MR. CURTIS'S MEETING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 17, 19 January 1872, Page 2

MR. CURTIS' S MEETING.

There was a full attendance at the Provincial Hall last night when Mr. Curtis delivered his address to the electors of tbe town of Nelson. Dr. Irvine who was called to the chair, briefly introduced Mr. Curtis, who said that he had ■no intention of going through the whole course of events during the recent session, hut would confine himself to touching upon a few measures of special importance relating to the Province of Nelson, and to others which in their general bearing upon the colony also affected this particular portion of it. The first of these was the Education Bill, which differed from the Nelson Act in these particulars : — lt was proposed that fees should be charged for children attending the schools; that the rates should be levied on real property; that the reading of the Scriptures should be made compulsory; and also that attendance at school should be compulsory. With respect to the mode of levying the rates something might be said in its favor, as it seemed almost unfair that all householders should pay alike, but it must be remembered that those who lived ia houses worth, say, £100 a year did not reap any direct benefit, .their children being educated, as a rule, in private schools, while, on the other hand, those in smaller

houses did not wish the education of tluir children to be paid tor by their richer neighbors. Re did not think that it would answer to m»ke the reading of the Holy Scriptures compulsory, as thereby many parents who were in favor of a purely secular system would be induced to keep their 'children f-way from school altogether. It vas far better to leave this matter, us was the case in Nelson, to be decided by the Local Committees. Compulsory attendance, he was sure could not be efficiently carried out, in the country at least, though it might possibly be done in the towns, and unless it could be made to work well throughout the whole of the colony it would be unwise to attempt to make it law as it would only hive the tendency to bring the Act into contempt. After the second reading of the Dill lie proposed to the Government ci-rtain amendments to be made, to most of which they ultimately consented . The Bill was then brought down 1 in its revised shape in which he believed i' wou'd ultimately pass, but there was so much to be said in Committee on each clause that the Govern- J ment were reluctantly compelled to withdraw it. Next session it would no doubt become law, but there would be a strong light made by those who were in favor of the purely secular system lo prevent aid being given to the scholars of am particular denomination. The Bill provided that the ['card should, if it thought fit, give separate aid to such schools, but it did not give them the right to demand a portion of the rates. Our system was far preferable on this head, and he trust t-d it would be adopted by the Government. He hoped that during the recess the whole question would be thoroughly discussed by the public, as nothing was of higher importance than that some uniform educational system should be adopted by the colony. Ie did not affect this province, so much, but there were some parts wh<re there were no public schools, and the children were growing up in the grossest ignorance. A con tinuanee of such a state of things must be disastrous to the country, and we must not complain at having to put up with some modification of our own system if, by go doing, we could secure one general scheme for the colony. Mr. Curtis then referred to the public works and immigration policy of the Government, which involved the borrowing of large sums. Pie would require first to go bick to the previous session, when it was proposed to construct railways in all parts of the country by means of borrowed money and guaranteed interest, and an additional debt of twelve millions was proposed by the Government for these purposes. In the eyes of many, including himself, this appeared to be a scheme of a dangerous and doubtful character. Although it was possible that if the proposed expenditure were carried out, and public works and population introduced, so that material prosperity night be increased, yet there was danger of failure, and also of not finding statable persons as immigrants, and that those who came, instead of adding to our prosperity, might become burdens to the Colony. It, also, a sudden change in the Tnglish money market should arise, it would be difficult to find the money for the completion of the works and the whole of them would thus be suspended, '-till there was a large curnbe-r in favor of the country being opened by railways, and immigrants being introduced to settle upon the lands, and who agreed that it was both justifiable and advisable to borrow money for these purposes under certain restrictions, and the course taken by those who thought thus was to endeavor to confine the scheme within reasonable limits. At the general election which followed, the large majority of the people pronounced themselves in favor of the whole scheme, and returned- their representatives accordingly. On the new House meeting, ie was quite evident that the Opposition formed but a very small minority, and that all they could do was to keep a watchful eye on the borrowing propensities of the Colonial Treasurer. Another point to which they turned their attention was the keeping the ordinary expenditure within the limits of the ordinary revenue. No statesman would be found bold enough to say that this balance should not be preserved, but unfortunately there were ways of framing the accounts so that it should appear that such a balance did really exist, when it was far from being the case. The Opposition, of which he was one, was very smnll, numbering only about twenty, and consequently they entertained no idea of upsetting the Government, indeed, there were many more considerations besides sniallnfss of numbers that precluded any such hope; all they attempted therefore was to keep the expenditure within reason ible bonnds. He now came to the Government of Provinces Bill which was a measure for reducing the numbers ut members of Provincial Councils, but it was so framed that while the Council of Nelson would number eight members, Wellington, nine, Otago, nineteen, find Auckland, a similar number, the provinces of Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Marlborough were to retain their present numbers. Thus while Otago with its 70,000 inhabitants was to have but nineteen, Marlborcu^h with .about 5,000 was to have twenty members. The Bill was preposterous and altogether erroneous in principle. If the object was to abolish the legislative powers of the Councils, this should be done by direct legislation of the General Assembly. Before destroying the usefulness of the Provincial Governments, the General Government should let us know by what they were to be replaced; if by a central government without any means of local government then he should strongly object to such a change. When the Stafford Government attempted to change the present system they proposed substituting something in the shape of County Councils and Koad Boards for Provincial Councils, but the present Government merely proposed to destroy and made no provision for replacing. Even those who were favorable to the extinction of the Provinces did not approve of the plan proposed by the Government, an;l there were many who thought that if Provincial institutions were to receive their deathblow, it was better that they should do so at the hands of their avowed enemies than of their treacherous pretended iriends. Of the diverting the funds originally placed at the disposal of the Provincial Councils to the Road Boards he did not approve. Altogether there were 300 of these bodies in the colony, Otago alone having 92, and the £50,000 to be dividtd amongst them would be divided into such ridiculously small sums as to be of no use whatever, theaveiage amount to be paid to each being only ,£165, although of course each would not receive an equal sum, but be subsidised in proportion to the rates raised by it. So long as Provincial Councils existed he thought the public money should be placed at thai' disposal, and not be frittered away by petty Koad Boards in trifling sums that could do no possible good. In alluding to the Public Works and Immigration Bill, Mr./ Curtis commenced by saying that it contained provision* fora Board that was to have the sole "management of the works, but this Board was bo constituted that it was felt that it would be nothing but an engine of corruption,

the members of it being entirely in the hands of the Government and subject to their control, and consequently the clauses providing for it were struck out of the bill. The actual number of railways agreed to was fifteen, and a few coal lines, and the amount to be expended "xed at two millions. The Hrunner line, which wouhi be in the County of Westland, while the mine was in the Province of Nelson, would be commenced immediately, and steps were being-) taken to enquire into the desirability of a line from Mount Kochfort lo Westporfc, and Dr. Hector hid now gone down to that part of the country to examine whether coal could not he found in some more easily accessible place than that in which it is now known to exist. With regard to the Nelson and Fnxhill line, he would say that the Government had given him a most distinct pledge that it should by shortly' commenced. 'Ibis railway was, in 1870, bittuily opposed by Mr. Wm. Robinson, who hud endeavored to throw it out altogether; and sit the last cession a division favorable to it was only obtained after numerous conversations and discussions outside the House. FTe was therefore much surprised to S:e »n extraordinary letter that Mr. Lightband had addressed to one of the papers in Nel>on. He had spoken and voted for the measure in the House, although previously he (as Mr. Curtis had been aware) had not supported it. Mr. Curtis then read the following telegrams that had passed between Mr. Luckie and himself on the subj ct at ,the time it was exciting considerable interest in Nelson : ' ; 0. Curtis. Esq., Wellington. " People calling out about Fox-Mil railway. Rumor ■» ehon members divided, and failure feared. Talk of holding meeting to urge members to support the schi ma. I suggested delay till telegraph you to see members. Feeling growing. Lhckik." " Nc-ison, 30th October. 1871." " 0. M. Luckie, Esq.. Nelson. •' Rcso'utions of public meetings in favor of theFoxhi'l railway would much strengthen the hanls of the members promoting it • Liglitband lukewarm if not hostile. No time should be lost. " Oswald Curtis, Superintendent." " Wellington, 30th October, 1571." Tint was the view he had taktn of Mr. Lightband's position with regard to the railway on the 30th October, and the letter recently published had tully borne out the view he had then taken, lie was not finding fault with any person for entertaining an honest conviction and acting upon it in thtt House. Should the posit : on taken by unsatisfactory to his constituents, he might deem it is duty to meet them and tender his resignation, whi'e.on the other hand, he might entertain the conviction that it was bis duty to still retain his scat and act in opposition to the wishes of his constituent--, but he (Mr. Curtis) could not believe that Mr. Liglitband was justified in first supporting the railway in tha House and afterwards writing the letter nlluded to. Had Mr. Lightl>and written it as a private individual, he would noc h-'ive taken the trouble to notice if, but he wrote ifc as one of tha two representatives of the City of Nc-lsnn, and the Government on reading it would be quite justified in supposing that there was a great difference of opinion on the subject here, and that one half of the people supported and ihe other half opposed it. Mr. Li.ahtband should have known that it w?s not in the power either of the Provincial or General Government to divert the money, but that if it were to be done it must be by the Assembly, thus involving another twelvemonths' delay. He, however, bad written aM though he thouuht the diversion were to be effected by a stroke of the pen. Mr. Curtis then spoke at. some length en the respective merits of wooden and iron railways, expressing his conviction th-it the former would be of no u?e in optnijrg up the communication between Kelson and Inangahua. but that if that were to be done it must be effected by means of iron railways and locomotives Until we secured such a railway it was no use to think of obtaining the trade that could so much more easily be carried on with eiiher Westport or Grey mouth . When we had a permanent railway constructed, then the superior advantages of our port over those on the Coast would come into pl;iy and we might hope to secure the trade. i3esides, the difference of cost between the two lines was not so great as some people supposed. The matter had been mooted in the Provincial Council years ago, and Mr. J. C. Richmond had then furnished an estimate of the cost of a line to the Four Rivers Plnin, a distance of 75 miles. The wooden tramway he had set down at £120 000, and the iron railway at £1.80 000, or only one half as much again as the temporary line. He might here say that the Provincial Government had recommended the General Government with the £24.000 set apart for goldfields purposes in this province to construct roads between the reefs and Westport and Grey mouth, aud also to improve the roads in the Buller Valley. Mr. Curtis then spoke of the question of annexing the Grey district to Nelson saying that the conditions which the Government proposed to impose were such that Kelson would have been left without the necessary funds for hospitals, police, courts of law, and departmental expenses, as nearly the whole of the revenue would be' distributed among Road Boards. He therefore, in conjunction with the other Nelson members, had threatened that they would oppose the measure by every means in iheir power, and consequently the Bill was dropped. Kefo c concluding he wished to say a few words with reference to the Legislative Council. When the Colonial Treasurer intimate i his intention of introducing next session a measure for effecting large constitutional changes it was generally believed that it was to refer only to Provincial institutions, but he (Mr. Curtis) believed that, it was his intention to deal also with the Upper Home which, as at present constituted, was unsatisfactory to itself and the public, as it was by t no means independent, the Government having it in their power at any time _to nominate a few more members and so secure a majority for themselves. Ue then referred to the Upper House of Victoria which was an elective body based upon a property qualification, but that, although it mi-:ht answer in England where as a rule the propertied classes wtre, and had been for a long series of years, specially educated with a view to taking part in the legislation of the country, would not answer here where such a qualification would often timply mean that the qualified person was in possession of a certain sum of money and nothing more. He suggested for consideration, the plan adopted in the Kingdom of Norway, ; where there were two House*, whose 150 membew were all elected at once on the same basis. Of the 150, 100 formed the Lower House, and 50 the Upper Chamber, and after the elections took place, the 150 met, and out of their number selected 50 members to form the Upper House. If any

measure was sent from the Lower House to the Upper, and rejected by it, the measure was sent a second time, and if again rejected, the two Houses met nnd discussed the matter, and the decision of two-thirds of the members settled the question. By this means any deadlock was impossible, and differences were certain to be settled. It had however its disadvantages, as it might chance that either the 50 best or 50 worst men wore elected to the Upper House, and in eirher case the result wonld be objectionable. Still he thought the matter worthy of consideration. In concluding, Mr. Curtis said that in justice to Mr. Shephard, he was bound to state that he had received his hearty co.-operation in the question of the railway, as also in protecting the interests of the province in all matters of financial importance. He would now He ready to reply to any questions that might be put to him Mr. Bakttes thought that it was unfair of MrCurtis to run down and abuse Mr. Lightband as he hud done when he was not there to defend himself. Hip own opinion was that Mr. Liehthand was by far the best member that the Province ot Nelson sent to the Assembly. He should like to ask Mr. Curtis how it was that he had opposed Mr. Macandrew's resolution for the reduction by 25 per cent, of all salaries over £400 a year. Mr. Cuktis was of opinion that it did not by any means lollow that because an officer was in receipt of £400 a year or over that he was overpaid, He believed that in some instances an individual receiving only £[< 0 a year was, for the n mount of work he did, far more overpaid than other* who were in receipt of £600. Take the Judges, for instance, who received from £800 to £1500 a year. It must be remembered that at the time of their accepting office they were probably in receipt of much larger professional incomes than they received as Judges, andjt would be manifestly unfair to reduce their salaries. Of course they had not such an amount of hard work to go through as a lawyer in full practice, but they had entered upon their position with the full understanding that they were securing a position for life, or so long as they performed their duties satisfactorily. In filling a va- ancy, ihe salary might be re-considered, but this could not fairly be done with those already in office. He never could understand "why the limit at which the reduction of salaries was to commence should be fixed at £400, or, indeed, at an/ stated sum. The proper way to reduce our .'epartmeiital expenditure was by the amalgamation of ofiice3. In reply to another question from Mr. Baknes, VI r Curtis said that he believed it to be absolutely n< cessary for the welfare of any province that its Superintendent should be in the House to defend i r s interests. None could so thoroughly understand its wants as ho. as it was his business to make himself acquainted with them. He wished to say that he should have been very glad if Mr. Lightband had been present that evening, ;nd, if possible, he would have put off the meeting until his return from the Coast, bnl he di'l not like to delay it any longer. In saying vvhnt he had about him, he had simply confined himself to facts, and to stating an opinion that the letter he had written might probably be productive of a considerable amount of mischief to the province. Mr. Bratf asked whether the Province of was to participate iv the scheme of immigration. Mr, Curtis stated that some time ago he had been consulted on this subject, and had replied that at present he thought there was no room for immigrants, but if public works were undertaken that would open up the country for settlement, a judicious stream of immigration might be attended with advantage to the' province. He should prefer 1 that the large bulk of the immigrants introduced should be from the British Isles, but had no objection to a slight infusion of foreign blood, as the Germans now here had proved themselves to be a most useful class of settlt rs. In reply to a question from Mr. Haddow, Mr. Cubtjs said that he had voted for the increased Stamp Duties as a whole, because, as he had before stated, the party to which he belonged were of opiuion that the revenue and expenditure should be balanced, and the Government having declined to reduce the latter, the former of necessity had to be raised Mr. Haddow then proposed a resolution condemuatory of the increased stamp duties, and, in doing so, said that the new Stamp Act was the most unpopular of all the Acts passed in the late session, and was one at which all classes grumbled. It was clear that the legislation of the colony was running in a wrong groove, and it was high time that the people acted in concert in preventing these burdens being imposed. What he wanted was to see direct taxation such as a property and income t'ix, not such methods of raising revenue as stamp duties, or protection, tha latter of which he looked upon as highly objectionable. These increased stamp duties had the effect of inducing the people to endeavor to evade them in every possible manner, and nothing could be more detrimental to good government than the passing of unpopular laws thefc gave rise to all sorts of schemes for their evasion. Mr. Atkinson fully agreed with much that had fallen from Mr. Haddow with regard to the stamp duties, Borne of which were impolitic as well as oppressive, but it should be remembered that one of the duties was on the appointment of Government officers, and a 9 there appeared to be a probability of half the population shortly ranking as such it was op*-n to question whether this was not rather a desirable tax than otherwise. Some discussion ensued upon the undesirability of hurriedly passiug such a resolution, and Mr.

Haddow subsequently withdrew it on the understanding that-, he should bring it forward again at Mr. Lightband's meeting. In reply to a question from Mr. \Ttlie. Mr. Curtis explained the action token by the Select Committee on the honorarium question, phowing that the most objectionable feature was the payment of members resi lent in Wellington. According to the new arrangements the members received some £10 more than that to which they would be entitled under the old ones, but- on the other hand it might happen that in the event of a longer session than usuai they would not receive so much as if they were paid £1 a day. Mr. Macgregor wished to know whether Mr. Curtis or any of the members bad attempted to devise any means for making both, ends meet, and also asked how it was that Mr. Curtis had opposed Mr. Macandrew's resolution referring to the amalgamation of offices. Mr. Curtis said that he had supported a resolution to the ( ffectthafc thearnount of expenditure should be reduced by .£50,000, half of which sum lie thought might be struck off the subsidy paid for the Californian mail services, and the other £25,000 be saved by the amalgamation of offices. This, however, had been treated by the Government as a vote of want of confidence, and they had got out of it by promising to look into the matter and see what could be done prior to the next meeting of the Assemb y. With regard to Mr. Macandrew's resolution, he did not remember the exact wording of it, and probably it had contained some provision for the amalgamation of offices, but Us principal object was the reduction of salaries over £400 a ye-r, and against that, as he had said before, he had voted. Mr. Webb proposed, : — " That the special thanks of this meeting be accorded to his Honor ior the support lie hBS given to the railway scheme of the Colony, and especially to the line from Nelson to Foxhill." He thought that we all had cause to be grateful to Mr. Curtis for his incessant exertions in the direction of opening up the country by railroais. Mr. D. Burns seconded the resolution. For remainder of news see fourth page.

Sir D. Monro would like to receive from Mr. Webb some explanation of the meaning of his resolution before it was put to the meeting. It was very wide in its meaning and not altogether in accordance with what Mr. Curtis had stated to be his views. He had told us that when the Public Works scheme was first introduced he had disapproved of the immense borrowing scheme then proposed, feeling that the principal and interest together would end in completely swamping the colony, and he had not led us to believe that his mind was one bit changed on this head. What was the railway scheme referred to by Mr. Webb ? So far as he could see, Ministers had no scheme whatever but to keep themselves in their places. The characteristic feature of the late session hud been an unseemly scramble for a certain sum of money laid down on the table of the House. In Victoria, a colony with which in all matters of legislation we were accustomed to draw comparisons favorable to ourselves, they did not act as we had done. The Government of that colony when they wished to open up the country by railway, did not begin by proposing to borrow five millions, and then go down to the House and say, now gentlemen there is the money, do as you please with it, but they first oi all decided what lines were really desirable, and, having settled this question, proceeded to obtain the necessary funds, thus avoiding such scrambles as that which marked the last session of our Assembly. And now with regard to the prophecies that had been so freely indulged in by our Colonial Treasurer with reference to the Public Works schemes ; had any of them, he would ask, been realised ? The receipts from the railway.estate for the first year were set down at £5000. The first year had past, and where were the £5000. From the stamp duties £80,000 were to be realised last year, the half of which sum was to be appropriated to lailway purposes Instead of this the total receipts were £55,000. We were also told that in the third year from the introduction of the railway scheme, it would return payment, in addition to the working expenses, of £10,000; we were now well into the second year, and not a railway was commenced, and did anyone believe that in the course of the next twelvemonths one of the lines would be in operation ? So little bad the Colonial Treasurer shown himself to be acquainted with the political economy of railways that it was now found absolutely impossible to carry out his scheme as originally proposed. Why, Mr. "Reeves, the newly appointed Minister of Public Works for the Middle Island had shown that supposing a ship a month were to arrive at Lyttelton from England, they could only in a year's time bring out enough matt-rial for laying 18 miles of railway, and yet 150 miles were to be constructed in Canterbury alone. So little prudence had been displayed iv devising these schemes that it was clear that they must break down under physical obstructions which could not be overcome. He gave Mr. Yogel credit for great courage, large enterprise, and immense ability, but these were unfortunately accompanied by an amount of speculative rashness, which, unless checked, must land the Colony in ruin. No doubt we had an immense number of salaries to pay, but it was not that which was weighing down the Colony. It was the enormous amount of interest that we had to meet annually which was ruining us. Our debt was now something like nine millions, the largest amount owed by any community of equal numbers in any part of the world' It was quite clear that we could not afford this ; our liabilities were increasing ; our property was being mortgaged; and the General Government was taking to itself our Provincial territory, and all this for the r.dlway scheme that the meeting was now asked to approved. Some of the proposed works could only be characterised as evidences of utter insanity on the part of those who supported them. As a people we were losing all sense of the value of our public credit, we were becoming thoroughly demoralised, and exhibiting a readiness to rush inconsiderately into any wild and visionary scheme. To public works in moderation he had no objection; but such a scheme as that of the Colonial Treasurer was of too gigantic a character for us to undertake; it was utterly beyond our resources, and would only result in the complete destruction of the credit of the Colony. He trusted that Mr. Webb would consent to omit that part of his resolution which referred to the " railway scheme of the Colony." Mr. Webb having agreed to this, the resolution as amended, wag carried unanimously. Mr. Ltjckie, having referred to the part he had taken in the telegraphic correspondence regarding Mr. Lightband which had been read by Mr. Curtis, went on to say that there were one or two points in Sir David Monro's speech that he wished to notice. With reference to the expenditure of the colony, the salaries, as Sir David had said, formed but a comparatively small item, while the permanent charges in the shape of interest formed our most grievous burden. But to whom and what was this enormous charge owing ? To the Maori war and the Government who allowed it to be commenced. Had the much ridiculed sugar and flour policy been adopted in the first instance this huge drain upon our resources would never have existed. The members of the present Government deserved the greatest credit for having terminated, as he believed they bad done, the Maori war. They had fairly conquered peace by a system that both humanity and wisdom dictated as the proper one, and which formed the brightest feather in their policy. The natives in the province of Wellington were at the present time dying off like rotten sheep, and every day was showing the wisdom of the course pursued by the Government, Had the present policy been adopted years ago there would have been no such vast charges for interest to meet as was now the case. Mr- Atkikson wished as a North Island settler to state that if Mr. Luckie's ideas about the Maori war were not replied to now it was not because they were unanswerable. To reply to them satisfactorily would occupy half the night, but, already bis arguments had been rebutted a hundred- and-fifty times, and Mr. Luckie merely showed that he was obstinately determined not to be convinced. Mr. Bout proposed, and Mr. Thornton seconded ' " That this meeting being strongly impressed with the importance and value to this Province of the Foxhill railway as an instalment of the line to connect us with the Southern Provinces of this Island, expresses an earnest hope that the Colonial Government will proceed with this promised line without delay." Carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr. Burn it was resolved " That his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to forward the resolution just agreed to with respect to the Foxhiil railway, to the honorable the Colonial Secretary in Wellington.'' A hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Curtis was then unanimously carried, and the meeting dispersed .

A Fellow who is not ashamed of his own impudence has been making his friends laugh by the relation of a chase which he had after Mr Tenuyson in the Royal Academy. Seeing the Poet Laureate with his family going the round of the pictures this inquisitive individual followed closely up, expecting to hear Mr. Tennyson say something worth recording. Nor was he disappointed. After the little party had gone through the various rooms in silence, the Laureate stopped, and turning to the lady who accompanied him, said, "Take care of the children while I go and have a glass of beer." His curious pursuer made a frantic exit. — Correspondent^ Dundee j Advertiser. i A Fiiench Story about London. — i The Courier Diplomatique, published in Paris, contains a letter from a London correspondent, which gives an awful picture of the danger threatening this country from the spread of socialistic doctrines. The writer says : — " The whole of this vast empire is permeated by secret societies. The International here holds its meetings almost publicly. It is said the greater number of the dispossessed Princes of India, a good number of officers belonging to the Army and Navy, as well as Members of Parliament and even Ministers are affiliated to it. The Government is aware of the infernal plan by which, at a given moment, the public buildings of London are to be exposed to the fate which befel so many of Paris. ! Boats are already waiting on the Thames to receive the treasures of the Bank of England — an easy prey, say the conspirators — as soon as the main artery of the Strand shall have been burnt, and the public buildings — the barracks especially ! — shall have been blown up, as was three years ago the Clerkenwell Prison. Careless by nature, and too much engaged in | business to think of the morrow, spoiled by a long established liberty and a fabulous > prosperity, having for many generations I forgotten the Bcourge of war, foreign or civil, we allow ourselves to drift on with--1 out taking heed of the signs of the times." Social Condition of the Fijis.— The j Fiji Gazette begins a leader with the rather startling enquiry, "The Next Generation in Fiji, what will it be ? " And then proceeds to explain the difficulty standing in the way of the solution of the problem : — The vast majority of our settlers appear to have no desire or intention to form such matrimonial and family alliances as are essential to the respectability ot society. 'With too many, the morality of society is only a subject to laughed at. We cannot understand the position they take up. The charms of Fiji womenwe have failed to appreciate. -We could never see them. What qualities do they possess to enchant ? Is it their manners ? Or is it the mental superiority of these sable beauties that obtains for them a preference amongst white men over white ladies ? Nor do the white admirers of black beauty confine their affections to the aboriginal females of Fiji. As the palates of old used to scour the oceans for a variety of fish, so the varying tastes of many of our aettlers rake the islands of the entire Polynesian group for a supply of spouses, varying in color from a London chimney sweep just emerged irom a sixstoreyed chimney, to the color of a faded penny, or the face and features of a.Chiriaman. What will the next generation be, then ? We pause to consider. But it is not in their tints, and their features, their face, and their form only, we feel curious. A far more serious consideration lies in their morals. What will be the morality

of such an offspring generation ? What can it be ? The eaily settlers in America never sank to this. Eveu the best looking red Indian cliieftess could not draw their affections from the British maids who, though separated from them by the ocean, they resolved should be their wives. And ■ where is the mother in the colonies who would refuse to the Fiji planter the hand of her daughter ? It is Dot a scarcity of the white material that makes him buy the black. How many young and accomplished, hearty and handsome young ladies there are in the colonies who would cheerfully fly to the sunny tropics ! How readily would they come, and as loving wives make home happy."