The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 125, 29 May 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1877.

At last, and for the first time since the close of the late session, the whole of the Ministers have met iu Wellington, and, as it is stated, and we believe with authority, thet the Parliament is no. to be convened until near the end of July, they have just two months to determine upon the course they intend to pursue, and to make all the necessary arrangements. The late date fixed upon for the opening of the session is probably owing partly to the natural disinclination ou the part of Ministers to meet the Parliament —the members of which are in the habit of asking all sorts of disagreeable questions and calling for endless returns, some of which tell tales upon matters which the Government would prefer to keep secret— and partly to the fact that the circumstauces uuder which the Assembly will meet are of an exceedingly unpleasant aud unsatisfactory character. In the first place the admission will have to be made that the Counties Act has not proved a complete success, and iu addition to the preparations that will have to be made for tinkering it up and licking it into something iike a workable shape, involving an immense amount of labor, there is a probability of the best intentioned amendments receiving severe criticism and rough handling by the members of an Assembly that will not meet iu the best of tempers; then there is the ugly fact that the Customs revenue is declining in a very marked and appreciable manner, a circumstauce that always adds to Ministers' troubles in the same proportion that a flourishing revenue assists them in facing their foes and increasing the number of their friends. Another source of vexation is the low price of wool, which affects the general prosperity of the colony to a very considerable extent, and lastly the prospect of a general European war will render the obtaining of any more money an exceedingly difficult matter. Under all these circumstances it is not to be wondered at that Ministers shrink from meeting Parliament, and the postponement of the session to so late a period is easily accounted for. Another possible reason for the delay is that the later the session oom. mences the shorter is its duration likely to be, as experience has shown on many previous occasions that it is impossible to keep the House together after the middle of October. This, however, may have a beneficial effect, as members knowing that the time for transacting the real business for whicli they are called together is short, will be less iuclined to waste night after night in useless talk, and more disposed to devote themselves to work. .This perhaps is a somewhat too sanguine view to take, but still it is possible, as there is no reason whatever why the session should last over two months if work were substituted for speech. The task that Ministers have before them is a most unenvinble one, but if they are really desirous of regaining office, there is one thought from which they may extract much consolation, namely, that money is so scarce, and affairs generally are in such a mess, that there will be less inclination on the part of the Opposition to supplant them on the Treasury benches. These are some smart fellows in either the Customs or Telegraph Department, or both, in Wellington. The Albion ar.ved there at 8 a.m. on Sunday, a face which was elegraphed to Nelson this morning.

A most melancholy report of the Auckland Steam Packet Company's transactions for the past year appears in our telegrams to-day. Steam 'appears to he as great a failure in Auckland as is gas in Dunedin. Thb ordinary meeting of the Southern Star Lodge will be held this evening at halfpast seven. The quarterly cattle fair will be held at Richmond on the 4th of June. An interesting meeting in connection with the Temperance cause is to be held in the Wesleyan Church, Richmond to-morrow evening at 7 o'clock. Addresses will be delivered by various speakers who have kindly consented to take part in the proceedings. The following is Dr. Hector's report on the Coal Pit Heath coal:—*' Bituminous coal of excellent quality, whether far domestic pr steam purposes. Analysis: — Fixed carbon ... 59 38 Hydro ditto ... 3488 Water 1-05 Ash 469 10000 It cakes strongly and puffs somewhat. The ash is of a white color, the powder of the coal itself black brown. Evaporative power 77 lbs." v ' We notice that the Mutual Life Association of Australasia have re-commenced business in New Zealand with a head office in Auckland. Low rates, admission of age, and indefeasible policies, which are without any bantering conditions as to future residence, habits of life, or cause of death, are the special features claimed by the office, and its progress during the last eight years has been very marked. Messrs Sharp and Pickering have been appointed agents for Nelson, and from them or the travelling agent, Mr J. A. Lowe, who is now in town, every information can be obtained. A triumph of chemistry. Among the chemical triumphs of the nineteenth century none has been fraught with more important results than the discovery, twenty-five years ago, that by combining with* a certain stimulant of absolute purity and agreeable flavor special medicinal ingredients of vegetable origin, a remedy was obtained for local or general debility, kidney disease, gravel, dyspepsia, constipation, and many other ailments. The nature of this remedial wonder is Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatio Schnapps.— Advt