THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1703, 19 January 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1874.

"De mortuis nil nisibonum" is a maxim] the observance of which is not alway« possible.. The Nelson Examiner, thi organ in Nelson of Mr Curtis, is dead, but what has been committed to its columns lives after it. We are compelled to notice an article in a recent issue of che Examiner which affects ourselves, and the question ■whether or not has Mr Curtis fulfilled his promise to the electors thai he would reconstruct his Executive ? ; It will be remembered that when we received ' information of the composition of the new Executive Council, we f&t' that in the spirit, if not of the letterof.his promise, Mr Curtis had broken faith; with , those who supported., him ; against y, Mr i O'ConcT. We.belieyie.'^ih'at^this^ojp^ni.pn is very largely" shared "thrbughbut' the South- West Goldfields^; The Examimr, in noticing our comments, says ;-rr .. . . "The Grey River Argus,, of January 3, complains that Mr Curtis has falsified the assurance he gate the 'province previous to his election, that he would reconstruct! his Executive. Surely our contemporary^ has been inspired by some disappointed member of the Council, who is sore, at, not having hie great ability recognised.: ". At thettime the Superintendent gave the promise spoken of the Executive/in addition to himself, consisted of MrH. Adams. Provinciai'Sbiicitbr, and Mr Greenfield, Provincial Secretary and Treasurer. In *--he new Executive Mr Greenfield is retained as Secretary ; . Mr Pitt has taken the place of Mr A dams ; Mr Shephard is appointed Treasurer ; and Mr Snapter, undoubtedly the best member returned for the 'loldfielde, sits without office. Is this breaking a pledge ? One member only of the former Government retained, and three new members introduced J - . : ' . - : "The pledge referred to was given by Mr ,Curtis for the purpose of assuring the electors that his new Executive should contain, more of the element of progress than his then present one. Were not Mr Shephard and Mr Pitt active members of tbe Inland Communication Committee, and, in consequence, selected to represent the Committee at Wellington ? There are not in the whole Council two gentlemen more zealous in the cause of progress than those named, or who .hold broader and more practical views. Personal dislike, or personal disappointment, must have instigated the querulousness of j the writer in the Argus Of Mr Shapter we i know; nothing,' beyond the fact of his being aj professional man,, and having been a supporter of Mr O'Conor in the late contest for} the Superintendency. We would, however,; infer that he will not prove an obstructive, nor neglect to look after the interests of the. western half of the Province." 1 To'thia we may say to commence with; that our remarks were not " inspired by! .fiojns jUs»PJ?Pintsd member ,ot the. Coup-: cil/'but were written by one who was in! no Way^conriecied with: the late election,! and had no , political ambition to serve. Now what is the 1 apology bt the Examiner: fqifMrCurtiß'sso-called " reconstruction."; Practically, the only change made isthej substitution 1 for Mr Adams of his partner,, -Mr titti 'and; the' appointment , of ' 'Mrj Shapter.' THe offices of Spijretary and: Treasurer . remain " the same as in the period of laziness, only that Mr Bhep-| hard .has . been put . of office for a few montha. Mr Curtia led everyone to believe that ha, would endeavor to infuse. vigor and activity into the administration, and the iirst thing he doea i» to reappoint Mr Greenfield as the head of the Executive. -Now Mr Greenfield has been the ruling 'spirit of inaction in the administration of the affairs of the Province for, many years. He has been so long accus-, tomed to the quiet unobtrusive system of government that he can never get out of the groove, He is essentially the most unfit man to dictate and carry out a policy of activity and progress that could possibly, have been chosen. Had he been appointed Treasurer the objection would not have been so great. Mr Shephard, the Treasurer, is no doubt an able man, but he |^t« to be absent from hid duties for three moriitihs jthe year to attend the General Assembly, of t whiph the Superintendent jbimßelf is ais.o a member. Mr Pitt is inexperienced in rj^bho aflairs, but as Prt>-

vincial Solicitor may dp very. well. But on what possible grpundstjMr Shapter was chosen to repreaehtjthe Gp)d-fi^Ms j^e are at a loss to comp'^iiend^lr be a clever lawyer, buthas*had no experience ot public affairß, and all that' he knows of the requirements of the? Gol d: rfields-rrFhas-- n bee»'TpJfiked ; up . iIP-; Wardens' Courts. Why were the other Gold-fields' members left out, who bad for many years given up their time and attention to the public? It cannot be said that Mr Shapter can, for real usefulness, compare with Mr Donne or Mr Guinness. At any rate, one of the old members should have had the opportunity of testing the confidence of the Council. The Examiner, in speaking of Mr Shapter, says in one place, "Of Mr .Shapter we know nothing," and almost ;in the same breath, "Mr Shapter is undoubtedly the best member returned for the Gold-fields." We are very much afraid that the administration of the affairs of Nehon will not be improved, arid that things will go on in the same old do-nothing manner. Should this be the case, the only alternative will be to force a real reconstruction by stopping the supplies.