The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 170, 20 July 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1877.

The Governor's speech on the occasion of the opening of Parliament yesterday afternoon^ calls for some remark, because ft is the -Governor's speech, and for no other reason. Indefed the delivery of such- speeches has beco na such a mere mattefeof form' that it ife questionable whether the pustpm W o^ldnot

" — -ST**? — — he far more honored in the breach than in the obgefcvapfi^ «TSere is nothings in it " Is the rep_ark:whi«_h usually foHo^sits |iertiiftl, and, so far asjthe information it cbntaina^ is concerh^d, this wou'd, apply jtojthe'present o fc s • a uite as foreihly as to any of its predecessors. But, oh this occasion we are dtspiis&i tofleft fault; /iot so pinch cm account of *$h§ barreg.-' of the address, aa upon the ground that jit is calculated to mislead. Por instance, in the first paragraph Hia Excellency takes the opportunity of congratulating the colony upon its generally prosperous condition, agriculturally £?rd otherwise. Now, we should like to ask, is this a' : true* representation' of the state of affairs? The laat harvest was a notoriously bad one, not on account of the poor yield of corn, but owing tothe heavy rains, which, in the Middle Island especially^ fell to such an extent as to render it almost impossible at the present time to obtain whea, in a wholesome condition. In a country where the settler is so largely dependent upon his crops not only for the payment of his working expenses, but to enable hira „tb clear off the periodicaliaatalnients of the purchase money of his land, an' unusually wet harvest snch as that lately espe_ienc_d frequently means ruin. Is it then fair for one in His Excellency's position to give public expression to the" statement" that the agricultural industry during the past year has been in a prosperous condition? The pastoralindustry, too, .is spoken of as being in a -flourishing state. ' Hava ehe f ramer or framers of the speech been iv the habit of • studying the reports of the £ondon wool 8 ? We trust not, at, for the credit of tjf^pnblio meg bit t^^lony*' wsfakld fery mufch prefer to find that they 'ate chargeable? with fgr&'Fa.dce^f ftjie rejects tTa~wMc£_ tttey commeht rather than with' a' deliberate S^ c^l.ead-. r i,ThOH, again; ; h&w is' -tile statement^that the_,colbny is in.so flourishing a conditiQh CQm|i§^ye ( with;tlierM«3t'that* Ih' Otago there are^arge numbers of unemployed laborers Tefi^ase he guarded with work at' priced considerably below the r.QurrenlirraSs^f .wages? . This,vit wmb be re-r membered, is not a cry raited for mere party purpo_es y .b_t ifck one- that has.4jeeo-re«og_. nisfedLbyrthe Government ia, m perfectly 'fair jand not uncalled! for'compliint, as' Is ahoifa'' "byHheir respondihg-t'o it; an&-p_6v_<i_ng- the petitioners with the means of living. The ,p^tcry;-t^o K t|iat has ,been echqed frpm, one, erd of the liolbriy' to the other 'against' the . importation, of sUQo__no_e immigrants-shows that the condition of the working .classes is anything but prosperous, and that; they -are living in dread of ftjAiier competition in^the. already over supplied labor market. On the whole we believe that the Governor's congratulations Upon the prosperity of the colony will fall flat upon the ears of those who reside within its boundaries, and are observant or what is going on around them. The second paragraph ofthe speech refers to his Excellency's visit to the various provinces of the Middle Island, and wa are pleased to learn that it was "most gratifying "to him .« to witness the indications of progress and advancement," &c, &o. His regret at the loss the colony has sustained by the death of Sir Donald McLean will, we feel sure, ba shared by all who knew the deceased, either personally or in his public capacity. His Excellency, who, on the whole, appears to have been in a congratulatory mood, and in a good humor with himself and everybody else yesterday, proceeds to express his delight that the changes consequent rpon the passing of the Abolition Act have caused so little public inconvenience, and have not greatly disturbed "the ordinary administrative routine." Some people are so ; constituted that they are alwavt disposed to be thankful even for very small mercies, and to this class does the Marquis of Normanby appear to belong. Evidently he expected a revolution— perhaps those Dunedin people frightened him with their Convention— and because this revolution did not take place his gratitude is unbounded. As to the " little public inconvenience " that has been occasioned, he will probably hear more about that before th& session closes. The gentlemen of ;the House oY Representatives are assured that the Estimates have been framed on the stereotyped plan, and are informed that there is an increasing revenue from the public works. Seeing that these works have, with the aid of borrowed money, been extended since the close of the last session, it would be strange indeed had it been otherwise. The rosecolored is clearly the favorite tint with the composers of the speech, but they have used it so liberally as to spoil the effect of the picture they have painted. Its monotony is painful to the eye. A darker hue, even if it only formed the background, would have beeu a positive relief, and to a large extent would have dispelled the atmosphere of untruthfulness which hovers over the picture. For instance, if, in addition to the announcement that the revenue from public works had increased, we had been told that the Customs receipts had displayed a lamentable falling off (a fact that is proved by the quarterly returns), and that there is little .probability of their recovering for some time to come, we should have been inclined to say— «* The speech is intended to convey information with regard to the financial position of the colony to those who read it." As it is> the universal opinion will be that it is calculated to create an erroneous impression, and to give rise to a comfortable feeling of self-satisfaction that is utterly unjustifiable.