The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 148, 22 June 1880, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1880.

Thb concluding portion of the report of the Civil Service Commission commences thus :-—" We are quite prepared for tbc accusation tbat all onr recommendations as to the treatment of Civil servants are of an illiberal character; but we address your Excellency under a paiufnl sense tbat the financial coudition of the colony is such that any pretence at liberality would be unjustifiable." If the only charge to which they had exposed themselves was that of illiberally, the Civil Service Commissiooersjj might rest content with the consciousness that they had merely done their duty, but unfortunately they have laid themselves open to the accusation of unfairness and untruthful ness. In the report on the Nelson railway staff the Commissioners say: — "In Nelson we found a gentleman in receipt of £425 a year as manager of railways, there being less than twenty miles of railway, on which only two trains a day are running; whilst neither the inspector of permanent way nor the engineers in a roofless workshop appear to have taken or required any instructions from him. In the same city we found a railway storekeeper receiving £160 a year, but who had no Btores and no office." Now, as a matter of fact, they did not find the manager of the railway in receipt of £425 a year, his salary really being £400, nor did they find him manager of this railway only, for he is responsible for the condition of the Picton and Blenheim railway as well, in fact has everything to do with tbat line except the actual traffic management, and if through neglect a fatal accident were to happen on that line, he would be liable to he tried for manslaughter. They did nit find a railway storekeeper receiving £160 a year, the fact being that the station master acts as storekeeper and in the latter capacity is in receipt of £50 a year. We should have been disposed to sympathise with the Commissioners in the difficult and thankless task they had undertaken, and would have been among the last to find fault with any reasonable recommendations they might have made, but when we find that they desire to court even more obloquy than was likely to fall to their share by making such gross misstatements, we, and the public generally, will be inclined to condemn rather than to sympathise with and support them. There is also just ground for complaint in the flippancy of style and the evident desire to sneer at Nelgon, and to depreciate it in the leyes of outsiders, although, perhaps, these are only what we might have expected from a Commission of which Alfred Saunders is chairman. A concert, for which considerable preparations have been made, and which promises to be a complete success in every way, will take place at the Wakefield Choral Hall tomorrow evening. A presentation of a gold locket suitably inscribed was made this morning by Mr Tucker, the Manager of the Telegraph office, on behalf of himself and brother officers, to Mr Mountier, who has been chief accounfcaut here for two years, on the occasiou of his removal to the Napier office. Mr Tucker spoke in high terms of Mr Mountier both officially and socially, and congratulated him upon the good feeling that hadalways existed between him and his brother officers. Mr Mountier, who feelingly expressed his thanks for the compliment paid to him, will occupy a similar position in the Napier office to that which he filled here, and is to be relieved by Mr W. D. Livick, who comes from Napier to Nelson. The annual general meeting of the H Battery N.Z Artillery was held last night at the Nelson Hotel, about fifty members being present, Major Pitt in the chair. The accounts showed the Battery to be in a very prosperous condition. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Lieut. West for his very efficient services as Secretary during a period of four yeara. Lieut. Topliss was then elected Secretary for the current year, and the following members were appointed on the various Committees :— General Committee : Sergt -Major Wimsett, Sergt. Bird, Sergt. Jackson, Sergt. Armstrong, Corpl. Hood, and Gunners Burnett and Twist Range Committee : Corpl. Haase and Gunner H. Wimsett. Hall Committee •. Corpl. Hood aud Gunner Burnett. At the conclu-. sion of the formal business of the evening, Major Pitt congratulated the Battery upon their general efficiency, and stated tbat immediately his Parliamentary duties were concluded he would again be with the Battery, and ready to take as active a part in their duties as he had done in previous years, and that be also wished to inform

x them that in a recent conversation he had had with Captain Fairchlld in reference to the Christcburch Review, the latter gentleman had said*' that he had never had a more ■frell-condnctea lot of passengers on board the Hinemoa than the Nelson Voluntesrs. The remainder of the evening was devoted to harmony, and some capital songs were rendered by various members of the Battery.