N.Z. Shipping Company.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXI, Issue 223, 20 September 1887, Page 2

N.Z. Shipping Company.

OIIKISTCHUBOH, Sept. 20. The Mth. annual meeting- of the New Zealand Shipping Company was held to-day. All the retiring Directors were re-elected, with Mr J. 0. Blair to represent the Board in Wellington. The Directors reported a considerable falling of in the receipts from London. After the meeting Mr L. Harper reported to the shareholders in private on the result of his visit to London,

{Continued from Second Page.)

&c, I beg leave to deny all these assertions in toto, in bare justice to the man. I take upon myself to say that he is, in my opinion, head and shoulders above any that have come forward so far, and only lacking the methodical flow ol speech of Mr Harkness, which will all come in time if necessary. But we want men of action, practical ability, and brains, and I am now going to prove to you that Mills has all these, which no one can truthfully gainsay. It cannot be expected that we can produoe an infallible man to represent us as some people would wish. I am not going baok 25 years to give you an account of the above mentioned gentleman's career, as space here will not allow me. Suffice it to say four or five* years ago, at the time the firm of Mills Brothers had to retire from their sawmilliug business, owing to timber falling in price, the above gentleman with his brothers were put to their wits' ends how to gain a living, but the present candidate proved himself equal to the occasion, which his present circumstances will show. Out of the small almost deserted township of Havelook, he is now in receipt of £400 a year. Now this is more than can be said of our other applicants for a Parliamentary position. Put a man down in Queer street, hard up, to use a slang phrase, one year, and look at him the next, and if you find him no better you will say he never was much. During my 25 years' knowledge of Mills, he was always first to the fore in subscribing to prospecting expeditions and numerous other local matters which space will not allow me to detail here. The man has given you his views honestly, and retired to meet his fate.— l am, &c,

Faibplay. [Our correspondent will see tbat the latter part of his letter has been struck out. We should have given him credit for knowing better than to attempt to drag a lady's name into an electioneering correspondence — Ed.N.E.M,]

To the Editor of the Evening " Mail.'

Sir, — In your issue of September 9th Mr Russell Las what I suppose be considers a reply to my let er on the subject of the Rtd Hill Mining Comjany. lie ihinks it almost uawisj to tuke notice of aaseriions that some months ngo were the cause of delay and inconvenience to'the above Company. So far, I only diff r from him to the extent that I think it is quite unwise, as the assertions Were ttue and he knows it and h8 cannot refute them, and so weak a reply only culls ntteniion Co the fact. Speaking of myself Mr Russell sayp, "he desires to havo the matter thoroughly invalidated, I desire to know in whose inter at." I aay, cer:ainly not in the inter s s of the promoters or Mr Price Williams, but for the mining interests of, not only Nt lson, but the whelo of New Zealand and for these unfortunates in England who, believing the missta ctnonis made respecting this property, will be j tempted to invett their money in it thinking that they are paying £100,000 for a property with £252,000 worth of gold proved on it, instead of which they would he paying th&t price for the privilege of spending more money to eeo if they could find anything, Mr Russell cota plains th&t " Mr Washbourn drags out the figures which became the basis pf my estimate of the value of this property." The figures w. re given to the pablfc as being (rue and as matters of foot, < and if they are so surely the more they are brought to notice the better for the Company. Again Mr Bussell says, "In the meantime Mr Price Williams visits the mine and confirms my xeport-," bnt this does not make Mr Russell's xeport true, unless two enoneous reports make a true one. The gist of Mr Russell's letter consists in a quotation from the "Mining Journal," of 11 th June, wherein Mr Price Williams says, "as regards the assertion of Messrs Fell '& Atkinson that Mr Washbourne assures them that the lower tunnel, if continued, will not crosscut the quartz reefs at the lower level, the statement on the face of it is absurd," &c. My answer to this is that Mestrs Fell § Atkinson did not ma\e that assertion, and I would advi3e Mr Russell not to place too much relianco on what Mr Price Williams says regarding the Bed Hill. If the " quartz reefs " meant those stated to be proved in the upper workings, the assertion woald have been correct if it had been made, as although the tunnel may strike a leef or rsefs it cannot cut any from the tapper workings, as there are none there to cut. The only sensible part of Mr Russell's letter is the last few lines where he saya " I ■will not reply to ,or notice any further communication on this mine, no matter what construction may be put on my motives." If in his letter he 'has done the best he can to refute my statements he is .wise in the resolution he has come to, as the only point he has brought against what I have said is an assertion that •was not made and which only rests on. the foundation of Mr Price Williams' report. Mr Price Williams' report is a very cleverly put together document, and many items not actually false in themselves are so put that they leave a wrong impression, but in the following two paragraphs he commits himself a little more. " Taking however, Mr Russell's {j>wer average yield of 6 9-10ths ounces per ."tori, an( i the quantity he estimates of :auriferc>us quartz in the upper workings, -viz., 5000 o\ubic yards, or 9500 tons, which in my* opinion, if anything is too low, the yield of gold at the price he quotes will •certainly amount Jo £252,367 10s. This in itself ought in my opinion to ■offer a sufficient inducement to capitalists to invest in the undertaking. ' ' At the meeting in London Mr Price Williams ends a speech with '* I wish you every success, and I am quite satisfied from what I saw that if you only take the upper quartz reefs and dismiss for the present any calculation of what the lower reefs will produce, you may | calculate upon a very heavy reiurn." This comes from a gentleman who claims to be expert, quite disinterested, and who says The " made a most thorough examination " ■of the mine, so that if it is fajse ihe *»ust accept the responsibility. •Sir ,«Taanes Hector knows the Red Hill grojund well, and has lately wisited and inspected the mine, and will of •course make a report on it. This will be -very interesting and should be fully published, as it will set at rest the question as 4o whether Messrs Fell & Atkinson and onyßelf have been guilty of "gratuitous slanders " or have been justly exposing what we believe to be ft fraud. We have •either acted very oreditably .or the reverse, .•and rfSir James Hector's report will show •which. There are plenty of mines and in. New Zealand which require ■ capital to work and develop them, and which toffer a good honest investment to capitalists, ;and there is plenty of capital in England ready for iirsrfistwent, but if it is to be brought to develop .our mineral treasures English capitalists must be protected a.i far as can be from being misled, and it is the duty and to the interest of every one to do so whether they are interested iv mining or .not. — I am, &0.,

H. P. Wasiibouun Nelson, Sept. J6th, 1887.

TO THE 3TDITOK OF THE " KyiONiNG MAIL " Sib, — I noticed in your Saturday's issue in "Jottings" that your contributor does not seem to understand the purport of tneaclfi>» of the Alliance Committee in asking Mr Gibbß to retire from the coming .s'ruggle. Allow me tossy that there is a fixed rule t *?itb tho Alliauce that if there aro two cau.di&fttes in the firld proftsfi^jf Alliuncc )jirin*ij)le.", tho Auxiliiu'w flliouli a'certain •■which, in i 8 opinion, is mo cnnxlulate nao t tfikel.y to .succeed, nud thebi adopt; him^aeUing \tho other to witbdraw. t[n thin case, from ■?rery good infoimution, this Auxiliary las fixed upon Mr Pipe? ami of course asked Mr "Hbfcß to give way. lv doing co two o*jcc!s ** -c in view, the lirßj to iuform Mr Gibb3 i He m«Bb not couut on tho support; of thoN Alliance, and tho second, to make known'to tbe ielectora and members of <;he i,,i".™i, N e candidate they ehyuld support. There was no "< the Bli^ h^ idea of *™B™B pressure tS°be"-V r wHh bhe Secretary o * Am%HW Auxiliary.

To tiik Editor of the •• < tF«VBJ«»<4 fc^ 11 ""

Sib,— The all absorbing question of. the day is, " For whom am Ito vote ?" And I crave a little space to put one or two thoughts betore the electors. First comes, the question, Are we right in voting for a pledged supporter of the man who haß declared " m will not be dictated to by his constituents," and further has asserted again and again that his desire is that higher education should be free as well as primary education ? If hip constituents

have no power over him, will he be charmed by the voice of a pledged supporter? Not likely ; rather will he yield to the voice of the unpledged supporter in order to secure his vote. Again, retrenchment, aud retrenchment only, will get us out of our difficulties, nevertheless Sir Robert, " who will not be dictated to," seeks to increase, not decrease, the enormous and unjustifiable tax that free education is upon the working man, and that too in favor of the rich, since poor men seldom keep their children at school after 13 years of age, and have no desire for them to learn Latin, Euclid, cfec. Now let me pass in review the three candidates : — First on the list comes our old member, of whom some complain that he has not turned out as well as the expeoted. He is a pledged supporter, I believe, of the man " who will not be dictated to." In his address he mentioned several things he did, or attempted to do, for Nelson, but did he do them without being directed by others to do so ? because I believe in a representative possessed of sufficient discrimination to be able to know what to do without waiting to be told. My own confidence in him was shaken by his remarks about the honorarium, the Bible in schools spoiling the Sunday schools, and worst of all, his selecting the Inspector of schools as the person best qualified to give evidence of the conduct of the scholars ; an Inspector or teaoher would be the last person any sensible man would quote as an authority on the question of oonduot outside a school. Tbe next on the list ia Mr Piper, an untried man as yet. He has his peculiarities, but to the working mnn ho ought to ba welcome since he con be depended upon uot to be friendly before the eleu ion aud forget • hem afterwards. He is an admirer of Sir Robert Stout, but not a yledged supporter, and this is a strong poiat. He is a Temperance candidate. »nd is genuine, being both a work>r and a total abstainer; und another vnost important point is that he is a Nelson

citizen.

The third candidate is nlso untried, and

although his family fire well known he is not a Nelson citizeD; his recent daily life is not known to us. He is, I believe, a pledged supporter of tbo man who " will nob bo dictated to." In common with Mr Piper he poses as a Temperance candidate. We do not; know anything of his work in the cause, and we do not know even if he is a total abEtaincr, and without this information I cannoo see how any member of tho Temperance tody can conscientiously support him. Suppoß3 he is not; then, if returned,

he might or might not support a Temper-

ance measure, and thon step lo the bar

bar) and ; 'do a leer." Now, Sir, how are we to decide for whom :o vote ? I haye thought the following might

assist the electors in deciding, viz

Those who desire that Nelson's interests should not be overlooked : Vote for an un-

jrtedged supporter of Sir Bobert Stout. Temperance advocates : Make sure your man is a practical one, ie., a total abstainer. A general rule is : know something of the

private character of your candidate ; if he is

right in private life he will be in public life. I do not refer to members of churches, for I cannot conceive such persons forgetting their duty of acting up to what they profess, and only supporting a man for whom they can ask the Divine blessing and guidance. In conclusion, I regret in common with many others, tbat none of our leading citizens have come forward to represent us. I do trust that at a future election one will be found.— l am, &c., An Unpledged Electob. Nelson, Sept 17, 1887.

[Our correspondent, in endeavoring to do ' Mr Piper a good turn at the expense of the \ other candidates, is unpardonably oblivious ! of the statements of the candidate he supports. Mr Piper, in addition to pledging himself to support the present Government, was emphatic in his declaraation that Sir Robert Stout was the member of the Ministry in whom he had confidence. In fact he went so far as to assert that it was only when he was under the influence of hia colleagues that he mistrusted him. If this is not a pledge to support Sir Eobert, we should

like to know what is. "An Unpledged Elector " should be a little more careful in getting up hia facts before assuming the role of Adviser-General to his fellow citizens. — Ed. N,E.M.\