The Oamaru Mail THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1223, 18 March 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1880.

'This morning-' our contemporary Las peeped from behindhis fortifications. He has taken down from the battlements the images. which he set up to act as depositories for oar shots. For him such valor is truly remarkable. Bnt he has, like the vanquished little boy, who brings his big brother to thrash feisr vanquisher, received reinforcements. 'The " Thunderer" of the Southern ;Sea3, and a Mr. Tomlinson, of Auckland, have been pressed into his service, willy-nilly. What our contemporary would have done had he not such help into requisition we leave otur readers, glided by his past actions, to conjecture. In axieh distinguished company our contemporary -ventures to reiterate, though with wise -reservations and modifications, ids former accusations. He tells us that Ms article was less a leading article tW an essay There should have been no necessity for the writer to announce what he intended it to be. The public are better judges of attch things than the writer himself, who cannot now, by any process of reasoning, make his article anything else than what it was, and what it was intended to be—a gross libel on • colonists. Bat he is not satisfied with the simple term essay. His article was adao a " general satire." The writer's •explanations remind us of the expedients that were resorted to by stage managers in early Shakstperian days, when, to simplify matters and avoid expense, danbs were affixed to some convenient, places on a stage and labelled, " This is a horse," " This is a man," as occasion required. Most -writers are not reduced to the painful necessity of labelling their remarks, .and we regret that our contemporary • should have been so careless as to have neglected to endow his article with isome semblance of what he intended it .to be. He says that we have inrgeaioasly sheeted home his "general iH&tjjuß to the boys and girls, the men 3Rid women, of this community," and ejccusc* himself by saying that he did not mean that the people of Oamaru :anti *lnt* Colony only, but that the people «af the Australasian Colonies, were t£Ti©ii:a.nt and vulgar. We think that this explanation has not relieved him of much of the difficnitv into which

ho has been kuir.lfiJ by his Indiscretion. *"The people of OißCiaro will not the more ' appreciate his slstm'ffcirs betr.iu.se their . neigh tors over the Tr»ter have alsto been rslandered. We am clianjed with having -defended people who were not attacked. ATe 'will leave this charge to tlie arbitra:ment of the public. The whole tone of •the "article,"' "essay," "satire," or •whatever it may be, wa3 such as toHeave an impceaaian on the mind of any intelligent reader that respectability was at a discount in the Colonies, and that, in this respect, they are different from, mother places. What does the writer in oar contemporary know of the Colonies I

About as much as • those flitting travellers know upon whose flimsy authority he appears to have based his accusations. He has, according to his own confession, gained no personal knowled<_ce of the people of Oamaru : and vf t, almost solely upon the strength of his Oamaru experience, he has judged of the social and mental characteristics of the people of the Australasian Colonies. Our contemporary's allusion to our knowledge of good manners and our abstention from vulgar vituperation or the punctilious use of nothing but the purest and most refined phraseology, is most complimentary. It is well that there is an admixture of respectability amongst the "boors," "tyrants," "scoundrels."' "coxcombs," "snobs," "lioidens," "yahoolis," and "upstarts" of this Colony. These are the exact terms used by our contemporary in writing of the characteristics of our people. Perhaps when the writer in our contemporary has become so tainted bv the vicious colonial element which he so graphically ami coarsely depicts, we shall be able to return the compliment he has paid us. Alluding to his lamentable want of knowledge of the people of Oamaru, the writer says It is possible, however, that the writers referred to are more happily situated in this respect, and that they apply to the people of Oamaru a sweeping satire on the coarseness of colonial manners gepe» ally on the strength of knowledge based on the study of their personal associations, or perhaps on the strength of a too rigid analysis of their own individual characteristics.

I The writer is correct. "We did apply to the people of Oamaru and the Colony (as he intended us to do) what he somewhat jubilantly and egotistically 1 terms a " sweeping satire" on the !coarseness of their manners; and, judging of them from a study of their jiersonal associations and a rigid analysis of our own individual characteristics, we denouuee that so-called satire as a toss libel upon Colonists. The writer attempts to invest hja ideas with some authority by pointing out that the Argus " traversed the same ground as we traversed, and expressed the same in language almost tantalisingly like that used by us." He Hatters himself that the editor of the Argus is either as able or as thick-headed as he ia. He almost deplores the unpropitious fate which landed him in a small New Zealand upcountry town, among3t people unfit for his society, instead of in the metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere, where his literary abilities might have received fitting recognition. But he does not tell us that the writer in the Argus has to deal with a community that has received the tnlui of a convict element, and that what might apply to the people of thatcolony would not apply to the people of New Zealand. Nor does he draw attention to the fact that the article in the Argus is characterised by wisdom and tempeiv ance, and that the writer comments upon what he conceives to be a faulty system of education. On the contrary, he has the impertinence to assert that his ideas and those of the writer in the Argus are " tantalisingly" similar. Docs he mean to tell us that they are so in every respect % "VVehaveno forgotten that he, on the ISth ultimo, wrote one of hia stinging " leaders," or " sweeping satires,'* or profound ** essays,' on the Royal families of Europe. After likening the subjects of European monarchs to bullocks driven until they " perished of riven joints and ' bursted blood vessels," he goes on to say that these monarchs are

Things and the parasites of thing 3 born in palaces built of stolen or extorted money—born with a so-called pre-emptive right to give thein&elves the airs of demigods, %vear court suits, ride in state carriages, and live wastefuiiy at the sole expense of people as good as themselves, if not altogether better than they, and to whom they show their gratitude by entering upon expensive and destructive wars for rea.n-iif that none but blockheads or bullies would ureani of quarrelling about. How do such views harmonise with the A r«tts's denunciations of those ictorian teachers who fail to Inpulcate

Leasons of truth, mutual courtesy, deference for whatever i 3 worthy of respect, obedience to legitimate authority, fidelity to duty, magnanimity, good manners, and a delicate consideration for the feelings and opinions of others.

The writer in our contemporary should have borne in mind what he had alrca/Jy written, and excised from the remarks of the Argns matter so diametrically opposed toit. Notwithstanding that he has claimed the Argus and Mr. Tomlinson as coadjutors, they are nothing of the kind. Mr. Tomlinson's article to the Victorian Review dealt with defects in our educational system, and so did the comments of the Argus on that article. Not a single allusion is made by either of these -writers to the general tone of colonial society—to the vulgarity of the adult population of the Colonies. If our contemporary had acted with similar discretion, he would have won the approbation of all right-thinking people. Our educational system is admittedly faulty, and Mr. Tomlinson deserves our warmest thanks for having taken a step which should be the means of directing public attention to the fact and effecting reform in this direction.

We arc informed that a case of infanticide will be investigated at Papakaio to-morrow. The mother of the child is a servant girl employed in a private family in the township. A young man whose name we liave.not ascertained was taken into custody upon the racecourse to-day, upon a charge of assaulting Sergeant Beatty. While the Sergeant was endeavoring to disperse a crowd who had gathered round an unfortunate woman, the fellow, wh« belong 3 to the larrikin fraternity, struck him on the head. He was at once secured, and was then identified by a Mrs. Wright as one of a party of men who had broken into and robbed her house. Yesterday afternoon Inspector Thompson put a peremptory stoppage to all games of chance upon the racecourse, and the 'Minder and over" and swindling gentry had to devise some other means of getting possession of a few stray shillings. To-day, however they were in full swing, and for a time some of "them drove "roaring" trades, but the advent of the police was the signal for the speedy clearance of the paraphernalia so elaborately displayed.

One of the heaviest yields of wheat that have come under our notice this is that obtained by Mr. M. Grant from 100 acres at the Totara. The threshing has not yet been completed, bnt so far as it has gone the yield has been nearly 75 bushels to ;the acre, and it is anticipated that the average for the whole paddock will be over. 70 bushels. Mr. Grant purchased this paddock at the late sale of the estate, and gave, we believe, something like L 27 ati acre for the land. At the time it was thought he was paying rather dearly for the block, but the result seems to justify the speculation. This paddock had only been cropped once before,

some years ago, and on that occasion gave an average of 65 bushels to the acre. The wheat is a fine sample of velvet, for which Mr. Grant has, we believe, refused 4s per. bushel.

We regret that we have been compelled to hold over a letter from "Paterfamilias," and some other matter, till to-morrow. A barque, supposed to be the Elizabeth, from Newcastle, with 600 tons of coal, consigned to Mr. G. Sumpter, anchored in the harbor this evening. It is announced in our advertising columns that the March competition by the North Otago Rifle Association will he fired on Saturday next, 20th inst.- Entries .are to be made with Mr. R.. L. Rule, the Son. Secretary!

Up to 4.30 to-day, Brookes, the pedestrian, had accomplished 108 miles and eight laps of the distance which he has essayed to accomplish in 24 hours (120 miles). He had at that time been walking for 20 hours, and showed every sign of ability to fulfil his task. Half-past eight this evening will see the finish.

Some discussion having taken place lately as to the adaptability of the Maniototo Plains for the production of wheat, we may mention that we have been shown a fine sample of autump grown wheat from that district. This wheat was grp>vp by Mr. P. j. Green, and was simply intended fpr foils' feed, no care being taken in the selection of the 'seed, but the sample is nevertheless a very good one. The latest intelligence from the English wool market is mprg reassuring than ever. Hates have steadily increased) Principally as the effect of a revival of the Home industries, until they are now something like 15 per cent, above what they were during the first series of last year. About 60,000,0001b5, representing a value of something like L 3,.000*000, were sent to England from New Zealand last year. If we send only the same amount this'year instead of Jj3,000,000 we should realise about 1/3,450,000. The Timaru Herald complains that a promise lately made by the . Minister for Public Works that tenders for the construction of the railway bridge over the Tengawai river, on the Albury extension railway line, he immediately called for, has not j'et fulfilled. It says " Had Mr. Oliver, instead fit giyiug lis the assurance which he did, refused tQ Cjpmnjititlje (sQY§rQinent to the pecess,ary expenditure ,qn the grounds of ecpnoiny; pr put us off by promising to consider the matter, we should not have felt very disappointed at hearing nothing further on the subject," It points out "that the construction of the bridge will be necessary to enable the line to be opened to Silverstream, and a large area of excellent agricultural country to be opened up.,' Timaru is not the only community that has 3 grievance of this kind. The attention of Ministers is too much engrossed by the fulfilment of pledges tp tlje Auckland district and flying tours through the Colony. The functions of Government have been transferred to Commissions, and to the Railway Commission Timaru must look for satisfaction. This Government is no better than its predecessors 3s regards the performance of its pledges that Im-ve been made to those parts of the Colony south p£ Auckland, the home of the four seceders and the General. f'fre UprrM says ifc believes that Mr. Oliver intended to fulfil his promise regarding the bridge to which it has drawn attention. Very likely. But it is none the less true that he has made proipises inside and outside the House that will never be fulfilled that Parliament authorised works the votes for which will lapse with this month. Lord CJielmsford, at the dinner of the Grocers' Company on the 14th November, bore high testimony to the military value of the British Volunteers at home pr in the colonies. He said : —lf our Volunteers were called for active service, they woul<| prove themselves fit to take their place by the side of our regular tfoops, Fr.om my experience of th.e Volunteers who served under me in South Africa, I can fully endorse that opinion. During the Caffre war of IS7S, a large number of Volunteers were placed under my command and materially assisted in bringing that war to a gpe§dy conclusion. Many of them joined me after' wards in Natal, and together with those of that Colony, again proved their efficiency in the field/'—Volunteer Service Gazette. Grain trucks 4,t the Ashburton. station have been reported source. Inquiry satisfies us that no grievance on this reasonably alleged in the present seaspn. Grain is being brought to the station in large and increasing quantities, but every farmer c?nno,t expect £0 ht> so fortunate as to have all the labor strength at the .station turned on to his wain the moment he Delay there rjiugt be occasionally, because a dozen drays cannot bo attended to at pnee. There arc not hands enough at this station to keep up with all the daily arrivals of drays. Cannot this cause of delay be avoided 1 We should expect that the station master has discretionary power to employ extra hands at busy seasons of the year, and to vary the strength of his working force from day to day, by putting casual men on or off according to the work to YlO done, Fanners will not he unreasonable, if tfagrant delays he avoided by judicious foresight. We have no knowledge as yet of any flagrant delays, and on this point we distrust mere rumor. The arrivals are only beginning; hut if complaints arise now, whether from jvant of waggons or scarcity of hands, what may J*3 expected when the bulk of this heavy harvest is crowding towards Ashburton station from all pointspf the compass? The preparations for unloading and far storage should be 011 a scale commensurate with tfye bountiful yield which has fallen to this splendid grain district.—Ashburton Mail.