THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 57, 7 March 1874, Page 2

THE WEEK.

If the past weak has been a dull one in Nelson— and of this I think there '. can be no doubt — it appears to have been equally so in the other provinces of this island, if the various local papers may be accepted as a criterion, The "locals" are fow and uninteresting, paragraphs are spun out "to suit the times," and tbe leaders seem to havo b;.'en written by contract, the object being to fill certain columns, and to do this a number of words had to be put together in something liko order, which was done accordingly. Tbis being the state of things elsewhere, it is not to be wondered at if in Nelson there should exist some little difficulty in supplying a letter composed of readable matter. Immigrants are pouring into New Zealand now at a rate that should . go far towards relieving the pressure on the labor-maiket, and if all are of the same stamp as a fow per Mongol who passed through Nelson yesterday, no one can complain of the class of people who are now being introduced into the colony, though I fear from what I hear and read that they are scarcely to be considered a fair specimen of the Agent-General's exportation. It is rather alarming to find that nearly every emigrant ship that arrives in our por.s has to be placed' in quarantine on account of being the bearer of some kind or another of infectious disease. However great may be tho improvements that have been mado in the emigration arrangements so far as rapidity in shipping people off to New Zealand, it is quite clear that much hns yet to be done in the way of sanitary precautions. When we hear that people are taken direct from a hotbed of fever and placed on board a crowded ship, some of them being at the time infected and so ill that they had to be re landed, we may safely come to the conclusion that there is a screw loose somewhere — that all tbe arrangements are not so perfect as they should be. An increase of our population may cost us too dear, and, if it is Only to be obtained at the cost of the importation of diseases from which we have hitherto been comparatively free, it is questionable whether we are not better without it. At all events there can be no possible excuse for the lack of careful supervision that has prevailed at home. Considerable satisfaction nppears to have been experienced in the various centres of population between here and Greymouth at the visit of Mr Greenfield and Mr Pitt, who have now been absent for a fortnight on an official tour. They have been we'eomed, and lunched, and banquetted wherever tbey put in an appearance, and fhe Deople seem to have been delighted to have had the opportunity of mectiug some members of the Government faco to face and laying before them all tbeir grievances. Of course they had a good stock of these on hand, some, poss'bly, imaginary, but others no doubt real, tangible, and perhaps remediable. AU probably cannot be removed, but some may, ahd in either case it must have been satisfactory to those concerned to talk the matter over with the , authorities. Periodical trips of tbis kind will go far towards rendering the Government popular, and the people more contented than tbey have been for years past. The idea of the Superintendent proceeding to Westport and there meeting Messrs Greenfield, Pitt, and Shapter, and holding an Executive meeting is a good one, and calculated to bring about a better understanding between the inhabitants of the western extremity of the province and the Government. The more the residents on the two sides of the ranges are brought together, either personally, or through the medium of tbeir representatives the better will it be for the province. I have often been much amused in observing the Provincial Councillors from the goldfields on their first visit to Nelson. They seem to think that they bave come among a hostile people who are prepared to sneer at and underrate them, and to entirely ignore their wants. I say I have been amused at noticing this in their bearing and manner en their arrival, but I . must add that I have beeu equally pleased to find in every case, except iv one or two where there was a pro-determination to be discontented in spite of everything, that before they returned to their constituents all such impressions bad been entirely removed, and replaced by the conviction tbat between Nelson east and west none but the most friendly feelings prevail. To promote and strengthen such a bond of union both* socially and politically is a matter of no little importance, and if the members of the Executive do nothing more than this they will have no reason to look upon their trip to the Const as a mere loss of time. F.