THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 226, 23 September 1871, Page 2

THE WEEK.

o If it were not for the occasional scraps of intelligence that reach us daily from Welington, just now the great centre of interest, we sbould be suffering from a complete dearth of anything in the shape of news, as the supply of that article furnished by our own locality has for the last few days been meagre in the extreme. Even from the capital there has come to us nothing of great interest during the week with the exception of the decision of the Motueka Election Committee. Without entering upon the. merits of the case in any way whatever, I may state that to my mind it is a matter for regret that the services : of Sir David Monro have been lost to the Colony. A gentleman of bis high standing, undoubted ability, and intimate acquaintance with all matters pertaining to the history of New Zealand since the foundation of ithe colony cannot -be withdrawn from the House of Representatives without causing a blank that can not easily be filled ii p. But it has been decided otherwise, and there is now no help for it. The Colonial Treasurer's Budget, it appears, has had the effect of firmly establishing the Ministry in their. seats, baring been sb skilfully framed as to draw to. their side of tbe House many of the wavei;ers,^bije at the same "time if has i"'jb'Bd M Boi_iiet&ihg oT the' effect of a shell bursting in the Opposition camp, splitting up that which was taking the form V of a criinpacti f body ' in i to" small fragments. - ; Whether they will' yet j: be, able to any common bond of union which shal^ have the effect pf,*bringi™ them together again remains .fcrbe seetf, butlatr pr^BiriflS-ioEliii event seems uW likely. Mr. Vogel has expreised his in.

tention of adopting a retrenchment policy, and I am told that ihe Estimates, wWchhave not yet be^n| foi#atded&b u'^ Wellington show considerjabl^-redilc-rpns' in the salaries o£, some "of the Government • officers; but for* : tny part I should have? liked to see this economising begin at the top of the tree, not so much in the reduction of the salaries of Ministers-rfor -I believe that all those who do take an active part in the government of the country honestly earn, every shilling they receive, — but rather in the direction of expelling all drones from the hive. The people do not begrudge the honey to the busy bee, but they do not care to provide for those who do no work. Were the colony in a thriving, prosperous state, and the saving of a thousand or two of pounds a matter not worth consideration, they might not object to having a nominal head of tbe Government taking a monthly pull at the public purse; but in the present condition of affairs, the question is often " asked what the Premier is doing to earn his money. It is well known that a large portion of his time is devoted toendeavouriDg to improve the social, condition of' the people^ but, useful as he may be in this particular line, it is urged that he occupies his present position on the understanding that he should look after our political rather than our social welfare, and therefore it is thought that the "Retrenchment Budget" might fly at higher game than the reduction of the salaries of inferior officers. Again, there is a Minister of Justice of whom we never hear anything except when the time arrives for his salary to be voted. Here is room for a still further saving. Of course it would be extremely disagreeable for Mr. Vogel to object to the continuance of these offices, and were he to propose their abolition at a Cabinet Council he would probably be out-voted, but the representatives of the people, when in committee on the Estimates, need not be swayed by any such feeliogs of delicacy as those which would naturally actuate a member of the Government in the consideration of a question affecting the status of his colleagues. A notice by the Postmaster referring to an alteration in the colors of postage stamps which has been recently published, has probably escaped the notice of many newspaper readers, who, however, will on and after the Ist October next begin to appreciate the change. Had it been confined to substituting entirely new colors for those already in use, people might have wondered what it was done for, and there the matter would have dropped, but when they find, as they soon will to their cost, that all the old hues have been retained, and have merely been transferred from one stamp to another, making tbe new sixpenny label the color of the present penny one, the penny that of the threepenny, the threepenny that of the twopenny and so on, they will heap blessings without number upon the heads of the authorities who have instituted bo senseless a change. The only result of this new move that I can foresee will be to drive the post office clerks distracted, to create for a time no end of confusion amongst letter-writers, and to swell to ungainly proportions the list of letters detained in the office as being insufficiently stamped.. Our local manufactories are progressing. I had an opportunity of seeing the other day a number of articles manufactured, principally from native flax, by Messrs. W. Cook & Co., of Collingwood-street, previous to their being forwarded to the Flax Exhibition to be held at Wellington. They consisted . chiefly of hearthrugs, matting, and doormats. The former, made entirely of flax, were of the neatest possible designs, the dyeing part of tbe work having been executed by Mr. Robertson j the doormats, some of; which contained nothing but flax, others being a combination of flax and cocoanut fibre, had the appearance of being exceedingly well made, and of possessing great strength and durability ; while the matting, I was assured, was far superior to that manufactured from the cocoanut fibre, on account of the greater length of the flax, i which enables the manufacturer to work it into a firmer vand more durable fabric than is possible with ; the shorter fibre of the cocoanut. ; The prices at which the various articles can be produced is such as to enable them to compete successfully with those imported from England. The Messrs Webley, too, have attempted a new venture, having turned out from their looms the first blanket made in Nelson, if not in Ne* Zealand. It is not so thick as the ordinary ' blanket but is much finer and closer and appears to be so thoroughly well-made that there can be no - donbt 'that after a little further experiment they will be able to turn out quite as good and serviceable an article [as can be supplied from the home country., r jsjtyer^ isatiaCactory tc> find. that pnr local* manufacturers (arje doing their work in ao creditable o manner. -• ; ■■■ ■'■ -'/;..:■ F.