The Nelson Eveninig Mail. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 211, 7 November 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Eveninig Mail. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1866.

The Victorian, aud especially the Melbourne papers are full of descriptions of the Exhibition of natural products and works of art which was opened, in Melbourne, on the 24th October. This is the third Exhibition of the kitul which has taken place in Melbourne. The first Avas in 1854, and the second in IS6I, both of which sink into insignificance, says the Argus of the 27th ult., when compared with the present magnificent undertaking. It is impossible in our space to do more than just refer to one or two of the more prominent features ot this grand display. The central hall of the building is 220 feet long and 82 feet in breadth, and the rest of the structure is built on a corresponding scale. The building is full of exhibits furnished not only by Victoria, but by Sew South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, West' Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and other countries. The mineral, animal, .■md agricultural products of these countries, combined Avith specimens of their manufactures, useful aud ornamental arts and machinery, must form a most attractive exhibition, containing as it does all that can gratify the eye, instruct the mind, and convey a vivid idea of the vast resources of the young colonies Avhich are only at the commencement of a career of development which is destined .to expand at no distant time, on a gigantic scale. The colonies, and especially, Victoria, may AVcll be proud of a display which points to boundless wealth, is suggestive of so much friendly co-operation, and gives an assurance that tiie colonies of Great Britain in the southern Avoi'ld will reflect no discredit on their illustrious parent. As a proof of the productiveness of the Victorian gold-fields, one of the most prominent features in the Exhibition, is the pyramid of gold in the centre of thr! great hall. It, informs the public that from 185 L till the 30th of June last, not less than 31,731,3-44 ozs. of gold has been raised, equal to a sum of £126,025,370. Large as these figures are, says the authority previously quoted, they are not astonishing when Ave iiud in the octagon, another pyramid of gold, which tells us that one mine alone on Ballaarat, the Band of Hope, which only commenced to give gold some two or three years ago, has up to the 6tli uit., yielded gold Avhich was sold fur £387,138. To dwell further ou th ; s gorgeous, display Avoukl be foreign to our purpose, and Ave naturally turn to the NeAV Zea--1 md court to see lioav it figures amidst sucii a constellation of brilliancies. We regret to find it stated that the exhibits are few in number, that no one appeared to represeut the Northern Provinces, aud that the NeAV Zealand goods were only partially arranged by the Secretary to the Commissioners at the last moment, Avlien it Avas impossible to make an advantageous display. Southland is represented by the Hon. J. G*. Francis. Reference is made by the Melbourne papers to the Taranaki steel sand, several samples of native flax, and the seam of coal fouud at West Wanganui, Nelson. Southland Avool is highly spoken of, and JNo-w Zealand woods, priucipallyjiom the South. We are not surprised to find in the Fine Arts Gallery, that the productions of Mr. Gully are greatly commended, when contrasted with those of M. Chevalier, who has furnished numerous pictures of Australia and New Zealand. The following remarks of the Leader are so just ami applicable to the future, Ave think, of all the colonies, thai; we adopt them without reserve : — With the opening of the Intercolonial Exhibition Victoria may be said to have entered upon a hcav era in her history. It is the Industrial Federation of the Australian colonics, Avitli Victoria as the leader, and representatives from neighboring friendly powers^ virtually acknowledging tliat thi* is the natural centre and capital of the great empire Avhich is yet

to develnpe in the Southern Pacific. Complete in alt essentials, brilliant as a spectacle, substantial as a display of Australian industry and enterprise.it is at once a testimony to die Avise use avo have made of the past, and a prophecy of what Ave may expect to accomplish in the not very distant future. Our own contributors may well be proud of a result Avhich renders their skill and ingenuity so conspicuous; but avc venture to affirm that they are almost equally gratified by the evidences of progress Avhich have come from the sister colonies, and the spirit which dictated the co-operation of Batavia and Ncav Caledonia. After this. Ave shall surely never again hear of those petty rivalries which have often temporarily prevented the harmonious action of communities . linked together by the ties of blood and .race, animated by a common ambition, and pursuing interests Avhich are, after all, identical. Here Ave see each other's resources and accomplishments; what is deficient in one may be abundant in another; the gold of Victoria counterpoised by treasures more peculiar to South Australia or New South Wales; even Western Australia giving proof of what may be achieved in a colony "under a cloud;" Batavia and New Caledonia furnishing some exhibits bt-yond the present capacity of the Australian group— i'n fact, each community displaying some speciality of its OAvn, more or less, S3 as to constitute that variety of desirable thinjs which renders commerce a necessity. When native industry has mad.- such solid progress in Victoria, during the past tew years, in spite" of such discouraging circumstances, Avhat may we not expect from it in another decade, under a commercial system which Avill enable it to hold its oavd?