The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY,AUGUST 3O, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 205, 30 August 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY,AUGUST 30, 1877.

Oon telegrams from Wellington to-day con am what appears to be a f a fr .^J ot Mr lox's speech on moving their*™. Option Bill into Committee. ■ Greatly as we admire Mr Fox's earnestness l in IS caule which he champions with so much abUity and determination, and fully agreeing w h him as to the magnitude of the evil he is striving to eradicate, we cannot but feel regret that he should lessen his own influence, and injure his cause by violent declamations and exaggerated language such as he is leported to have used last night In his cnisade against intemperance he has omitted to be himself temperate, aud anything more calculated to defeat the end he has in view than are certain portions of his s D eech v would be difficult to imagine. He is ter amm,n* c f ar * eßt *_^ t h1 ' 3 earnestn <*s almost amounts to fanaticism, and none will regret d!snKvT, hisfr i ce * nd 3 the ten *encj he g .m displayed to rush into extremes. If Mr Fox Lf o.i0 .i, SUC u e< \ d he mußt exercise far greater tac than he has hitherto used. The battle f<!nr. g !" g *? nofc t0 be won by excited and inflammatory language. Adept as he has , proved himself to be in the use of it, he wfll

in this respect find more than hia match on the other side of the question. Cool wary judgment, a wise discretion, and a less amount of readiness to give unnecessary provocation are. what Mr Fox wants, and what his numerous Temperance friends would wish to see substituted for the pugnacity which is one of the leading features in his character. A most successful entertainment 'was given last night by the members of the Wesleyan choir, assisted by a few friends, in the Temperance Hall, which was well filled. The choruses bore evidence of a considerable amount of careful attention having been devoted to their preparation, and the solos were a real pleasure to listen to, so exceedingly well and feelingly were they sung. The applause that greeted the singers afforded clear proof of the appreciation , of their efforts to please. Some comic pieces were thoroughly enjoyed, and produced peals of laughter and uudeniable demands for their *epitition. Both performers and hearers must have been gratified by the complete success of the very pleasant entertainment. The monthly inspection of the Town and Port Volunteers will take place :this evening. The companies will muster at the Drilt Shed at half-past seven. John Willis, late a seaman on board the Queen Bee, writes on behalf of himself and the crew to the Wellington Argui aa follows;— " Sir— We, the undersigned crew of the late Queen Bee, wish to draw the attentions! the public to the way in which the -Subscriptions lately collected in Wellington and Nelson were divided. The crew, 20 in number, received goods equivalent to f£s a man, whilst a family of eight passengers intending to settle in Nelson received the rest of the subscription, amounting to about £350: I, with twelve others, are now ia Wellington entirejy without money or means of existence, and there is no knowing how long we may be so before getting ships." .-[The -writer is entirely in error, in saying that "the rest pf the subscriptions went to one family," a3 a considerable sum has been,, or is about to-be, forwarded to the widow and family of the' carpenter who was drowned.— Ed. N.E.M.] We have received from Mr Scaife, the local agent, au advance copy of the seventh half-yearly report to be submitted to the Standard Insurance Company next Monday. The balance to credit of- profit' and loss account is £26,739 of which their will be an available balance of £10,208 for distribution. Mrs Hoskins (Miss Colville) is lying seriously ill in Wellington. A special to the Post, dated London, Saturday afternoon, says.—" The Pope is seriously ill, and very great anxiety is felt aa to the result, from hia advanced age (85) and general debility." In the same message it is stated that the Russians are preparing for a decisive stroke, and an important movement will be made afc an early date. Re George Jones, the Otago Guardian, referring to his having been summoned to appear at the bar of the House, says:— "lt : will interest musical circles in the city to know that by the special request of a large number of members of the Assembly Mr Jones takei with him hia violin to relieve the tedium of imprisonment; and as the dungeon is a large and airy room in an upper storey in proximity to the chamber of legislation, it is hoped that the seraphic strains of Jones's fiddle will afford to honorable members a relief frpm the dreary monotony and humdrum ot debate." The Post notices his arrival in Wellington, and endeavors to console him as follows:—" Despite his possibly awful impending fate, Jones is comparatively resigned and cheerful. He. has taken a solemn farewell of his family and friends, made his will, and generally settled his worldly affairs, so as to be prepared for the worst which fortune and au outraged Parliament may inflict upon him. Mr Jones is not, however, quite clear in his mind as to the exact nature of the penalties to which he may be liable. There is no copy of « May on Parliamentary Practice' to be found in Oamaru, so he will only be able to read up the subject now that he is on the spot. But Mr Jones may be reassured. They can't hang him. Short of that, however, they cau subject him to fine and imprisonment; while fche fees of the Sergeant-afc-Arms are do joke. If, however, Parliament comes down too heavily upon Mr Jones, he can decline to pay any fine or fees whatsoaver, ;aud remain prisoner till the close of the session. With the prorogation of Parliament, its power to detain Jones a prisoner ceases, so he could then emerge from his dungeon a free man. We don't exactly know in which part of the Parliamentary buildings Jones would be confined in the event of his beiug sentenced to imprisonment, but vague reports have reached as that one of the coal-holes is being cleared for his reception After all, Jones may pull through without any fine or imprisonment. Parliament somehow.always makes a mess of ifc when ifc gets hold of an udtii&frpf printer charged with breach of privilege."

The Australian and New Zealand Gazette (a London publication) of a recent date, after reviewing the trade and revenue returns of the colony for the quarter ending the 31st December last, says:— "These results, viewed as a whole, are surely extremely creditable for a population all told of about 400,000, and necessarily by the very constitution of the colony scattered over a surface of country which, with regard to their numbers, may be fairly described aa immense. The value of the total trade of New Zealand, according to these returns, is now some twelve millions sterling per anum, or something like £38 per annum per head of the entire population, infants and Chinese included. Such a state of things for a community numerically so small is surely a happy one, and promisee well for the immediate future, Then we have to bear io mind that the newly constructed railways of New Zealand will prove important factors in aiding the further development ol the colony, and facilitating that inorease in settlement which is needed so urgently to fully opon the very considerable material resources of the interior. Many new railways ore in course of construction or are contemplated, while the carrying out of many other public works, already begun or projected, will doubtless do much to advance the general well being of the country. New Zealand is, geographically, highly favored, and, as we have urged before in these columns, is probably, destined .to become the concentrated focus of Pacific commerce which must some day, at no very distant date, convert that vast ocean into a great merchantile highway between Australia, China, Japan, and America. The ultimate civilisation and settlement of Polynesia by Europeans must alone react powerfully on New Zealand, which occupying a commanding position as a great commercial ' centre, possesses too within herself many of those staples of material resources which alone constitute the most solid and permanent wealth."