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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 107, 6 May 1874, Page 2

rests with the General Assembly to decile whether this Province shall be placed in a position to complete those main lines of communication" &c* If this be a true statement, and we^.very much fear thai that it is. it is Neither more nor less than a candid acknowledgment that all power to help ourselves has passed away from us and that any such advancement as we desire or hope to. make is eutirely depndent upon extraneous'Vud. We hove been fencing with the question 100 long. We have sen other provinces making giant strides in the race of progress upon Ibe strength of borrowed money, while we have atood aloof and been content to pride ourselves upon being out of debt. "Owe no man anything " has been our motto, and in acting up to it we Lave forgotten what we owed to ourselves. But our pride has had a fall, and the humiliating confession has been wrung from us, that we are now without hope unless the Assembly agrees to allow us to do that which a few years ago we absolutely declined to do. Such a conviction having forced itself upon the mind of the Superintendent it is not to be wondered at that his speech is the reverse of cheering. But having admitted the fact it now remains for us to ahow that we are in earnest in entertaining that belief. In the last session of the Council it was resolved that an effort should be made to obtain a loan, and that should be followed up in the present session by a strongly worded resolution impressing upon the Government and upon the members of the Assembly that we are not inviting them to assist us to secure a luxury, but that we are asking for that which is absolutely necessary to our very existeuce. In making use of the expression " necessary toour existence" we are perhaps slightly exaggerating, for it is possible that even without the aid of a loan we may continue to go on as we now are, but that is not sufficient. In these days of progress the province that does not go lorward, is in almost as graVß a predicament as that which is retrograding, ! for it will never be selected as a place of residence by new comers who see that all around us are advancing while we are standing still. Our members in the House of Representatives, too, should be called upon by their constituents to devote their energies to procuring for us that without which the interior of the province must remain "uninhabited and unproductive." Allusion is made to an advance of £20 000 from the Colonial Government for the completion of the main road connecting the Upper Buller with Nelson, and we are told that a portion of this work is already in band and (hat tenders for the remainder will be culled for shortly. We shall be g!ad to hear tvhat the Provincial Treasurer has to say upon this matter in his financial statement, as a rumor is abroad that the whole of this sum is not to bo devoted to the making of roads, but that a portion of it is to go towards reducing the overdraft at the Bank. It will afford us great pleasure, and will be a source of satisfaction to the public, to hear this rumor contradicted. The proposal to consolidate the land laws of the province ia a step in the right direction, for at present they are very like the component parts of a Chinese puzzle, requiring the utmost ingenuity to make them fit in one with the other. To render them " accessible and comprehensible " would indeed be to confer a boon both on the intending immigrant and those already settled amongst us. Three or four Bills are mentioned as about to be introduced* but they ore mainly of a formal character, and do not call for remark. Neither does the remainder of the speech, and we can but express the earnest hope that on the next .occasion of his addressing the Council there will bo more light and ksa shade in his Honor's address.

After passing hie examination before hiß Honor Mr Justice Richmond, Mr Harry Vincent Gully has been this day duly admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Z aland. The Rev. J. Leigh ton, the new incumbent of Christ Church, arrived by the Alhambra this morning from Melbourne. . Christ Church Bazaar. — A number of articles remaining on hand from the late bazaar will be offered for sale by auction at the Masonic Hall at 8 o'clock this evening. Supreme Court. — His Honor Mr Justice Richmond gave judgemedt in the case of the Hokitika Tramway Corny any versus the Provincial Government of Westland this morning, when the verdict lately obtained by the plaintiffs waa upset. Parish of Christ Church.— A meeliog of pari.hioners was held in the Bishop's Schoolroom on Monday evening, the Bisbop of Nelson in the chair, the object of the meeting being to consider proposals for repairing the parsonage. Dr. Scaly stated that the estimated cost of the thorough repair that was necessary was about £400, that £100 would probably be available from the bazaars that had recently been held, that £100 could be borrowed from the Diocesan fund, and that Mr Fall had promised to lend £100 on condition that a sinailur sum was subscribed by the parishioners. A report by Mr Lightfoot on the state of the building having been read, a discussion ensued whether it would be more advisable to repair the present house or to build a new one. The attendance not being large, it was thought undesirable to

come to any conclusion at that time, and the meeting was consequently adjourned until Friday evening, when it is hoped that a large number will be present. -.-" Sporting. — A match lor 25 soys. a side, 1^ miles, came off on the racecourse yesterday between Mr M'Rae's Monarch, 3 yrs, Bst 21bs, and Mr M'lvoi's Tommy Dodd, aged, 9s t 61bs. 'i he result was an easy victory for Monarch, who won ac he pleased. Time, 2,nins 55aecs. CoLLTKGWOOD. — The second Annual trn-meeting of the Coiling wood. Sunday School was held on the 28ih April, in the large reading room adjoining the Atheceeura. Tea was taken at four o'clock, when many of the parents ami upwards of 80 children partook of the pood things before them in the shape of buns, cakes, &c. When the tables were cleared away, the programme for the evening was entered upon. Mr J Marten (schoolmaster), was called to the chair, and commenced the more public part of the meeting by giving out the 216 th Hymn (Lucas' Hymn Book)— Days and weeks, and months returning, Heir us gently down life's way, Still their lesson we are learning, With each anniversary day. After the hymn the chairman asked Mr J. P. Simou to engage in prayer. Tv the chairman's opening remark?, he informed the meeting that it gave him great pleasure to preside over Buch a large aud pleasant audience, and hoped that all would be blessed, and made better by this social gathering. Mr Marshall (the superintendent of the j school) was called upon to read the report for the year ending April, 1874, which showed that there were seven teachers and 54 ecbolara on the roll, and an average attendance of four teachers and 36 scholars. They had collected during the year the sum of £9, and expended in books and other necessaries the amount of £8 9i 6i, leaving a balance in hand of 10s 6d. The Superintendent desired to press home to the hearts of the parents, the great need that existed, for them, as the true lovers of their children, to do all in their power to induce them to attend the Sabbath School; in order that they might be instructed in the \ word which would make them wise unto ' salvation. Our aged and esteemed friend, Mr John Riley, next addressed the meeting, and impressed upon the minds of the young, the advisability of making the best use of the mauy great and glorious privileges they enjoyed in connection with the Sabbath School. He also gave a brief and interesting account of the rise and progress of this noble institution. Mr J. P. Simon was appointed to present special prizes as follows: — Innes Fisher the prize for the first class of girls, and Charles Jeffrey for the boys' firet class. Prizes for the second class of girls were presented to Bertha Allen and Jessie Stevenson— John Marshall received the prize for the boy's second class — Fanny Jeffary and Margaret Allen obtained the prizes for the infant class. This interesting part of the business being dispensed with, the Chairman introduced Mr J. P. Simon to the meeting, who gave a lengthy and interesting speech on " Home influence, and our precious Bible and why we should love it." After various votes of thanks had been passod to the ladies, speakers, and the chairman, this interesting meeting was brought to a close. — Communicated The crushing of the Wealth of Nations claim for the past week, gave 2770z of retorted gold It is said that a new hotel ia to be erected in a central situation in Dunedin, the cost of which will be £40,000: A Mrs Dixon, of Wellington, was followed to the grave on 21st April by about 100 persons, nearly all of whom were relatives of the deceased lady.