The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1876:

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 74, 15 March 1876, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1876:

The decoration of the New Zealand. Cross has been conferred upon Dr. Featherston, late Superintendent of Wellington, and now Agent General for the colony in London, for certain services rendered during the war waged by Great Britain upon the Maoris some twelve years ago. This has called forth remarks from some of the leading home journals which appear to us to be perfectly fair and reasonable. Dr. Ifeatherston led the little British army under General Chute, accompanied by a native contingent, in its march round Mount Egmont through a country that was then in arms against the Government, and on more than one occasion headed our native allies in attacking the rebel Maoris. Conduct such as his, it is urged, was worthy of a more than purely local distinction, as his services were rendered not to New Zealand alone, but through it to the British Empire, of which this colony is a pait. Whether or not Dr. iFeatherston was entitled to the Victoria Cross as is asserted in the article which we quote below, we are not in a position to say. but we do most heartily agree with the argument that it is injudicious and impolitic to allow the class of reward bestowed upon an individual for gallant conduct to depend not so much upon what he has done as upon the particular locality in which he distinguished himself. This is not the way to teach the colonists that, separated though they may be from another country by thousands of miles of water, they are still Englishmen. The London Standard of January 13 had a very ■ sensible article on this question, from which we take the following extract: — " While congratulating Dr Eeatherston, the Agent-General of New Zealand, upon, the distinction he haa obtained from his Government on account of his military services in the Maori war, and mnking no doubt whatever that the honor was rightly earned, we must be permitted to remark on the very extraordinary character of this new order of merit o£ which he hns been tbe recipient, * Dr Featherston' has been adjudged to be entitled to the distinction, upon the recommendation of Sir Trevor Chute, late general commanding in New Zoalund, on account of the " conspicuous bravery " with which he led a native contingent roused by him in several assaults upon fortified pahs upon the occasion when her Majesty's and the colonial forces were engaged in hostile operations againßt the insurgent Maoris. According to the terms of the warrant creating the new order we may presume that what Dr Ifeathorston aid. would

have won hiit^ the Yi toria Cro»B ha<l he t*een an officer or soldier in her M'jetty'fl regular army. Several officers and soldi' tb did, as' a matter of fact, receive the VHorU Cross for services similar to thoze of Dr Feathereton, in this. ver>camp,Bign.\ Why,- then, may we ask; has ''not Mr Feathersfam/ received the v Victoria Cross instead of that -which must be of leas value es bestowed on him not bv the Queen directly, but by the New Zealand Government, of which he may be said to be a member? . What need is there of any such order ns this of the New Zealand Cross when we have the Victoria Cross as a reward for precisely the same kind of merit? The service performed by Dr Featherston, if worthy of »ny reward at all, was a service done to the Empire, and not merely to the colony. New Zealand, being a part of the Empire, we cannot conceive of a man having deserved we 1 ! of the colony who has not also deserved well of the whole country. We can understand how, under the influence of the ideas which were prevalent respecting the connection of the colonies with Great Britain during the late administration, it came to piss that new and special orders should have been created for the recognition of colonial as apart from Imperial merit; but it is impossible to reconcile their institution with that theory of Imperial unity as to which we are now all agreed. To separate Colonial service from Imperial service in their rewards is clearly to imply that a man may be a good colonist without being a good British citizen: and what can be a greater offence to that sentiment of unity which we profesa to encourage? Trie new order of St. Michael and St. George, given originally for direct service to the Crown in Malta and in Gibralta, arid now for service to a Colonial Govenrment in Victoria or British Columbia, is both unmeaning and mischievous. The order of the New Zealand Cross is even more absurd. It is, indeed, a distinction, teeing that so very few persons can attain to it; but it would be very much more esteemed if it were not tha mark of purely local merit — we may siy the badge of a period and a policy which the British Government ousht not to be zealous in commemorating." The return match between the town and country butchers is being played at Richmond to-day. A correspondent telegraphs to us that in the first innings the country team were disposed of for 22. The town eleven then took the bat and scored 50, towards which H. Barnett (not out) contributed 22. In the second innings the country team scored 34, and at four o'clock Nelson had secured 9, with seven wickets to fall. The Nelson eleven who are to play in jthe forthcoming interprovincial match at "Wellington will sail in the Hawea to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. The team is a strong one, and the match promises to be the best yet played between the two provinces. At a meeting of the members of the City Rifles held last night, xMr George Hodgson was unanimously elected ensign. Or the 30 highest scorers with the j carbine, in the Cadets in the colony. Sergeant Hood, Artillery Cadets, stands 7th with 55 points, and Cadet Shone, City Cadets, 23rd with 61. The highest score was 60. After an absence of over two years the popular Lynch Family appeared again at the Masonic Hall last night, and, considering the short notice given of their intention to perform they had every reason to be satisfied with their audience. The performance commenced with an overture, the composition of the performer Mr Statham, which was played with great taste and finish. At its conclusion the Bellringers made their appearance, and were received with loud applause. Their selections were the " Grand March " from Norma, and the favorite little Scotch air " My love is but a lassie yet," and later in the evening they played Lincoln's March, as performed at the funeral of the late President, " Harapstead Heath " with the chimes, " Home sweet Home," and several other popular and favorite airs, all being given with remarkable precision and musical correctness, indeed, whether performing on the Hand, Stand, or Clockbells, or in their laughable comic trios such as " Ching Choug Chung, &c, the Lynch Family are always welcome on the stage. In Mr Keeley the company have an excellent comedian, his comic songs being of the most amusing description, and his burlesques and eccentricities generally remarkably clever. He was repeatedly encored, and seemed to have ah almost inexhaustible stock of songs on hand. The entertainment concluded with a capital farce entitled "Mr Johnson in want of a coachman," which caused roars of laughter and sent the audience home in excellent humor, the principal characters being sustained by Messrs Harry and Willy Lynch, and Mr Keeley. To-night the same program me will be repeated.