CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 162, 9 July 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

*** We are desirous of affording every reasonable facility ior the discussion of public subjects; but it must be understood that we are in no way responsible for the opinions expressed, by correspondents. PITT THE SORROWS OF AN M. H. R. To the Editor op the Nelsok Evening Mail. Sik — I see by yesterday's Colonist th<vt Mr. Luckie, M.H.R.. has found it necessary to issue a manifesto to all officers in the General Government employ advising them that it is of no use whatever to apply to him to use his influence ■with the Ministry, to obtain a rise in their salaries. lam desirous of offering to the unfortunate M.11.E. my heartfelt sympathy on this occasion. Already he is paying the penalty of his greatness, and it is really painful to contemplate the horror with which he must view the periodical visits of the postman, feeling, as no doubt he does, whenever he sees the red collar and cuffs in the vicinity of his house, an instinctive dread that he is again to be pestered with one of these " many applications'' What a pitiable tale would the M.H.E.'s waste-paper basket— to •which I presume all such applications are committed— untold. This "public officer" has a wife and children, vhom he can with difficulty maintain on his small salary; that one is anxious to be united to the object of . his affections, and possibly to become in due course of time also the proprietor of a goodly number of olive branches, but at present, he can, with his limited income, indulge only in the pleasant vision, the reality being bejpnd his reach; a third has a weakness for purple and fine linen, but his " screw " is not equal to the occasion, and consequently he has to content himself with Nelson tweed, exhibiting au pccasional patch. But I have no wish to dive into all the revelations that are to be found in these " many applications," which I daresay are thrillingly painful to peruse, and must have proved extraordinarily so to the recipient since it has drive- n him to take refuge in the columns of a newspaper, and therein to declare that he is not an influential M.8.8. Poignant as his distress must have been ere he could have brought himself to adopt' so novel a course, ifc can scarcely be equal to that of the ' many applicants on finding that they had been leaning on a broken reed. Storm-tossed on the billows of impecuniosity they bethought them how in the days of yore the Israelites, when in pain and sorrow, had only to direct an implpring glance towards a brazen serpent raised on high, to find immediate relief, and so, with a simple faith in the "influence" of him whom, it may be, their votes had assisted to elevate to his present piDnacle of greatness, they dared to hope that an appeal to him would be equally efficacious. W hat must have been their feelings on ascertaining his reply ? With a cold, unfeeling gaze he , looks down upon his supplicants and. sternly utters the chilling words, " Your faith is misplaced, I have no influence." In the bitterness of their distress, their heated imaginations- had led them to see in the mystic letters M.H.K., when attached to the name of him they loved, the initials of the words, My Haven of Rest, in the plaie^of which they find an- inhospitable, rockbound shore which is simply unapproachable.

The feelings of both Mr. Luckie and his crowd of bepirars are certainly most unenviable, but they can be as nothing compared with those of the"" public officers " in Nelson who have not appealed to him for assistance, for, although there « re comparatively speaking but a very -few of this class in the province, the persecuted M.H.E. lias published a statement that he finds himself " receiving so many applications of this kind," and consequently every one ot them is laid open to the suspicion of bowing down before the newly erected idol, an implication for which they must feel quite as grateiul as do Hie disappointed sritors for the refusal to listen to their prayer. Then there is a patronising pat on the back, and a little kindly paternal advice to Government officers generally that, coming from such a source, must be peculiarly acceptable to each one of them, whether their names are or are not to be found at the foot of any of the "many applications." They are told to be good boys, and to do their work well awl isiithfuily, an ! they may be sure that their superior officers will see that they are appropriately rewarded. Kind, sympathising, magnanimous Mr. ! uckie. M.H It , how many of those who kneel nt your footstool with hands upraised -will greedily "devour the gracious words that full from your lips that you will " be glad, legitimately, to assist deserving puMic officers" ! Viewing'it as a whole. I <io not think that I ever perused any tffudon from the pen of Mr. Luckie " or any other man" with greater relish than I have experienced iv reading this manifesto, i'ut -why, oh ! why did he conclude it as he did ? '• 1 write this it; all friendliness of fpirit and wishing you progress and success in your duties ? '' Is the note of interrogation to be attributed to accident or to a fine touch of sarc sm on the part of ihe P.l>. who is so frequently pres.-ed into the service of the Colonist? If the- former, nothing could have been more unfortunate since it is so singularly snggestive of the latter. I am. &c, Gammos. Nelson, July 6.