THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, MARGE 30, 1860.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 255, 30 March 1860, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, MARGE 30, 1860.

In these times of wars and rumors of wars, of volunteer rifles and militia corps, it will perhaps be difficult to persuade the public of Nelson to take much interest in the less exciting warfare of a Provincial Council, or to read with the attention it deserves the Superintendent's speech. Had vpe anything new from the seat of military operations with which to interest our readers, we should naturally prefer to write upon a subject in which the sympathies of the Nelson public are now so exclusively enlisted; but in the absence of any information from that quarter, we do not think our readers would thank us for any commentary upon the wisdom or folly of those upon whom the conduct of the war has devolved. Every General is undoubtedly supposed-to be in possession of information and to have reason for many of his most important actions which he wisely refuses to communicate even to the great editorial "we;" and until the time shall arrive when all such information can be prudently made publtc we shall not excite any injurious suspicions by calling the conduct of the commander of the Pakehas in question; *ior shall we place it out of our power to offer hereafter an impartial opinion of his conduct by now tendering' any premature, unfounded, and therefore despicable, commendations. When that great general and great man, George Washington, found that he was without tho means of supplying his army with ammunition, his inaction, his inability to see a good- opppr-

tunity of attack, his cowardice (and even his. treachery) were freely talked of. by jealous statesmen, by knowing officers, and "by officious journalists; and it must have been with no very agreeable feelings that these sutlers afterwards learnt that themiin they had beeir assailing had sayed^.the army,by the very conduct which had appeared to them so reprehensible; by the rigorous prudence with which he had kept the secret, both from friends arid foes; and by the magnanimity with which he had borne all their reproaches, without allowing a hint to escape him which would" enable them to guess at the true cause of all his incomprehensible inactivity. We have been led perhaps to think of this anecdbte*of George Washington just now, because we started with the intention of saying something not about the war, but about the Superintendent's speech; and we have more than once been struck with the triumphant manner in which a few plain facts annually brought to light in that speech have dispersed all the doubts, removed all the suspicions, and refuted all the accusations which had taken his accusers a whole year of unopposed effort to circulate against him. The last speech does not, in our opinion, bear much the appearance of having been written by a man who has throughout the year been snoring in his office, knowing little and caring less about any part of the province beyond 'Barrack Square, and whose dreams have been disturbed occasionally^)* a horror of the gold fields, of the general progress which he could not prevent, of explorations, of capital, and of machinery. But it is very easy for those who know some of the inhabitants of Nelson to understand that it must be very difficult for them to comprehend the difference between doing things quietly and not doing them at all. This year's speech is however not quite so remarkably diffident and courteous as the Council has been accustomed to hear from Mr. Robinson; in some places he comes out quite boldly. To the Provincial Council he says "I cannot refrain from expressing my regret that this Council did not, when it had the opportunity and power to do so, accede to the proposition made to it of permitting small quantities of land to be sold to bona fide settlers at a price to be assessed by the Government; believing'as I do that nothing will more effectually tend to the full development of the auriferous lands than affording facilities and encouragement to the diggers to become permanent settlers in those districts where gold is known to abound. The necessity for this course, will, I believe, -become daily more apparent, and will ultimately lead to the adoption of some plan containing the principle referred to." Even the GeneralGovernment does not escape without a few very broad hints on the extravagant manner in which,it has spent the money obtained from the resources of this Province. The Superintendent says, "An examination pf the official returns will show that the cost of collecting the Customs revenue in this Province in proportion to the amount collected is nearly double the proportionate cost in Wellington and Canterbury, much greater than in Auckland, and one third greater than the cost of collection in Otago, where the amount of revenue last year was about the same as in Nelson. This seems to show that the Customs establishment in this Province is unnecessarily large, a fact which will, doubtless, engage the attention of the General Assemby at its approaching session." .

With the latter part of this sentence we cannot agree with the Superintendent; we should be much less surprised at any attempt on the part of the Geneial Assembly to in : crease the expenditure and the patronage of the General Government than we should be at any attempt to diminish them. Only one member who will attend from this Province is at aU likely to be guilty of any attempt at diminishing the governmental expenditure; and he will not be able to effect much in spite of his colleagues, unless the people of this province could be aroused from their accustomed apathy and indifference, and induced to second his effort by some unmistakable expression ot tiieir disapprobation of increasing expenditure and increasing taxation.

The Superintendent goes on to say, "another cause ofthe deficit is the expenditure in the Post Office," &c. Any increase ol expenditure in that office which has tended to increase its efficiency will not be regretted by the inhabitants of this Province; what they are likely to complain of is, that the greater part of the salary and all. the thanks and the honors are paid to an officer who has not furnished either the head or the hands which have "lately added so much to the efficiency of that department. To us there appears to be one great defect in the Superintendent's speech. We are much disappointed to find no allusion to the necessity of a general reduction of expenditure in consequence of the separation ofthe Wairau from this province. What he says against the New Provinces Act, the bungling manner in which it was framed, and the marked injustice it inflicted upon this province, is all very good; But the Superintendent ought to know that the General Government would pass twenty more Acts to cover the blunder of that one, and to indemnify themselves for the illegal and .hasty conduct they have adopted in reference to the Wairau separation, rather than they would acknowledge that they had done wrong or make any attempt to retrace their steps. And at any rate it is plainly the ' duty-of the JNelson Provincial Government to provide for the worst, ahd the Executive ought to point out to the Council where the necessary reductions in the expenditure of the now reduced province could be most advantageously made. This, of course, may have been done in the estimates without appearing in the speech; but if ithad been done a? exten-

sively as it -ought to be on the estimates, eve strongly suspect that it. would have made such "a deep impression on tlie members of the Executive, that there would certainly have been some mention -of it in the speech.

It -will somewhat reassure our readers . who have been alarmed -at the rupture of peaceable relations between the European and Maori populations of Taranaki, to be informed that the influential chief Hoepa, a nephew to Rauparaha, has conferred with our Government here concerning the necessity of inducing the natives of this province to sign a declaration of loyalty to the British Government and give an expression of condemnation of the violent and rebellious conduct of Wiremu Kingi and his factious adherents; copies of such "declaration of loyalty and condemnation of rebellion are to be largely distributed among thenatives ofthe Northern Island, and likewise sent to the Governor, and all the authorities. Hoepa' will lend active assistance in this praiseworthy object. . This, taken in combination with the knowledge that large numbers of the most industrious Maories of Taranaki are on the side of English rule and customs, will, it is hoped, put a speedy termination to the present unwarrantable hostilities.

A Correspondent in last Wednesday's Examiner, signing himself "An Old Hand," has, we think, furnished a very unmistakable proof that he has not a very old hand. If he really possesses any information about rifle practice, "hide blankets," &c, that is likely to be useful to his countrymen, we would earnestly recommend him to adopt a more prudent means of communicating it to them; as by the course he has chosen he is much- more likely to give a lift to the natives than to the Europeans. We should not be surprised to see him publish in the next Examiner somedetailed instruction of how to manufacture gunpowder and percussion caps.

In the Council last evening, the question of Mr. Hewetson with respect to the Moutere polling place, was answered by the Provincial Solicitor, who though he hardly understood what the honorable member meant, unless it alluded to a something that appeared in a newspaper the day before, o which probably the honorable membef was the author, replied* to the effect that the power to decide on polling places rested entirely with the General Government; and that if application had been made to the proper quarter, it would probably have been granted. The Provincial" Secretary stated, in answer to a motion about to be made by Mr. Kelling on the subject, that the Estimates would be laid on the table on Tuesday next. The Session will apparently be a short one, or should be so with the economical spirit expressed by members this"year.

The West Coast.—-The belief iv the auriferous character of portions of the West Coast has extended beyond our. own Province. On Friday last the schooner Plmn torn, from Canterbury, with twenty-one diggers on board, victualled for.six months, put into the Croixelles through stress of weather; she left, again on Monday for the Buller. We hope this example may have the effect of inducing others to follow and ascertain the real character of the ground.

The Rev. J. Warren.—This geulleman met the office bearers of the Wesleyan Church for the last time on Monday last, at their usual quarterly meeting, when the following resolution was adopted.- Proposed by Mr., Hough and resolved—" That the thanks of this meeting are justly due, and are hereby cordially presented to our faithful and beloved p.istor, the Rev. John Warren, for his' instructive and efficient ministry,'-and for tlie zeal, ability, and discretion with which he has fulfilled the duties of Superintendent of the circuit, for the space of five years. And that the thanks of this meeting are also presented to .the Rev. W. J. Watkin, for the energy and devotion with which he has sustained the office of second Preacher in this Circuit, for the last three years, and especially for the great interest he has iuvariably manifested in the success of our Sabbath School operations." Mr. Warren will preach to hU congregation on Sunday next for the last time, alter which the pulpit wi 1 be occupied by- the stationed minister from the Hutt, the Rev. Mr. Inues, and ia the Waimea by the Rev. Mr. Moorhouse.

Cricket Match.-—The match -between the Waimea East players and the Mechanics' Club took place on Wednesday'last in the rear of the Waimea Hotel. The match was more closely contested than on the last occasion, the difference being only nine runs iv favor of the Mechanics' Club. The score was as follows:

Nelson Mechanics

First Innings. Second Innings. T. Snow, bT. Caiman ,". 9 bA. Rutherford 8 West, hA . Rutherford. . .4 cG. Hopgood .11 C." Harris, b'AV Rutherford v G c A*. Rutherford 27 J. Pratt, bA. Rutherford A. 0 hA: Rutherford 0 W. Stj.llard.c G. Rutlierford 1 bA, Rutherford 23 W. Good, bA. Rutherford . llbw ... ~2

H. Lloyd; bT. Colman .4 bT. Colniari . 6 W. Morrison, cJ. Palmer . 5 cT. Colman . 5 C. Cranford, b Rutherford ..lb A. Rutherford 1 J. Hooper, run out . . 2 not out .' .2 J. Jenkins, not out . ..Ob T. Colman . 0 Ryes '-.•.*''•. 4- ,"'..-* .. .3 -■87■ 87 Total, both innings, 124. . Waimea East. First Innings. Second Innings. G. Rutherford, cPratt .4b Pratt . . 0 W. Kea'rns, b Pratt . .1 Pratt . ..3 G.- Stotfc, b Pratt . .13 b Pratt . .13 G. Hopgood, b Pratt. . ■ . 8 c" Hooper . ;-•'. 6 A. Rutherford, c Jenkins . 6 b Harris . • '2 W. Andrews, b Pratt .. .*. 0 not out .. , • 0 G.'Snow, c Pratt . .5b Pratt . • 0 J.:Palmer, run out . ..,< 0 b -Harris . . 4 R. Flowers, 1) Harris. , . 7 b Harris . • 3 T. Column, b Pratt . . 1 b w . •* 5 \Y. Neal, not out . . 2 b Harris .. . 0 Byes . . .13 . . . -16 ..Wide balls . . 1 . . . ..2 61 .54 Total, both innings, 115. After the game terminated a substantia! supper was partaken of at the Waimea Hotel, and followed by tbe usual conviviality.. 'Publicans' Licenses.—We call attention to. the Government notice with respect to applications for Licenses for tho ensuing year.

The Volunteer Coups.—The No. 1 Nelson ■Company has been astir by six o'clock in the. morning, on two occasions this week, called kipettier by the firing of a: cannon on the Church Hill,.fop the'purpose of thill. The number of witnesses to the past meetings has been large, and tlie corps gives promise -of speedy efficiency.

Registration.—We beg to remind out* readers-.; that the opportunity .for registering voting claims will exttnd only to the last clay of this month (to-morrow), .'therefore no time is to. be lost by those who have neglected to do so previously.