LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume II, Issue 186, 11 July 1874, Page 2

LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT.

No. 2. It certainly is a very astonishing circumstance that in a town like Napier, with so much wealth and health at stake, no efforts are made to organise some sort of sanitary system ; at present, there is no sort of sanitary arrangement whatever; lhe eye is offended, and the nose becomes a most objectionable orgau, by the accumulation of sights and smells thai are truly appalling,—enough in short to breed all those hideous, loathsome, aud fatal diseases which lay waste periodically the old cities of the world. Neither is the town supplied with water; yet there are three artesian wells in full play throwing up and running to waste thousands of gallons of water daily. Strange is it not that the inhabitants of a town prefer the disastrous risk of being burnt out, to the comparative security resulting from a good supply of water. I need not enlarge upon this painful subject ; the press — that delightfully, disinterested exponent of the wants of the community, has dwelt with quite pathetic fervour upon this subject; but up to this date, without any perceptible effect. It is however one of tho most remarkable features in the social condition of the town of Napier, that its inhabitants have no sort of unity of action, or co-operation. No two persoqs agree; and let the matter under discussion be ever so important it is astonishing how obstinately the community stick out against any combined action, by which that object might be gained. It is quite otherwise with regard to polities : the people seem,, by a strange contradiction, to be tolerably united under this heading. In fact, I could not discover any political or party feeling of importance. There is too much prosperity just now in the land to admit of severe, acrimonious, party feeling. I have remarked that when men’s waistcoats are tolerably tight they are amazingly complacent in the matter of public affairs, although, at the same time, quite willing to submit to any amount of risk and loss rather than accede to some common place scheme of social or sanitary improvement. But let there be a falling off in business or profits or what not, and tfcien the sucking dove will roar at you like a lion—terrible to listen to — not so much, by the way, from his innate ferocity, as from the insufferable burden that always supervenes upon a political reaction. You have no doubt remarked that if the country is prosperous the Ministry of the day get a great deal of undue credit for it; and if otherwise they get just as much undue abuse. Such is i tie “ vox popnli.” At present the squatocracy, or landed interest, is so completely in the ascendent in Hawke’s Bay, and there seems so little desire on the part of the people to throw off that yoke, that upon the whole we may accept their quiescence upon political matters as an evidence of satisfaction and content. Yet there is a low rumbling of coming strife, aud though the cloud is no bigger than a man’s hand, yet doth it portend a great political struggle, which I apprehend will be very fierce. The influx of immigrants, and with them the element of discontent and dissatisfaction, is giving to the democratic interest great weight. I am not prepared to advocate any very great resolution in public matters —there is, no doubt, room for improvement; but as it was in the beginning, so it ever will be, in that direction, under any sort of Government. But I am prepared to say that a very different system of taxation than now obtains will most assuredly result from the advent of more democratic institutions, and it is most assuredly much wanted. While I was in Napier, several immigrant ships came to anchor in that Bay, and discharged their passengers. I was not much struck with the people one way or another; a long voyage is not improving personal appearance ; but they seemed upon the whole to be a pretty fair sample of the sort of people we are likely to get under the free and easy scheme. They are good for trade at any rate, for the once quiet and deserted streets of the town present quite a lively appearance after lamp-light, especially on -Saturday nights. But still these people find plenty of fault with their new home. They growl awfully. A very clever lady, who has taken a most active part in bringing out immigrants, and has paid the most unremitting attention to their comfort and welfare, told me, not without emotion that after all it was but thankless work, for her proteges were always wanting something that they could’nt get. I however consoled her with the comforting reflection that since the days of Moses, who was the greatest immigration agent that ever lived, immigrants have ever proved an ungrateful lot. The first emigrants we have record of, left their country after quarrelling with their bread and water, about a matter of straw ; and from that day to this under all conditions, and under every clime, that class of people have ever proved a trouble and distress to their leaders. As in Gisborne, so in Napier, the stranger is astonished at .the enormous number of persons in proportion to the population who are in public employment. “ Who is so and so ?” “ O, that’s Mr. Commissioner A.” “ And that other gent P” “ That’s Mr. Commissioner B's clerk,” and so on, and so on. It seems almost a marvel how such a number of people, from boys to grey-haired men, find work at the expense of the nation ; but whether they find work or not, they certainly find some sort of pay, and seem to thrive on it. All grades of society, in every latitude of the earth, and under every variety of climate, and political condition, have some specially distinguishing mark. Some people view society from a phrenological point of view; others from a physiological point; others from a philantropic point; but this writer, setting aside all those specialities, and extraordinarily long names, looks at society from a millinery or tailoring point of view, than which nothing can be a better index to character. By the cut and manner of wearing their garments are natives and individuals to be classed, not by the shape of their heads, or the color of their skins—by no means. Tailoring in some shape or other has been practiced by the human race since the earliest records of our existence. We have certain knowledge that men (swells too, after their kind) clothed, and in some countries do still continue to clothe themselves in the skins of wild beasts, no doubt very becoming, and certainly very appropriate and convenient. We have authentic proof that the swells of Athens and of Rome decorated their heads with garland*, of flowers, and were otherwise, according

to their lights, very elegant; but judged by our standard, very effeminate and absurd. And we know as a fact from personal observation that savage races even at this day, pay great attention to thmr Lead gear; but we have as a most certain and positive proof of the innate love of some peculiar and distinguishing badge, even amongst this generation of civilised beings, in the beautiful and picturesque chapeau blame of our illustrious officials and citizens. Thus we observe that the inherent love of distinguishing finery more or less gorgeous, takes the shape in savage races of feathers and fat, and amongst ourselves it is developed in the simple but expressive form of a white hat ! What has this got to do with Napier, pray P Why a great deal, for in consequence of there being such a prodigious tot of officials, if you happened to be passing over the town in a baloon at a moderate elevation, you would think that there had been a heavy snow storm ! The streets are literally paved with the beforementioned inoffensive head gear. But yet again, while upon social topic*, I have observed, that while great effort* are being made to acclimatise different varieties of useful and ornamental animal* and plants, imported with much care and expense from the old and other countries, to this most favored land—-there yet remains one and only one of nature’s bountiful gifts which retains its perfect form unimpared, uninjured, and not in the least the worse for change of climate, and that is, by no means a botanical, nor any other work of art or ■science, but simply the never fading, never ptffishing, never altering, “ British Snob.” He, alone, of all the sons of men, knows no change. An ever-green, he may be found anywhere, and everywhere, from London to Napier. I shouldn't wonder but you have a specimen or two even in this remote spot; and I verily believe that some of them will be ultimately found in the bottomless pit.