The Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 261, 14 November 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1879.

A considerable portion of last night's sitting of Parliament seems to have been devoted to the discussion of the question what are public and what are private telegrams. It appears that a considerable cumber of messages were flashed along the wires all over the colony during the late election, and that the receipts of the department were in no way swelled bj their transmission, the conclusion naturally arrived at by the ptihiic being that Ministers had taken advance of their position to use public property free of charge to themselves in order to gain such a majority of votes as should result in their retention of office. But ail the electric pressure they couKi bring to bear proved of no avail, and they had to make way for a new Government, who, being now behind the scenes, are bringing hidden things to light, greatly to the disgust of their predecessors. It being proved beyond all doubt that telegrams of a party character were sent free, despite the denial given some time ago by Sir George Grey and Mr Macandrew to the accusations, those gentlemen are now adoptiog a new line of defence. The unhappy private secretaries are now made to bear the blame. It was they who ought to have decided upon the code to be used, and whether the messages affecting Sir George's and Mr Macandrew's tenure of office ought to be paid for by the taxpayers of New Zealand or by those in whose interest they were sent. Poor Private Secretaries 1 There waa another Jio« of defence beyond this one again. Iv the event of the Private Secretaries having made so stupid a blunder as to despatch at the public expense what were to all intents and purposes purely private telegrams, the writers ought to have been offered a chance of paying for them, and so removing them out of the code of what are technicaly known as " G T.s," or Government telegrams, before they were laid on the table of the House. The fact is that the late Premier and the late Minister for Public Works have been detected iv another of their numerous tricks and the consequence waa that the greater part of last night was wasted by them in their endeavor to wriggle out of an awkward scrape. A large meeting of gentlemen interested in organizing a regatta was held last evening at the Trafalgar Hotel, when the following officers were elected to carry out the arrangements.:— Commodore, J. S. Cross; Vice Commodore, A. J. Richmond; Committee— Messrs Everett, Fletcher, Garrard, Gay, Healy Nay lor, Osborne, B. C. Roberts, Robinson \ Dr Scaly, W. Simpson, Topliss, Burton West and T. S. Wymond. Treasurer, W. H. West; Secretary, C. Wymond. It waa unanimously resolved that the regatta should take place on New Year's Day, and the Committee decided to draw up a programme and have the same published in several parts of the colony in order to induce competitors from other parts to use their influence towards ensuring the success of the regatta. At the close of the meeting a subscription list was opened and some £20 promised. We notice in our files from various parts of the colony great complaints from correspondents and others with regard to the very high fares charged by the Union Company. One writer on the subject iv the New Zealat.der seems to thiuk that the only remedy is to break the mouopoly at present enjoyed by the Compauy. He says : -It does not matter whether the distance is long or for a few hours only (where no meals are required) the charges are simply prohibitive to the travelling public. I have been for some years in connection with steam shipping in the Home country, and thiuk it would be well to draw the attention of our ship owners at Home to our position here. I therefore will send Home by an early mail a list of fares and distances, and have them inserted in the best Liverpool, Glasgow, Tyue, and London papers, together with such other information as I can obtain. Meanwhile I hope your numerous readers will agitate in this matter, and encourage expression of public opinion thereon through the Preaa,

which ought to be unanimous as to the restrictive policy of this Company's monopoly. In the telegf am which will be found eliewhere respecting the suggestions offered to Parliament by the Licensed Victuallers thm- is evidently some confusion with regard ' to the license fees. As we are unable to ] correct it we have printed it exactly as received. Perhaps those interested will be able to in'erpret it. A novi ltt in this part of the colony at least Was to be seen and heard iv the sir. eta this morniug, when two one-legged French sailors, one of them possessing an excellent ba3s voice, were limping about on their crutches singing French songs, the Marseillaise evidently being the favorite. We are not aware whether the experiment was financially successful. A fkactice match between members of the Nelson Cricket Club will be played in the Botanical Reserve to-morrow afternoon, when a good attendance is requested. The Legion of Honor.—lv addition to the award of the Gold Meda! (L'Academie Natiouale), and also a Silver Medal, awarded to John Brinsmead & Sons, of Wigmorestreet, London, for the superiority of the Piano Exhibited by them last year at the Paris exhibition, the founder of the Firm has been created Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, this distinction being conferred on no other British Pianoforte Manufacturer.