CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 237, 4 October 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor or the Nelson Evenixu Mail. Sib,—lt is amusing^to note thj opinions of different persons on the downfall of the Fox-Vogel Government. Some think, as they have not been For remainder of news see fourth page.

allowed to carry out their great Public Works and Immigration Scheme, that it will fall through, nnd perhaps under lees ab)e hauda come to grief— in other .words', that the colony will become insolvent, while others say that the change will only amount' to a difference of men* and not of measures, as the millions are borrowed, the •-'•' colony is- pledged, and the immigrants will have to be provided for "in some slmpe or other, and ,£w.liichever\ Government remains in /office the colony some day or other will have Ito^psy the piper. Prudence snd economy in the conduct of public affairs is. all that can be hoped for at present, until Mr. Stafford is ahle to s-5t his ' - house id order, and remedy the political blemishes of his predecessors. 'But if .ever a Ministry ■ deserved the censure of the whole country for their change of principles, if ever a Ministry deserved the condemnation of the Assembly for their waste and exiravagance,.it was undoubtedly the Fox-Vogel Ministry. Assuming office under the pretence of-upholding Provincialism, the late Government were no sooner in power than they proved false to the very principles they so loudly proposed to maintain. We have no stronger evidence of this than the way in;which they secretly commenced plotting the destruction of the provinces, first by ignoring the advice and assistance of Superintendents in the carrying out of works'either of a local or general character, and secondly by their fostering provincial jealousies so' a* to lead to separation, crowning their efforts in tbis direction by a well-rucmt. but fruitless attempt to cut off the .West Coast from the Province. of Nelson. Besides their desertion of principles, the late -Ministry also proved themselves utterly incompetent to carry out efficiently and economically* their gigantic Public Works and /Immigration Policy. Putting aside their humble admission - to the House, that immigration to the colony was not conducted as satisfactorily as it might have/ been, the manner in : which they allowed Mr. Brogden to waste his valuable time, after his arrival in New Zealand, deserved the gravest censure. ;For several months that gentleman and his staff remained at Wellington in comparative idleness, merely awaiung the return of Mr. . Yogel from his Australian tour. Row, one would naturally suppose, when Mr. Yogel arranged with Mr. Brogden at home to come out to New Zealand, some sort of provision would have been made nt the time betweeen th c in (as the colony was about immediately enteiing on her grand railway system) to purchase plant, rolling stock, &c, and to ship them off, so that no delay would occur when the men arrived on the* spot. But no wise provision of this kind seems to have been made by Mr. Yogel. So long as he raised the millions he did not care a straw which way the railways were made, or when they were commenced, or whether even, there were materials on the spot or not. Not he. All wa* left to Mr. Brogden to arrange after his six weeks' tour through the Britain, of the South, on the completion of which tour orders were immediately sent home to the A gent- General in Londbn to send out the requisite railway plant, instructions being also issued at the same time to commence a simultaneous survey of imaginary, lines throughout the colony, among which lines our Nelson and Foxhill conspicuously shines forth in its native splendour, a monument of Vogelian fol'y and incapacity— not that the Kelson line will prove a profitable speculation when made, but only as showing the uofitness of our ex-railway kingas.a practical, whatever he may be as a theoretical, man of business. , Looking, however, at what the Government" have done for us, it is impossible to say they have done nothing, for we have at least this consolatory, reflection, that the £500 or £700, the cost of the preliminary survey, was a'l spent in Nelson, arid did cot go to enrich other provinces ! Jn o'derto throw dust in the eyes of the people as to his own want of railway manage--ment and of business prudence and forethought, ■ and' to cover the faults of bis colleagues, Mr. Yogel stood at no trifle to maintain his position. Political appointments of all .sorts and kinds were made throughout the'colonj, the number of clerks and servants iv every department was increased, an increase not demanded by an increaee of business, for the colony aa a whole was retrograding not advancing, but an increase made as a means to an end, for the sole purpose of keeping the late Government in i>ower. Yet this is the immaculate Government which our latest iCty member supports through thick and thin, and whose political vices seem in his eyes to be virtues. lam, &c.,' J. B. [We are always willing to' throw open our cjlumnis for the discussion of public matters,. but our correspondents really must endeavor to put tbeir meaning into fewer' words. As it is, we have been compelled to curtail th 9 above letter by at least one-third. Ed. N. E. ill]

The Canterbury Press says that the Colonial Government have agreed to give £200 towards the expenses of the produce exhibition to be held in. Christchurch in December. . . The ever-encroaching sea has taken yet another slice/off Gladstone-street,,, Westport; the only habitable dwellings therein remaining, except the Camp buildings and gaol,; being the Post Office Hole Land Mr. West's bakery store. All the other houses, says the Times, have been pulled down or are in, course of removal, as also from the ; end of Kennedy-street, and each succeeding tide for the last three or four days has made rapid encroachments. :The .new township site at the Ripper end of Pa]merston»street< is gradually presenting the outlines of ita : ; future semblance. . i S t The Thames correspondent of the Southern Cross writes;—" The interesting cerbimoriy of ordaining" a;natiye minister in the person : of Wi Turipona,, who £pr. years past has.been a .teacher of religion, to his. coantrymen," ;was" performed yesterday at, ; St. George's Church, by the Right ,Rey..; ; Bisbop,. v of r . Ancklandj,, /There was a very large congregation, including many Maoris; of both Bexes;y iNot ;the least interesting* : feature;bf the ceremony was^the chanting w ;; >';of^the're'sp'onßl)& of the i corainunion service K-'^hfcftirgani^"^^;^^^^ hi*-\ '^"-^:-| ■> : «

A man who was recently run over by a whole train of carriages ou the Nangatuck Railroad, Jgofc Tipj; askedj; for iiia-cap,/aucl declared..! he wuu!ldh't' ! riuurt another. jbusßC risk for ten dollars. Rabbits have increased to such an extent in Tasmania, that they have greatly depreciated the value of squatting property.,The evil, however, is not an unmitigated one, it appears. Numbers of poor families, iv the neighbourhood of Campbelltown particularly, are now making -frxmi £3 to •£4, p ? ar vfeek Jby;the enptiife of thfe bWiiies* and the sale of their skins for the Melbourne market. The P. and 0. Company are beginning to use the Suez Canal. Both of the- company's steamers leaving -Gatle Avuh Homeward mails in* August ard announced* in the Ceylon papers to pass through the cannl. The Mizaporo and Kedive, the steamers referred to, are each 3800 tons, and are the largest and finest of the company's steamers.,, We, also learn fw>m English-: files that the first ! of thV cargoes of lhe : new season's tea reached London via the Suez Canal in the same steamers. Tjeik Governor of Victoria very lately gave a ball in celebration, of the Queen'a and,-one or ;two persona w|ho:, r re-; JceivedjujijiDtlto BtayNiway from tj|ejjibgSl| became very indignant. One gentleman was so injudicious as to write a private letter to Lord Canterbury, asking the reason why hisnamehad been lelt out of the Hat of invitations, and ( whether the^otnjssion was accidental orVintentibqal. " Tjhe 'reply must have been extremely gratifying. After mildly deprecating the right of any person to aek any explanations ns to why he had not been invited to a ball, which, nl though semi-official, was given by the Governor. in his own house and at, his own cost, the letter wound up by stating that, " with reference to the question as to whether the omission of your name from the list of gentlemen who received invitations was accidental or intentional, I am directed, &c, &c, to state that it was intentional ! " rG AMBLING ; EXTRAORDINARY"! 4- Oh 8 * 'recent' election for deacons in" a certain^ presbyterian Church in^this city a sweepstake was got up ! This beats all we ever heard of, and shows a bad feature in colonial society. Sweepstakes on an. election of deacons ! Who would believe it ? Surely it is time that the clergy denounced gambling, whep it is^so widespread amongst the people. There is not an election" that , ;takes place — Dot a motion made in our Parliaments or Councils, but what is the .subject of betting. .Even our boys are having "sweeps "and "laying odds'Where will- ail this end ; ? " ]^o f rodua|,riou;g nature is^ glven\td giambinjg. fla^blin^ and thriftlessness always go together. jThis^is a plague" spot To our society, i /Will ,the clergy help us to root it out ? JDuncdhi A Musical' Caxculatioit.-— -Oiie of those fellows who are always getting up ..strange calculations (says- an Americanpaper) has discovered "that the combined mouths of the 25,000 siogers of the Boston Jubiiee will -form a cavity of 736 sqirare 1 feet, " We bave:ddiie:a little sum, too, acd ouropinion is that the combined brains-of-the 25,000,000 people, . : who, it is stutedwill Igo to: Lear this -hullabaloo *au"d call* it music, would, if flung into that cavity, bear to it the. same relation that is bjorne by ten grains of lead to the interior of the shot tower down" which : it is'flung, '■"' /. H A Eeside.nt in Portland,^Oregon, U^. writeCtp a, gentleman in iDunedin (lu^fie following 'glowing strain:— -" For a new beginner, or a poor man of ; small means,, Oregon, I consider, is one of, the best countries on fearth- for' \such. \ tol staß in-;, —and -wherefore^? ""Because — lieTe 1 Government gives every man, a htfmeßtfeij^ lot of 160 acres of land, by his living" on it for five years. l Because here labor is better ~ rewarded, and crops" never, "fa'irr Because muscle and. brain: tell! |^ecause none, need be, idle, "homeless, hpusjeless, farmless, or moneyless. Because forest and farm, mines, and, minerals, trade and commerce, factories .and! gmanjuflqitories, all require and reward: labor, which in a short time brings competency and comfort, health. and wealth,",: •.,;,-,, ,! /1: „. i „.; The Makquis of Bute is said to have come into^£J2,o|JO*pOO^ on attaining his majority, 4*nd;^;tp"-s:enjjfoy a revenue of £'3*00,000 a '' -yew.n : : : Ab%xt two years ago an old,W,elsh philosopher,- named Williams left him £2O6;OOt) on" the principle that tohim thathath shall be given; There is at .thoi present: time a suit, going on in which' :,the is the plain 6iff^ and' wh|dh, if iit ashotiidcba decided in^htfs v; ;favouiy will bring him an additional £40,000 : ft year, ■besides^arrears }■> which '-■ at time 4niourii<tb : -£l'js;t)o();^(os^%ijj^ ira-meaaßlv-Jaeriefitted by -.tuisVgreo| accii mnla;^lY©W^S^^ife^^ecJt^: :by the late Marquia^haye ijspi finQrinously. in'^ 1 i9,opp : flhips