The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 14, 16 January 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1877.

;A:MOKti-wretchedly attended political rajeeting.thap that of last night was never, within [our; recollection, held; in Nelson. The public mind ; being occupied just: at this time with other -matters no"" doubt in some way -accounted for tlm^ipiserable musterjbui;. there was'yet another reason, we believej which militated mor£;r seriously against thejneeting proving a success, viz., that peopfergenerally are heartily, iired of the late sessioii and all that pertains to it. .They look upon it as something that they would much -rather f orgefey unless -with the - view of holding it up. as a warning to future Parliaments; —Time was wast'edj ; bppofrtmii- - ties'; were thrown away, patriotism was sacrificed at. the shrine, of .muddles.. . such asVnever \ before welre deemed jppssible were requehtj. ovfer- violence and .pe.rsjstency in bringing forward groundless charges, as Mr Curtis put it, characterised : the Opposition, while hesitation, mistakes, and a nervous dread of giving offence formed'some "of the : main features of the Ministerial line of action. „ Is it to be wondered at •if the public at large long before the session concluded grew heartily sick of politics, and turned in weariness and disgust from all that partook of the Parliamentary? Even the 'three* ' months that have elapsed siuce the prorogation of questionable legality took place have not- been sufficient- to. remover from men's miuds that weariness, and that disgust which they then experienced in reading ther 'news that daily arrived from Wellington; ahd '■ so it happened that last night, when the representatives of the City of Nelson had invited their constituents tbnieet them, abbut'-'one-tenth of; ;the -number that usually -assemble on sjuch occasions was present. . We do not, purpose to-day to criticise the 'speeches at length. That of Mr Curtis was quite as : pleasant, we might almost say pleasauter usual to listen to, but at the saline" time was; the /most illogical and inconsequential that we'ever heard from his lips? ile prppped 7 ,up Sir ! George "Grey with' one hand 1 , and , knocked him down with "the other ; he thought Sir Julius Yogel had ; deserted so well of his couhtrythat he was fully entitled ; to be rewarded with a grant of money; and he *»yas at s 'the same' time convinced that" it-' ..was an' evil day for the colony when Sir Julius was allowed to handle the reins- 'of : Government. Andyet with ail this Mr Curtis' speech was, as we have said, iweally pleasant onefto* listen to.; We listened with consider--able enjoyment to his manly defehce :{ of a political opponent, although- utterly unable to agree with what he said, and. could not but ; smile when we^neard him excrete HisTadig"nationthat our self-constituted plenipoten-^ tiary should not have been allowed his ''exYorbitantaiid'extravagant" travellihg'expehse's, ,; because the colony knew, when,it pinned its faith to him, that, he' was' essentially" an extravagant man. Mr Curtis- omitted* ttftelf uV whether it was with the consent of the colony that Sir Jiilius undertook that moneyspending trip. Mr Sharp was placed in a peculiar and most disagreeable position.. He had to follow- a" practised --speaker, who,'havings squeezed the sessional- orange, left his colleague nothing but the rind to play withy The consequence was that in its. main points Mr j Sharp's speech was but .a rechauffe of Mr Curtis'. The' latter had, fortunately for his | successor, "omitted to refer tci 'tfie! San- 1 Franciscomaif service, which' proved a per-' *' feet godsend to Mr Sharp, who made the.most " of his opportunity. On the whole the meeting ;may be pronounced a ' complete' 'Mlurei T ' Those who were there appreciated its brevity, , those who were absent, but who read the published reports, will not/ experience any great regret at not having accepted the invitation of their representatives to attehd and hear what they had to say?*- I '-- r>