What Everybody Says.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1973, 1 May 1875, Page 2

What Everybody Says.

" In multitude of counsellors there is safety." —Old Provbbb

Sir George Grey, our new Superintendent, at a great sacrifice of personal comfort, has been to the Thames and Ofainemuri. He has listened patiently to a lot of "talk talk," to which he hasreplied with fair words. He has nbt made lavish promises, like some of hi 3 predecessors, but ho has argued the points with his interviewers, until he left some of them nothing to say. If anybody imagined for one moment that he would be able to win over Sir George Grey to his own way of thinking, the experience of tho last few days must have undeceived him. Such an unsuccessful lot of deputations were never seen before—that-is, they were unsuccessful so far as the members of the deputations were concerned, for Sir George never committed himself further than by promising to look into the matter, or by administering a little sage advice. Everybody ought really to be thankful that such was the case/for if His Honor had encouraged* the interviewers at the 3 first he would have been engaged till now, with little Pipspect of coming to an end., Sir George, ought to have been invited.to a bari,quet. \ Banquets have been-igiven" before now to worse men, and if only the occasion had been given Sir George, might have taken everybody into his con fidence. and given one pf his admirable discourses;on constitutionalism,; enlarging, upon his former utterances, and, possibly, giving some hint of his intentions. \lt was a mistake, forgetting the banquet, because it would sure to have elicited something interesting to Thames people, and perhaps have started the critics all over the colony, who are now pretty hard up for themes. Besides, Sir George will not risit the Thames for a long time. The next time he comes it may be as the recognised leader of a party in the House of Representatives a§ well as Superintendent. One thing, however, is certain ; Sir George has made a good impression here ; everybody likes him now", even those who were politely snubbed for asking him to do tl-at which he plainly said he had no power to do, and would not do if he had. The pro-consul was bne too many for our village Hampdens. Has the Tairua agitation spent itself, or is it to be assumed that the agitators hare served their -purpose by .making a show of siding with the mining community ? If popularity jrnn be purchased, by such plausible pretexts as those which hare been resorted to, everybody with a glib tongue and an ordinary memory might become popular. 'To " preprro" for a public meeting and harangue a crowd of men vand ' boys' • with • clap-trap-is easy, and not particularly mischievous ; ■it requires-no great exhibition of oratory to gain the applause of a crowd by sug- , gesting that the working men are being , wronged by a combination of capitalists and venal officials. But, cvi bono P If men have conscientious opinions on public matters, and once make a show,of pa--rading their opinions, the only "way to maintain their reputation for honesty of purpose is to be consistent. Let them keep hammering at their notions, and, as constant dropping wears away stones, so will., agitation persisted in ultimately result in good. ' Let the agitators siick'to Jheirjext,jind the " minjnexommunitjL!!_ may possibly come to" hold different' opinions about some of our public men who make a groat cry over a very little' wool .whenever,, a subject crops up which in too many instances only serves" as a means to a little cheap notoriety. "Enoch" has made a second appearance, and he has condescended to notice what everybody says. He has come down from''his lofty-pedestal of arrant egolism—left the wioie field of prophecy, to bestow a passing thought on public opinion. It was mildly suggested to Enoch that he might possibly have been mistaken in his identification of the Antichrist, simply because the person had gone the way of all flesh ; but Enoch is a man of unbounded resources, and he I knew —of course — that the Antichrist must die. In spit© of the gratuitous explanation everybody believes that this was an after-thought of Enoch's—a conclusion suggested by the*natural course of events. ■It may be —no doubt is— that everybody is wrong, and that Enoch, is right, but'! people will clamour for proof, and will not be satisfied with " dogmatic assertion.'- Enoch evidently conceives that ,he has given ample proof, but his opinions, backed by carefully chosen extracts from current literature, will not pas's for proofs. The man who sets himself up for a teacher and a critic ought to be able to argue a question logically, and this Enoch cannot or does not do. In fact his logic is about as logical as his opinions are peculiar. Enoch, however, lets what everybody says down very lightly; but his criticism of a learned divine and his utterances is what everybody is surprised at, and they can find no terms in which to express their surprise--almost"disgust—but by saying that it is a piece of consummate impudence. ■ .- Some people are considerably agitated over the question of a track to Tairua. It-is a praiseworthy feeling, no'doubt, and when it tak«s the form which it has done with" Shortland people, who put their hands into''their nether pd<sket3 to subsidise a professional man, the action bespeaks; , a /lively ■- sense of. self-interest. The Waiotani Board people have taken another method, and voted the ratepayers' money for the purpose, and thinking," perhaps, that they had done scarcely the right thing, in the guilelessness of their nature, they invite the assistance of theBorough. For the credit of councillors it may\be said the invitation was not responded to. It would have been an error of judgment iftthe result had been otherwise. The object of all this agitation is ostensibly to prevent the diversion of the traffic to Tairua to the sea communication. - It does not seem to have occurred to these different parties that each one is anxious to have Che traffic by their own door, and their own pet route—but it is so. If the natural means of communication with the new goldfield should be. found lo be by sea, that way will it be, but nobody thinks so; and the local jealousies which prevail are calculated to suggest that' means as s the best.-- The Waiotahi people are wise in their generation. They have secured the making of a good piece of road, which begins nowhere and ends in an equally definite spot, and if they could secure by any means the beginning and ending of that road at some given poiiits, they would, in their opinion, have gained a point which they are seeking, the' making of Wr.iotabi Creek the main road for communication with the remote parts of the goldfield.' But they have I been disappointed in this instance—at

least for a time, and possibly they may be I called upon to account for illegal ex- } penditure.