THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1858.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 116, 30 November 1858, Page 3

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1858.

We are glad to see ouf contemporary is beginning to find out, "all is not gold that glitters." It is evident, he thinks, that the "hue and cry" about " our gold-fields " is drowning all other •less noisy, but not less essential, interests. He -observes: —" The benefits which we, as a community, derive from the possession of a goldfield are very plain and easily reckoned -up." "We will not now stop to discuss the question ■which is right, the. Examiner or the Gold Bonus Committee and their Keferees, as to whether we really do possess a working goldfield, but, for the sake of argument, admit that -the Examiner is Tight. At the same time, we should say, if ' called upon to admit the correctness of the amount, that -we have a set-off to plead; and we think that, however great the benefits to be derived from.the possession of a gold-field, there are many countervailing balances to be settled before the net profits can be correctly ascertained. He goes on to tell us " the activity which it (that is, the gold-field) infuses into all ordinary transactions of life is very marked." Here we think our contemporary is again making a false application of terms. Instead of an " unmistakeable air of satisfaction pervading the whole community," we are so obtuse as to see nothing but an intense state of feverish excitement pervading among the trading portion of the community^ as well as a state cfJselSsh individualism—-everyone trying to

elude the prying eagerness of his neighbour to discover by his movements whether he has any more certain information of the real state of things than himself. However, after indulging iv a little soft sawder to his pet gold-digging portion of the population—who, be it remembered, are generally birds of passage, and possess but three pre-eminently active organs in their phrenological development—namely, " Locality, Secretiveness, and Acquisitiveness,"—he says : — " Beyond the protection of person and property, the gold-seeking population have no right to demand any peculiar boon, or seek for any special favor, from the Government, beyond the agricultural, or pastoral, or auy other class of the community." So have we said all along. Had our contemporary taken this commonsense view of the case sooner, we should not have been inundated with such a mass of vituperative scribbling from " Our Correspondent," " Our own Correspondent," and "Our special Correspondent/—who, like the three tailors in Tooley-street, think themselves the people of Nelson—who, however, we must say, were egged on by the tenor of the Examiner. He, however, goes on to say:—"We know there are some who say that all we have to do is to get a crowd of people together/ &c. We think there are some who may well exclaim— " Save me from my friends." He next says : — " We naturally fall into the language of gamblers when we take up the spirit of gambling, when we look upon the object of life and all the duties of society, as included in the paramount obligation of making money honestly if we can, and that to the exclusion of such old fashioned qualities as public morality, honor, and good faith" (the second one being still in respect even among thieves.) This is certainly a candid confession, and if our definition of gold speculations is a correct one; and although we have reiterated it upon all occasions when the subject has been mooted, we have never seen or read that our contemporary has challenged the correctness of our assertion. All we can hope for is, that he will not advocate a spirit of gambling, or adopt the language of those that do, but leave such as choose to follow such a course to find out their mistake and abide the consequences. In connection with what we have noticed above, our contemporary lias an extract from the Geelong Advertiser, which, speaking of the business at that place, says:—" Some of the want of spirit that characterises commercial transactions here now may be attributed to the circumstance that money is scarce and dear!' Why such a sequence should seem anything so very wonderful to the writer it would be difficult to oonceive, any more than the same circumstance producing the same effect in any other article of trade. Nevertheless, in his childish sympathy he says : —" This is a strange anomaly in a country which exports nearly ten tons of gold (?) a month!" Where, we would ask, is the anomaly ? Did not Ireland export the first necessaries of life while her population were dying by the roadside oi starvation ? Was that not an equally strange anomaly ? This same writer goes on to say, "the Port Curtis movement displaced a large amount of our floating capital, and at the same time removed twelve thousand consumers." This floating capital must have been of a very buoyant nature, and almost rivalling the great Leviathan, to be able to transport such a body of people. Had these twelve thousand consumers been diggers of potatoes instead of gold-seekers, they would have still been consumers, no matter what the relative -price of gold and potatoes might have been. Contemplating the moral and social atmosphere of the southern hemisphere, we cannot help being struck with the force of the reflection of a very able writer (J. A. Bailey), and may well say, " when we turn an intellectual glance on the aspect of modern (colonial) society, our attention becomes rivetted by the glaring anomalies which meet U3 at every turn. A thousand evils start into notice when the talisman of reason Is applied to our system —we behold the earth possessed of an illimitable power of production adequate to the supply of human necessities, and at the same time half her population languishing in indigence, ignorance* and misery. A great change, it is true, has taken place of late years in the condition of skilled laborers. The barbarism of the dark ages has been superseded by what is called modern refinement and civilisation, and the pacific march of improvement has swept away &few of the debasing superstitions which formerly prevailed among us." To judge from the tenor of our contemporary's reasoning, he would rest satisfied with the deductions of Dr. Chalmers, when, in his essay on the superior importance of a right moral to a right economical state of a community, he says, " the laborers of the present day work harder than they did before, and fare better than they did before," and would rest contented at that point; but the Dr. goes on to say, " this may be either a deterioration or an improvement in their condition. One can imagine a day of slavish (gold-digging) fatigue, followed by an evening of gross and loathsome sensuality," —which may be witnessed in the grog shops of Massacre Bay, and which our contemporary exultingly tells us increases the consumption <pf beer, wine, spirits and tobacco, and points $6 the amount of customs revenue as proofs of the flourishing condition of the province ! Not so the learned Dr. He truly observes, " this surely is not a desirable habitude of the commonalty of any civilised community: first a state of drudgery to the utmost extent of endurance, tind then of grovelling dissipation to the utmost extent of their means." Any one who is at all conversant with the state of society in our mushroom colonial population, cannot shut their eyes to the truth of the foregoing remarks; and we are confident there are few not blinded by

ignorancfe and superstition who will have the temerity to assert that the picture is overdrawn. We therefore conclude as we began, with expressing our satisfaction that our contemporary is convinced that there are other interests than " gold speculators" to be considered, and that " all is not gold that glitters."

Farewell Dinner to S. Weil, Esq.—On Thursday evening last, a party of merchants of this town gave a dinner to the above gentleman, and although unmarked by any public notice or extensive invitations, we are informed that the good-will and sincerity evinced upon the occasion was as satisfactory and happy in its result as if the invites had been more extended. When Mr. Weil arrived amongst us is in the memory of almost every one, as well as the active part he has ever been ready to take, or encourage, for the advancement of this town. He has been the first to support any public-spirited movement, and has stimulated commercial enterprise and social advancement with personal activity. If with so comparatively short an acquaintance with Nelson, he has gained the respect of the majority of its inhabitants, we hope and presage a mutual pleasure to those with whom he may settle hereafter in commercial companionship; and while regretting his departure from us, wish him every success and happiness wherever his business habits and energy may best point out his next location.

Lady Franklin on Freemasonuy.—A Mr. Kopman addressed a letter to Lady Franklin apprising her of the formation of a Masonic Society,

the " Kane Lodge," in New York city, for the purpose of raising money for the construction of a marble monument, 100 feet high, to the memory of Dr. Kane. Mr. Kopman says—" In the inscription, which will occupy a portion of one side of the base, the name of Sir John Franklin will necessarily appear; and children, the neglected and uneducated, will become familiar with the histories of two heroes, who were brothers in the mystic ties of our Order." In her reply, Lady Franklin says, " You will not be surprised at this when I tell you, as I feel obliged to do (though it is very reluctantly), that till I read of the honorable notice you have taken, and intend taking of my dear husband, in connection with Dr. Kane, as a brother Freemason, I am ignorant that he could have any claim to that noble friend's sympathies, or to your peculiar regard, on the ground of fellowship in your mystic art. I wish it were otherwise. 1 could almost wish that it could be proved this was the only secret my dear husband ever preserved towards me, so unwilling am I to forego the distinction conferred on him, or to appear ungrateful for or indifferent to past or coming kindness. If chivalric self-devotion, universal charity, goodwill to mankind, purity and uprightness of conduct be, as I believe they are, the fundamental virtues and imperative obligations of your mystic brotherhood, of which your masonic emblems are only the picturesque and poetic emblems, my husband was worthy to be your brother. It is impossible for me not to regret that you do not admit of a branch sisterhood of fellowship in good works, when I am told that for certain Masonic reasons you could not accept any contribution on my part to the monument to which the Kane Lodge is about to erect to the memory of my dear lamented friend. However, the monument, without my aid,

will attain its one hundred feet of elevation. If I ever look at it, standing in some area of your beau-

tiful city, it shall be without grudging that I was not allowed to help in building it up, and with all the admiration which I am sure it will deserve."