Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1690, 3 January 1874, Page 2

Aiready the people of the South-west Gold-fields have, a fair indication of the manner in which- Mr Curtis proposes to fulfil his election promises, now that he has once more safely reached his haven, the Superintendent's office. Small as. waa the faith which they put in the little man, they had nevertheless hoped, as! the .event proves — that in some minor particulars at least, he would adhere to his word. - ; Dire as was the necessity whicTTcompelled .the electors of this part of the Prdt^nce. tp^svippoixt- Mi—Chrtis, despite their bitter experience of' the evil effects his administration had produced upon the gold-mining industry, it was a necessity which there was no shirking, as it was evident to the most obtuse that a much worso thing would befal them if his opponent was elected. The extremely nasty tas'-.e of the medicine which fate had forced upon them, was, however, in some measure disguised in the sweet jam of promise, of which Mr Curtis has such plenteous store, and accordingly, although they voted without much cheerfulness and with many forebodings, they, did many of them vote for Mr Curtis. That gentleman having now made use of them as far as they were of any service. and being, as his career proves,' a firm believer in the reverse of the old saying that an acre of performance is worth the whole land of promise, has already begun to show how very little value he really attaches to his electioneering pledges, by practically falsifying his distinct assurance that he would reconstruct his Executive. And he has reconstructed it, but not in a way which will be by any means acceptable to those voters in this part of the country who gave him their support, trusting, that for once he was speaking his mind, and would justify his words by his acts. He has reconstructed it with just the same obnoxious elements it before contained, with one more added, namely, Mr Shapter, who whatever be his merits is certainly not possessed of any great influence in the Council, and still probably less in the Executive, where, whatever his own views may be, the do-nothing-and-boast-of-it-element, is. in the proportion of three to one, and will overwhelm his every effort. It is not surprising then to learn from Nelson, that the action of the Superintendent in this matter gives great dissatisfaction to the party of progress in that town, since' it i means substantially that no real progress will be effected during the next four years, unless some influence should prevail to induce the Superintendent to reconstruct his Executive. But if great dissatisfaction prevails, in Nelson, the stronghold of slumberers, how much more intensified will it be upon the goldfiolds, where all is anxiety and energy to help in retrieving the years lost,; which have been: years of retrogression, during which a large proportion 1 6f ; the ; population have left for countries where the Government is not satisfied a with' jthe jsole ; .occupation • pf sucking its own thumb. '