THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 196, 17 August 1872, Page 2

THE WEEK.

The only noteworthy local event of the week is the meeting of Tuesday last, when the people of Nelson and the surrounding districts assembled for the purpose of makiDg their voices heard in the Assembly through the medium of their representatives with reference lo the line of railway which was promised us last, year, but towards the commencement of which nothing had up., to that time been done beyond amusing us with the .preliminary survey. Some persons were of opinion that a little agitation of the question would be of no service, but the majority thought otherwise, and the event proved they were right, for no soouer was the matter taken in hand by the people than the Government; telegraphed over for Mr Austin to proceed -to Wellington with his plans in ordefto lay them before the engineer, a step that would probably have been still further deferred had ifc not been niade known that public, opinion was beginning to be stronoly expressed on the, unnecessary delay that had taken place. Under any circumstances such a meeting as that of Tuesday evening could at least do no harm, for there was no violent demonstration, no inflammatory speaking, but mover and seconder of the., various resolutions quietly but determinelly gave expressiou to the feeling that was generally if It. that, Nelson, owing probably to hor own, supineneßs, was being overlooked by those in power, and that it, was high time she woke up and made a stand for her rights, Tho audience, too, were quiet and orderly throughout the whole of the proceedings, and the abseuce of the jokes and badinage that usually form 6ne of the features of a public meeting in Nelson clearly showed that .those present were met there -in earnest, and with the knowledge that tßeir For remainder of news see jour th page.

interests were at * stake, and unless : they, bestirred themselves , would be entirely overlooked , The resolutions that werepassed 'were .respectfully worded and entirely..!, free r from all - V bunk u m,". and must have an effect upon those for whose perusal,' they were drawn up* The result, it is to be hoped, will show itself ere long. ' In the Assembly matters appear to be at sixes and; sevens, and to us who live at a d|stance, the, position of affairs is not easy to be understood. Mr Curtis' motion, of which we were led to expect great things, .has, immediately after its introduction,, been withdrawn, and opinions as to the cause' and probable result of that withdrawal appear to be divided. From one source we learn that it was considered a completetjtfaseo, from, another that the Government are embarrassed and disconcerted by the debate; npt being proceeded with, while from the midst of what to those who are not on the ;spot appears to be nothing but chaos and confusion, there emerges- Mr Stafford, who throws down the gauntlet of defiance in the form of a sweeping condemnation of the action of the Ministry since last session. We may depend - upon it that heads have neen pretty accurately counted and that this step has not been taken unless there exists some probability of the attacking party, whohave changed their battle ground from the narrow point at issue, in Mr: Curtis' resolution, to. the broader field of the general incompetence of the Government to manage the affairs of the colony. We know nothing as yet of the state of parties, all that we have to guide us being the knowledge that there is a wide-spread,, if not /a general, feeling of dissatisfaction with the present conduct of affairs, as is shown by the opinions of the press in various parts of the colony, and the fact that already the Ministry have ezperienced two or three mild defeats on questions of minor importance, but as to who are l;o prove their successors in the e^ent of their' ejectment from office we are entirely in the dark'. As there will be no mail from Wellington for four or five days, we can in the meantime only look for an occasional glimmer of enlightenment as the curt record of daily events is flashed across to us by telegraph. Mr. Fox, it seems, is still determined to attempt to curtail the Province of Nelson, the latest idea being to unite our South-west Goldfields with Westland under the County form of government, but, for my. part; I have a considerable amount of faith in the ability and determination of/our 'Superintendent, who has made up his mind to fight a desperate battle on this question, and if I were a betting mao,J ; . should have but little hesitation in ' making up my mind upon which of the two combatants to invest my money. Mr. Curds sitting quietly in the Superintendent's office, and Mr. Curtis at, bay in the House of Representatives, are two entirely different men, as I am inclined to think Mr. Fox will be compelled to admit before the session is over. " . • F: