Nelson.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 1286, 28 November 1857, Page 3

Nelson.

[Fiom ‘he Netnu.i Eii-iTfiiTn:i\ November LLJ ’ T*ne, “ WeßiugUm” o: “ Empire Stat? ’’ iih:r owners, with A\muii*;m gianthlnqueneu, pr/ci io eal! h*. r, :*'• (lurk.red by her c--imnai.- • dur. Featherston, to be a dear drAi/ts de ’ fierie, within an ace of uolruc.mn. lie i> thmight to be a fmu. il '-fiing' fellow, very web ’ rtr i’eii, m?d persomdlv mtmh hked ; and therei\>re he has t en :c-.q;pu;nlud to the command ii : although, !■ ?. . is by many thought to ■* I ventures ii.u ; mid there are suspicions that "■'when the kahmee cunics to be fairly struck, his last voyage will not turn out so profitabk .r I as he wishes to make it out, n large sum ol

money having been taken up on bittomry bomls upon speculation, which the owners are liable for, and which mav or may not prove to ben good investment. The principal complaint against him is, Ihat he looks on (he ship as his own property, ami trades too much on his own account ; besides showing a very suspicious partiality towards those among his owners who arc bis own special backers ; and so they arc forcing upon him a crew which he speaks of, in any but “ holiday and lady terms,” and in langua<re more terse than complimentary, as utterly unfit for their work, and as even personalty discreditable and unworthy of trust.

Dropping the metaphor, let us see in what terms Dr. Featherston describes (he men whom a majority <»f the Wellinfftnn electors are likely t.» return as ‘heir rcpicsentativcs to the Provincial Council:—

“If a fc-.v more vree’is of such procceiliajs should take place, it must result in utter ruin to the. Province. You have clcclt-J rne, and jou are bound to send me known honesty and integrity in private life; men whose moral characters arc undoubted. A public man’s fair fame should be like the fame of a virtuous woman, untainted. I am compelled, gentlemen, to speak thus piaiuly : 1 say that my opponents are utterly untrustworthy. You know that I a:n compelled by law to like my advi-ers from the Provincial Council; you arc also awar*-, gentlemen, that there are at present large, ruin--, of money in the Provincial che-t. Isay that dm m-. j-irily of persons put forward to oppo-c me are utterly untrustworthy; that they are notorious eri-t< of “ shame aud “ name ! I must and will not call to my Executive Council men who arc utteily unworthy of rny confluence.” Wu have here food for much and serious r-fl uti'i’i. If the persons thus alluded to as the probable cli’iice of the constituency really deserve the chnrac-.cr here given nf them by the first olfic r and head of the Executive Government, then what must we think of those who clu.o-e Miuh men as their law-givers ? Do they really put birth as their best men notorious g.imbli’is, [.iunderers of widows and orphans, greedy and grasping aspirants after office, thirsting one. after the golden treasures of the well filled Provincial chest ? Alas ! for AVelliiigtcn, if this be so’ Alas! for Dr. Featherston himself, and his own reflections when he retires, as he must then inevitably do, into private life, to ihink that to his own efforts, to his own ii,fluence, abilities and indefatigable exertions, so much of this can be attributed ; that, <i second Frankenstein, meaning to make a man, he bus succeeded only in producing a monster. For we hold that the words of a man in Dr. Featherston s situation should be well weighed, not lightly uttered, nor without much consideration as to their import and tendency. He should remember Polcnius' advice tu Laertes—- “ Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned thought his act.” If indeed they are the deliberate conclusions of his own matured judgment, then has he passed the most severe condemnation on his own work, the most bitter censure on his own previous career and opinions in politics. But if, as we would hope, there are only the ha-ty expressions of a man smarting under the irritation of an opposition unexpectedly powerful, who has been slightly spoilt by a little previous success, and not a little laudatory cackling, and who has not, so far a« we are able to judge, met ’ with, fair play or gentlemanly treatment from bis opponent?, wc believe that he will willingly ? recall what he is not able fully to justifv. and ; will prove bv bis • ridence, firmness, and forbearance under the inevitable provocations he will meet with, tliat that lie is no fair-weather pi!o’, but capable of taking the helm of the btate rm less in storms than during the sunshine ur d the calm.

[From the Nelson Examiner, November IS.] In the reign of Cheops, as an Egyptian .‘.Tcmleman curious in r.oultry, and famous even there for Ills success in producing strange birds, was walking by the river Nile, lie met with an eg?, which from its appearance he thought £ premised results out of the common way; so, picking it up, lie took it home, and gave direc- ' lions for hatching it. But some time after, on c ' vhi’ii.g his poultry yard, he found that all his a pets, bad disappeared, a few feathers only lying ’’ scattered about, whilst a fearful animal rushed a upon him open-mouthed. The fact was, he [ had hatched u crocodile. s , The account does not go further ; but we have little doubt that the gentleman in ques« c tion was attended by the usual retinue of all P erent men—by a bailiff, steward, and purse- a bearer, for instance —and that the beast made r an end of them all, whilst the unfortunate ex- J pvriraentalist himself escaped with great difficulty, if indeed he did *o at all ; and we e have as little doubt that his name was Feather- 1 stun. For, ns

“ Coming events east their shadows before,” A.t h ’ug'n in this ecsethe shadow is rather a long r on?, a." indeed the importance of the event , would lead ns to imagine, so we believe this ( ; veritable tale from the laud of the Sphynx t I must have in some sort adumbrated the disas- { tors at Wellington. How did our friends ( plume them?elves upon finding and bringing j home for us this egg. how assiduous was the j incubation, how warm and modestly conscious ( of desert were the congratulations mutually , interchanged, and how confident the predic- : tions that under the fostering care and judici- . ous management of its finders, the egg would produce a bird to which even the American . eagle would be but a barn-door fowl. And now the egg is hatched, and lo ! out bursts the •‘ blatant beast*' of democracy, if we are to believe the Independent, and, raging wild through the Government preserves, has already made sad work among their inmates ; Trea- ! fillers, Secretaries, and Commissioners have fallen victims to his capacious maw; and the [ uuhappv proprietor, aghast nt the wholesale and indiscriminate destruction, and exclaiming with Macduff — , “ What, nil my prclly ones nt one fell swoop"— has lied distracted from the scene, the beast ■ roaring after him ns “the head oi a set of I public banditti."

I Now. how iimeli soever we may feel disposed in sympalbize with liis feelings mid to regret his il -<:■' iiSuro, anil little as we have in commim with his opponents, whose un siTiipulniis tactics '.mil unjustifiable language wc utlerly condemn, still we look upon what lies hnpi" a. 4 in the light of a merited retri'rniion for the conduct of himself and hi. .. ■■ecir.ie- i". days gone by. The inevitable i Nemesis >s er,me, and returned the “ poisoned . chalice to tlieir own lips ’’ at last. Fiery were the denunciations, violent the struggle, and II long the contest, ere they dellnc'iiid the former

possessors of power and seated thelnselves in 'heir places ; and now their own nrtilleT >s urned against them, shotted with their own missiles, and as they did to their predecessors, ■o they in turn are pointed out as fitting objects for popular indignation and scorn. We believe there is scaraely one of the accusations now so unsparingly hurled at them, whether of favouritism, contemptuous disregard of public ‘ opinion, unblushing retention of office, reckless extravagance, malversation of public funds, prostitution of political power to unworthy private ends, or even personal abuse and attacks upon private character, which might not find a parallel in the past records of Wellington warfare, as chronicled in the pages of their recognised organ. Like the Girondins of the French Revolution- —-to compare little men and things with great ones—they thought that to remove the great incapahles and despots from above them, and themselves (the choice spirits of the age) assume their places, all stratagems were fair, all means just; and, that end once attained, all would be well, a new eraof happiness and prosperity would begin, and the Golden Age be inaugurated under their auspices. And now, like their prototypes, they find the world will not stand still when their sun of fortune lias arrived at its meridian, but is fast hurrying on, an-4 them with it, in the language of Carlyle, to Erebus and Nox. We are anticipating rather largely, perhaps; but the ultimate icsult, though deferred, cannot be doubtful: —it is henceforward only a question of time. They have lost the leadership of their own parly, wiihout obtaining the confidence of their opponents, who evidently rejoice in their perplexities and defeat; and between the two we know there is at present no safe holding-ground ; and they and their adherents will sooner or later have to determine to which party they shall belong. On one side are the young, the enthusiastic, the believers in the indefinite perfectibility of human nature, as well as the discontented, and the eager strugglers after a better place at the great banquet of life than they as yet possess; on the other, the older, and the colder, who have seen many of their early illusions disappear one after another; who, comparatively well off, have more to fear than to hope from a change; and who, without having lost faith in our general capacity for improvement, still think it a plant of much slower growth than the impatience of the majority will allow it to be, and who believe we should do better if we thought more of our own conduct and less about the improvement of our neighbours. [From the Nelson Examiner, Nov. 21.] In the absence of any great political excite-

ment amongst ourselves, we are forced to seel; for a supply of that colonial necessary of life from our neighbours, who, to do them jestice. are seldom without a very sufficient stock of the commodity on hand. “ Long live Sultan Achmet,” said the owl to his neighbour, “ fur as long as he lives we shall never want for ruined • villages;” and in a corresponding spirit we may wish long life to our Wellington Politicians, in the well-founded belief that they will be sure to keep us well supplied with their own especial . merchandize to the end cf their natural lives. ’ The Hutt has now returned five members, in . addition to the twelve before elected by the I Town of Wellington, all to a man pledged opponents of the present people in power ; of the , remaining thirteen, three have been returned . for the Country Districts, and one or two more , at least may be reckoned upon to swell the ; majority agamst them : under these circumstances what will the Featherston party do, and what will be their opponents’ tactics ? The

first thing we may predicate with tolerable certainty of the Government officials is, that they will not resign place without a struggle, and that a desperate one ; although we believe it would be their wisest plan to retire immediately upon the first unmistalieablv adverse vote. It would be the more dignified course, more consistent, more in accordance with their recorded opinions and their repeated pledges; and would show that deference for enlightened public opinion which they have always insisted upon so strongly whilst that opinion was in their own favour. For to talk of Dr. Featherston's re-election as a decided expression of the popularwill in favour of what, with a sufficient assumption of superiority, he styles “ his policy,” is simply nonsense; he was known, and personally liked, his opponent was comparatively unknown, and judging from what, little has transpired of his qualifications, not likely to obtain any permanent popularity, or even temporarily to please more than one of the two parties which have now coalesced against Dr. Featherston. At all events, bv the same rule, if they have approved his policy bv electing him, pait of that policy was clearly to rule by means of a parliamentary majority, and by ministers chosen out of it, and the same electors have i eturned the majority from which they wish him to choose. We would, therefore, recommend him, like Sir George Grey, to eat the leek, to drop his old supporters, aud take up, as gracefully as possible, with the new men imposed upon him by the popular will • or, as we said before, resign. His party would prove a very powerful opposition, in fact, they are best fitted for it, and their natural disposition to find fault aud to criticise the acts of others, sadlj cramped and interfered with through the possession of place, would find full scope and ample opportunity for exercise. For it cannot be doubted that the state of things we now see proceeds from a coalition, the two parties to which differ more widely from each other than they do from the men in power; and, supposing they succeed in ousting the present occupants, must, in enunciating a policy, to use a Persian phrase, eat much dirt; which their adversaries would take care to offer •vith great liberality. The rock upon which they would probably split would be the system

of selling land on credit; in other words, a. system bv which people, not intending to make any use of it, would buy it in the hope of selling to new comers at an advanced price before they were called upon to pay themselves, and so pocket the difference. This is what most people propose to themselves, as tho benefit they would individually gain from such a plan: at all events it would be its inevitable result, and although a little temporary popularity may be gained by proposing it, it would, like every similar plan for artificially lowering the price of the national estate to enrich the present occu-

pants, but throw it eventually in the hands of a few great capitalists, even supposing the General Government or the home Authorities consented to its adoption,