SIR DAVID MONRO and MR. FOX.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 180, 30 July 1872, Page 2

SIR DAVID MONRO and MR. FOX.

Ministers appear to have, placed^hamselves in the unpleasant position of earning a good "wigging " from Earl Kimberley

for their extraordinary recommendation that her Majesty should appoint^ Sir David Monro to the Upper House, instead of doing it themselves. His Lordship writes to the Governor as follows :— s2foM Sir — I hnve received your despatch No 99, on 23rd October, forwarding a resolution of the House of Representatives, that an address should be presented to you, requesting that the Queen might be moved to confer some mark of approbation on Sir David Monro, on his retirement from the Speaker's chair. In an accompanying Ministerial memorandum it is stated that it would fulfil the intention of the House if a seat in the Legislative Council should be offered to Sir David Monro. Unless some very special and urgent reasons were given for departing from the usual course, I should bo unwilling to advise the Queen to nominate directly a member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand. Your Ministers have it in their power to advise you to call such persons as they may think fit, in her Majesty's name, to the Council; and it does not seem expedient that the Imperial Government should make itself responsible for the nominations to the Couucil. „In the present case, as no special reasons are given, and as, moreover, Sir David Monro has requested me not to advise her Mujesty to nominate him. I can have no hesitation in abstaining from tendering such advice to her Majesty. I request that you will inform Sir David Monro that I have received his letter of the 28th October. I have, &c, Kimberley. Governor Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G. The letter from Sir David alluded to contains the following paragraph : — "I will only further add, that while it has been my pleasure aod good fortune to enjoy the confidence and friendship of Dearly all the public men of the colony, it has been my misfortune to incur the personal hostility of the Prime Minister. I ascribe it to tliis personal hostility (engendered I know not how, unless a difference of views on public questions be hold a good ground for such a feeling) that I have been treated by that gentlemao, upoa more occasions than one, in a manner entirely inconsistent with good taste ; and that the records of the House bear upon their face an omission which, whether regarded as a departure from customary practice or ordinary gentlemanly feeling, must be considered a blot upon the proceedings of the Parliament of the Colony."

During a late storm at Rutherglen, in the Murray district, houses were blown down " as if they were mads of paper." A man named Barnes, who asserted Ihat he was the Messiah, has been sent by the Geelong magistrates to Yarra Bear 1 , as a dnngerous lunatic. A Correspondent sends (o an Auckland contemporary a poem ending with the following stanza : — I held lier softly by the arm, My gentle blue-eyed Kate ; She said, let go you peaky fool, You Hurt my vaccinate. The value of hay in the Mudgee district (observes a local journal) may be judged .from the fact that two stacks of lucerne offered by Messrs Crossing and Cox at auctioD, on account of Messrs J. D. Cox of Eurunderep, on the sth instant, and estimated at 30 tons, realised the handsome sum of £297. The fund for the foundation of a Perry scholarship at the Melbourne University is progressing very favorably. It is anticipated that a sum of £2000 can be raised for the purpose as a testimonial of the esteem in which Bishop Perry is held by all classes of the community. The migration from South Australia northward has commenced. On June 22nd a vessel left Adelaide with fifty-seven passengers for Port Darwin, and it is understood that others are preparing to follow. A large run taken up at Alice springs, in the far North, is being stocked, and a mining party is out prospecting. Neiv Zealand Freight Companies.— An Auckland paper cays: — A telegram has just been received from Dunedin from the promoters of the Freight Company which has been formed there, addressed to the Auckland Freight Company, and desiring to know if the two companies •would adopt the same home agency and generally co-operate. We are confident that general satisfaction will be felc at such a proposal. The two companies hand-in-haud would be irresistible. Shaw, Saville, & Co., we think, are doomed in these waters. The Wanganvi Chronicle sa}'s : — It is expected that the usual grant ' of £28,000 made by the General Assembly for Militia and "Volunteers, will be reduced nest session to such on extent as to ' virtually pufc an end to the volunteer moveraeut throughout New Zealand. The services of several new corps have already been declined, and the capitation allowance has been cut down to such a very low figure as to be totally inadequate to the unavoidable expense incurred by volunteers in the way of uniforms, &c. The Colonial Medal. — We ( Waikato Times) have lately seen one of the richest things in petitions it has ever come to our lot to inspect. A number of officers of the militia and volunteer forces have signed a petition. to the House of Representatives. It states that the whole of the Imperial forces have received a medal for service in New Zealand whether actually engaged or not. It then goes on as follows : — "Your petitioners therefore respectfully request that the same honor may be extended as regards the Colonial Medal (now only given to those who had the fortune to be under fire) by the Government of New Zealand to the officers and men of the Colonial forces who served at great loss end inconvenience during the late war." These people seem to have entirely overlooked the fact that if the medal were granted to them, in common justice one would have to be given to nearly every able-bodied man who resided in the North Island during the war. This, of course, -would reduce it« value to that of the silver of which It is composed. This attempt to obtain, that which they are not entitled to is certainly not conduct becoming either an officer or a gentleman. It reminds us forcibly of the old fable of the ass who put on the lion's skin. A Coveted Half Sovereign. — Two day since, cays the Auckland Star, we mentioned the fact that a little boy, one of our runners, named Archie McKay, had received a half-sovereign in mistake for a sixpence, and that the coin was in our hands awaiting the rightful owner. We have heen greatly surprised to find that there has been rather an extensive loss of half-sovereigns, no less than four persons having made application for the coin in question. The most remarkable thing is that each of them remembers having passed the coin to the lad with a circumstantiality of detail that makes us wonder bow the error was not at once rectified. We are in a difficulty as to what to do. The lad is really desirous of acting honestly, but we fear the number of applicants will lead him to feel that every one is not actuated by the same principles. He is positive that he did not receive four half-sovereigns. However, we respectfully request that all others who have lost this half-sovereign will present their claims immediately, and after all applications appear to have come in, we shall publish the names of the claimants, and suggest a friendly conference among them for the arrangement of thedifficulty. v ■, . >

The last Californian earthquake had the singular effect of curiDg a number of lame beggars. The smallpox alarm, fiiys the Melbourne Argus, has now entirely subsided. The cases at Sandhurst are going on satisfactorily, and the disease has not made its appearauce in any otber locality. The Bendigo Advertiser slates that the house which had been inhabited by the James family at Long Gully was burned down oo Friday by directiou of the local board of health, so that the seat of the disease being destroyed there will be no furthur danger. In the meantime, until the house has been rebuilt;, comfortable tents will be provided for the family. A smart Man of Business. — Yankees are proverbially smart, but there are Britishers who are quite as spry as their American cousins. A gentleman carrying on business in a magnificent store in the middle of the city of Melbourne had a brother who acted as English agent. Being dissatisfied at the manner in which he conducted his department, the Melbourne man wrote to say that he was coming to London to make other arrangements, and followed his letter by the next mail. The brother, who by bi3 position had acquired friends and influence in the trade, set to work, arranged for consignments to be sent to him, started for Melbourne and arrived here in due course. He took a store a few doors away from his brother's place of buisness, and started an opposition establishment. One may have some doubts as to his brotherly love, but there is no question as to the business sagacity.