THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 169, 18 July 1874, Page 2

THE WE E K.

P«rliamentsry news has not yet been very interesting, the time of the House apparently having been occupied almost entirely with preliminaries and, formal business. The Government have it ali their own way, and Mr Yogel has to complain, no doubt with some self-satisfactioo, that there is no one to wbom.he can address himself as leader of the Opposition. The state of affairs is aptly deecribel in the following few words which occurred in a letter from a supporter of , the Government that came under my ' notice the other day : — " Everything is going on smoothly, I think rather too much so. A good opposition is sadly wanted. Mr Gillies makes a poor sfand occasionally, but has no one to back him up." The Premier then will be unable to say that his wishes have been thwarted in any way, since he appears to be able to. do just as he pleases. To him will be owing all the credit if his schemes turn out well, and on his shoulders will rest the blame in the event of failure,. for the people seem to be quite willing to be led by him whithersoever he may feel inclined. It is not a desirable, nor is it _an altogether safe state of things that one party or one man should have it so entirely their or his own way, but so it is at present. The financial statement, it is said,, wilt be made on Tuesday, and if a rumor that has reached my ears — a rumor which is not altogether without authority — is to be believed, the Government will be found to be opposed to provincial borrowing, so that there will be an enJ to all our hopes of obtainiug the large loan on which we have set our hearts, but, on the other hand, it is stated that an advance will probably be madu to the province sufficient to enable it to commence the works that have been proposed. Acting on the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread, our representatives will probably accept such a compromise with gratitude, after being fully assured that nothing more is to be had. We have for so long been accustomed to "no bread " that even a dry crust will be acceptable. If Dr Feathoiston is a good AgentGenorai, Mr Yogel is a very uojuet taskmaster. If Mr Yogel js justified in writing as he does to Dr Featheraton, the latter would be a greater ornament to private than to public life, and if some s'ueli decision is uot arrived at by the House in its present session I shall be much surprised. That the character of our population h9s not been improved duiing the last year is beyond all doubt, but in excuse for this Dr Featberston may certainly plead that his instructions to pour immigrants into the country weie imperative, and that to have made himself acquainted with the character of each individual applying for a passage would have occupied so much time that it would have been impossible for him to carry out his instructions. But etill to send out en masse the sweepings of an Irish seaport town Reformatory was going just a little to far. Such an addition to the mothers of our future electors, perhaps legislators, was scarcely what was contemplated when the scheme of immigration ou a large scale received the sanction of the country. But I fear that if New Zealand will insist upon . large and sudden increases toherpopu-. latioo she must accept the position, that in a few years to come the general tone* and character of her settlers shall have deteriorated to a painful extent. I am . afi aid that it is not only from Cork" that we are receiving those whom we we would be better without. One little extract from a letter received by a friend of mine from a clergyman in a country district in Gloucestershire, seems to me to speak volumes, for it conveys the impression that from other parts of England the same tale might be born to our ears. The writer says : i — •• There appears to be a tide of erai- ! gration to New Zealand. Several have gone from my parish, bat (for your sake) lam sorry to add that they are chiefly worthless characters." Following so closely on the Cork Reformatory exodus this little piece of information is far from encouraging. Can it be true that we are opening our arms and giving free passages to the riffraff and refuse of the town streets and country lanes of the old country ? It looks unpleasantly like it. It is rather a fortunate occurrence that just at the time when the Parliament is in session, and when residents in the South are hungering and thirsting for political news, and representatives from Otago and Canterbury are in Wellington and anxious to hear from their homes, the telegraph line between Blenheim and Christcburch should have been so seriously damaged as to interrupt all communication for nearly three days. Such an accident affords practical proof of the necessity of erecting a line between Nelson and the West Coast via the Buller Valley. Had such a line of communication been opep, the probability is that Otago, Canterbury, and the West Coast would not have been cut off from the Seat of Government at a most important time. Doubtless, our representatives will make good use of the opportunity thus afforded them of urging upon the Government the necessity of the work. Westland has not long been constituted a province, and until the last few months has been deprived of the privilege of being legislated for by a

Provincial Council. One would have thought that tbe mere novelty of having such o legislative body, presided over j by a real live Speaker, aud led by a responsible, government, would have proved so charming ns to shield all those who; took p'nrt; in the. arduous 1 task of making laws for the new province from unpleasant remarks or keen criticism. But this does not appear to have been the case. In a recent isaoe of the Greymouth evening paper, I find the following cruel dom/; menta:— "ld short, referring to the whole proceeding of the second session of the Westland Provincial Council, the best thing we can cay of it is, "Thank Heaveu it's prorogued," and the members have returned to the limited sphere and comparative oblivion of that private life their transcendental abilities preeminently fit them to adorn,.. Good Christians we believe many of * 'them to b> ; fond parents we- (rust some of them are; exemplary husbands may doubtless be found among (hem : but able public men (bey never were, are not, and never will be; aud, with one or two exceptions, Ihe moat gratifying intelligence that we could hear of them would .be .that.. these gentlemen had resigned their seats daring the forthcoming recess." .Pome rather higb-teraperature remarks have occasionally been made upon the votes and proceedings of- our Nelson : Councillors, but I don't remember ever seeing in tha local papers so wholesale and sweeping a condemnation of them as this. F- 1