THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 254, 2 November 1878, Page 2

THE WEEK.

The closing day of this precious session has at last arrived. It may be regarded as a somewhat impertinent question, but I should like to ask somebody who is capable ox replying, though 1 know not where such an one is to lie found,- how milch b'ettfer off: is the rotiiitry for the thriie months and a half that its representatives have spent in Wei Jiugton? Take the fulsome promises made by the Premier in his travellings by land and by water during the recess, and compare them with the records of Hansard, and ' Oh, what a miserable falling of was there!" must be the exclamation that will issue from the llpa of all who care to take the trouble to look into these matters. Even the Electoral Bill, that dazzling gem of which Sir George was, of all the contents of his Pandora's box, the proudest, has come to grief because there has been too much inclination on the part of the Ministry to pet and pamper the Maoris at the expense of the colonists. Accusations and recriminations have proved the leadiDg features of a cession which promised so much, but has performed so little, and if the record of it Cduld be struck out of our Parliamentary Biue Books none would be the worse, while the character of the colony might stand higher thau it now does. Every leading measure of . the Ministry has been either rejected or withdrawn. The Ministiy alone remains. May we never again have so profitless a session. I always like to see a statement put neatly, even though I may not agree with the substance of it. Imagine then the relish with which I [perused the following sentence, which occurred iii a leading article that recently appeared in a newspaper which has of late bound itself hand and foot to the Grey Government. The writer, in commenting upon the events of thesession, remarks: " The frank manner in which the Government withdrew the Beer Duty Bill when they found that a majority was against them, while it greatly disgusted their opponents, has raised the Grey party very much in the eyes of the people generally, who see that Sir George and his colleagues desire to carry out the wishes of the majority." This suggests to the mind a scene which, for anything we know to the contrary, may have occurred at a Cabinet meeting on the morning after the House had agreed to Mr Johnston's amendment to the effect that the word " That " should remain as the sole evidence of a Beer Tax having been proposed. Mr Ballance with tears of joy in his eyes enters and exclaims, " Oh! Stout, isn't it a fortunate thing that Johnston moved that amendment? Why, but for that, the tax i might have been agreed to aud our respected Premier and ourselves would have laid ourselves open to a charge of acting in defiance of the wishes of the majority. lam so rejoiced that we failed to carry it." I don't care to intrude any further upon their private deliberations, but, if the newspaper paragraph quoted above accurately represents the sentiments of the Cabinet, lhavo no doubt that they one and all spoke in much the same strain as I have imagined Mr Ballance to have done. It was a bad day for the Corporation last Wednesday, and I fancy that if the office almauack were open to public inspection we should find it marked with a big black cross. There was a charge in the Magistrates' Court against somebody for keeping a disorderly house which, if proved, would have put £5 at least into the Municipal colors. Unfortunately it failed. Then there were three cabmen summoned for waiting on the wharf for passengers. From this at least fifteen shillings was expected to accrue to the revenue. But not only did they not get this but they had to pay a guinea for breaking down in their case, and the sole consolation came in the shape of two five bobs from the owners of errant horses. So the account stood thus-.— Estimated receipts, £6 ss; estimated expenditure, nil. Actual receipts, 10s; actual expenditure, £1 Is; discrepancy on the wrong side, £6 16s. Peter Levy, A.0., will have to keep his eyes open and his horse moving for some time before this deficiency is remedied. The rather curious cab accident which was reported in last night's Mail as bavin z occurred in Trafalgar-street on Thursday evening was, naturally enough, the moans of attracting a small crowd. Prom the little knot of people assembled around the fallen phaeton, I heard a voice say, " That shows the wisdom of the Council bylaws which require that the driver of a vehicle shall always be in attendance upon his horses." I did not see who the spokesman was, and I have been wondering since who was likely to give utterance to such an. expression of opinion. It might have been a City Councillor, it might have been a policeman. It is very improbable that it was a cabman, and from my late experiences iv the Police Court, I am prepared to state most positively that it was not a lawyer. P.