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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 104, 2 May 1874, Page 2

Mr Wales, the lately-elected member for Dunedin,' to fill the vacancy occasioned by the retirement of Mr Bathgate, in one of his last addresses to the electors, spoke of himself as one whom the citizens kuew, and with whose private life they were satisfied, while he " had been successful iv most things he had taken in hand.'' Iv Parliament, ho was " uot likely to occupy the time of ihe House in talking nonsense." He was in favor of making the land laws more liberal, and desired to see a provision introduced into the law on the subject, under which •' laboring men and mechanics who were at present engaged at their employments might be enabled to obtain land on deferred payment, ond devote their yearly savings to fencing and otherwise improving it." On the educational question, he wbs opposed to denominationalism, and in favor of compulsory education, tbe State undertaking the duty if the parents were unable to do so. As to the question of Sunday labour, he thought that " persons who had to be employed on the railways on Sundays ought to be paid double or treble for their work." A Company is now being formed in Dunedin for the purpose of building blocks of houses suitable to the working classes, and selling the same upon the deferred payment system. It is proposed to subscribe a certain amouut of capital, which will be expended upoa building a row, or perhaps two or three rows of cottages, of four of five rooms, suitable to the wants of tho working classes, and to be either of brick or stone. These will be sold upon the system previously referred to, and when disposed of, other buildings will be put up in the same way. It was mentioned in a late telegram from Dunedin, that the Chinese who lately arrived there by the ship Tokatea, from. Hong Kong, are a very inferior lot, the greater number of them having been lately released from gaol, probably on the understanding that they would leave the country, that being a favorite process with Chinese Mandarins — one, perhaps, of which we cannot now complain much. The master of the ship says the antecedents of some of tbe number were no secret on board. One of the fellows mockingly told him that he did not care about gaol — "Plenty gnol in China, and years there in gaol, aud plenty Chinamen on board the same." Captain M'Kinnon also says the quality of his paseeugers was the talk of Hong Kong before the barque left.

Brewing seems to be ono of tho thriving industries ;n the colony. The number of breweries in New Z- aland at the close of 1872 was 129— Canterbury having 23 and Nelson 22. So at least tho returns say, but wbeie the Nelson 22 are we; are at a less fo know. At tbe close -of 1869 the number of breweries was ouly 88. From every quarter, enys the Geelong Advertiser, at rives the intelligence that the recent rains have spoilt nearly all the grapes. But very Ibtle w ; ne will Le made, and that of a very inferior quality, the moisture having burst the grapes and reduced their saccharine qualities — as tested by the sarcharometer — from 80° to 50°., and even less. The following letter frcm Mr Carlyle to Sir J. Whitworth, regarding tho announcement made some months ago of the lattet's intention to supplement the savings of bis workpeople by a bonus upon them, was read by the Hon. and Rev. W. H. Lyttelton at a meeting of the Stourbridge School of Art:— "l have beard ol your offer on behalf of the thtifty woikpeople of Darnley, and of tho thankful acceptance of it by the district authorities of the place. I cannot resist the highly unwonted desire that- has risen in mo to say that I highly approve and applaud the ideas you havo on the subject, nnd to declare in words that in my opinion nothing wiser, more beneficent, or worthy of your distinguished place as a master of workers has come before me for many a year. Would to heaven that all or many of the cap.-atus of industry iv England had a eoul in tbem such as yours, and oould do as you have done, or still further co-operate with you in works and plans to the like effect. The look of England is at this moment abundantly ominous. The question of capital' and labor growing ever more anarchic, insoluble altogether by the notions hitherto applied to it, is pretty certain to issue iv petroleum one day, unless some other gospel than that of tho ' Dismal Science' comes to illuminate it. Two things are pretty sure to me. The first is, that capital and labor never can or will agree together, till they both first of all decide on doing tbeir woik faithfully throughout, and like men of conscience and honour, whose highest aim is to behave like faithful citizens of this universe, and obey the eternal commaudment of Al mighty God, who made them. The second thing is, that a sadder object than either that of the coal strike, or any conceivable strike, is the fact that, loosely speaking, all Kugland has decided that the profhablest way is to do its work ill, slimly, swiftly and men dnciously. What a contrast between now and, cay, only a hundred years ago ! At that latter date, or still more conspicuously for ages before that, all England woke to its work with an invocation to the Eternal Maker to bless them in their day's labour, and help them to do it well. Now all England, shopkeepers, workmen, all manner of competing labourers awake, as if with an unspoken, but heartfelt prayer, to Beelzebub : — " Oh, help us, thou great lord of shoddy, adulteration, and malfeasance, to do our work with a maximum of slimnees, Bwiftness, profit, and mendacity, for the devil's sake. Amen.'"