SIGNS OF THE TIMES. (To the Editor.)

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 255, 19 December 1872, Page 8

SIGNS OF THE TIMES. (To the Editor.)

Sir. — The mere fact of a mining conference having met is a sign that the niinera of Otat,o are turning their eyes to their own affdire, and beginning to perceive that as they settle down they acquire an interest in the country, which it is worth tl eir while to look after. The desire of union and association has imported itself into these colonies, and is binding the work'n j nun together to attempting to effect their improvement. :In the Australian colonies, where the franchise .is almost universal, such bodies will ultimately acquire a vast political influence against which no government will be able to stand, should it go contrary to the wishes of the people. The policy of the present government of the colony, is to say the least of it, a gigantic experiment in the way of colonization, a hothouse cultivation of prosperity. The result which is looming in a very distant and dark future, will- descend in a great measure upon the earnest honesty with which the several scheme 3 are followed and worked out by the government and their agents ; of this we have seen very little that is reassuring, fba. the immigration scheme, we see nothing but fcha^most wilful waste of money, together with bad management. More than a year has gone by since the first attempt of a wholesale importation of labor was promised. Where are these thousands of industrious Germans, perservering Scandinavians, and ingenious Danes, that were to convert Otago into a paradise ? Where are these smiling villages, dotting our vallies and plains like jewels in a crown? Not only are we still minus them, but what is worse, our money with which we were to achieve these results, has dwindled down to a minimum.

Railways -I am almost afraid to think on the subject. The government have accepted a contract many thousands of pounds in excess of what the work could be really doi\e. They have given away the best land along the snpposed lines of of railways to the contractors, who are or will be introducing Chinese labor, for the construction of these lines. If it had been the intention of the Colonial Treasurer to undermine the prosperity of the colony, h© could nofc have succeeded better than by such a line of action. If the settlement of the country is really his great aim, why he cannot be so blind as not to recognise the advantages of the American system of free selection, and deferred payments. Why not give the land on easy terms, to the bona fide settler ? Why lock up large tracts of land in the hands of money grabbing speculators 1. Such a mode of proceeding may very well be called suicidal. Such a state of things cannot lead the people to place confidence in their rulers, and taken together with the Goldfißlds Bill of 1872, furnish sufficient cause for grave doubts as to the result of all these undetakings. Viewed in this light, the Miners' Associations may be taken as a Sight op the Times.

Ilollotvay's Pills. — Good digestion. — With the weather alarmingly changeable, and foul miasmas penetrating ta the very sources of life, the skin will become inactive, and the digestion impaired, unless corrected by suitable means. Holloway's Pills are universally acknowledged to be the safest, speediest, and best corrective of indigestion. Loss of appetite, acidity flatulency, and nausea are a few of tho inconveniences which are remedied fn§^ ease bj purifying Kile,