CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 162, 10 July 1874, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor op the Evening Mail. Sir— The present condition of Nelson reminds one of the fabie of the frogs who, dis- ' satisfied with tha reign of King Log and long- ] ing for a more active administration, fell I under the tyranny of Sing Stork. There ) ensued a dismal croaking in that swamp; and the Irog* besought Jupiter to give them back their former king—but without success. I have no doubt but that they were eventually i all gobbled up. We are not quite so badly off as the frogs of the fab c, if at present we resemble them in our impotent croakings. We, at least, can do more than croak, and it will probably not occur to many of us to pray to Jupiter, or to his representative here in New Zealand, to relieve us from Mr O'Conor. A tyranny which begins by reducing the already insufficient police force of our town, i and by nttem pting to destro r public confidence in our harbor by removing our most efficient pilot, may ba expected to go to greater lengths •■till. And when it it recollected that this tsranny is brought to bear on us by a gentle- i man who has ever been a violent political ioe to Nelson and all her institutioaa. and who probably was elected by his constituents for that reason, it is not likely that many Nelson men will te fonnd to support it. It ia possible i then that we may be tolerably unanimous (for once) in the desire to make our dissatisfaction feit, and that our croakings may ' become articulate. The learned gentleman even who introduced the Bill which is -the cause of our disasters , must by this time deplore the youthful i enthusiasm which led him so to trouble the land. Hia remorse is no doubt genuine, it is ' unalleviated by any of the advantages which i are usually expected by the successful leader | of an opposition. If I might without offence compare great things to small, I should say that he reminded me of "Bill Nye" in the ! " Heathen Chinee," a poem no doubt tamilar I to your readers. He doubtless says sadly, ( " Can this be? j We are ruined Jiy West Coast cheap labor." \ Surely he will follow the example of Bill < Nye who " went for that Heathen Chinee." i I feel sure too that Mr Curtis muat hate the new order of things, although he appear* to { accommodate himself so easily to the position, ' and his friends still hope that, io spite of all i the abuse and bullying to which he has for , years been subjected, he has yet spirit enough left to dislike being a mere ornamental figure- ' head. Why he put himself into such a position when he might boldly have vetoed i the bill and appealed to the people, is a , question which it would be interesting to have answered. The people, not consisting exclusively of tip-room orators, politicians, < aspiring lawyers, or professional agitators, < would have largely backed him, and whether , successful or not, such a course would certainly have been conducive to dignity and . selfrespect. lf the O'Conor Government is permitted to < continue, and if Mr Curtis is still to be a ( mere cypher in that Government, there is no doubt but that large ieductions in expenditure ' on this side of the province will be made. It • possible that as Mr O'Conor Bettles well into i his saddle he will become bolder, and carry j out his views with respect to Nelson still further. He may think it expedient to dismiss ! many of those public servants who are most ' respected and liked by the public, and to fill l their places with gentlemen from tbe West ] Coast who entertida feelings towards Nelson i similar to his own. ' It is possible that by these means the ad- ' ministration of Nelson affairs may be im- I proved, but it is more likely that it will , assume such a character as will give an > additional argument to those statesmen who already ardently desire to remove the seat of the Provincial Government fram Nelson to i the West Coast. Mr O'Conor disclaims any j such desire, and it is therefore a curious thing that directly he gets into power he should take such steps as are likely to render Nelson * unfit to be the seat of Government. It is < desirable that an expression of opinion should -J be given by the pablic on this matter, not ?. only by that part of the public which writes , articlesand makes speeches, but by the farmers, the shopket pers, the laborers, in fact, by those 1 who do not live on politics. \ If onr Provincial Council representatives W( uld call us together ana explain why they have inflicted Mr O'Conor upon us it would ' be something to the purpose. < It ia possible that they might be able to j point out some qualities or paat deeds of that . gentleman which had escaped our notice, and ' which wonld reconcile us to the obvious ( disadvantages of his rule. At all events our t sorrows might receive some mitigation by the j pleasure of listening to the eloquence of those ' to whom we, with such wisdom as was granted to us, have entrusted our liberties and pros- l perity.—l have, &c, .8 »™J Cuizm, 1

To THB EDITOB 07 THS EVBNINd MAII,. Sir — Your issue of Monday last stated that " it was the intention of the present Executive to recommend the General Government to dispense with the services of Mr Cross, the present Harbor-Master and Pilot." M'»y I now ask you to give publicity to the following facts: — On Wednesday afternoon business accidentally called me te the port; while there, two line ocean steamers arrived almost simultaneously; first the Phoebe in charge of second pilot Lowe, and immediately following in her wake the Albion with Mr Cross in charge. It was imperative that both these vessels should leave by the same tide, which barely gave them time to discharge their cargoes, cast off from tbe wbarf, and be off again, consequently both pilots were fully engaged uuttl after their departure. Meanwhile the barque Woodbine of some three or four hundred tons burden vves ready and waiting to go to sea, her captain in great concern, fearing that he would be detained another day, at an extra expense and loss to himself aud owners, it being hardly probable that he could get a pilot back in time to take his vessel out, but owing to the undaunted energy and despatch with which our Harbor-Master has ever discharged his v 3 ties, he was fortunately not detained. Now, Sir, in the faco of these facta which are of very frequent occurrence at our port, how can it be consistent on the part of the Executive Council to diminish the number of our harbor officials? Can it be that under the cloak of retrenchment they desire to render this, the finest harbor in our province, a second-rate port, and that instead of offering efary inducement to ships to call here tbdy would do that which must be the means of driving them and our commerce from our shores ? I am, &c, Civis.