The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 293, 22 December 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1879.

It is high time that some steps were taken by the Government in connection with the immigrants now in the Nelson barracks, where over 150 have been maintained at the expense of the country for nearly a month, they having arrived here in the Opatva on the 27th November, and there seems now to be as little likelihood as ever of their finding that particular kind of work at which they were promised em_

ployment prior to their leaving England. They consist of 50 coal miners with their wives and families, and the circumstances under which they sailed for New Zealand were different to those attending the embarkation of ordinary immigrants. They were selected by Mr Ilolloway, the Government agent, from four different counties, with the view of finding out which class of mining at home was best suited to the requirements of the Westport Colliery Company, for whom they state they were engaged upon the understanding that from the day of their arrival here they were to be provided with work, for which they were to be raid at the rate of ten shillings a day. At first there was something said about the huta not being ready for them, and they were therefore allowed to occupy the barracks, but, after being there for over three weeks, there is no talk of the huts beiug any nearer completion than they were then, and it is even said that the Company are not uow disposed to carry out their part of the agreement, and unfortunately, the poor fellows, who broke up their homes in England and came out here relying upon the geuuineness of the contract into which they believed they had entered, have nothing in writing by which they can enforce it. The manager is now in Nelson, but he appears to be either powerless or disinclined to act, aud day after day is flitting by and the prospects of the present inmates of the barracks beiug removed to Westport is as far off as ever. It is exceedingly hard upoi these unfortunate men that they should thus be doomed to lead a life of "idleness after being promised employment at good wages, and it is also unfair to the colony that it should be called upon to keep a number of able bodied men, merely because the Company referred to does not chose to abide by its engagements. Although the men have nothing in writing, there are, we understand, documents in existence which show beyond all doubt that the Company expected them, and further, that they considered that they would have to provide accommodation for them. The matter is one which calls for enquiry, and, in justice to the immigrants and the public, it should be made without delay. Tuere appears to be some misunderstanding as to the action taken by the Legislative Council last week in connection with our railway, and its effect upon the vote as passed by the Lower House. When the schedule went before the Council they— at least nine of them— as reported in our" issue of Friday, struck out the whole Item, which, of course, was equivalent to putting a stop to any further extension. Upon being remonstrated with, however, they agreed to the full amount, as originally placed on the schedule, for the extension from this end, as well as from Brunnerton, but they refused to allow it to appear as part of the " Nelson to Greymouth " railway, leaving it to the Legislature in a future session to decide whether this should be recognised as one of the colonial lines to be completed. We understand that the Government stood most loyally by the Nelson members in the dispute, and insisted upon the Council replacing the amount on the schedule, and have indeed shown themselves altogether to be so much in earnest in the matter that there can be little doubt that the work as authorised will be pushed on without delay. We have received a long letter from Mr Enck Orr, in which he criticises the memo by Mr Blair which we published the other day. He says that Mr Blair's statement as to the ruling gradient on the Hope route is wrong, as the plan does not show more than 1 in 35 in any place and very little of that, and that he has been assured by practical men that by making the line three or four miles longer a gradient of less than 1 in 50 can be obtained. He objects that on the Blue Glen route there will be heavy side cuttings and sharp curves. He says that the line will be 18 or 19 miles longer than by the Hope, which number of miles will cost £126,000. He contradicts Mr Blair's statement about the tunnelling, saying that he (Mr Blair) bad himself told him that.the tunnel from Wai-iti to Norris' Gully would be only 900 yards. He argues that the traffic would be much greater, and the country opened up more valuable, by the Motueka Valley and Hope route, and he says that Mr Blair is altogether wrong about the length of tunnel required by the Pretty Bridge route. In conclusion he complains that Mr Blair has written his memo upon mere hearsay statements, and therefore it should hare no weight with an honest Government. A meeting of representatives from the Town and Cricket Clubs was held on Saturday evening, when, after a lengthy discussion, it was unanimously decided that the following should represent Nelson at the forthcoming Interprovincial match with Wellington :— Messrs Arnold, T. Eden, Firth, G Fowler, S. Fowler, Halliday, Humphrey Naylor, 11. B. Silcock, White, and WigzellEmergency man, W. Eden; Umpire, It. Burn. This is as strong a team as could have been chosen from the players in the province, and we shall be surprised if they do not give a good account of themselves on Friday and Saturday Dext. All the necessary preparations are being made for the match, which, should the weather prove fine, will be one of the most interesting ever played -in Nelson We learn that the Wellington eleven will be picked from the following fifteen players unless Wanganui men are also included:— Kennedy, Page, Armitage, Speed, England, Ingle, Blacklock, Hamilton, Merchant, Hickson, Willis, Haughton, Shand, Seckie, and Knapp. The Wellingtonians will arrive here on Christmas morning in one of the Anchor line steamers. A coRKEsroNDENT writing from Takaka says:— Owing to the continual rain and high floods the fanners here are in sad trouble with their hay, a very large quantity of which has been floated away by the floods, and otherwise destroyed. It is also feared that a considerable quantity of the late potato crop will be rotted in the ground in consequence of the incessant heavy rains. The ship Ea9tminster may be looked for during next month, she having sailed from Plymouth for Nelson on the 25th October with 358 immigrants, of whom 221 are for Wellington, 21 for Hawke's Bay, 23 for Taranaki, 45 for Nelson, 33 for Westland, and 10 for Marlborough. Those for the three last named places are nearly all nominated. The Eastminster is a fine iron ship of 1145 tons, and is almost new, having been built at Glasgow in 1876. She was loaded by Shaw, Savill, & Co., and is consigned to Messrs N. Edwards & Co. She will proceed to Wellington from here without coming into the harbor. Messrs Richmond, Shephard, Hursthouse, and Gibbs, M.H.R., arrived by the Stella yesterday. Mr Hindmarsh, the local agent for the Government Insurance, will deliver his interesting lecture on Charles Dickens at the Masonic Hall to-morrow evening when the chair will be taken by His Worship the Mayor. Ladies are especially invited to attend. " TiiE Messiah " is to be performed at the Provincial Hall to night by the members of the Harmonic Society assisted by volunteers from outside their ranks Tickets may be obtained from any of the stationers and the net proceeds will be handed over to the Aid Society. At a recent examination for the Provincial Government scholarships in connection with the Nelson College one of the requirements was that the candidate should give a brief resume of some book that he had read. In several instances the book thus summarised was that which contains a detailed account of the Maungatapu murders. Not a very high class of literature.