HARD TIMES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ' NELSON EXAMINER.'

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 12, 28 January 1864, Page 3

HARD TIMES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ' NELSON EXAMINER.'

" Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, Where health and plenty checr'd the labouring

swain, Where smiling Spring its earliest visits paid, And parting Summer s lingering bloom delayed." Goldsmith's Deserted Village.

SlB — It was a curious answer, that lately made by one of the old residenters in Bridge-street, when asked to sign a paper in favour of extending the tramway through that street and Trafalgar-street : " No," said he, " we don't want any more of they tramways here !" The circumstance in itself is insignificant; but when it is considered that this gentleman and his friends have very great influence with the present Government, it is worthy of a second thought. For what, in reality, is the attitude of our Government? Does not their conduct for years past say, in effect, " We don't want any o' they gold diggings or gold rushes, or population ; or any o' they water supplies, or railways, or even coal, or much less gas ! In fact, we are doing very snugly ourselves ; so don't bother !" Can any ten years' resident truthfully say that the above is an exaggeration? -Why, even this rery day I have heard that one of the members of the Executive has said he does not want the seat of Government removed to Nelson ! Another person to whom I mentioned the fact, that one of our representatives in the General Assembly had voted against the removal of the seat of Government, reph'ed, quite seriously, "Yes, but most of his property is in Picton, and he is more interested in that place than in Nelson." And yet, on almost any hustings you may hear the candidates for political honours declare that thenservices shall be given for the benefit of the colony or province in general, and of the district or province in particular. Vanitas, vanitatum. Pray sir what good have the present Government done to the place? At their entrance' into office, although the treasury was somewhat bare, the prospects of Nelson were exceedingly bright, and the quotation at the head of this letter, might fairly be applied. And now! — Let another stanza after Oliver Goldsmith, tell :— " Sweet smiling province, loveliest of the nine, Your once bright prospects you may now resign ; The flood of tide set in — you went to sleep, And now it's turned, still lower down you sweep ; Your city streets are empty, though so clean ; No cheery groups of diggers now are seen ; Too late you find that you've been very green ! " Or to quote the poet himself : — " But now the sounds of population fail, No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, But all the blooming blush of life is fled." Monday next will be the twenty-second anniversary of the Province of Nelson : and I should like to ask any of the old settlers whether they can look back and say that this province, with all its splendid advantages, has made the best use of its time. Whether they think that the Wellington, Canterbury, or any other Government would have allowed millions' worth of coal to remain buried, although assured of its quality and quantity? — Or diggers to leave the place when procuring nuggets of ninety ounces, merely for want of a little encouragement ?—? — Or the town to be in hourly danger of being burned to ashes, and a large proportion of the population thereby ruined, because of the absence of an easily obtained water supply? — Or the stinking mud-flat to remain useless when working men have been obliged to walk about with their hands in their pocketß ? — Or the chance of attracting greatly increased commerce to escape, when it might have been secured by the construction of a dry dock or patent slip ?

Alas! no. Look at windy Wellington, with its smart fleet of steamships ; or Canterbury, with Hb railway and prosperity ; or Otago, with its myriads of population ana its teeming wealth. And yet, at one time, Nelson had fairer prospects than either of these places.

In the Narrative of Events in the Province of Otago, for the year 1863, the following passage occutb: — "Very shortly, one hundred and thirtyseven acres will be reclaimed from the bay, in the heart of the city, by the cutting away of Bell Hill, and filling in with the debris. The estimated cost of this work is £355,305 ; but it is calculated that the building sites will pay the whole cost, and leave a handsome surplus to be devoted to the public works in the city." That is what they do in Otago. In Nelson some five or six years ago a sum of money was voted for widening the port-road, and I understand that the Board of Works then proposed to the Government to reclaim a portion of land at the sea side of the road, which would have been a comparatively small additional expense, and the frontages thus obtained would have let for building and other purposes, and have brought in a revenue for the benefit of the town. But to this proposal the Government gave a flat denial. The anniversary of the province is to be celebrated on Monday next, by a Foresters' f£te in what is called the " Botanical Gardens," but which is, in reality, a nice large paddock, enclosed with an expensive fence. Some years ago a professional gardener offered to take this place on a lease of twentyone years, and to plant it with a certain number of trees. He proposed to reserve only a very small portion of it for raising plants, &c., the remainder •was to be open to the public on certain days in each week, and the whole property and improvements were to be resigned to the Government at the expiration of the lease. But that and other offers were declined (for what reason I don't know, unless it was on the dog-in-the-manger principle), and the Botanical Gardens are to this day — a paddock.

Twenty-two years old ! and what have we done to develop our resources, or to make ourselves a name in the world ? The goose that laid the golden eggs (viz., the Waste Land Fund) is on her last legs ; our imports, I suppose, treble our exports ; we have spacious Government buildings and a decreasing revenue ; everybody is crying out at the dulness of trade ; there is little employment for the working man ; and apparently the place is going to the de'il. But the Government are not alone to blame in the matter ; we, the pubh'c, are also asleep. Are we to sleep on until the time comes, as assuredly it will, when the Government here will have to be supported by direct taxation ? — for then the public will take care to see how the money goes.

Aa it is, the province seems to be drifting into a state of bankruptcy, and, as a matter of course, a few are fattening upon the spoil. Steamers and other vessels arrive, but the expected rush does not. " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick " is a very pretty sentiment, but a more appropriate motto for the present time would be, at the entrance to the city, " Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Let us, then, rely less upon our political Hercules ; but remembering that those in authority are deputed by the public to work for the general good, let us put our own shoulders to the wheel, and help to get the coach out of the mire. We know that the province has good resources ; let us Bee that they are properly developed, and agitate until the work is done. Unless we do our part, we have no business to grumble »t the neglect of others. Apologizing for the length of this infliction, ! I am, &c., CITOTEN.