The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 25, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1098, 25 October 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 25, 1879.

A i.kttkk fr»m Mr. W. J. Bull will be found in another column. Wc shall be glad if, by promoting discussion, wc elicit any new facts or arguments, for such is owr purpose. Our disappointment is that this writer, as yet altogether unknown to fame, says so much and yet so tittle. He beats a great deal about the bush, bnt fails to come to the point ; and we are sorry that the discussion has not in his hands advanced a hair's breadth. He is going to address ns again, however, and meanwhile wc shall endeavor to be patient. In pursuance of so important an object we can well afford to wait. So far as can be judged from stieh elaborate outwork's —snch imposing lines of ci reninvacation in which he entrenches himself as in an impenetrable fortress—he will defend himself with something we sh;vj!d imagine approaching an argument. His writttii; in the meantime is as unobjectionable aa a sheet of white piper. Wc shall watt, therefore, it is to he h>>p o. in k " a becoming and unprej'idrced spirit.' Sttch maxims as exclusively occupy this preliminary epistle are aUogether exemplary. Isy all means let us be "cilm attd dispassionate, neither allowing ourselves to be carried away by false" inferences nor the heat of discussion. Everything is to be anticipated from such a touching and beautiful display of philosophic calm. No anirry words, no unseemly eagerness for "victory, no dashing of vulgar weapons. Let us invoice rather that charity which sntfereth

long and is kind, and. array.d in : such beautiful garments. let us abandon ourselves to this delightful discussion, like bird.* in their little: neat*, or the loves of the angels. We assure Mr. JJuU th:»t we entirely sympathetic, and yield grateftdty t« s"'-h sweet influences. We have ; " not a wish that the result should be of I thts character or of that character, but a singte desire t»- discover of what character j they are." _ CVar and resonant words ! The meaning is indeed admirable, if i the language is somewhat "bjciri', and h«>w delightful when alt newspaper con- ! troverates, all polemical investigations, and all political discussions are carried on in such " a becoming and un- | prejudiced spiri*. Mr. Huff's fetter I to us like a harbinger of the millennium ; it is the voice of the turtle we hear ; it steals ttpon our ravished senses like spicy breezes from the celestial hills. We art; transported to enchanted '."round ; we yield ourselves to the mystic spell, for, like Christian in the " Pilgrim's Progress," we arc ascending the Delectable Mountains, and inhaling the sweet odors of myrrh and frankincense. Our corrcsp indent is sorely exercised with otir articles of the 20th and 21st instant. For them he has nothing but regret." Our " tone Es flippant," and the surface of his calm spirit is perturbed ami ruffled. We search in vain, however, for any evidences of flippancy, which, if it had any existence at a!!, was entirety involuntary, and we can assure Mr. Hull that nothing was further from our intention than such unbecoming behaviour. We should gladly endeavor to improve our style, and suffer our periods to move like mutes at a funeral, after the manner of our correspondent, but then such gifts arc born, not made by toil or art. The immortal Goethe ha 3 written — Hard thinking never makes the matter clearer. "Us the live fonntain in the speakers heart .Sends forth the streams that till the ravished hearer. Nor had we any intention of " punishing the morning paper." We sometimes take J leave to differ from our esteemed contem- j porary, but for our poor part we! never dreamt of "punishing" him; howj could such an unworthy idea enter the head of our transcendental correspondent! Is it that a fellow f. oling makes hint so wondrous kind! Who, indeed, "would not wtvp for Lvcidas ?" Jlis, sympathy is entirely waited on this occasion, however. V e trust we are as incapable of unfairly using the r.'d as v.vare of being flippant, and as little liable to plav the doniinie .is to copy the literary excellences of our correspondent. Like Tain o* Chanter, we " lo'e him like a very brither," anil not all the Hulls of Basitatt will disturb a friendship a3 touching and beautiful as that of David and Jonathan. At a very early age we wore profoundly impressed withsuch wickedness and folly. Other newspapers may quarrel; they may call each other opprobrious names and scandalise a whole neighborhood, but we —never ' never!! never ! ! I We resent such a supposition with eur whole soul; the lessons of childhcou arc not lust upon ns. Mrs. Grundy would rebuke us sternly, and whatever other journalists or other children may do, we shall not suffer such angry passions to rise ; Our little hands were never made to tear inch other's eyes. Oar correspondent is exacting, however. Wc think it " might have been a3 well"

: had we given six months' study to the ! question. How indeed can "we think " . that a question " upon which some of the leading spirits of the age have spent years 'of toil" is to be disposed of in a few hastily written article.! I Whoever said it could i What we said wna that wc had a very fresh recollection " "f the arguments i f the leading spirits of the aye." But what i 3 tiiis interdict osr correspondent would impose ? Are we to wait till the "leading spirits" scttb our difßcultiei for it.; i Are tin y themselves such a very happy family: Surely if. anywhere it is in these Colonies tisat-a man Mjv have tlic courage of his opinions, and v. iti .iiici experience of the folly ot shattered idols, lic.'in to tiiink for hioiioif. We have neither admiration 11.,r .v.tap.iihy for such writers as never vt--Irrrr<? l .-V' :i<i tin: heaten traoic, like Alpine alpenstock ill hand, anu i.'.rus-l to_-.-:h«T with ropes, lest they set in a s:.-v. d:i:"r, • faU over a precipice. c<.rre-tpond.'i-.t is not one of these, and himself ventures, evidently without much thought, to dual with such a diftieu':', subject. Fie may discover that •• discretion is the better part of valor," ' and for ourselves wc can only claim that j we have reached the vestibule ; we have u'toj-ed our way so far amidst difficulties 1 .-md dangers, the undiscovered conntry | lit:3 invitingly before us, our enterprise I and enthusiasm are stimulated by a | magnificent prospect, and we have not hesitated to record such glimpses as were vouchsafed to us. We congratulate ourselves that we have said something, and what we have to deplore in Sir. JJull's long letter is that he has said nothing—absolutely nothing. Our correspondent's references to America are just as little satisfactory. " A little more digestion " might have helped him as well as us. It will take a lot of " digestion," however—and wc must needs have a good appetite—to convince us that " rapid development," such as he confesses has attended her fiscal policy, is a mere coincidence, without correlation, as it is without parallel. This inscrutable writer is equally mysterious in his references to Canada. Here he turns his kaleidoscope. Her depression is not due, ho says, to her fiscal policy. America prospers under a protectionist policy ; Canada's depression was chronic under a free trade policy. There is 110 correlation —it is all coincidence. Such is Mr. Bull's deduction, which he will excuse us for thinking neither very wise nor very logical. Our friendly mentor fails entirely to comprehend our assertion that wc had no recantation to make ; that we believed in free trade ; that wc had no sympathy with such forms of protection as England happily abolished ; that the aims of the rising party in these latitudes had 110 identity with such exploded theories except in name, and that thus wc vindicated ..ur consistency. Our correspondent thinks this " illogically disposed of the assumption." We regret wo cannot make the matter plainer, however ; and if Mr. hull cannot see the absurdity of assuming that we arc inconsistent because we condemn certain forms of pnnectionin England ;> .-pprove of a policy in these clonics whieh has nothing in common with it, except in name, we cannot further help 3lr. Bull. Such obruscness may be very deplorable, but it can hardly be held to constitute a good title to judge of that which is or is not " logical." "We said that " it was sickening to have to teach educated men the rudiments of a science and the elements of a truth," and Mr. Bull asks—lst, it those who aspire to the position are capable of holding it, and, second, with whom the movement f'>r the protection of local industries originated ! These are very paradoxical questions, and have as nitieii to do with the as Tenterden Steeple h:i~ to do with Goodwin Sands. Our eccentric correspondent is fond of > cMiLiii.!.-,, ami v. hen not calmly reposing | amidst the hjaiiuide.i, becomes e:;ceed- ! tu'.'ly perplexing. With reference to the I first query, v.c reply, however, that those who aspire to such exalted functions should at least be capable of performing them, and both mentors and censors should '• pause." In the concluding paragraph he pretends to state the question. We are unfortunately unable to agree with him. It is not whether by ii.\tng prohibitive duties'" local manufactures e.'.ii he fostered. It is altogether :i different question, and one much more interesting, scientiiic, and profound than such a clumsy experiment. Wo were careful to define our position, and never hinted at prohibitive duties. We may doubt, moreover, whe'her a writer who fails so signally in apprehending " the rudiments of a rcience •■<• ;he elements of a truth " so plainly and cle.srly put can aid us much in she investigation. e trust he will, and thus wo take leave of hint for the present.