The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 594, 28 March 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1878.

His Excellency lately deliwcd ai addri-ss on the occasion of th.- . c the Working Men's Club in Auckland Amongst other things he said Some men, it is true, have come here made rnonev, and are i-ovv rich, while other: ;ire still at the lowest step of the ladder Dut this is "lie of the inevitable laws o Nature, which neither the laws t.f men ii'< anything else can controvert or change. I vou consider well the history of those wht are now noli and prosperous, what d-> yot iind ? Wliv, they are men who generally speaking—certainly in the fir.st instanceshave '«y the sweat of their bi«>w, by tliei industry, their energy, and their talents created weslth for theui.-el\es. His Excellency doubtless m-iue the abov« statements on the authority "f his i-xpe rtence in other countries, for they do no accurately describe the t.-::.; state o matters in New Zealand. It is far frou our wish to assist in the creation of clas; animosities, but we unhesitatingly asser: that all men have not had a fair chance ir this Colour of acquiring that which they had "in view in coming hither, namelv, the wherewith to keep them and their families comfortably, and to enable them to bestow upon their children that attention to body and mind which i* enjoyed only by the children of people of means. We are willing to admit, that some men's totq.l unfitness for helping in the worlc of colonics.tion is the cause of their unsuccess ; but men are not numerous in the Colony. Thefs are feu people who are devoid of the necesairj thriftiness and tact to make money, and even to acquire riches in a country like this ; but men who—from some circumstance, fortuitous to themselves bill disastrous to the Colony—are not s< liberally endowed by nature v/ith intelli Tence and carefulness as many of tliei: less lucky brethren, attain ro posi ions of opulence and power in tin state. To-day they are poor, mean uid "unimportant—to-nmrrow they an rich, assume a bogus gentility, and clam >er to the highest positions in the land l'hia, we unhesitatingly assert, is no jteauee they are more able than othei lien ; but because, as a _ rule, they an liore uiiscrupulou.a. It is an insult t< housands of huneot xyieji to pretend ti jelieve that the mushroom tend lords o he North Island, many of whom are mi vorthy to be admitted into ordinarily >olite society, and would not be pernitted even* to enter the stables of real 'entlemen, were their true characters mown, have become possessed of wealth .ecauae they were better fitted for the cork of colonisation than others less forunate. To bestow such unmerited

credit is to offerapre;i;ium for dishonesty. Many of the wealthy land owners of the North would laugh at the idea pi their having been pitchforked into their lofty positions through any other act of their own than chicanery. Take, for instance, the land lords of Hawke's Bay. Many of theai commenced in an exceedingly small wav of business, their principal line being inferior nun. They laid in ambush for the native iand owi »ets, and when tkey saw an opportunity, pnbii.ared them. This may have been the j work of years tn some instances, but it was almost sure to bring about the desired result, sooner or later, according to the character of the man performing the operation. He would first take care to create a liking in his subjects for rum, which quickly increased to a craving ; next entice them from patronising an oppositiou aiore ; lend them money ; at j the right moment .demand a mortgage, which was, in the early days, readily "ranted by the unsuspecting but now the drunken native ; watch his opportunity, and foreclose. Thus; men have been hoisted from trie lowest dreiie of society--men upon whom the preservers "f peace ar.J order have felt it to be their duty to keep a watchful eye—to representatives of the people. Of such was composed, in a great measure s the Atkinson supporters, for which his Excsiietisy, we presume j from ignorance, fought strong; y during I last session, but which, in consequents or j the rottenness of that which appeared to ' bf> its strength, crumbled to pieces. His Excellency is in error in imagining that the rich of New Zealand, as a rule, have made themselves so by their own tact aiirt industry. They have rather attained to their present positions of influence—in which they strain «-ye?y nerve to keep honest colonists in the rear—by viilany. Can neither the laws of men nor.anything else controvert or change" this state of things i An attempt is now being made in that direction. We .hope to heaven that it may succeed.