Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1901. THE RESIGNATION OF MR. LEWIS, M.H.R.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 139, 19 June 1901, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1901. THE RESIGNATION OF MR. LEWIS, M.H.R.

Thk resignation of his seat in the House of Representatives by Mr Charles Lewis, an Opposition member for Christchurch, has darwn attention to politics in the colony, otherwise strangeib might have thought that there was no such thing as political differences in New Zealand. Mr Lewis has abandoned active politics almost at the very commencement of his career. He is apparently filled with despairing disgust, and, in a spirit of pessimism, begoifctep of indisposition, he retires, principally because of the apathy of those who support him and had won for him his place.

Mr Lewis has shown less staying power and doggedneas than his friends and admirers expected he jposaessed. But much may be forgiven one who is not well, and who sees no immediate outlook for the cause he has at heart. It is not of such frangible material that groat leaders or great reformers are Bade ; but wh^t wjjj

you? After years of strenuous effort to j arouse the people to a sense of 1 heir rights and privileges which they are bartering for a poor mess of pottage, the last general election saw the old Parliamentary Opposition clean swept away so far as practical party purposes were concerned. Seddonism flourished and flourishes more like the greon bay tree than evw ; and even at this very hour it seems only necessary for a prominent politician to go bankrupt on a somewhat colossal scale to win back power and secure knighthood as an addii tonal reward.

Most of the newspapers of tho colony i have realised that to attempt to arouse the people from the lethargy of their , fool's paradise is as vain as a rat biting on a file. The downfall of Seddonism, ! that debased form of New Zealand Li- j beralism, must come from its own inhor- j ent defects — from its own seemingly Her- , culean strength. The men of the old party of Opposition, unfortunately for ' themselves and thoir cause, are hampered in the battle by traditions which make them use weapons the very cleanliness of which render them practically useless against the prevailing methods of political warfare. The political tactician is also confounded, not by superior strategy but by a battlefield riddled with little drains, and a little bridge across each leading to a little personal door. It is not the statesman, the man of pure and high life, the citizen trusted and loved by his fellows, who is a Parliamentary success. It is that poor creature— a Boss's poodledog and jackal, the political pimp and panderer, selling himself for small local grants of State money and petty appointments of friends and friends' friends— who sits firmly in the Legislature though angels weep to behold him there. #-* * j Men of the stamp of Mr Charles Lewis feel the iron enter their souls when they have to rub shoulders with such as these. They must be steadfast as the rock, and in a degree as callous, to withstand the association long enough for custom to dull their nerves. Mr Lewis is just not hard and steadfast enough, so he resigns in despair. By and bye, when others give in to 5, the reaction may come, and representative men may be forced to swallow their nausea in defence of their own. But the time is not yet. We are living in a fool's paradise, steeped to the lips in a false content, in an opium-dream of military and Koyal pageants and numerous holidays —'jxnicm rf circmsr-s. The awakening must come sooner or later. Till then it is idle' to be the voico crying in the wilderness.

This is probably what Mr Lewis feels — what many, with more staying power than he, feel, but who still hold fast. It is useless to pen or speak Jeremiads. The role of Cassandra is always thankless, and Laocoon was not only laughed at but also very tightly squeezed. We like the Greeks to bear us gifts, and we do not fear them— yet. When they have all confe" out of the belly of the horse and taken our Troy, we may think differently. Meantime, politics in New Zealand have drifted to a phase in which the keenest struggle is for a road, the bitterest rivalry for a good seat at the Royal show, obtained by favour of the Premier and his Private Secretary, or tho offices of the new. Knights. What does it all portend ? Does the echo of our shouting shape itself into tbe w ords : —

" Whom the Gods will to destroy, thej first drive mad ?"

Mr. ,T. Neale, who has been on the Union S.S. Company's local staff' for some time past, has been appointed assistant purser on the 3.8. Moura, and will leave here on Sunday next to join the steamer at Wellington. We congratulate him on his promotion.

Owing to shipping delays the Corrick Family have been unable to reach Nelson and therefore cannot give their entertainment to-night as announced.

Another " Pome " on Mr Lock's furni tviro warehouse appears as an advertise meat in this issue.

A first offending inebriate, who was ' rreated last evening, was brought before Mr Moller, J P., to-iay, and discharged wil h a caution.

A clever surgical operation wns performed at Teniuka recently. An elderly ]■ vi -.-.Ms brought to a private hospital, suffering from a tumour on the right leg, which necessitated an operation. This was performed by L>r Hayes, assisted by Dr Moore and Nurse Linton. 'Ihe tumour having injured the main nerve of the patient's leg, it was found necessary to remove about four inches of nerve with the tumour, and to replace it. Dr Hayes arranged with Mr Lee, butcher, to kill a sheep on the premises from which Dr Moore extracted a nerve, and this was grafted into the patient's leg. For about ten days ' the leg was devoid of feeling, but now tho <rr;ifted nerve has had the desired" efl'ect, and feeling has been restored. The patient is already able to walk about with the help of a stick.

flfMrs Lucy Wing, relict; of the late Captain Wing, for a long time Harbourmaster of the Manukau, died in Auckland last week. The deecased, who was 87 years ot age, came to Ihe colony in the year 1840, with her husband, in his own vessel, the Deborah, which was the first vessel to come direct to the colony from London She was also, we have heard slated, the first white woman to set foot where Port Chalmers now stands. Captain Wing was the first person to navigate a sailing ship across the Manukau bar to OnehuDga. .

j A German chemist, Siebald, prepared, from the waste milk separated at creameries, a new -substance called plasmon. After all the cream has been removed the separated milk is treated so as to coagulate all its proteids, the coagulated mass is kneadad and dried at a high temperature under carbonic acid gas, and is then ground into a soluble powder. In this final state it is a portable concentrated nutrient, one ounce of which is equal to three and a quarter pounds of the finest beefsteak. Its value in war is obvious, and the German Government already supply it in large quantities to their arrny and npvy. Plasrnon has created a new industry in England, especi illy in Birmingham, where it was originally manufactured. It has been found especially useful in feeding typhoid patients, and is equally suitable for consumptives, or, on the other hand, for athletes in training. It should also be particularly welcome to vegetarians, who can get from i! the albumen which is conspicuously absent from their usual diet. As an anti-fat medicine its virtues are supreme, all its constituents going to strengthen muscle and to form flesh, but no fat. Again, in racing and stud stables it is becoming a favourite food. With all these uses, it is clear that , plasmon has a future. Unfortunately, it is not likely to be manufactured in the colonies for some time to come, as. the process of preparation i* very expensive, and involves sending to Germany for spce-ia-1 machinery.

The five thorusrbbred stallions purchased in England by Mr Gilruth for the New Zealand Government wore to arrive in Wellington bj the Papanui this week, One of them is Serapion, by Maroon, out of Lily of 'Lumley, Hei< a six-year-old bay, staads lo bands 2;n, and h*B won a number of steeplechases one of them with I2dt 101b up. Lord Durham was at one time the owner of anotherof the quintet —Lupin, by Peter Flower out of Lanot'e, also a six-vear-ol 1 He stands 15 hands 3in, The other horses are— Tyranny, by Beauclerc, out of Queen of Ihe Isloa, aged, about 15 hands 2sin, light bay, a good nuggety animal ; Malachi, «by Kilmartin, out of Vesta, by Hermi", eix year-old, a strong weight-carrier, having won with about list 101b ; Amari, a four-year-old.

An unusual case wns heird in lhe Invereargill court on Saturday week (says the /Southland Times), when a vouth about 20 years of age, ivas charged ivith having fraudulently stated thafc he posted je-wellery-Jin a box which was found empty on arriving afc its destination. Tho accused declared that he put the ar! icies in the box, and the inference was, of course, that they had been stolen during trans-' mission by the Postal Department, /fhe package passed through three offices and many cadets and postal officials necessarily fell under suspicion. Voluminous correspondence e-sued, and finally the 1 matter was placed in the hands of the i police. Detective ftl'llveney made minute investigations, aod was successful in clearing np the matter, ancl accused fina-1 ly admitting that he never put the jewellery into the box. As recorded in the telegrams thia week, the prisoner was sentenced to a fine of .£lO, probation being refused. There will be no corifirinatiuu class or ■ service at All bainU' Churvh this even- J ing. j