CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 131, 3 June 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

— o — — *** We are desirous of : affording every reasonable facility for .the discussion of public subjects; but it must be understood that we are in no Way responsible f.fov .the opinions .expressed by correspondents; ' •-..■ Tb the Editoh'of the Nelson Evening Maii: riiSiß-T-Inyour issue of Friday, is a^afa-i graph on Theji Highways Act, which I think must have -been written hastily, as in it '■ Jf^^£d|^ijpg^rj|E^t .'as^ejr .(the j petitioners) !tiad'/at7ed to &&ig&any reason

for striking out the clausps referred to" which is surely an unintentional mistake ; for on each petition paper were the words, "Your petitioners are dissatisfied with a principle introduced into our laws." ,Th^e principle of exempting any portion of :ittie community from the payment of a common, tax or impost is surely to be counted a reason to ask for the repeal of the clause conferring the privilege; at any rate the very large number of, jjers.ops jvbo signed the petition in' tbe three clear days allowed for signing thought it sufficient. Nor did a " large number of those who signed misunderstand the purport of these clauses,'' or what they were objecting to; as it was the principle '' of exemption, and not the persons — whether clerical or. lay, .on or off duty— that was obnoxious. A tax is either just or: unjust/ '.If -'lt is just, everyone should pay it ; if uujust, sweep.it off tbe Statute Book. Do not exempt a few, privileged persons and raise. an oligarchy with vested interests to lord it over the unprivileged, for the temper' of our ratepayers is rather antagonistic to such treatment, and which, if I .mistake not, will be shown' whenever their votes ; are next requested by the members of the Council iv the home districts that voted •-, with tbe "Ayes " on this question. "7 ." I am, &c., I June Ist., 1872. . "7 __ X Alarm.

Captain Carter, the second Superintendent of the Province of Hawke's Bay, died on Wednesday last.; : Mr. James Bickerton .Fisher has been appointed Crown Prosecutor for Westland North. :'•--'' Clarke's Hotel at Picton, has been totally destroyed . by fire. ; The loss is estimated at £2,300. It was insured in the Victoria Compauy for £660. A. Tender for the erection of a chapel for the Wesleyans at Reefton, has been accepted, and the work will be proceeded with immediately. The site is situated in Woolley-street. The total quantity of gold exported from the Westland portion of the West Coast goldfields, since the opening of the West Coast to 31st March last, was 1,642,841 ozs, valued at £5,491,771; while the Nelson goldfields exported 1,153,412 ozs, valued at £4,569,972. Later Fiji papers represent the Government as. . powerless. : -The Muf uals (sic) maintain an adverse position. They have takep the cutter Volunteer — -lately sold by order of the -Court — from the police, and intend to prevent her sailing until a man-of-war arrives. . The Burt, party are also arming a large number of neutrals, fearing bloodshed ; and a notice has been published that they will oppose the side first commencing hostilities. Nicholls and Lester have been tried for the Paramatta River murders. Both were found guilty. The Judge asked the prisoners what they had to say before sentence was passed, upon them. Nicholls commenced to speak, but immediately tainted. Lester then faiuted also.. j Nicholls had to be held up by the police | while sentence of death was passed upon him. Lester cried bitterly, and handed !in : a written statement denying killing either of the victims ; thatTNicholls murdered both ; tha| he fired at Bridger, and then hammered him on the head with a pistol. The Condition- of Westport.— -The - Times of Friday last says :— The "sad sea waves" are still by slow but' 'sure degrees fulfilling the work : of destruction. On the west side of Gladstbne-str.eet agap;, now exists, where familiar buildings so lately stood ; suggestive of most unpleasant forebodings a& to the .impending fate of adjoining properties. '7, lFollpwing the sudden disappearance of the Empire, every building in the comer; 1 block has been pulled down, the houses on the soiHh< side of Freeman-street carted .away ih fragmentary condition, and the sea A at" high water now washes with steady encroachment, a curved line of broken. ground^ extending from what remains ,of the recent site of the Bank of New; South •: Wales melting house to Munson's -c6tiage';a$ r 4hb •rear : of M'Farlahe's Hotel.' '^^c^ 'proprietor of, that hotel may .how yin ,auc- ' , t ioneer's 'phrase,, boast of an .'eligible; corner section, ' ' commanding an :.< uninterrupted view, of- (the river and : port bf /,; entrahc e ' aud ; offering facilities i „fbr' ; ' busih.es's^pnly limited by the contingencies of" sudden interruption by salt .water. ;;-j The |;conielusion arriy^di ; ajt by .those, who,: fronv long residence at Westport, should! be enabled toform a competent opinioo, ; is that at no distant date the removal of all :^tjtfe^^hi^di ings on the west side . of . Glads^on^e-^tfeet '\will : be ; -cpmpulsbr^'.)'i ;",| ', 7^" y x \ ' .AAv^y-^ ■ At Stamp Ditties; — ;Thie writerof^ tf ;€3as^al ■Notes" inthe Qidqol>dily\Tim'es&w& tnat a medicdr ,corr^spo i odent, (> (^.j ii 4^ ...Jbondpn Standard^ j£cehtty a m^ whiq^.jsjhouldi cpmmeudXt.self i to M^siVogejll It 7'is . .that ;jthe jjabels, .or ,bottles, f ofrnbeer! jshpuldftrequire a t ? starrip^itbe amount of which the .writer. prdtiHses , Sita^A7 : 4.oliiiLt.?yA:j: Ayy^X--

should be a half-peony ; the stamp to be effaced on the bottle being sold. The reasons for the proposals are two, viz , to raise revenue, and. to prevent tbe passing off;,of vile compounds as beer brewed by Bass, Allsopp, &c. 'This idea is favorably regarded . by. several ; of the English papers, and 'the Pall Mall Gazette says that if it is not taken up by the public in their own interest, tbe great brewers, for the sake of their reputation, should agitate for it. This is a chance for Mr. Yogel to raise revenue by stamps without rendering necessary.. the obnoxious provisions introduced into the Stamp Act of last session, and which have been condemned by everyone, his own colleagues included. Mr. Fox, also, might be expected to support such a measure as a pis oiler, supposing the Permissive Bill to" be rejected, or even as a corollary to it, supposing^ it to be passed. If he cannot succeed in stopping the trade altogether, he can in this way soothe his conscience ! by making, it pay duty, and at the same time protect those infatuated enough to drink beer from having even worse mixtures imposed upon theni under that name. :' Newspaper Enterprise. — The London % y vmes of February 28, contained a report occupying ; twenty-six columns of small type of tbe proceedings of the previous, day (which was the day appointed for the national thanksgiving) in addition, to two columns of leading matter on the same subject. The greater portion was of course devoted to a description of the ceremonial in London, but besides that there were brief accounts of the doings in allthe principal provincial towns, in Berlio, and last, though not the least wonderful, in Calcutta. ; The telegram from the latter place will perhaps prove interesting to our readers, as showing how the occasion was celebrated in India : — "A holy day, we learn by telegraph, was observed yesterday at Calcutta as a mark of rejoicing on the recovery of the Prince of Wales, and Thanksgiving services were held in all the churches and chapels. The Governor of Bombay and all the Government officials attended in state a special Thanksgiving service at the cathedral' at Bombay for the recovery of his Royal Higuess the Prince of Wales. The Guicowar has placed a lac of rupees (£10,000) at the Governor's disposal for a public work in honor of the event. Mr.

..I' " " '■ ..I, ' ' —**- '* Sasaoon has added 5,000 rupees to his former contribution of a lac of rupees for a Dew High School as a Thanksgiving r offering. .The Parseee, invited by Sir Ja'msetjee^Jeejeeb^gyi n met at the Fire Temple, Tend t|q. community, at the; reqiiie'st-bf Mr,«Sassoon, held a solemn service in their Synagogue. At ths invitation of Mr. Munguldass Nathoobhoy, , about 10,000 Bombay Hindoos of all denominations assembled .yesterday in the Mornbadabee Temple, and offered up thanksgivings. Similar meetings were held. by. the Mahpraedahs and every sect of Hindoos. It is estimated that more than 100,000 persons.? joined in the various services.". , , -.%-'■;-. • For remainder of jiews see fourth page.