THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 184, 6 August 1877, Page 2

THE WEEK.

Two street corner politicians meeting on Wednesday the one asked the other, "Have you read the Financial Statement?" >I have," was the reply. " And what do you think of it?" Said No. 2, "Well, it is difficult tqgive in afew words an opinion upon ' a document of such importance, but I may say that the first line that happened fo catch my eye was this, 'I shall not propose additional taxation this year.' That suits my book so admirably, that I may venture to assert that with one portion, at least, of the statement lam thoroughly delighted. I was a little downhearted on reading that the consolidated revenue would not be in a position to bear certain charges that ought ,to be made upon it, but my spirits rose again on" learning that the fund was to be increased inorder to enable it to meet the demands" upon it, and I thought to myself that the Colonial Treasurer was a lucky fellow to be in 3uch a position that he had something to I fall back upon to make up deficiencies/; 71 wish I could say the same of myself when my income is drawn upon to its full extent. I I can't understand why ifc is that with a fall--1 ing revenue on one side, and a superabundance of labor ou the other, the Treasurer should deem ifc necessary to. expend gome additional scores of thousands of pounds' in" bringing out workmen to a place where the laboring class is already in distress on account of the want bf employment. And uow, lastly, I ha/e come to the conclusion that borrowing is like excessive drinking. In both cases the victim knows he is doing what must prove injurious to him in the Lend,7ai}d id both cases, too, is he equally powerless" to i take a firm stand and say, *• I'll have no more of it." In the one instance. asm the

Other , he dreads, the consequences of conhi3d.si.|; . :; Atreadyr have we bor- : rpwtfd, ! twanty : one;nullioh3, ba£ thafc is hot" .enough. Two additiopaf.miilions will jusfc\ 7ipaketis ha|py. -"But whei-itis spent, : what then? i Is jit not tha "ijust one gla«4 more " of, •-_e>hardeK^-bpe i??7 .JEta^. t\£a& that* instead of expressing auopifiiohlacfi^reach-^ ing a sermon. Good morning." Judging from past experience of City elec i; ons, and from the tone of certain letters that have recently appeared in the papers, I am inclined to think that the greatesfcj:eeommendation a candidate for municipal or other -honors can possess is that he should) beVan active canvasser. " Seeho'whe works," some people say. "If he devotes so much time and labor to endeavoring to obtain votes he-d&u bound to be equally energetic | after his election in promoting the interests of his constituents." Never was there a greater mistake or more false reasoning. Many motivemay "induce a man to use'-his utmost endeavors to obtain a seat in a Council or in - -Parliament, which will- cease to exist as soon > -as his end is gained.: It may be the gratification of personal yanity, it'may be a desire to himself or hia-f fiends, or it may be one of a hundred other reasons in which the . interests of .the electoral body.as.a whole are in no way involved. It seemsito melthat the dignity of such offices woMd be greatly ' enhanced if a number of the electors! were to ; say, So and, So. is 'tho man for nis. .'lf. he will consont to give ns his serviceswe will do all in our power to secure his election. It is not fair to ask him to go through the humilia- ■ tion: o f.asking votes, andjeunoing-the risk of being* snubbed^ for 1 his-pains." t_ we-shink he is a fitting man to,.Eepresent-us, and he agrees to dd" so, it ' is Our .business to sae that ha is elected. , -I Vl th_d_? if -this, principle were adopted the seats "in ourpublic bodi.s would -hia more Sought "after, -ajidrppssesa a higher "vald_rthan~they now db iii the "estimation of ; ;'Btteh meh as-we;would>wish to see occupying the position of repVeßehtatives of the people. I wish to say that these remarks are not intended specially to apply to the election that has recently taken place, but to the generality o^ the n, the last one being but a Mr sample of many that have preceded it/)-- : • . i.„Sq Sir Ggorge Grey has; I see,_ohce more mounted his hobby horse "Bights of the , People," and trotted him out in the Parliamentary __ena, ! But not content with taking a preliminary on the now worn-out steed, he has found a new use for him, and converted him. into a draught horse. On Wednesday night*- he actually hitched him on to the Piako Swamp, and, either by careful driving or by letting him have his head, contrived that heshould drag that wretched morass of which we heard so much last year into a debate on the " Charitable Institutions Bill." How it *yas I don't exactly know, but somehow or other from discussing- the manner in which hospitals were to be -maintained, a sudden leap was made into the Piako Swamp, which, lijad ab9»t as much to do with the subject under debate as the Maori' King Tawhiao ha3 wifch the Eastern Question. I . see that the valiant old knight toocould not retrain from referring to the hippy state of affairs, that prevailed at the, time of his Governorship, and which he seems , to think contrasted so favorably with the Diresent regime. I expect to find when we get the fuller reports, of the debate in the local papers that there was great dismay on the Treasury benches when the self-constituted mouthpiece of " the rights; of 1 the people " declared his intention of fleeing from the country, but that the faces of the occupants of those coveted seats, were wreathed in smiles when ha declared that he had changed his mind, ancl intended to stay, for with such a leader it is not likely that any Opposition will be found strong and compkct enough to storm the position. Of all the people lever knew or heard of, those Tvho reside on the : West Coast are, to my thinking, the most ungrateful.^; Just look at the way in which they have trea.ed MrE. J. O'Conor, a man who has deyoted himself tjj their, service, and been the means iof advancing their welfare to an unprecedented extent. ,(L know this to be a! fact, because he has repeatedly told me so hi,mself.) I Now, see the- return "they have made ihim. I_e was especially desirous .of re-taking his seat in the Assembly in order that he might there air his eloquence, and exercise his influence, but they actually snubbed bim to the extent of stating at the polling booth that they preferred his opponent. Last ; week he sought the humbler atmosphere ofthe Buller County Council Chamber, and invited the Karauieaus to send hhn there as their representative. We all know what he has done for ithe Karameans,- how he and his faithful Peter rumaged the country all over for pigs for his pets at the special settlement, how he bought bulb and chaffered for cows wherewith to stock a district in which he had no interest whatever beyond that of doing his duty, how thecute Karameans took him* in by buying hia ' cows at the price of work to be done, which ?|ork they nfever did, although they sold ? the cows again ; how he got into a row with Thomas' Johnston Jones, all about. Karamea, and, indeed; how he did everything that man cpuld do to ingratiate himself with those' dwellers in the wilds. 'But how have they rewarded all this self-sacrifice? The very' first time he asked a favor of L them,, small ; .though it was, they, put their ungrateful thumbs to their .nnappreciafcive noses, simply said, "Don't you , wish you niayLget , it?" and then proceeded to elect his deadiest enemy in Westport in the place of their guardian, director', and benefactor. '"-Ifithers is one man in this colony iraore ill-used than another, that man is Eugene Joseph O'Conor.

Eecently, in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Wellington a man who was oharged with vagrancy, on being asked tohetbiar he was guilty or not guilty, replied jt^-" Does that mean starvation, your Worship? Because, if so, I am guilty of that — I am guilty of starvation, for I can get nothing to do. No one will employ me, as I ara subject to epileptic fits. I am 1 perishing daily in the streets, and, because I am starving and have uo home; I am taken up for vagrancy; or if I happen to be seen in one of my epileptio fits, I am taken up as a lunatic. What am I to do ? " Sergeant Price said defendant had been up several times for drunkenness and vagrancy. He was subject to epileptio fits, and had no place to live in. Defendant—l admit that I am guilty of starvation, for that is wbat it means. Mr. Crawford thought that if defendant would keep from drink, he would suffer less from these fits. He should commit him foi* one calendar month, whioh would give him board and lodgings at any rate. In bis speech at the banquet given to him at Dunedin; Mr Macandrew gave a vivid picture of the difficulties which qgembera of the General Assembly'for Otago bad to encounter twenty years ago. He said — "I can assure you, gentlemen, it was no joke in thoae early times, especially for those who were engaged in business, to relinquish their own affairs for many- months at a time. But it had to be doue, gentlemen, and perhaps many of you may not be aware that 1 had the honor of representing this city. I waa its sole representative during the first seven years of the history of the New Zealand Parliament — (applause). I recollect on one occasion, I think it was in 1854 — that we were nearly eix weeks upon the passage from this place to Auckland, where the first session of the Assembly was held— (laughter), I should like to know, air, what some of our merchant princes would say if called upon to perform such a sacrifice now--(laughter) ? I recollect upon another occasion— in 1856—1 think it was-— that I found that the easiest way of returning home from my Parliamentary duties at Auckland wes by way ol Sydney and Melbourne-*- (laughter), And when we got to Melbourne there were no means of reaching Otago. 1 had either to purchase a vessel or to charter one— (laughter)— and I found that the former was more economical, and' it resulted in what, at tbat time, was considered a magnificent addition to the shipping of this port, viz., the old brig Content, which many of the old settlers will no doubt remember." There is a dog at Taupo, and also _ young pig, and these two afford a curious example of animal sagacity, and confidence in the bona fides of each other. Theae two animals live at the native pa on the opposite side of Tapuaeharurn, and the dog, discovering some happy hunting grounds on the other side, informed the pig. The pig, being only two months old, informed' the dog that he could not swim across the river, which at that point debouches ffom the fclake,, but that in time he might hope to share the adventures of his canine friend. The dog settled the difficulty. He went into the river, Stauding up to his neck in the water', and crouched down; the pig got on his back, clasping his neck with ihe fore legs. The dog then swam across, thus carrying his chum over. Regularly every morning the two would in this way go over and forage around Tapuaeharuru, returning to the pa at nighf, aud if the dog was ready to go home before the pig he would wait till his friend came down to be ferried over. The truth of tbis story is vouched for by Beveral who have watched the movements oi the pair for weeks. f% Writes / Auicus * in the Melbourne _Leaater:«-"The telephone threatens the press, the pulpit, aud the stage alike with extinction. This extraorordinary iu .trumeut transmits the sound of the huinau voice as quickly as thoy are .pok.u to a disuiuce of twenty miles from the speaker ; aud thero appears io be noiijiug io prevent it from eeniJing thou* a ihou .ami miles The iirs. e_.periu.ouia weie e_nied on between ii-atou aud toalein, towns eighteeu uaiici . „pa» t ; and ihd op.rutjrwere aoie to w.ka Uieujseiives _tstiuctiy heard i.y n uadieis _.b6inui_a al either teruiinu.. T.us wouutiriui invention opens up a poileotiy uouudioba field of -peculation. Li „ i_„ u ' a vuice cau be .rau.niiite- i weu iy urnes aud heard as sooo as the woi.. . um spok.u, people will only havo iv, i»y ou iei-pbu_«a to their private iiuu.es to be «o.e

to hear everything that is said aloud. By telephonic communication with the Parliament Houses we will be able to do without the Hansard. A telephone can be laid on in the drawing room from the Council for ladies, aud in the study for geutlemen. One clergyman can preach to the whole of Melbourne, and if either tbe preacher or listener is getting drowsy the pipe ihat conveys the sound can be turned off. And without the trouble of dressing and going out. of doors one cau have the sparkling dialogue from the last new play laid on at so much a thousand words. It will help to reconcile me to the ills of old age if I oan live to see parliamentary, religious and dramatic telephones laid on ali over my house, Some, however, may be always carefully turned off at the main." Eestiye Horses. — A beautiful high-spirited horse (says the New York Commercial Advertiser) would never allow a shoe to be put on his feet, or any person to handle his feet. In an attempt to shoe such a horse recently, he resisted every effort, kicked aside eyery thing but an anvil, and nearly killed himself on that, and finally was brought back to the stable unshod. This defect was just on the eve of consigning him to plough, where he might work barefoot, when an officer in our service lately returned from Mexico, took a cord about the size of a common bed cord, put in the mouth of the horse like a bit, tied it tightly on the animal's head, passing his left ear under the string, not painfully tight, but enough to keep the ear down and the cord in its place. This done, he patted the horse on the sido of the head, and commanded him to follow, and instantly the horse obeyed perfectly subdued, and aa gentle as a welltrained dog, suffered his feet to be handled with impunity, and acted in all repecfes like au old stager. A Child's Power, — Recent investigations prove the corectnessj of the assertion that one baby with a large biscuit will make the couch of wearied industry more uncomfortable than 15 prize mosquitoes. A Little too Easy. — Dentist — "Aha! There's the little joker. It came out easy, didn't it ?" Patient — " Idiot ! Blockhead ! That's the false tooth. I paid two guineas to have it put in the other day !" An Irishman playing at cards, and finding the pool deficient, exclaimed, " Here's a shilling short ! Who put it in!" r "Grivs the hens a rest," says a country exchange. Just so ; a sort of inter-egg-num, as it were. Proof Positive. — A student being desirous of learning whether there was any truth in the statement that Seneca was addicted to drunkenness, opened an encyclopedia, and having found the name of the celebrated philosopher, the first object that met his gaze was a woodcut, beneath which were the words — "Seneca, after an ancient bust." The ardent investigator, finding his worst fears confirmed, looked no further. One for the Judge. — " The sentence of the Court is," said Judge Porter, a popular Irish magistrate, to a notorious drunkard, " that you be confined in gaol for the longest period the law a will allow, aud I hope you will spend the time iu cursing whisky." "By jabers I will, and Porter too," was the ans we.*.

•■ls there no hope?' the sick man said ; The silent doctor shook his head. "While thero ia life there's hope,' he cried.'. " Mgroto, dum animas est, spes est."