THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 72, 25 March 1871, Page 2

THE WEEK.

80 far as our otvn locality is concerned, a history of the past week would ■^occupy but a very brief space-*, indeed, it might be comprised in the few words that occasionally form the reply to enquiries as to the health of some sick person, " Thank you, sir, he's much about ihe same, there's but very little change, and certainly no improvement." Under these ciruumstauces I must go abroad for food for gossip, and one of the first subjects that suggests itself, probably from its occupying a prominent position in the columns of every New Zealand newspaper that I take up, is the Caledonian mine at the Thames, with its almost fabulous, but nevertheless real, goldgu v- Bt . N^ures. Eighty-four thousand pounds ste^rtttgjn something nkejj^ e& months! su ppose tn*e^Gultiford7^o r the Doran, or any one of our reefs should turn out another Caledoniau ! ' I sometimes indulged in a little day-dreaming on this subject, and try to picture to myself the effect that such an unlikely, though not impossible, stroke of good fortune would have upon our steady-going little town. Have any of us forgotten the bustle, the excitement, and the rejoicings consequent upon the arrival of a little cake of gold from Col liDg wood, the produce of the Perseverance mine, when it was in its happiest vein ? Multiply that trifle of iSOozs — which was so honorably enthroned on velvet cushions at the meeting of the shareholders whom, it put into such an excellent; temper — by 150, and you have somewhere about the amount extracted from the Caledonian during this present year. Yes, when we have two or ihree mines yielding like this, we shall no longer be the poverty-stricken province aud people that we are at present, but shall command the respect and attention of the sister provinces, aud perhaps of the General Government, and who knows but. we may induce the latter to include Nelson as a port of call io their postal contracts ? It is very comforting, when we see all around us in that portion of the colony in which our lot is cast complaining of the hardness of the times, to find that, however poor this province may be, such a state of poverty does not extend to the Geueral Government. We are never very long without some proofs of this, but we were yesterday furnished with a new one. It was telegraphed that Mr. Yogel has actually entered into a contract with the American ship-owners to convey the mails between here and Sau Franciscq,^nd that one of the conditions is thatflhe oceansteamers nro to call at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Qffalmers. Now, as New Zealand is at the present moment in such exceedingly flourishing circumstances, has no debt to speak of, and pays all her current expenses out of the year's revenue, this, perhaps, is a very judicious arrangement, as the pleasure that will be afforded to the inhabitants of the various ports of call by seeing a large steamer in their harbor once a month will not cost the colony annually rary many of her easily-spared thousands; but if it had been otherwise, aud we bad not been overburdened with wealth, it might have answered all our purposes just as well, and we should have received our mails quite as regularly, if the large steamers had touched at the Fijis on their way to Australia, and we were connected with those islands by boats about the size of the Rangitoto. All the passengers and cargo for some time to come could be stowed in such steamers, and we should have saved a considerable sum of money, but as this is no object, why, of course, Mr. Yogel was perfectly right in actiDg as he has done. The Provincial Council is summoned to meet on the 25th of next month, and it will be interesting to learn, as we then shall, the state oi our finances. For this reason we may look forward to its meeting with some interest, but the legislation that will be required is not likely to be of

any great extent, arcl consequently the session is not expected to last any length of time. I hear the Industrial Commission appoiuted last year, has set to work with a will, and is preparing an elaboi ate report containing the results of their enquiries, and there can be no doubt that many valuable hints will be gained there- from. And here I may as well mention a fact that came under ray notice the other day relative to flax, after it was prepared, and lodged iv the store awaiting shipment. When on the wharf, a small quantity of it was put into my hands, which bore testimony to the cuergy, perseverance, and exceedingly sharp teeth of the rats that reside in that quarter. As is well known, the flax is folded in half before being packed, and the rats had devoted their attention to the bight end of the bales, where they had guawed through the flax, thus reducing the length of the fibre by one half. This, I should imagine, would considerably deteriorate the value of the article in the home market, and consequently I have thought it worth mentioning, in order that it may be guarded against for the future. I hear that in some of the other flax-export'inf provinces, it is beiug packed in full length, for what reason I know not, but it certainly would have the effect of lessening the damage that, under the method usually pursued in packing in Nelson, may be occasioned by rats. No one would begrlidgd. these interesting little creatures an inch' or two of flax off the end of the leV, if they had a partiality for that particular description of food, but to divide the fibre into halves is taking rather too much of a liberty. I must not conclude without a reference I to the great event, or .events, of the week, nauiely. the arrival of the two English mails, aud the Dews they contain. Paris has at last, after nobly standing out for more than 20 weeks, succumbed before shells anr] starvation, but whether or not the fall of the capital means the end of the war is quite a matter of opinion, allhough the v»hole world must he unaoimous in the desire to see peace restored. Sioce the war first broke out we have had many surprises of one kind or another, but nothiug has been more astonishing than the address to the French nation published by the exEmperor. I suppose for a humble individual like myself to characterise this precious manifesto as a masterpiece of cool impudence would be to subject myself to a similar charge, but it is plain English, and expresses my meaning so thoroughly that I shall adoptthe phrase. Havingfailed to <f die at the head of his army," and surrendered himself to his victorious foe, by whom be was sent into ignominious captivity, this Louis Napoleon quietly accepted his fate, and set to work as an author, while his late subjects were being slaughtered in thousauds, and the country over which he once ruled devastated by the advancing enemy, and now that there is a probability of the war being brought to a close he once more emerges from his obscurity, and in an address to the electors of France, stigmatises those who have borne the burden and heat of the day — men who have performed wonders in forming out of untrained peasants, in* fc few • months, armies that have manfully met the German hosts — as usurpers, who are to be " called to account for the bloodshed, and ruin, and squandered resources." But the gem of the whole address is contained in the closing paragraph wherein he says, — " There is one Government," presumably his own, "in which resided the national sovereignty, able to heal the wounds, to bring hope to the fireside, to re-open the profaned churches for prayers, and to restore industry, concord, and peace." There may be those who would be disposed to ask, who caused the wounds, who banished hope from the fireside, who closed the churches, who destroyed industry, concord, and peace ? And to these enquiries some might answer, and I confess to being one of them — -Louis Napoleon. F.

for Ballarat, in a letter to the Courier on this subject, makes a novel suggestion. It is that a shipment of quartz be sent home, and that a reward of £10.000 be offered by the Victorian Govern OiCtit to any person who reveals a cheap and practicacable process for extracting the whole of the gold from such stone. Peeress. — The Gieymouth Star Fays: — So interested were a number of our sporting men in Greymouth to see what Peeress could do at her best, that they combined to raise a purse of twenty-five sovereigns to present Mr. Cutts, the owner, if he would allow his jockey to try her speed on the race-course. Mr. Cutts,' however, declined, as the heavy rains had caused the course to become unsafe^ for a hard gallop, whiuh might result 'in straining or otherwise injure such a magnificent racer as the peerless Peeress. Captain Kennedy of the Airedale. — A testimonial signed by uearly all the inhabitants of New Plymouth was recently presented to Captain Kenuedy, late of the Airedale. The following sentences concluded his , speech iv reply: — "I have hitherto been very fortunate, for during the 17 years I have ,been on this coast, I have escaped without !uii* accident — but the pitcher that oft goes to Ihe well is apt at last to be broken ; so likewise, gentlemen, has it beeu my misfortune to be at last cast on your shore. Gentlemen, I again thank you, and again repeat, that I am deeply grateful for the sympathy "you have shown, aud feel proud of the confidence you still place in me." Mr. Edward Jerningham Wakefield, the recently elected member for one of the Christchurch seats iv the General Assembly has addressed, t'irough the columns of the Press, a letter to the Hon. E. Stafford upon colonial political subjects. In the course of his comments, he refers particularly to the present Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Yogel, in not very complimentary terms. He tells Mr. Stafford "As an old New Zealand colonist, connected with its British colonisation by hereditary, family, aud personal association during the la,»t thirty-five years — that is, from ray "school days — I felt ashamed when one who had been known not loug ago in Victoria as a homeless adventurer, totally unknown in New Zealand aud unconnected with its colonisation, was appointed to represent New Zealaud in an Australian Conference. lam ashamd now that New Zealand has allowed him to appoint himself as her representative with the United States Government, with the greatest steam shipowner iv America, and perhaps with the London money market. I acknowledge Mr. Vogel's shrewd ability, or rather astuteness, in winning his way to the distinguished and privileged position which lie has taken by storm. But I confess that he has not, ia my opiuion, added honor or respectability to its attributes, but has rather lowered the tone of high office, by educating its subordinates and adherents in that practice of selfinterested sery.il ity and adulation which sees uo disgrace\u any manoeuvre or intrigue, whatever- its nature, that will result in personal advantage to thostj concerned, I cannot conceive thai ability anJ intelligence of the highest quality, if marred by so mercurial and unstable an occupation as Mr. Yogel applies them to can long continue to paralise aud dominate over all his colleagues except the Native Minister, so as to make absolute nobodies of them, and to concentrate all governing and financial powers in the uncontrolled hands of himself, his newly-appointed AgentGeneral, and the Bank of New Zealaud. I feel sure that if his colleagues continue to occupy willingly so mean aud humiliating a position, the majority of the House of Representatives, as a truthful echo of the majority of public opinion throughout the colony, will indignantly express its want of confidence in so unworthy an arrangement for the maintainauce of "peace, order, and good government ! " In Boston, a poor man who, less than one year ago, had only one suit of clothes, went into the newspaper business, and now has eight suits. Seven of them are for libel.