THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 238, 7 October 1871, Page 2

THE WEEK.

o The week has been a dreary one. Politics bave lost the. charm of. novelty with' which they were invested in the early part of the session, and the fact of the,. Government . having cut the ground from under' the feet bf the Opposition, Jby appropriating the policy first propounded by J-Mr. : Stafford, has .deprived the proceedings of the House of that excitement which always prevails when there is the likelihood of a good stand-up fight occurring at any time. The Education Bill is wriggling through Committee, but there are some doubts whether it will become law this session, as there seems tobe a very general opinion that it should be before the country for some time ia order that it may be thoroughly discussed, and receive the full approbation of the people before the new machinery is. put in motion. With regard to tbe other matters before the Assembly, there appears to be little going on but a series of squabbles. Mr. Vogel, brings dowc .occasionally a smalfibstalment'of the government policy for discussion; Mr. Staiford objects to thiarniethod- of- dealing with matters of suchAlimportance, and requests full information as to the intentions of the Government; Mr. Vogel replies, at first, by stating that Ministers have nothing more to tell the House than it already knows, but usually concludes by promising to enlighten it a little further on some future evening. Thus the business of the country proceeds, and, meantime, the Assembly has been in session eight weeks. Parliamentary government is an excellent and a popular institution, but, like other good things, it has its drawbacks. Our football players returned on Monday last, having received a good thrashing and a most hearty welcome from their Wellington friends. The local papers speak in thei highest terms of the gentlemanly demeanor and thorough good temper displayed by their visitors in the rough and occasionally irritating game in which they were defeated after a hard fight; the Nelson team, on the other hand, can scarcely find words to express their gratification at the hospitable manner in which they were received, or their surprise at the sumptuous and elegant dinner to which they were invited on the evening of the match. "Had it been a first-rate cricket matcb," was the remark made to me by one of the players, " we should not have been so much surprised at the reception that awaited us, but we never expected to have been made so

much of over the more bumble game of football." They sincerely hope that'the next time we get a Wellington team to visit us, whether it be for cricket or football, the chosen champions may give their Wellington opponents as decided a beating, and the Nelson people afford them as cordial a reception, as they themselves received on the other side of the Straits. The weather has been a forced, if not a favorite, topic of conversation during the week. It is a long time since we had such a tumble down of rain as on Tuesday night, and both Wednesday and Thursday did their share towards soaking the ground and raising the rivers, one of the most unpleasant results being that the foundation 'of the approach to the "Wai-iti bridge on the Foxhill side was sapped to such an extent as to put a stop to all traffic over it on Thursday. We boast of our Nelson climate, and certainly it is a glorious one, but when we do get a downpour there is no mistake about it. 1 Nelson is regarded, and not without cause, as a slow place, but this adjective does not apply to the rain, which, when once the windows of heaven are opened, is fast and furius to a degree that would astonish some of our neighbors. Take for instance three days in this week,, Tuesday, Wednesday, and" Thursday, when the gauge registered no less than eight inches, being something over a third of the annual rainfall in England, which averages only 21 inches. At the same time it must be remembered that the number of wet days in Nelson is not to be compared with what it is at home, or in any other province in New Zealand. In looking over some Saturday Reviews the other day I dropped across a paragraph which may prove of service to two of the Nelson papers that have a partiality for attacking one another in powerful langauge, and occasionally for hittting out at For remainder of news see fourth page.

some public man who excited their ■wrath.; It refers to. 'He Coimnmissioner Ayr ton, of whom it speaks in the following terms : — V The, -. Chief Commissioner contrives to irritate every person with whom he comes in contact, by the recklessness of '^bis. ; assertions, the injuriousness of his imputations, the superciliousness of his ignorance, the insolence of his deameanor, and the audacity of his proceedings." A' public man who has the misfortune to toffendL the Saturday Review clearly does not lie upon a bed. of roses., For the Commissioner's sake,! trust that he is moderately thick-skiimed, otherwise it is probable that he may have passed one or two sleepless nights after seeing his photograph in the Saturday. . ; The session., of the Diocesan SynoJ, during which many matters of considerable interest and no little importance were discussed, was brought to a close yesterday. The most spirited debate of the session took -place-; on Thursday evening, on a resolution proposed 'by the > Rev. C. 0. Mules, the purport of which was that permission should be granted to the ministers and preachers duly recognised' by the Wesleyan Conference. to make use of the churches . in, thinly -populated districts. The 'discussion that followed. was. rendered ; extremely interesting by the earnestness with- which the various speakers expressed their opinions ou a question which by many of them was regarded as a most important one It was pleasing, too,' to find that do spirit of intolerance was- displayed, not a word beins: uttered that could give the slightest offence to, any member of that- Church to whose ministers it was proposed to accord permission to enter the pulpits appropriated' to the use of the clergymen of the Church of England, but there was a very general expression of opinion that the resolution was uncalled for, and; if carried, might not meet the views of many of the members of the Anglican Church. Finding that the' feeling of the Synod was against "him," Mr. Mules wisely "withdrew his motion', but, in doing so, stated that he proposed bringing it forward again at the next ' "session of the -Synod, when he trusted that on more mature consideration it might be agreed to. A cargo of cattle and sheep has been unexpectedly landed in Nelson, as the steamer Wanganui, from Wanganui toManakau, found it impossible to reach her original: . destination in the face of the stormy weather and ■ heavy seas that she encountered, and consequently sought the shelter afforded by Blind Bay. Her living freight is to be disposed of at Richmond on Monday, when Nelson and Wanganui; raised stock will compete with, one another for the butchers' prize, consisting of L. S. D. ; F.