THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1859.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 137, 11 February 1859, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1859.

In our last we referred to the present general depression of commercial matters in the Provinces of New Zealand, and if Nelson is not the worst off, she is at least suffering from the effects lo the fall proportion of her share. Like many other misfortunes that come upon us, we are ready to meet it with complaints and lamentations, entirely losing sight of the question as to whether we have brought it upon ourselves, and whether it may not be traced to our own carelessness or indifference in the first instance. At the present time we have the misfortune of being in such au embryo state in everything, that we have not established one permanent fact, or standing ground upon which to rest, while we apply the lever to other things- Our hopes are great, our expectations reasonably extensive ; but through misfortune or fault, not one of those expectations Lave been sufficiently tested to any satisfactory end ; not one of our hopes have been fostered enough to make us tenaciously hope on. And why is this? Is it the fault of the country we "live in that we do not properly prove the matters that raised those hopes ? Are we to accuse her of being capricious or false, because our expectations are not immediately realised? and have we. wjt.h Eufficierit. energy', aud judgment;,made, the most of our time to investigate our resources? We all know that we-have not. - ■-■• ■

Arguments flow in from all side 3; suggestions pour upon our heads; and complaints are sufliciently numerous to swamp the barJt "General Content," to say nothing of the head winds of partizanship and the under-currents of private interests. There is one continual turmoil and buffeting, and no progress, no activity, no energy. We complain of our Provincial Government of course. There never was a government of any kind from the first formation of a vote to the present time, but the existing powers were accused of doing wrong to some one; and of course the little drop of bitter in the sweet cup of place and power is to hear these fretful murmurings, in many cases as fugitive and inexplicit as they are necessary to the existence of the billions individuals who use them, and therein is to be made the distinction in judging between the existence of real grievances and ill-judged complaints (than which nothing is easier), unaccompanied by any patriotic or useful suggestion. Hints are not wanting also, so unraistakeably selfish that the seeker for the general good and the real advancement of the

province, might well hesitate how-to begin with so many clamorous applicants. .. .

We say that the Government is blamed for all sorts of possible and impossible .things because that is a matter of course; but when we

blame those who, from their prominent position, are the. marks for the general arrows of discontent, and the1 urns into which all the tears and sighs of.the Province are poured, do we reflect as to whether we, in ..ourselves, are not as great

stumbling-blocks to the general progress ? ■ Are we sure that, individually we practise so as to advance the Province ? Do we step forward to support .any measure calculated to be of ultimate benefit? Do. we assist public undertakings? Dp we- develop our copper, our gold, our coals, our plumbago, our flax, or any of the other pro" ductions that we are said to possess? We may be answered that shares have been bought and little encouragnaent given to proceed; but it is not our-money that is alone required, or that is to do everything, while we shut our eyes. Nature has allowed hei\ treasures to peep coyley out of the ground more invitingly than in auy other part of New Zealand yet known, but our schemes go lingering f>jx without vitality, and apparently without interest (evidently so in a monetary Bense); dreamy listlessness pervades everything, deposits are worked with ghostly trains of waggons, and shadowy men that vanish if we but open our eyes. Meetings of public . companies are short of directors and committee men, and each shareholder thinks the body will be none the better for his particular presence that evening, and he stays away also; and no business is done, no "important facts elicited, no investigation made, and yet all think they have a perfect light to make a good thing out of their shares, whatever they may be. While this peculiar modesty exists, while this sleepy method obtains, so long shall we be a province of grumblers, for the disease that emanates from ourselves spreads through all grades and positions; and, : as long as we exhibit indifference in the exercise of our privileges, and drowsiness in watching our interests, so long shall we be a discontented and. perverse generation: without content, through the unsatisfactory termination of our crude schemes ? and without success, because too indifferent for personal activity in general matters; arid careless of advancement in the aggregate, because the opthalmia is not sufficiently acute to prevent pur shutting our eyes and going to sleep, and letting the disease work until total blindness id the "shape of a province without resources overtakes