The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 202, 24 August 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1872.

South British Insurance Company. — The whole of (he shaves in this Cornpnny having been taken up, operations will be commenced on Monday the 2nd September. The Company appears to have found great favor in New Zealand, a large number of shares in excess of those allotted to the colony having been applied for in the various provinces. Me. Curtis' Resolution. — The Post of the 15th iusfc. says: — The house presented an unwonted appearance of excitement last evening — indeed ifc is doubtful if so much interest has been manifested in the proceedings since the want of confidence motion wasdiscussed in 1869. All the galleries were full to crowding, the ladies especially mustering in the strongest force. At half past seven amid an opening chores of cheers from provincial supporters, Mr Curtis rose to move the motion standing in his name. He was hardly equal to the occasion; his speech was not in any way remarkable, and may be considered a disappointment. Mr. Fox, who followed, was in no better vein. He misquoted Pope, read long extracts from Hansard and from various newspaper?, and after reading a newspaper-editor homily, concluded [a mentally dropsical speech with an onslaught on Superintendents, and a statement that the House, by its speeches, and the country, by a general election, had approved the policy of the present Government. This view of matters brought Mr. Gillies to the front, who made a damaging speech upon Ministerial mal-administration and the miserable failure that had been made of public works and immigration. Mr. Webster compared our eight or nine Governments to a two-donkey power engine with 20 or 30 cog wheels. All the power was exhausted in turning these wheels, and none was left for ulterior purposes. There were, he thought, too many persons employed in governing and in spinning cobwebs of legislation, which were broken through by the first bumble bee. Messrs. Harrison, Collins, and Bathgate contributed their quota to the dulness of the evening, the former naively stating that the Government had " done its best," thereby admitting how bad that best had been.