The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 16, 2 January 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1863.

AVk wore amused a few (lays since by reading in a Melbourne paper (lie contemplated arrangements for a " calico ball.'' Silks were at a discount, and satins, according to what we read, were not to be thought of for a moment. The idea appeared to be good ; at all events it came to us with the recommendation of novelty. We tried to realise the scene; but ere iv imagination, the mazes of the first quadrille bad been threaded, we asked ourselves the reason of the unwonted display of physical exertion. "Why did the people of Melbourne want to dance '' — and theu we took up the paper icigain and ascertained that the hospital, the Benevolent Asylum, and various other institutions iv the Golden City were to benefit by the transaction. There and theu the subject would have been dismissed from our minds, had not the title given to this ball awoke an echo which appeared worthy of retention on the tablets of the memory. Dance, my dear madam, in calico, if that inexpensive article offers you a sufficient field for the exercise of your good taste ; but do not forget at the same time, that the hands which fabricated the texture, of which your dress is composed, have had but little to do for many months. The cotton famine has brought in its wake another famine; whilst men in America arc amusing themselves by cutting their neighbors' throats, men in Lancashire are starving. Many years have passed since the operatives of England have seen so much misery condensed into so short a space of time. Listen to what Mr. Farnall.the Poor Law Special Commissioner, says with regard to the distress in the cotton manufacturing districts of the old country. Out of a population of 352,210 operatives, no fewer than 143,17 2 are altogether without employment; and, reckoning their wives and children, the number of those compelled to be idle probably reaches half a million. Seated by a comfortable fire, and having enjoyed a good dinner, it is difficult for most men to realise the fact, that tens of thousands of their fellow creatures are reduced to the last stages of want and woe. These, however, are the facts ; and we ask our readers whether they think that Southland has done all she can to alleviate this deep distress. Some few nights since Invercargiil danced — and danced very creditably — not in calico, l>ut iv silk and broadcloth, and we arc of opinion that few who were present on that memorable occasion thought for a moment that whilst the very badly played fiddle was keeping them in mind of the responsibility of the situation, that sixteen thousand aiiles away, half a county was fasliDg. Were it not too serious a matter to joke about, we could laugh at the fuu

of wishing a man a happy new year, when he has but a small chance of getting anything like enough to eat for the next six months.

" Little pettifogging Southland," as a friend of ours loves to designate this remarkably fine Province, may have a large heart, — we don't for a moment doubt it — but we should like to sec a practical exemplification of the fact. Everybody knows that there is no time like the present for doing what ought to be dove, and the old proverb tells with redoubled force at the commencement of the year. Season for family and Caledonian gatherings, for good cheer and the always acceptable Christmas-box, let us commemorate it by showing that we have not forgotten the land we belong to, — that though separated by thousands of miles of water, our pulses beat in unison with those who, in the land we have left, are enduring with a fortitude almost sublime, an amount of want and misery altogether unknown in the colonies. It matters not what form the movement takes. Some like bazaars, some have a weakness for quadrilles, and some never know what they like, but all can fully appreciate the value of what the Americans used to call (when they had it) the " Dollar." Let us give the dollar, or even more, and be very sure, that those to whom it is sent, will never forget the hands that were stretched out to help them in their hour of need.