THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 82, 5 April 1879, Page 2

T HE WEEK.

On the whole this has been rather a quiet week. There hasn't been a single fire anywhere, and neither Mr Sheehan nor any other member of the Government has been told by Te Whiti, Titoko Waru, Hiroki.or any other Maori murderer or prophet — I am not sure as to the correct order of precedence; whether I ought to say " murderer or prophet " or " prophet or murderer " — that he is a thief and a— well, never mind what. So that on the whole, the week has, as I commenced by saying, been rather a quiet one. The nonoccurrence of a fire is absolutely unaccountable; indeed, if a coronet's inquest were to be held upon the absence of the conflagrations that have lately been regarded as daily events, the jury would be driven to finding | a verdict similar to that which is usually returned at other enquiries, equally silly and just as useless, namely: — There is nothing in the evidence to show the reason why. The freedom that Ministers have enjoyed from being insulted by Maori chiefs, however, is more easily explained. They have taken care not to give them another opportunity. Possibly they have shown their good sense in keeping out of Te Whiti's way, but the fact remains that, although we were told that Mr Sheehan was going to see the wily old prophet last Monday, and make things straight, he has not done so, and Te Whiti is able to boast of having had the last word, and of haviug totally discomfited our Native Minister. Nevertheless, the aspect of affairs is a little brighter than it was a week ago, and if Mr Sheeban and Te Whiti don't come in contact again, perhaps, in a few days time the order may be given •' As you were," aud the surveyors once more be at work ou the Wai mate Plains. In the matter of being snubbed, it seems to me, from what I have seen in the papers of late, that Mr Sheehan may claim to have some co sufferers in the members of the Royal Commission on Higher Education, who have recently paid a visit to Nelson. Not that they can complain of having been rudely treated, or of the severity of the language in which they were addressed, but, in other respects, they have, like Mr Sheehan, sustained a defeat. They came here to inspect in an official manner, no doubt with a view to criticising, and, if necessary, finding fault with, the working of the Nelson College, but were met with the reply that their authority to enter an institution which does not owe a penny to the Government for its origin or maintenance was not recognised, and consequently that there was a natural disinclination on the part of the Governors to submit to any interference from them. If, as private gentlemen, Ihcy were desirous of obtaining any information that might give them hints as to the way in which such institutions ought to be managed, which they could turn to account in promoting the usefulness of other educational establishments, which have hitherto not achieved so high a reputation as has the Nelson College, it would be afforded to them without stiut, but, as a Commission, the Governors were really very sorry, &c., &c , &c. So these gentlemen started on their journey South yesterday not much wiser than they came here. If there should be any report ! from the Royal Commission on the Nelson College it will of necessity be a little onesided, from the fact that the opportunity was afforded to that body of inspecting one side only. That wa3 the outside. They are about to start a new method of carrying on their public works in the City of Wellington, I observe. The Council is going to establish the system of " tick." Hitherto, whether for colonial or municipal works, loans have been raised and the contractors have been paid the " ready." Now, however, it seems that the Corporation of Wellington is going in for the old plan, so well known to many a colonist of the early days, of three months bills. There's a ditch somewhere in the town that has obtained a notoriety for emitting stinks greater in quantity and more offensive in quality than those which arise from any other ditch in that City of Smells, which is. saying a good deal for that particular ditch. Filled up it must be somehow or other — possibly it is ao worse now than it was twelve months ago, but in Wellington everything must be taken up spasmodically — and so tenders are to be invited upon the understanding that the one who is successful in obtaining the contract is to wait three months for his bawbees. I should like to know — what by the way never will be known —how much in the shape of interest the Corporation will have to pay; in other words which of the two is the more merciful, the contractor or th« banker. In your local contemporary I read last Thursday morning the following telegram: — " The Ntw Zeaiander appeared yesterday under Mr Reid's management. He professes independence politically, but will give the Ministry a general support. The price has been raised to twopence." I can't help fancying that there i9 a little unintentional looseness in the wording of this message, because, when you come to think of it, twopence doesn't seem much of a price for giving a general support to a Ministry, even though it " has been raised " to that amount, from which I naturally infer that the flew Zealander't support was to have been obtained previously at a lower figure than that at which it is now quoted. F.