THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1861.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 399, 20 August 1861, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1861.

If our readers will examine the speech of tije Colonial Treasurer in the House of Representatives they will perceive what a 1 little war ' has already cost. But in doing this it must be borne in mind that this is only a statement of the expenditut© of the loan of £150,000 borrowed by the General Government for war purposes some time after the commencement of the unfortunate streot io-.v at Taranaki. In connection with tills they will not forget tho utter ruin which it has brought upon two hundrrd famines of Taranaki, besides the numbor of sealers driven away from other provinces. And this is only the money view of the subject. We speak not of parents deprived ol their children, nor children of their parents j

wives of their husbands, and husbands of their wives. "Who that has read the death list of Taranaki has not shuddered? Who that has thought of the juvenile demoralisation of both sexes consequent on the vicinage of1 soldiery has not been horror-stricken ? To make the matter clearer and to bring il into one view before our readers we will enumerate the various headings under which the accounts have been kept: — Arms and accoutrements for mi- £ s. d. litia and volunteers . .13762 12 11 Blockhouses .... 3015 7 2 Gunboats and other vessels . 1710 17 10 Miscellaneous expenses . . 3909 8 1 Native conference . . 1563 12 2 Removal, rationing, &c, of inhabitants for military purposes or their own safety . .12836 0 9 Organising and training volunteers and militia, and rationing irregulars .... 5032 14 11 Providing for the" security of any town or settlement . . 517 13 0 Barracks 1510 2 6 Allowance to officers and crows of H.M. ships, and to refugees 59858 9 4 . We are informed by the Colonial Treasurer that, with the exception of £20,000, the whole £150,000 has been spent. So, what with war loans, New Zealand Company's Debt loans, &c, we are likely to leave a pretty little 'National Debt' to be cleared off by our • future ancestors,' as a facetious Wakapuakian once called the generations that are to come. This is general of course; but we have a few little loans of a more local nature to which it may be as well to call attention. There is the Trafalgar-ditch loan, the Dry-dock loan-, and we were very nearly saddled with a Pure- water loan. For training and organising the Militia and Volunteers it will be seen that over £5000 has been spent. Most people will remember when the Nelson Militia were called out —a step which so effectually filled the Volunteer lanks in 1860. Under this heading we have the following items:— Pay of officers and driirinspectors, £ s. d. October 1860 to March 1861 . 286 17 0 Sundries 135 10 4 So that for the very small sport we enjoyed we have to psjy the sum of nearly £500. In addition to the above we shall have to pay a good round sum per head per antfum for every British soldier serving in the colony. Now this is giving a tone to sc-jiety with a vengeance. j It has been darkly hinted that some mark of respecc should be made to Governor Browne on his departure from New Zealand. Let those who feel inclined to bow down to imbecility, remember what a legacy that gentleman has left us, and then throw up their greasy caps and dance in their folly, and cry 'all hail !' to the incompetency which has ruined the country; with the b?st intentions, granted, but yet has ruined the country. No one can rejoice mote than ourselves that Governor Browne has to quit the field, I and we care not who may replace him; a worse one we could not have—a man who. would neither fight nor let it alone—who drifted into this little, inglorious, but expensive war, and then called in a Judge to settle the matter. The doctor is too late when the patient is dead. A writer in one of the Auckland papers has truly said that war is well for those whose trade is war; it is well for those who profit by the temporary misfortunes of others— contractors, publicans, &c. But for us settlers it is well to think twice before iwe invite them to place such a millstone about our necks as the debt which wars always bring. The writer, says that it is • to the forbearance of the Maori alone—to that generosity of disposition, and aversion on his part to those wretched brutalities of war too often practised among civilised nations — that there is a farm or homestead left to the north of Auckland or- south of the line of the Tamaki river. Another writer says that the clamorers for war have a sharp eye to the future. To say nothing of the confiscated land of the natives, there is something to be made out of snug homesteads and cultivated farms of the settlers, for 'many a mortgage and lien on which lies in their Own iron safes, and must, in the event of a continuation of the war, fall due in a moment of depression when those who through bank connections can raise the capital may step into the fruits of other men's labors.' Again he says:—'On the settler, the working pioneer, the yeomanry, the real body of the state, would the full measure of the hardships of a war be poured; it is his home which would be broken up, his stock and property which must either be destroyed by the enemy or parted with if possible at any sacrifice, and his farm which, when by the depression of the times, must be brought to the hammer.' 'Faiu Work and Fair Pay'—The Canterbury papers furnish us with the intelligence ot a strike that has taken place amongst -the railway operatives there. One of the journals disclaims any desire to advise the laboring class as to the amount of pay which, they should be content with, but subjoins a letter from a Melbourne firm, giving an opinion that men could be supplied to Lyttelton at 'eductd rates to those current in Victoria at the time, namely, best men 7=>. per diem, ordinary 65., masons Is. per hour, horses 10s. per diem. A meeting will be held this evening, at seven o'clock, af the Odd Fellows-hall, Nelson, upon an analogous subject, as notified by. a placard to that effect having the following explanation subjoined :—' In order to take into consideration the best means of enabling the working men of Nelson to procure (he current rate of wages paid on the Dun Mountain.' Exhibition of 18{!2.—The Government Gazette of August 16th contains the names of persons appointed to compose the Commissioners for each province of New Zealand. Those for Nelson arc the Superintendent, and Messrs. J. Bntey, I. M. Hill, C. Elliott, E. Baigenf, E. Everett, and J. L. Bailey. John Morrison, Esq., of King Williamstreet, London, has been nominated agent on behalf cf New Zealand. The exhibition is to be opened oi! Hie Ist May, 1802. All woik? of industry to be exhibited uuist him- hi-on prudtioi'd since l»;50, and will only ii' i.dmiltid with ihosanctio.i of the J cal cor mit ecs. Tin; inaniif;i::lur< s specified in sections j, :-?, ;>, will l:o cii^ii.-li; for prizi-s in'the shape of mcdiils ; prices may be affixed to the articles ex* hibitcd; but in section 4, Modtrn Fine Arts, no pr;ce will bo allowed to be affixed, no prizes will be awarded, and the exhibition of British art in

this section will include the works of artists alive on or subsequent to May Ist, 1762.—Mr. Nettleton, Kaiapoi, is preparing a case of New Zealaud wools, specimens for the Exhibition.

Accidents. —An accident occurred to a digger at Wangapeka on Wednesday last, in the locality of the Rolling river. While occupied in felling a tree he was struck on the head in its descent,., and in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining medical assistance, he lay for some time without proper attention, while one of his mates hastened to Nelson for a surgeon. We hear that Mr. Cusack, a practitioner residing in Waunea South has proceeded up to the sufferer.