Page 1 Advertisements Column 4

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 157, 4 July 1881, Page 1

A PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT. [ilfe.'&ourne TelrgraptX " People's Governments" are very expensive articles. r lhey had one in New Zealand, Sir George Grey was at the head of it. He is a sort of educated Berry, and his great ambition is to become the flrat elective Governor of thai; colony. "When he got into office he Beemed to consider that the revenue of the country was a sura specially provided for professional politicians to trade upon, and that to expend it with a liberal hand upon public works in districts where it; would procure him popular support waa the first duty of a 11 patrioic" Minister. And Sir G. Grey was intensely patriotic; his patriotism being summed up 'in the well-known formula of Lord Lytton — "The greatest happiness of the greatest number, the greatest number being number one*" Sir Q-eorge Grey never wavered in his allegiance to this principle. He was a "Liberal' of the first water, and so liberal of tho public money that when he went cut of office the expenditure had increased to £110,000 per week, and a deficiency had accumulated amounting to a million sterling. Fortunately for the colony he was succeeded by an honest and capable administrator, and the woik ot retrenchment was vigorously commenced, Ministers reducing their own salaries by way of setting a good example of economy and self-denial. They have succeeded in dimiahiug the public expenditure to £GO,OOO or £70,000 a week, and retrenchments have been effected to the extent of £252,000. In fact, as we learn from receni papers, there ib every reason to hope that Major Atkinson, the Treasurer, has at length succeeded in establishing an equlibrium between the revenue and the outlay. We congratulate the Government and people of JN'ew Zealand upon this satisfactory sta'e of things ; for if the reckless extravagance of- the Grey administration had continued unchecked, that colony, with its heavy debt, could scarcely have escaped drifting into insolvency. As it is, however, it has vindicated its integrity, and proved to its European creditors its upright determination to meet all its engagements and live within its income ; and all the other Australian colonies, whose securities would have been affected if there had been any default on the part of New Zealand, must experience a feeling of relief that any risk of this kind has been averted,; and that cur countrymen in the islands are resolved to preserve their honor un : ■ tarnished, at all hazard*. -. Rhymes of Animals— A correspondent of the Ciricinatti Gazelle writes : 'I strung the following rhymes together to tickle the ears of my little bojs, tour and six years old. They tease their mamma to read it over and over again, and they fetch the big illustrated dictionary to have her point out the funny animals with such strange names and tell what she can about them. This fancy for rhyme and rhythm is, I suppose, a characteristic of nearly all children, and perhaps the publication, of this will amuse a wider circle than my own little household. The aim has been, after euphony, to have the most incongruous animala ia juxtaposition : Alligator, Beetle, Porcupine, Whale, Bobolink, Panther, Dragonfly, Snail, Crocodile, Monkey, Buffalo, Hare, Dromedary, Leopard, Mudturtle, Bear, Elephant, Badger, Pelican, Ox, Heindeer, Anaconda, Fox, Guinea-pig, Dolphin, Antelope, Goosa, Humming-bird, Weasel, Pickerel, Moose, Ibex, Ehinoceroa, Owl, Kangaroo, Jackal, Opossum, Toad, Cockatoo, Kingfisher, Peacock, Anteater, Bat, Lizard, Ichneumon, Honeybee, Rafc Mocking-bird, Camel, Grasshopper, Mouse, Nightingale, Spider, Guttlefish, Grouse, Oeelefc, Pheasant, "Woj.yerine, Auk, Periwinkle, Ermine, Katydid, Hawk, Quail, Hippopotamus, Armadillo, Moth, ... : . Rattlesnake, Lion, "Woodpecker, Sloth," . ' '; ; : Salamander, Goldfinch, Angleworm, Dog, Tiger, Flamingo., Frog, Unicorn, Ostrich, Nau'tiipp, Mole, Viper, Gorilla, Basilisk, Sole, Wbip-pobr-wil], : Beaver, Centipede, FawD, r ' Xanto, Canary, Polliwoo, Swan, Yellowbammer, Eagle, Hyena, Lark, Zebra, Chameleon, Butterfly, Shark. That Britain obtains more for her. money spent on the navy than other Powers seeins, at first sight, a startling proposition, but it is perfectly correct, as a reviewer in the current number of the Edinburgh Keview shows by most interesting figures. Dividing the annual expenditure on the, navy by every ton of armoui'ed or unarmoured shipping,* we find that in Kussia the sum spent is nearly £100 per ton ; in France, £54 6s; in Germany, .£SO 6s ; and in Britain, £43 18s. Italy and Austria, without foreign squadrons, cost respectively £40 4s and £31 18s. A ton of shipping cannot be maintained and repaired in Erance for less than £3 13s, whereas in Britain the cost is £\ 4s. Coal and engine room stores cost 18s 7d per ton in Erance, and 12s id in Britain. In simply keeping up the naval dockyards, a Erench admiral says the Erench ;pay £258,000 for what we get done for £147,000. Supposing the chief object of a navy to be the protection of the mercantile marine and ocean trade, to protect every 100 tons of merchant shipping costs annually— in Erance, £778; Kussia £694; Austria, £256 ; Italy, £187 ; Britain, £115 ;. To protect every £1000 worth of sea borne inports and exports, costs — in Russia, about £3518s ; Austria, £58 10s ; France, £26 16s ; Britain, ,£l7 5s f These are very striking Wa'swigeistive figures, l/