THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 130, 31 May 1873, Page 2

THE WEEK.

It is scarcely necessary for me to remark that the Council is still sitting. A glance at the newspaper column*** is quite sufficient proof of that. Some folks are actually beginning to think that they would rather see the space occupied by the reports of the proceedings devoted to

other matters, but for my own part I have no patience with such people. The. Council has only, been i;p .session five weeks, and is not likely to |it:above three .more. And surely eight weeks, is not-too much to be devoted to the appropriation of £70,000 and the passing of a few Bills. In Wellington they exhibit an indecent haste in these niatters, and hurry -through their y business, in a manner ; that :is \. appalling. Their Council did not meet until the day after the opening of our session, and yet they were prorogued last Friday week. This is not the way to transact business in a proper ond seemly manner. Why, the members have not sufficient time to exchange ideas and talk matters over with any degree of comfort. No, I believe in taking .the first threo weeks quietly, conversing together outside the Chamber, meeting ■ occasionally on Select Committees, thenVgoing^to'the iHall for balf-an-hour, giving ..notice what you intend to do next day, and then adjourning for four-aud-twenty hours.'. In^ this' way 7 you get the affairs of thd province properly discussed, each member learns what is going on in his brother members'districts, and then he feelß ripe for debat.e. The Wellington Council has yet-a^ .lesson to learn before it becomes thoroughly proficient in the art of legislation. This week bas been more than usually interesting, for, in addition to the discussion of the Estimates, *we have had three animated debutes, one oh the question of raising the Educational revenues, a matter that is of peculiar interest to the people at large, and which deserves grave considera? t tion at their, hands.-. Ah i&qr.ease in the/ rates is beginning "to loom in the distance,' and will come nearer , aud nearer, every year, and, if it ii notho take place eventually, some better arguments than I have yet-heard will have to be adduced against . it. The second matter which gave rise to a debate was the question of an: increase in the number of Councillors. I listened to the discussion with much interest, and heard very good reasons why a representative should be granted to tbe Central Buller district,but nothing was said to show,. ■ that Cobden had similar claims. I ara not one of those who think there is anything to fear from granting additional representation to the.' goldfields, but I should require to he fully convinced that good reason existed for conceding the privilege to each district which claimed it, and unless something more than has been said can be advanced in support of giving Cobden a member, I should certainly vote against it when in Committee on the- Bill'. Could not the question be discussed without introducing the objectionable, viand mischievous term?, "goldfields members," and " settled, districts members " ? If so, it certainly would lead to a greater amount of friendliness and unanimity in the debates. The third question was one; in which we are all deeply interested from one end of the province to the other, namely, whether the General Government should be asked, upon the conditions : specified, to undertake the construction of a railway from Nelson to the West- Coast-: Not a word was said against the principle, which was unanimously admitted to be a sound one, but a division was taken upon the wording of the resolutions. The overwhelming majority of . 16**fco 2 showed that the Council was in earnest; in the matter, and when the trifling nature of the objections raised by the norw contents are taken into consideration, the General Governmentwillhave.no reason to .sup-,, pose that the consent of tho Provincial Council to this, important measure was otherwise tban " cordial." The jangling of the fifebells annbys ine. It used to alarm and excite ; me, but all. that has passed away now; for oh their noisy rattle reaching my ears,, l can, get out of bed quietly, or rise from my reading or writing calmly, step put into my verandah, and watch the steadily growing flames in the fulh assurance tb.at before they. can. arrive at maturity they will be extinguished. I don't altogether slika this* Nelson has for a long time been called "Sleepy Hollow," and to ! soine extent justly so, for the only real excitement which we could get up was occasioned b^ the .clanging of these bells. Jn the old days — or perhaps I should say nights — the first note that was struck hurried the sleepers from their beds, and ; t the streets were in a few seconds flooded with people in fancy dresses, in a state of flurry and excitement, ; and fully prepared to smash windows in order to save expense to the J owners; to throw crockery and other fragile pieces of furniture into the street below, to the certain destruction of such artioles, and the. imminent peril of those who happened to be underneath the windows, and in every imaginable way to comport themselves in; the wildest and most insane manner possible, but since the 'construction of {he waterworks, nobody gets excited when the alarm is sounded. If you happen to live a quarter of a mile out of town, and are not a member pf the Fire .Brigade, {you feel perfectly certain that it is of no use whatever to hasten to the scene of the fire, knowing as you do that by .the; time you arrive there you will find nothing but a few smouldering timbers and a dispersing crowd. On the whole I think that nothing has contributed more to the. general sleepiness qf this "hollow" th^n y our boasted waterworks, and for that reason I. disapprove of thein. But then, on the otber hand, my own house hps never been on fire, or perhaps I might entertain a different opinion. It is strange * how circumstances alter cases. Pheasant shooting is about to-commence, and in connection with this I have made a curious discovery that may prove ipr tereeting to naturalists. Our shooting season opens on the Ist' of June, that in Auckland on the Ist of May./.-I have heard several people say ;of late with an unctuous smack of the lips that they have had a delicious pheasant for dinner or: supper, as the case may be, said birds

having come from Auckland. I have taken the trouble to critically examine the plumage of some of these' birds, . and have found that it is that of ;the English pheasant, while it. is well known that the Auckland birds are of the Chinese breed. Now, I say it is a remarkable fact that a port mortem change should come Over the feathqiraofvlhe Northern birds,; On $ie;ir passage do w ; n r frqm. Manukau to this port. Can it be that tho mere fact of approaching a district where tbo English birds abound is capable of producing &o strange a metamorphosis io tho outward ' appear £nfco_ of : those/ pheasants, which at tho time of their being shot were able to boast of a. Celestial descent? I should have thought it scarcely possible, and yet such appears to be the case. I know that the Secretary of our Acclimatisation Society^is an eminent naturalist, and | possesses a considerable amount of information* on ' everything -that; pertains to birds, beasts, and fishes, arid I' Bhould very much like i to hear his opinion ou this, matter. Some of our sportsmen, too, might be able tOthrovy a little light oh the \ subject., *;' ' '„'.; .... '"'. '. .. '." F.