CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 82, 5 April 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

*** We are desirous of affordiug- every reasonable facility for tbe discussion of public subjects; but it must be understood tbat we are in no way responsible for the opinions expressed by correspondents. To the Editor of the Nelson Evening Mail. Sir, —Can you tell if it is true that our Superintendent, when at Reefton, did not go to the Reefs ? Myself, and others, his supporters, have been depending on his information for future proceedings. Yours, &c, NELSONrAN.

Jack's Complaint. — Under the signature " A voice from the forecastle " the following letter appears in the Wellington Evening Post dated "Ship England, in Limbo, off Soame.s' Island, 26th March — Sir,—- We hear from the passengers that they are getting lots of books, fruit, and other good things sent off by the kind people of Wellington. We will thank you if you will let them know that there are a lot of poor Jacks cooped up aboard the England, who have been fellowsufferers with them on the voyage. Our captain will take charge of anything which may be Bent. Weare very lonely, and the fish seem to bave put us in quarantine, as we can't get a bite."How to Cure a Bad Habit. — Understand clearly the reasons, and all the reasons, why the habit is injurious. Study the subject till there is no lingering doubts in your mind, Avoid the places, the persons, the thoughts, that lead to the temptation. Frequent the places, associate with the persons, indulge the thoughts lhat lead away from the temptation. Keep busy. Idleness is the strength of bad habits. Do not give up the struggle wben you have broken your resolution once, twice, ten times, a thousand times. That only shows how much need there is for you to strive. When you have broken your resolution, just think the matter over, and endeavor to understand why it was you failed, so that you may be upon your guard against a recurrence of the same circumstance. Do not think it a little or an easy thing that you have undertaken. It is folly to expect to break off a habit in a day, which may have been gathering strength in you for years. The Present English Ministry. — The London correspondent of the Melbourne Age writes : — There exists a general impression that Mr. Gladstone's lease of power as Premier is rapidly approaching its termination. He has, somehow or other, contrived to offend the great majority of his supporters. Mr. Forster bas alienated the Nonconformist community. Mr. Goschen and bis predecessor, Mr. Childers, have dragged the Admiralty into scrapes for which there is little apology possible. Mr. Lowe has disgusted everyone by bis petty economies and bitter cynicisms. Mr. Ayr ton's boorishness is a matter of notoriety; while Mr. Bruce, seeking to conciliate the publicans, without offending teetotallers, has incurred the enmity of both. No wonder the Conservatives are jubilant. Lord Derby's recent speech has very materially enhanced his popularity here. There is much from which Liberals must naturally dissent, but it is an bonest speech. Lord Derby holds views which are not shared by the majority of his fellow-countrymen, and he knows it, but he will not step out of his way to disguise them. This is what Englishmen like. A fair enemy is, in their eyes, nobler than a false friend. Lord Derby maintains that the political situation has entered upon a new phase. He says:— Witb the Ballot Bill the old Liberal programme has disappeared ; new subjects of controversy in their turn are cropping up; and upon these new questions there is fair ground to hope that the view taken by the present, and still more by tbe next House of Commons, wil! be a Conservative rather tban a Radical view. Only don't let us spoil our own game ; don't let us lose power in running after place. If we become the majority it is our duty to accept the responsibilities of that position. But for myself I tell you frankly, though I should rejoice to see a strong Conservative Government in power, I had infinitely rather, in the public interest and that of your party, see tbe Conservatives forming a strong ahd compact opposition than have them, for the fourth time in twenty years, holding office without a tolerably assured majority. That is my conviction, and I believe it is that of most Conservatives who have had any experience in affairs. It is rumored that at the opening of Parliament a vote of dissatisfaction with the Government will be proposed by Professor Fawcett, and supported by the malcontents of the Liberal party. " The progress of the Japanese in adapting themselves to European ways is," writes the Daily News, "extremely rapid. Tney no sooner heard of paper money tban it was substituted for specie, and immediately, after understanding tbe principle of public loans, the Government appeared in the London market as the borrower of a million sterling. While the Chinese reject every offer made to construct a railway, the Japanese are making one of several hundred miles in length. While persons of consideration deprecate in Parliament tbe introduction of tramroads in London, they are being laid in Yokohama. While our Australian brethren, so shrewd in other respects, are permitting themselves to be deluded with the fallacies of protection, the Japanese are declaring for free -trade, and, as a beginning, have resolved, when the treaties are revised next year, to expunge the prohibition on the export of rice. They

are the first among7 foreign nations --to follow English example in forming 1 a society for tbe prevention of cruelty to animals. Chief among the mover in this new departure is the Mikado. He has emancipated himself from tho rule which ordained that be should remain secluded from his people — an invisible sovereign who was one-half a divinity, and all the more divine, perhaps, because he was never seen by tbe commonalty. He recently attended at the opening of the first section cf the railway. Wishing to cultivate his mind, he is now eDgaged in the study of German. When he indulges in drinking he prefers champagne to the home brewed liquors. His soldiers have for some time been armed and drilled on the European model. One thing, however, distinguished them from European troops. This was the manner in which their feet were covered or sometimes left uncovered. The decree bas now gone forth tbat the soldiers and all the Government officials are to be shod in shoes of European pattern. All these changes, and others equally sweeping, not included in the foregoing enumeration, are equivalent to a revolution in Japan, of wbich we can with difficulty form any conception." Servant G-alism. — We take the following from the Auckland Herald : — The following advertisement appeared in a morning paper two days ago, and by noon yesterday upwards of thirty ladies had waited on the " anxious mother," at her residence in the suburbs, where they were not permitted to see the " only daughter," but had tbeir names and addresses recorded for subsequent consideration. Nothing could furnish a stronger comment on the relative positions of mistress and maid-servant in the colony than this. A girl aged eighteen, admittedly ignorant of the duties of a domestic servant, is trooped after by crowds of ladies who are prepared "to take an interest in the girl, and teach her what she is deficient in ; " but cannot even get a sight of the interesting " help." Doubtless the relative merits of the various applicants will be discussed, aud the future home selected where there will be least work to do and most money to be got. It must be admitted, however, that this kind of advertisement is an excellent stroke of policy; and from its success we should not wonder if the female " helps " in future advertise for mistresses, and fix tbe day and hour when it would be convenient for them to be waited on witb proposals for employment. The following is the advertisement : — Wanted, by a respectable woman, a situation for an only daughter, eighteen years old, -where the mistress would take an interest in the girl, and teach her what she i3 deficient in ; wages not so much an object. The Reporters' Revenge. — A Paris correspondent of thc Pall Mall Gazette says :— " The Parisian papers hostile to the Orleans Princes bave commenced against tbem that peculiarly French species of persecution which consists in chronicling minutely every look, gesture, and whisper of theirs in the Assembly. We are told at what hour the princes enter the House, what coats they wear, who are tbe members whose hands they shake on tbeir way to their seats, -what sort of expression steals over tbeir countenances while the speeches are being delivered, and so on. This is called in French journalistic phrase, ' broiling ' a member, and is no new thing, though singularly enough the first deputy who is stated to have fallen a victim to the practice is the one who, under the Restoration, originated the suggestion that Parliamentary reporters should be made comfortable, and have a box of their own iu the House. It was one Count de Coigny. In those days members went down to the Palais Bourbon in uniform, and the reporters, all in dress coats and pumps, sat in a row on chairs immediately under the tribune, and took notes on their knees. Count de Coigny, who meant well, thought a private box with desks would be preferable to this system; but the journalists, looking upon their exclusion from the body of the House as an affront, first debated whether they should draw lots and challenge the Count, and then, having decided that this would be unadvisable, banded together to make his life a burden to him. There were 17 daily newspapers in Paris considerably divided in opinion, but on tbe subject of Count de Coigny they were one, and they left him no peace. In the report of every debate his name appeared as tbe author of all the sneezes, coughs, and yawns of tbe Assembly; and if by chance he kept away for a day, the plan was to declare how much better business had proceeded without him, and to calculate tbe saving of time and expense to the country when be was not there te prolong- the debates by his infirmities. The legends of French newspaperdom will have it tbat Count de Coigny was hurried by this treatment into an early grave, but this is probably too bad to be true."