THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 182, 31 August 1878, Page 2

TH E WEEK.

The Financial Statement of the Colonial Treasurer is, a3 a rule, it sort! pui^lfe to those who are called upon to study it, the multiplicity of accounts being so confusing tbat it is always difficult to arrive at its true meaning. The Public Works Statement of the present Government is so far as it affects Nelson, of a totally different character. There is no plurality of accounts there; no necessity for hunting about to see it any item that seems to the readei' to have been accidentally omitted from one page appears on another. There is just one simple little statement which is to the effect that £4700 is to be spent somewhere in the Aorere district aud the whole of the rest of the province is to be left to take care of itself as best it may. Now, just by way of variation, let me put it in another forni. When the tax of three half-pence a gallon on beer was proposed, it is reported in the Wellington papers that one of tile Nelson Members who is interested in tho brewing trade was heard to exclaim, " There goes £400 a year." Now, supposing this to be correct, and taking the amount mentioned as representing the tax that on the average will bo collected from each of three principal brewers in this town, it- follows that, during the five years embraced in $r Macandrew's State ment, by the beer (tax alone Nelson will contribute £6000 to thelcolonial revenue. Mr Macandrew comes do ivn to the House with the proposal that the whole of the money to be expended cu public works in the whole of the Nelson district during the time that this £6000 is being collected shall be £4700. Forty seven-sixlieths of the three-halfpenny beer tax levied in the town of Nelson is all that he can spare for the promotion of public works :n the province of Nelson! A noble proposal iudeed! 1 wonder what our representatives say to it. It is interesting to observe the difference between the railway scheme proposed by Sir Julius Vogel and that which is considered necessary by Mr Macandrew. The idea of the former was that New Zealand should be connected from the extreme north to the extreme South by railways—excepting, of course, Cook's Straits, which in a very short time will be efficiently bridged by powerful steamers. Mr Macandrew is satisfied to have the northern terminus iu the Canterbury district, aud is desirous tospendall the money that can re obtained south aud west of tbat district. The main line to the north is to be sacrificed to branch lines in Otago and Canterbury. And then with an air of sincerity that is really refreshing he, after showing how large districts are to be opened up in the Canterbury province humbly apologises to them for the small number of miles of railway that he means to give them. To the Nelson, members he does not deem it necessary to address a single word of excuse for depriving their constituencies of every scrap of benefit that is to be derived from the system of public works, to the construction of which in other districts they are to contribute their share of taxation No, he seems to think that if the Government lay out £4700 in the Aorere Valley it is quite as much as Nelson ought to require or expect. What was he trusting to when making such a proposal? To the excessive good nature of our members? To their weakness? To their want of unanimity? To what? A Rabbit Nuisance Bill has been introduced into the House, one of the clauses of which strikes me as being rather amusing. It is to the effect that a penalty is to be imposed for the introduction of rabbits into the colony. Is not this very nearly akin to the wise precaution of locking the stable door after the horse has been stolen ? Seeing that complaints are constantly arising from all parts of the havoc that is being worked by those wretched little creatures, which in tome districts are ruining both runholders and farmers, does it not seem to be a work of supererogation to pass a law forbidding their importation. Is it likely that any more will be introduced, or if some misguided individual should import a couple or two, would they and their progeny make an appreciable difference in the number already in existence? Surely such legislation as this is not required. I have on one or two occasions that I can remember tried my hand at descriptive writing, but I never was thoroughly satisfied with my efforts. But even supposing that I had been so, I am sure I should acknowledge a superior in a paragraphist who recently distinguished himself in a Taranaki paper. It seems that tbey had a ball up that way I the other day, which was considered a matter of sufficient public interest to be recorded in a daily paper, and this is how it Jwas done.— . "After the introductory stiffness of the first hour had passed, the room from the gallery looked almost bewildering. The eye fell on an everlasting throng of dancers and promenaders; and the rich toilets and varied colors of the handsome dresses, reflected as they were in the large mirror at the end of the room, appeared to the spectators in the gallery like a kaleidoscope. The sheen of the silks and sntins, falling from polished shoulders, and round, well-formed arms, aqd rivalled only by the lustre at tbe eyes tljat

flashed their irresistible radiance on their llosts, ahd the hurly-burly when tbe ball was at its height, had almost aft intoxicating influence. Now in the formal, stately measure of the "square dance;" again in the voluptuous whirl of the waltz; at one time in the dash of the £nlop< at another in the easy conversazione of the promenade— thus sped the flying hours, and at midnight, by the time supper was announced, the climax of enjoyment had been reached." There is about this charming paragraph an amount of what Lord Beaconsfleld would call " exuberance of verbosity,'' that is not to be easily beaten. What puzzles me is how the component parts of the kaleidoscope could bring themselves to leave such a scene for anything so vulgar and commonplace as supper. So I see that the irrepressible Deceased Wife's Sister has once more been trotted out by her devoted admirer Dr. Hodgkiuson. He is, however, shrewd enough to know that to many others she is not sufficiently attractive to ensure a ready Compliance with her claims, so ou presenting her to the public again this year he has adopted the novel course of linking ber with the working man, who is so often dragged to the front by members of Parliament. 0 Marriage with a deceased wife's sister, Dr Hodgkinson opines, " is essentially a poor man's question, because, while the poor man has no outlet or escape from the present law, the rich man cau go to other countries where these marriages are legal, aud carry out his intentions, and then return to this country.'* The ingenuity of her advocate ought to secure a triumphant success for the D.W.S. this session. F.