LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1028, 6 March 1869, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions oppressed by correspondents. Sib, — I do not profess to be acquainted with all the pros and cons of industrial arrangements in Hawke's Bay, but there appear to me to be several matters to which it may be advisable to draw attention at the present time. This is a pastoral province, the inhabitants depending almost entirely on sheep and the produce of their backs for trade returns and existence. The period "when surplus stook could be sold to persons taking up runs further afield has passed ; the runs are overstocked, and there is a plethora o£ sheep ; hence a boiling-down establishment. The country beyond the confines of the province is unsafe, and likely to be so for some time. The production of wool in different parts of the world lias increased, and the price is lower. It is necessary to know the exact state of affairs in order to realise the position. There is plenty room for sheep and cattle in Auckland province, especially north of Auckland city, but having no natural pastures the landholders there are not yet prepared for them, and are probably not yet able to pay for them to any extent. No market of any consequence presents itself for export. The Fijis are better adapted for cotton than wool-grow-ing. What is to be done ? Send home all the wool possible in expectation of reduced prices, and boil down overplus stock for tallow P In other words, accept a rather reduced income ? But are other means of improving the province exhausted ? Runliolders do not wish for population, but a few thriving towna might be of service to them— they would eonsttia& aiufcbon — whereas within the last six months the working population is probably reduced one-half. It might be as well to inquire, too, whether there are not other industries worth cultivating, such as the preparation of flax. If, however, the town of Napier and the Spit are not still further to dwindle in theirproportions during the coming winter, it will be requisite to turn the property of the colony to profitable account, and encourage settlement by ceasing to ask fictitious prices for unproductive swamps and shingle which require considerable sums spent upon them. A Government is generally remunerated directly or indirectly by tlie prosperity of the community. I will close these remarks by asking whether it will not be possible to connect the Spit with Scinde Island by a bridge to Gough. island, and thence by an embankment to Battery road. Persons using that road would not object perhaps to pay a small toll going over tlio bridge. Span the Pot.

Sic, — If Mr. Bousfield, in a recent letter, had confined his abuse to myself, I should have taken no notice of him or his falsehoods, feeling that defamation from such a source was rather complimentary than otherwise. But the question of reply, or none, assumes another aspect when we find that this man will not remain quiet in the enjoyment of the sinecure salary wrung from the hard-earned wages of the toiling poor by the profligate government whose slave he is, but dares to cast reflections upon respectable settlers, to some of whom he is indebted, and whose hospitable doors were ever open to him in his day of distress : " 0 Shame, where is thy blush !" That Bousfield would attack me sooner or later, I never doubted, as he appears to have a mania that way — witness his coarse attack upon your Wairoa correspondent a few months back, whose writings are infinitely superior to anything produced by his traducer. It was, however, reasonable to conclude that Bousfield's late letter would have contained something better than a tissue of silly falsehoods and abuse, seeing that three weeks were occupied in the manufacture of the precions document, a fact I am perfectly sure of, for I knew it almost by heart, having had the pleasure of hearing the contents piecemeal I may say, as its writer was in the habit of hawking the various paragraphs about the Court House here for the perusal of his halfdozen admirers, who are without exception toadies like himself of Col. Whitmore. The miserable nature of the production may bo accounted for by the well known fact that a sad falling off is always perceptible in the writings of men who like Bousfield prostitute their pens for venal purposes. The knowledge of their selfdegradation, and the stings of conscience, must ensure for such despicable writers a stern but just retribution, and the certainty that their masters despise such tools must make them detest themselves. In truth, Mr. Bousfield's letter is so very contemptiblo that I begin to think that he has mistaken his vocation, and to imagine that, if it were possiblo for me to degrade myself as he has done, it would be better for Col. Whitmore if Mr. Bousfield resigned his sinecure appointment and allowed we to become a " Surveyor-General to the Forces." It is true, I know nothing about surveying 5 but that makes no difference, as we all know a scribe is wanted, not a surveyor. The chai'ge against somo of the Poverty Bay settlers of being unfairly inimical to Col. Whitmore is as false as he who penned the slander. We would be only too happy could wo see the end of these miserable wars. _ Wo honestly believe Col. Whitmore is not the right man in the right place. Time will prove who is in the wrong, and we are willing to abide by his verdict. But if Col. Whitmore can pacify this island, who can have greater interest in his success than we who desire to live and die in this beautiful but misgoverned land? In conclusion, we would give a little a little wholesome advice to Bousfield the dogmatic and bumptious, whoso custom it is, in vulgar phrase, " to jump down people's throats," and whose insufferable conceit, without a particle of ability to support his pretensions, has been a theme for comment for the seventeen years I have known, and avoided any contact with him, doing so from a long settled conviction that the clay would como in which it would be my duty to oppose him. My advice is this — let him cai'cfully abstain from exciting angry feelings, for he, of any man in_ New Zealand, can ill afford to do so. His public career has been anything but , respectable : ho cannot have forgotten

that, like the boaster Pistol, he was once compelled to " eat the leek" fordisparagi ug the chief of his department. As long as this Bousfield is content to earn his pay quietly by flattering his patron, and abstains from offensively obtruding the disagreeable fact upon people who have not soiled themselves as ho has done, I, for one, will not molest him. Some day he and other harpies who prey upon their bleeding country will be swept away to make room for more upright men. P. B. COEEESPONDENT H. B. HeEALD. Turanga, Feb. 12, 1869.

Sic, — On reading the report of the meeting held at the Meanee, having for its object the management of the Hawke's Bay rivers, it; struck me, upon reading the golden estimates of the Engineer, that he surely had discovered a near or distant relationship with the owners of the swamps through which the proposed canal is to be cut. Now, Mr. Editor, you who have seen this land which is estimated at £15 per acre — do you think it is worth 15s. ? Would you have it for a gift P Echo answers, No. Very well then : interested parties think that I and others will submit to such a piece of palpable jobbery as that one item alone. And again, are the public to pay for the enclosure of Alley's and Tiffen's land ? Why its absurdity is patent to all. No, Sir, the public will not submit to such a complete piece of rot. It is all very well for Mr. Cuff or any one else to say they had not met ta. discuss plans: they were to be left till after the taxes were bagged, with Tom's, Dick's, and Harry's hand going in empty and coming out full. It is all very fine, Mr. Editorbut we won't have it. If we kick against the Education Eate, we will do more than kick against this elaborate scheme to fill idle men's pockets. Why, Sir, the Tutackuri could be taken through the proposed line for less than £80. It could all be done with a team of. horses and ploughs : we neither want nor can afford a Waterstaadt composed of a lot of ten-breeched Dutchmen, whose idea of equity is that their hand weighs one pound and their foot two. My idea is, if they can't take it down with a plough, they had better leave it alone ; and, moreover, if I and others chose to live on a raupo swamp, and Mr. Cuff on. a river delta, we do so at our own risk, and have no claim upon the assistance of our neighbours to keep out our mutual enemy the Pacific Ocean — for, unless its level can bo lowered, it is quite impossible to prevent the swamps from being anything but swamps. In conclusion, I would ask, if we have any engineers among us, why the simple method of blowing down a portion of the cliff at Hussell's Point is not adopted ? This could bo done for a very few pounds, and the fall of the debris would give the natural slope calculated to resist the action of the river. Old Handsaw. Meanee, March 3. Sir, — Having read in your paper everything bearing upon the Education Eate, pro and con., also some clear statements upon the same by able men of the sister provinces, aided by what little common sense there may bo in my cranium, I have come to the conclusion so often expressed by you — a conclusion in which all possessing any liberality of mind must agree — "that, rather than the existing schools should fall for want of funds, all should pay the rate willingly, if not cheerfully." A letter from Wairoa appeared in your paper. The writer speaks of the threatenod state of the East Coast ; says most of his time has been occupied soldiering, and what little he has is now taken from him to pay the Education Eate. Because there are bands of savages on both coasts, should education be done away with? Fie ! Neither do I think that £1 is the all of any ratepayer, as the letter from Wairoa wouli uave us "belley©. It is & Briton's prerogative to growl, and unquestionably a good hearty growl is a great relief— the safety-valve, in fact, to mind and body, and has an effect similar to letting the gas escape, so recently made a " scientific " subject. And after all, Mr. Editor, what is a pound-— twenty shillings — forty nobblers, which many think lightly of paying for during twelve months. Smokers pay between £3 aud £4 per annum for the luxury of tobacco alone, to say nothing of matches and pipes. I quite agree with the witty tobacconist of Auckland, that an old pipe is a great consolation; yet who would not moderate theindulgence and make the last half stick spin out as long as possible, supposing such needful, to enable us to pay for a good object. We are told that the present rate is but a temporary measure, therefore we look forward to our able councillors to bring in a something worthy of them, that will bear perhaps more fairly upon all, not householders only. If it were possible, I should like to have a set of photographs taken from the memory of the Eate Collector (happy man !) of the faces of us ratepayers whilst in the act of " shelling out." What a jolly set of countenances ! It hath been said of a man — Call him a sooundrol and perchance he'll brook it— But keep your hands out of his breeches pockot. It hath been said by some that men with families, being so much interested, should alone pay, according to the number of their treasures. I cannot agree with such, for we Paters know that these dear contingencies arise so quickly and so numerously in this wonderful country, r— Yours, &c, N. Sin, — It is amusing to thoso who are at all acquainted with Mr. Bousfield, to read his letter in the Times, more especially that portion where he speaks of his consistency — Bousfield's consistency ! At the same time, he refers to the Hawlce's Bay Times while he edited it. lam sorry, for once, that I have not a file of that paper by mo, from which I could take a lew extracts. Wo in this district well remember the kind of articles that appeared in it at that time, more particularly in roforence to Colonel Whitmore. I don't wish to enter into the question of Col. Whitmore's merits or demerits. Nothing of consequence has come of any matter he has taken up yet ; but time and experience teach many. Neither will I criticise Mr. M'Lean's actions. We all know that he is a tried man of long standing, aud has not been found wanting ; and by his administration, without a doubt, this district has been saved from, ruin and bloodshed. But it is Mr. B.s consistency and self-laudation that amuses me. "Ah ! Capital idea, by Jove ! " How we used to laugh in those jolly old days, when we enjoyed quiet visits from our neighbours, christenings, and other festivities. What different turns the Times used to take in those days, when Mr. B. Avas editor. And that long rigmarole about his privations, &c. What office does Mr. B. hold? What has he done ? Surely there could be no surveying going on on the West Coast P Sir, it may be well to laugh when we can in these times. Wo hear of economy and retrenchment : let the General Government clear off that band of satellites like Mr 8., and Co. and the army of Colonels, Lieut.-Colonels, Majors, Brigado Majors, &c, &c. Let us at ouce come to real earnest — drop all big-sounding titles — look upon ourselvos as colonists who

have a trying but noble career before us, to found a new nation — follow the example of the early settlers in America ;— with one united effort let us shake off this apathy, this artificial state, this trusting in others. Let 's trust to ourselves individually and collectively, and leave a name after us that our descendants will look back upon with pride. — I remain, &c, A New Zealander.