THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 163, 1 July 1876, Page 2

THE WEEK.

We are gettiog on pretty well in New Zealand. Tbat is to say, we are gradually, but surely, working our way upwards — or downwards, call ifc whjch you will— in the direction of that point of rowdiness wbich has been so successfully attained by the Victorian Parliament. Time was when our Colonial Assembly was looked up to as a model \ of propriety and decency. There were hard fights aud bitter political warfare, but, no matter how great might be the difference of opinion between the contending parties, the opponents on both sides never failed to conduct themselves as gentlemen. Then, the keen incisive razor, delicately, but none the less forcibly, handled did tbe work ; now, the blunt axe, dependent entirely upon the brute force with which ifc is wielded, is called into requisition, and the consequence is — vide the telegrams that reach us daily from the seat of war. Some of the members, as we knowwere elected merely because they were' blatant tub-thumpers, who by their innate vulgarity and coarse abusive

language carried away the mobs whom they addressed from the hustings, and,; by sheer bounce, induced their hearers fco regard them as: plucky, plain, outspoken men : who did. not care wiiafc they said; 'Quite right; they don't care. But, from what we have read vof s their speeches, do we who calmly, and from a distance, peruse their wild assertions and personal allusions to their opponents— do we, I say, regard them as desirable members of the Parliament into whose hands we have committed our interests? Then there are others who from their antecedents could never be expected to comport themselves decently. Coming from such men nothing surprises ua. But when we are told thafc Reader Wood — himself at one time a member of the Colonial . Executive— has so far forgotten what was. due to the country, to \ the Assembly, and to himself, as to indulge in gross personalities to such an extent ao to call forth from the whole House an unanimous - expression of disapproval of his conduct, and from the Speaker a well-deserved rebuke, then indeed may we be excused for expressing astonishment at finding to how low an estate our legislative Assembly has falieu. If the Opposition , had been desirous of playing into the hands of the present Government they could- not have done ao more effectually than by adopting the course which some of its leading members have thought fit to pursue. -^-When the Hibernia and Edinburgh were here it was given out that on a certain Sunday ia a certain church a sermon would be preached on," The laying of the cable." It so happened that aa I wa3 on my way to that church fco bear that sermon, which, by tho, way, was an excellent one, I fell in with one ; of the staff who had been engaged in the work to be referred to, and whose destination was identical with my own. We entered iato conversation and he remarked, "If I were a betting man, and the occasion was a fitting one for a wager, I would lay odds" thab the text will be taken from the book ot Job,", and he named chapter and verse. His i reason, he told me, for saying this was that lie had been .engaged in three similar expeditions in various parts of the world, in each of which the subject had very properly been deemed a fitting one fco comment upon from the pulpit, and on each occasion the text had been the same. It proved that he was right in his anticipation. Now, I think that during the past week 7 1 could on numerous occasions and with equal correctness have guessed what formed the topic of conversation among . little knots of men whom I have seen assem-bled-at street corners and other places of gathering.' I would have given odds, and in most cases should have won my money, that they were talking " Piako Swamp." Is not every one in Nelson, not to say anything about the rest of the colony, sick and tired of this miserable swamp and the terrific; amountr of tali talk to which it has given rise? lam. So much bluster about whafc has turned out to be BUch & trifle ! Ifc reminds me of a story told of a German Jew on his first visit to London. Withpraiseworthy conscientiousness he had all his life through, refrained from tasting the prohibited pig. Bufc he saw so much pork, and ham, and bacon, and saußages, eaten wifch so great a sense of enjoyment iv the world's metropolis that at last fche temptation became greater thau he could bear. And so he purchased a pound of ham, took ifc to bis lodgiogs, lighted a fire, and stealthily and surreptitiously he placed it in the frying-pan. Meantime a thunderstorm had been gathering, and was ready to burst in full force over his head just as the tempting slices arrived at a fit state to be eaten. He took fche first mouthful, and was thoroughly enjoying the hitherto unknown flavor of the forbidden food when a terrific flash of lightning blazed, forth, and lighted up i his back room, followed almost instantaneously by a tremendous roar ; of thunder. He jumped up, fcbrew.the nicely browned slices into the fire, and exclaimed: — " Oh mein Gofct ! ■- Such a heedeous fuss shusfc about von leetJe bit of pork." I couldn't help thinking of this little anecdote when I read all aboufc that hot debate on the Piako Swamp sale, and I believe that many of those who read these lines will consider the story by no means inappropriate. I always like to have an opportunity of relating a liberal and a generous action, and such an opportunity has been afforded me this week. A resident in. Nelson, I am told, found a stray dog, and he took it home, chained it up, and pufc an advertisement in the paper stating that the owner could have ifc on refunding the cost; of the advertisement, for which he had already paid. He was a laboring man, afc that time oufc of work, and consequently not very flush of cash. Tbe dog was a likely-looking animal, and someone who had seen it offered him a pound for ifc, but ifc so happened thafc he was not ooly a poor bufc an honest man, and so he refused the tempting offer. The next day fche owner came by, saw the dog, recognised it, went into the finder's premises, uu--1 chained, and whistled it away. The • man who had fouud and advertised the dog was from home at the time, but his wife, seeing what was going on, went out and told the owner that so much hard cash which they could ill afford to lose had been paid for advertising, and asked that ifc might be refunded ;_ but no, it was his dog, he could prove the ownership, and he was not going to pay for recovering his own property: If that dog was to turn and rend thac man I shoulda'. be Yery;:sbrryj nbff

even if the wound was serious cough to lay him up for a week or two. /■ , "The" Interprovincial . Regatta. This is the way in .wbich our forthcoming boat 1 races- are ' referred to by the press in 7^ther :parts of the colony, and it shows -hat something more than ordinary is looked for on the occasion. Among other anticipations ifc will be expected that the rowing men of Nelson will be able to hold their own, or at least to make a good show against all comers, and I cannot see why- they should not, but I am not quite sure that they will. I don't often go down . to the Port, but whenever I do I never seen any practising going on in those boats that were obtained from Australia at considerable expense, and christened with so much ceremony. But, perhaps, our men have so much confidence in their own powers that they regard regular practice as unnecessary. I do: hope they are not mistaken. _?.