " we are told, "as has been heard in the streets, that the Superintendent, in that circular, has cleverly 'doubled' on the Council again," &c. No doubt such remarks are very unpleasant, and we are glad to say that they have not reached our ears ; ' the reason of this may possibly be that jwe have never attempted to invite such iau expression of opinion from those we meet in the streets. Some remarks of au extraordinary natureare made npon our religious principles in the first few lines of our contemporary's article this morning, wherein we are told that we are blind idolaters, that we have grown suddenly religious, that we are sacreligious (sic), and profane. There isan amount of confusion about this that would seem to indicate that our contemporary had not got quite clear of the fog in which he must have been enveloped when he wrote his leader' of Friday last. With regard to the charge of profanity that is brought against us, we have yet to learn that it is profane to quote the words of a heathen governor who played an important part in the world's history some eighteen hundred years ago

Nelson College. — The distriqution o^ Prizes will take place at the College, on Thursday next, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Town Schools. — The public examinations at the Town Schools commenced yesterday, and will he continued through the week as advertised. Industrial Commission. — The Commissioners met agaiu yesterday when Mr. Symonds of Richmond, Mr. Powell of Wakefield, and Mr. Hornby of Nelson gave evidence on the manufacturing of flax. General Government Prize Firing. — The cadet firing for the choice of representatives to proceed to Auckland, will take place at the Murphy-street butts, to-morrow morniug, at 10 o'clock. Nelson Cricket Club. — The members of this club are requested to meet at Everett's Ho el, to-morrow evening, for the purpose of making arrangements for the return match to be played with Wellington. Our Volunteers. — A meeting of the Waimea Rifle Volunteers was held at Palmer's Hotel, Waimea West, on Friday evening Inst for thc purpose of taking iuto consideration the advisability or otherwise of their continuing their services to the Government. Captain Lockett addressed the men stating that he considered allowances were to be made for the falling off that had taken place iu their attendance at drill owing to the difficulty that had been experienced in obtaining efficient officers, as well as the distance that intervened between them and the drill instructor, but this latter obstacle he hoped had now been removed. A Cadet corps had been formed in the Waimea consisting of some 70 lads, a number which he hoped soon to see increased to a hundred, and from this nucleus at least I twenty could be drafted out into the senior company every year, thus enabling them to form one of (he finest companies in the j district. He then called upon them to come forward and pledge themselves to attend their drill regularly and to act up to the regulations laid down for their guidance. After numerous questions had been asked and replied to, thirty of the original members responded to the invitation, and ten recruits were sworn in, and there is every probability of more joining in a few days. In the Waimeas there is the material for forming a company such as any man might be proud to command, and should an officer be forthcoming who could, and would, devote a considerable portion of his time to the work, he would soon gather around him a body of men that would be second to none in the province. Mr. Richmond for Wellington. — The following remarks on the representation of the City of Wellington which appear in the Wanganui Chronicle are fully approved of by the Wellington Evening Post : — It would be impertiraent in us to tell the City electors what they ought to do, but as a matter of personal ; duty we cannot help saying that it would be well for the Province and the Colony: if some politician other than Mr. Borlase were chosen. Mr. Borlase is a worthy and popular member, but he has seen his best days as a public man — a fact which no one kuows better than Mr. Borlase himself — and though a faithful representative, yet we think those who oppose generally the views ot the present Ministry ou principle might very well invite one of the leading champions on the present opposition side to stand for Wellington. Perhaps an admirable representative to meet those conditions would be found in the Hon. J. C. Richmond. Of high ability, honest to a fault, aud as staunch to a principle as any man in the Colony, the gentleman in question would confer honor upon any constituency which he represented."