our American Letter.

Otago Witness, Issue 1418, 25 January 1879, Page 19

our American Letter.

Oor Special Correspondent discourses xreox many Topics of Social and PoliTtcAL Interest, Points of Industrial Development adapted for JSew ZealiAND. San Francisco, December 23rd, 1878. Christmas is upon us, and the weather is dry, cool, and bracing. A little rain has i alien, mikirsg everything look green and fresh. Americans enjoy the holiday asaaon, and places of amusement draw crowded honne«. California is unlike any other section of the Union in this respect, except Louisiana, where the old Spanish element a. ill largely prevails. They are fonder of amucem^Tits, and pay more for their indalgeace, than people in the Eastern States ; and what is 'wore, by common consent, San> d*y is the gala day of the season. Not that there iaaofca. large church-going element in tho

community, but idigioao atrvic.r, io drawtr houses at all, mui.t pte-ent attractions, equal ia kiud to the th«-wtres, concert lulls, and lecture-rooms. Wherefore it happens fcbatt there is not a great dtal of "wo 1- Jly " display ia tho churches. Their "methods"" are not strictly orthodox, and, 1 fr'ar, would terribly shock the good peopla of , Kncx Church, while the rigorous di'viuo of North Dunedm would bo driven into a irexizy of zsaloua rago at the latifcufjinatiau torn foolery of his Presbyterian brethren upon this coast. The music is o£ the very best, bub it is lendered by high--paid professionals. The congregations aro above singing God'a praise with heart and. voice, or any othar way. Music is part of the rec-guised order' of public service, and they provide the best their purses can afford, instrumental and vocal. "It ia an improvement/ an active church. member said to me in a smiling mood ; "it is an imptovement upon the orchestra of heaven, sir, if you will but consider the barbarous discord of sound the Bible provides: for the heavenly beatitudes. Now, if wo are to listen to psaltery and sackbut, sod cymbal and trumpet, and ratnshorns through, eternity, you cannot blame us for having a little good music when it is in our power. £ take it that we can use our discretion in this matter while we ate in the way ; and as we pay the piper no one should complain. Least of all visitors and strangers, who, you remark, cure* apt to think us irreligious." I had not a word to say. The subject was presented in such a novel, and at tho same time practical way, that I was fairly nonplussed. 1 had seen so much opposition to good music in the days of my devotional; youth, and such loyal' devotion "to the bax-l barous discord of sound the Bible provide*! , for the heavenly "beatitudes,", that I confess I had the conviction stowed away somewhere in my moral consciousness, that however offanßive to cultivated taste and jarring to a. musical ear, it was a Christian duty to> bring down heaven to earth by preservings as far as possible, the barbaric music of Asaph, chief musician to the scarcely less blurbaric sovereign of the petty little principality of Judea, in the year of the world — "Bat where's the use of chronology in such a easel The time is out of date. I enjoy the good music of the choir, and reserve to myself tho right of praising by deputy, nut without, qualms of conscience, however, which argua that I have not quite fallen from graea. But to see ministers of the General .Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, or from the Free Kirk of Scotland, sitting' still while their church orchestra plays some* "illigant lilt," as Mickey Free hath it, is* sight worth going some blocks to see. " They all do it" — Presbyterians and Congregationalists, Unitarians and Particularists, Epfe* . copalians and- Methodists, U.P.s and'Swedenborgians, Catholics and Jews, Mormons and Menonites — all go in for having a good time in chnrch, or the worldly amusements* which ate run at high pressure, would leaver them with empty pews and emptier treasuries. And ii'j the treasury they care foe specially. I suppose it is all right. I think it is, or so many good men and women, throwing their early prejudices to the winds, wools not practise it. The Christianity of America* is, this side the mountain at least, an exceedingly elastic system. Across the mountain it is in degreo worse. There is leaft cant and more enjoyment here than East Our parsons are more generally from ther Home land, and lack the superlative charlatanism in such high feather East. Pork- packing had made some progress ft* New Zealand, if I remember right,'half-a-dozen years ago. Canterbury was the chief' seat of this industry ; and Canterbury ham*, and bacon were certainly excellent. Auckland cured dairy- fed pork to a limited extent, but I am not certain if Otago did s» to any amount. At all events Irr collect that the latter province (pa? don the proscribed -word, but it is less cumbrous than " provincial district," And conveys "m definite political idea which the latter does not) "boiled-down" its surplus flocks for tallow ;— a wasteful economic method aba practised in Hawke's Bay and Canterbury. As a rough and reauy way of averaging prices it had its merit, but witk the steadily increasing value of lirni, and with an inevitable land tax to supersede in some sort taxes upon production and consumption, large property owners will not; find it pay in the long run. Modern science and experience step in to the help of toes " shepherd kings" and "pastoral monarcha** of the world. Every particle of tLe carcase* fit for human food may be preserved in, palatable form, and, at comparatively smalt expense, transported to a ready market. America, by reason of ita proximity to Europe, is the principal sourc j of inaat supply ; and now that we are improving the. noble savage off the face of the earth* and replacing buffalo and bis <n by phorfc. . horns and Hertfords, the vass grattr* valleys of the elevated plateau between tta.« Kooky Mountains and Sierra Nevada wilt!? soon, supply the European market witiw^ prime beef in unlimited quantity. It ur? being pierced by railroads in every direction and three years from now Ei. gland wiltf obtain her beef supply from this ferfclfej region. But tho Western and Middta States are the great dairy and pork factories}, of the world. He«f, despite the heavy, freight charges, the finest Bugar cured St. Louis and Chicago hams may be bought tßa» year round at from 12 cents to 15 cuat* per pound — first of this season's caring is. qaotas retail at 19 ctntu, but w 11 soon bo lower.. And this prioe pays in competition wi&k Oregon and California, which are large producers. An idea of the magnitude of this* pork packing industry may be formeft from* the fact that at eight cities im the Mississippi Valley 519,7b'9 hoga ha* bnen packed from November Ist to Novenw ber 13th inclusive. In the six principal cities, namely, Chicago, Cincinnati* Sjk Louis, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Louiay ville, in the week ending November 13th» the total manufacture of meat approximated to thirty-five million pounds, and o€ lard to nine million pounds. This >p a veiy large incr a^e over last year's production as same period, although the AgncuuuwJ Bureau of the U.S. reported, ti«ptemb«e last :— "The number of stock hogs is *bofl& foar per cent, less than latt year. An to* crease ia noted ia the New England, South

Atlaatic, uulf. and Pacific States. The Middle Stakes Bhow a small decrease, as well as ia all sections of the Mississippi Valley. In the inland and Southern States the decline is almost a fourth." The chief market for this vast meat pro* duotion ia England and its Colonies. The bulk of the English hams and bacon sent to Australia and Sew Zealand comes fro«\ the above named sections of this country. They are repacked simply and branded, but the hogs are fed, killed, and cured on the American Continent. Corn is the great stand-by of Western farmers in the manufacture of pork. The hogs are turned out among the tall stubble of wheat and barley fields, but they revel in corn patched, the cobs of which litter the ground. In California immense herds of hogs are driven into the stubble and among the corn, and get fat very fast. In some of the outlying counties fruit is fed largely to bogs, and vinicultu. irists often find it more profitable to feed grapes to pigs than send them to an uncertain or glutted market. Pigs are great gle&ners, aud earn much more to the farmers than they would have saved by a closer gathering of the crop. Pumpkiuß, squash, -&c, are favourites of the hog. Now for my application. Why not make Hie breeding and rearing of hogs a specialty of New Zealand farming ? It is the moat profitable branch of the American farm, overtopping sheep and cattle ; and indeed, iihe * blooded stock" craze ia cattle oa the ■whole is not found to pay. Wool is liable to : great fluctuations in value. Bat men must k and pork, cured and packed, is at all 3timeß, in all seasons and every country in devoand, despite the Pentateuch. Why not ■^therefore turn the tables upon British exporters, who buy " English hams" in Chicago TMid St. Louis, and send them "English hams" cured in Dunedin or Oamaru? Nothing could pay better. But the quality must be' prime to compete with American, -of which you already consume ao much in the delusion that it is of British origin. I «m the more impressed with" the value of this advice by observing the development jof this i>rauch of agriculture combined with cooperative dairying all over this country. TTaleas you make the beat of your position the Pacific Slope will \»e at your doors with its surplus. Your coil and climate are exceedingly favourable to dairying and hog rearing ; and my conviction is that your merchants have sufficient enterprise to find a, market if the farmers produce the raw -material of manufacture. ' , , . ; In this connection, I may also state that the English cheese, so largely consumedin the Colonies, is chiefly manufactured in Ohio and Hew York, and other States of the East arid North. Butter, is Bent in quite large quantities across to Europe from the Atlantic Slope: ' The weekly shipments of butter irom New York to Europe ia one and a«half million pounds. I know of no country possessing superior advantages for dairying on a large scale (and with dairying I include hog raisiDg) than New Zealand. It pays on "the highest-priced land in this country, and *hould pay, with superior climate and -soil, witii you. What you want is co-operative iaiiies, and a certain market for your pigs. The rest would follow naturally. I throw -wit theso hints for what they are worth. My readers may judge for themselves. But •oi this they- may rest assured, that individual action will be of very little value one way or mother. -The world's commerce and the tfum -»f the world's production is regulated by associated action. Individual enterprise is a feather weight. This fact is being demonstrated with stupendous results upon 'this Continent, and it is well for the-Anglo-Saxon commonwealths of the South to appreciate the industrial genius of the age, which crushes out < individual effort, and -organises communal energy and skill. The business of dairying and , pork-packing, through- all its ramifications, is no exception. The magnitude of the dairy interest of the Western and Atlantic States is eJnormous And growing, thanks to co-operation. In 1870 the sales of butter amounted to 34 bullion pounds ; in 1877 they covered 630 million pounds. There is no end to American dairymen's enterprise. At Sweet Clover Farm, Connecticut, pure milk is delivered by the French method. It ifl done up ia beautiful blue-glass bottles. "They are ijupplied (says a. writer in Scribner) with a wired rubber cork, similar to that which id used for sarsaparilia and beer bottles, and on the side of the flanges of the wire, which is to be raised before the bottle can be opened, a paper label is pasted, overlapping the wire on the glass neck, whereon is printed the day and date on which the bottle is filled. On the base of the bottle is a general label giving the advertisement of the farm on which the method originated, and a little piece bf information, of which we shall presently apeak. When twenty of theße bottles are filled, they are put into a box juat large enough to hold them, separated from each other by a rack partition. It is easy "to see that the ntiik • put up in this way says to the purchaser at once and unmistdkeably : 'I am the genuine article.' For it would be utterly impracticable to try to tamper with it. The label, wMch cannot be broken without detection, gives to the buyer the correct history of the contents of every bottle, and when he draws the cork, he knows that the grass his milk was secreted from was cropped the day'before on the slopes of lovely pastures in Litchfield County, Conn. There is no fear of chaiks, chemicals, or of water. It ia the same flu d you find in the pail as it comes from the country Barn. , A sentence printed on the bottles tells us that the ' bottling of ■■* milk from one cow' is a specialty; and to young children and invalids this news becomes a pleasant proclamation. For ordinary use the' combination of the milk of twenty to a hundred cows suffices, if the dairy be •well k»pt ;but under special circumstances It ia desirable, and in the case of aeliuatd infants may save life, to have the milk which is used drawn regularly from one cow. When the bottles discriminate in this way, sn extia label is used to designate 'Cow 25,' 'Cow 34/ aud so on. " if alluded above to the fresh meat trade. A few illustrative statistics will suffice to prove that in this branch of business America, with its boundless land resources and natural pastures, cut off the South * -Pacific countries from the European market. The fresh meat export began in October,' 1t875, in which month, 32,644 lbs were sent jgcroiH the Atlantic from Philadelphia and

New York. At the close of April, 1877, a total of 33,850,217 lbs had been shipped. In May last year 7,206,000 lbs were exported. This was nearly all beef. The quantity fell off sensibly (about 2,000,000 lbs) in the summer months, but increased rapidly towards the eiid of the year. The total export; for 1877 was 55000,000 lbs, worth £1,048,000, against 20,000,000 lbs the previous year. Live cattle are shipped in the warm months. Canada is participating in this trade. A3 refrigerators are perfected, the Argentine .Republic, Brazil, and Venezuela will compete. Wherefore, aa beef is out of the question, New Zealanders should make pork, butter, and cheeso a specialty. In a recent letter I referred to honey. One word furcher on the name subject, at the ri*k of repeating myself somewhat, because I think you snould become large ex porters of honey, which is always in demand for table use. A few years ago apiaries were founded in Southern California, and in 1876, four or five years after the industry had been founded, the booey crop of San Diego County alone was 1,250,000 lbs. 1877 opened with 23,000 stands of working bees in that county, but the drought of that year ruined the honey crop. Only 16,000 weakly stands survived the iamme o£ bee-feed. The year now closing was extremely favourable, and near one million pounds of honey were gathered at the close of the season. Apiarists of San Diego start this season' with 24,000 stands of healthy working bees, according to the county tax assessors' report, and as the season so far has been all that could be wished, the honey yield will doubtless be large. Honey now figures as an export to Europe from fcSan Francisco. Other counties, aa Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Buenaventura, produce honey in like ratio ; and the central and northern belts of . counties are fast coming out as honey-making sections. In California, bee-feed costs nothing. Nature is prodigal of its flowering shrubs aud ' honey-yielding plants. A San Diego apiarist writes on this point: — "The mauzanita blooms in December, the willow in February, the black sage in March, the white sage in May, the wild buckwheat or greasewood in Angust, and crowfoot and other annuals from February to August. The principal food for honey -making and storing is the black and white sage and the wild buokwheat, though there are several shrubs upon which the bee feeds with great avidity— such aa the manzanita, the elder, the willow, and some others; and cloae in along the coast is the rye plant ioi its season, but from this the honey is not held in the highest esteem, though the yield is fair, and the colour tolerable. Last year's drought has taught our apiarists — perhaps the best in the State, and possibly aa good aa any in the Union — several very valuable lessons, and one of them is the art of feeding the bees in such years, and feeding them well, so aa to produce the best results, and so as to utilise the bees at the earliest day, that they may be ready for active outdoor work. Their plan seems to be not to feed sty aB to carry the bees through the winter. They i'efed in January and April to stimulate the brood, holding that, as you would prepare your forces for harvest, co prepare your bees for the bloom of May, June, and July." Our honey season is over aboub the middle of September. Now here is a great source of income to every farmer if he would but utilise it. Your womankind should care for .the bees, ' I don't know precisely whether the Australian mints pay expenses, but if they do, they are better managed than the United States mints, under the management of that slippery speculator and self -instructed metallurgist, Professor Linderman. Strange fact, nearly every other man is a '* professor " in this country; they all profess something, thouph their profession is often vain show. But Professor Linderman has a good fat thing of it He is Director- General of the United States mints, "puts up jobs" in silver, and " has the inside " of every speculative trick for plundering Uncle Sam and his much-believing progeny. Heia engineering for reappointment, his term of office having nearly expired, and as the Bink ring back him, in all likelihood John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury, will piesent his name to the Senate for confirmation. But the record of his work is not good. His annual report has been published. No coinage was done at the New Orleans and Denver (Colorado) mints last year. At the three mints of Philadelphia, Carson, and San Francisco, the excess of expenditure over earnings for the past three years was 3,136,225d0L There was a profit, however, of 6,153,855d01. seignorage upon silver coin, which enables him to show a credit balance. This is the difference between the bullion value of the silver coined and its face value after coiaage. . The United States mint buys silver for coinage, and is thus a bullion-broker. Hence the scope for "speculative deals" possessed by the director of the Mint. The gold and silver product of the United States during the past financial year was — Gold, 47)226, 107d01; silver, 46,726,314d01. You will see, therefore, that the production of gold and silver was nearly equal. California produced of gold, 15,260,676d01 ; silver, 2,373,359d01. Nevada produced of gold 19,546,573d01 ; silver, 28,130,350^01. The great mineral deposits of the United States are this side the Rocky Mountains. North Carolina and Georgia send out a trifle of gold. Congress is in session, but nothing of consequence has transpired.' It will be a short sessiou of 90 days. The President's message contained nothing of immediate importance, beyond an allusion' to the alleged political terrorism in the South. The law is to be vindicated, which means, of course, that the influence of the Government will be used to restore the waning power of the Republican party in the South. Americans are without the consciousness of justice or fair play in politics. They are endowed with only one eye, live in a cave, and prey upon their political opponents. If a Democratic administration were in office there would be no material change. Things would just %o on as they are now going, only the upper dog of to-day would be the under dog in that fight. I was speaking to a lead ing lawyer a few days ago upon American politics generally, and he expressed the opinion that the country was beginning to emerge from the slough of corruption into whfch the civil war had plunged it.

" Before the war," he s<rid, " I chink there i was as muoh political honesty and honour among American public men as there is among English politicians ; but the couutry has been debauched by the civil war. The war (auoh a war as we had) would debauch any country. It debauched the men and the women engaged in ifc. It broke up homes aad home ties, and subjected whole States to all the horrora of invasion, and populous towns, perhaps peacefully occupied, were sacked. In other words, the troops indulged ia every possible excesß. But th's was not all. The men became embruted and the women reckless. Money was made in large sums by speculation. Inflation was as demoralising as the war. Men who were content to earn one dollar a day before ihe war found themselves suddenly millionaires by contracts; and frauds were the rule. These men and women had no conception of the social obligations of wealth. They indulged in ostentatious display, vied with each other in sumptuous living ; built grand houses, hired troops of liveried servants, and had their vulgar proceedings chronicled in a debauched and degraded Press. For the American Press, I regret .to Bay, pandered to the licentious arrogance of the rich. In this way the public taste was debauched, and tne simpYicfty oi American manners became corrupted. I am an American, and lam heartily ashamed of it. But I think in a generation or two we shall grow out oi it. We certainly cannot go on as we are forever." " Meanwhile," I remarked, " you are under the harrow." " Yes ; we are under the harrow. That is the trouble." " And the danger ? " I suggested, " Agreed. There is great danger. It is certainly a serious if not a menacing state of things which now exists. Aa I said, men suddenly acquired wealth through the war, ' or by successful mining or stockjobbing speculations, and they set to work to buy seats in the Legislature, and became United States Senators and Congressmen, Governors and State Senators. To attain this distinction they debauched and corrupted the electoral body, or at least that part of the machine which controls the nominations. The result has been a Vice-President of the United States driven out of public life for taking a bribe of lOOOdol; United Stateß senators and representatives expelled for accepting bribes ; others afraid to go to their States and face prosecution ; Governors of States fugitives from justice ; and State and County officers so notoriously corrupt that prosecuting officers, clean-handed, cannot be got to drag them to justice. Ail this is the out* come of the war. But the country will right itself, sir. I am an American, and have faith in the country." " Well," I remarked, " all this is very bad ; but how do you expect relief ? The demoralising example is ever present to the people. Thieves have control of the electoral machine, and only thieves stand a chance for office. Would it sot be better to adopt the English system, and have re , presentatives and voters brought into direct contact, without the intervention of primaries and County and State Conventions?" " Perhaps ao ; but this system is a century's growth, and 1 the people would not surrender it. My remedy would be to disfranchise any man whose name is not recorded as voting at a primary k " " That would be a. radical cure, certainly. Meanwhile the people 'will be driven to desperation. They cannot stand for long the oppression of organised capital, backed by a corrupt and debauched Congress. There will ba a social war." < He paused a moment. " Yes," he said ; "perhaps a social war. But not in that sense. You will find, unless the drift of public opinion changes, that this Coast will -gn off from the Union. Then the South and West will go. This country must ultimately become four independent republics, The agricultural West has nothing in common with the maritime North and East, any more than the South or Pacific Coasfc has ; and yeb they must pay tribute on all they consume and all they produce. Men will not stand this for ever. Then, again, by iniquitous legislation money-brokers and usurers are enabled to make large sums daily by discounting the people's money — that is, changing it from one denomination to another. The world's history hardly, if at all, throws a parallel to this iniquity, of which the poorer classes are the chief victims." I intimated my general concurrence in his J opinion, as it was one I had long held my« j self. I remarked simply that a continental area like this was too vast for a republican government; that republics were all very well for small communities, but did not do for such extended dominion. It would soon change into an oligarchy under the forms of republicanism. ' "It is that already," he said. «• The Republic ceased to exist with the fall of Fort Sumpter. We have had a military dictatorship most of the time since, modified by swindling cabinets. In ten years' time you will see the. disruption effected, or a monarchy ! " ■ "We shall see," I rejoined ; "but I think a social war is the more probable. The people will certainly rise on this Coast if Congress don't provide relief from Chinese encroachments." " Congress will never aid them. They know nothing of the question, and are at all times ready to 'see' the Chinese ambassador. The Pacific Coast must right itself." I give you this conversation as it occurred, as a sample of independent American thought. This gentleman is a representative man, and he speaks the sentiments of a very large and influential section of the public. The noisy element in politics, and the shoddy aristocracy of fashion which foreigners alone see in this country during casual visits^ or read of in American newspapers, do not quite make up the American nation, nor will they give it * tone. It is a low tone, undoubtedly, dishonouring and dishonourable. There is no such thing, apparently, as official honour, and of necessity private and personal affairs partake of the same lack of probity. What would you think in. New Zealand, for example, of the questions for teachers' examinations being sold surreptitiously by school officials, by connivance of the department, for some 12 or 15 years? Yet this is what has happened in California, and doubt-

less has "happened in a dozen other ritates. It is on sworn testimony that the officials and teachers engaged in this traffic made from £6000 to £8000. Women were largely [ engaged in this traffic, as they are in most, 1 if not all, discreditable transactions in this country, One of these naively said that she bought the questions to pass, knowing that certificates wore bought. She had then gone into the business to cover her own losses ; the questions were " peddled by the agent at '200dol each to white folk, and from lOOdol to 150dol each to Jews." The State Superintendent, through his son and wife, is smirched. This is the kind of thing which i« constantly coming to the surface. And the beauty is, every one concerned is an American born. Indeed, they appear to have a monopoloy of stealing all round. One of the most remarkable men America haß produced, Wade Hampton, Governor of South Carolina, has just been elected by the Palmetta State to the United States Senate. The day of his election his leg was amputated, as the result of a carriage accident. When the war broke out he went with the South. He was the largest slaveowner in America, as his father and grandfather had been in their day. He went through the war like a gallant soldier, and on the declaration oi peace iowad Yivcaselt mahout home or following. He was politically and socially ostracised. Carpet-baggers held the State, stole the public funds, corrupted the Legislature time and again, called in the United States troopa to sustain their rule, ■but, thanks to Wade Hampton's spirit aud perseverance, he routed them, horse, foot, and dragoons, and the Carpet- bag Governor Chamberlain, and Carpet-bag Senator Patterson, are refugeed from justice— the one protected by the partisan administrations of the North, and the other by his privileges as a senator, from arnest and trial. "Wade Hampton, should his life be spared, will make his mark in the Senate, and bring the dark doings of Grant's reconstruction policy prominently before the nation. And speaking of Grant, reminds me that he is being sent on an Asiatic tour, at the expense of the Government, to advise a naval officer who has a roving commission to visit every semi- , civilised State in the Indian and China Seas, 'for the purpose of making commercial treaties, with a view to opening markets for American manufactures. It is intended that Grant shall be brought forward for the Presidency in 18S0 ; and his tour is to terminate at San Francisco about a week after the presidential election. He would then make a triumphal progress across the Continent if elected; if not elected, and the tactics of 1876 were resorted to, he would be 'at hand to head the reokless adventurers who might seek to impose him upon the nation by revolutionary methods. That his partisans count upon either probability ia certain, Whether their scheme will wholly miscarry is another matter. They are accustoming the American people to the kingly title in connection with Ulysses S. , Grant. A canard has just been started by leading American journalists and exploiters id Paris and elsewhere, that thej Bulgarian notables would offer the American general the new throne of Bulgaria. The idea, of course, is preposterous ; and Grant is not the fool to accept such a thankless billet. But it has had the effect intended. The illustrated papers pburtray Grant as refusing the Crown of Bulgaria in deference to the demand of the American people, who stand ready to hail President, Dictator, or whatnot. California has many "political bums," who shout for Grant and a strong government. .Of these, a vulgar horse- jockey, named Page, has managed to get elected to the House of Kepreaentatives, where he is jocularly called "JCicero." Reading the Bulgarian item in the morning paper, he rushed into the Library at the Capitol, and exclaimed to a political crony whom he met : "Did you hear the new 3, Gus ?" "What news?" " Great news ! Grant is to be King of the Vulgarians." " Bulgarians, man." " What's that !" " Oh, the Bulgarians are a tribe of Indians somewhere in Europe." "Thunder! I thought Grant was to be King of our crowd ;" and heaving a sigh of disappointment, the representative of the Vulgarians passed on. _ This is the same man who has been vainly trying to get a Calif ornian jnry to find the San Francisco Chronicle guilty of libelling him. He is a vulgar, foul-mouthed, profane ruffian, who could not possibly rise above his own stable in any country save the glorious American Republic. I need not Bhock your readers by any recital of crimes this month, although I have only too much material at hand. .Men and women appear to have given themselves wholly over to the devil. . The cool way in . which murder is planned, the cruol mode of ' execution, and the paltry excuse or considerlion urged in defence, would astound anyone not accustomed to such details. In this respect American society is certainly retrograding at a rapid pace. The other day a mob of cattle-herders in Nebraska had a difficulty with two farmers. They attempted to arrest the farmers as cattle-thieves, and in the fight one man. was shot. It was a fight for life for the unhappy farmers. They were taken by the sheriff, captured by a band of masked men, bound to a tree, and slowly burned to. death — Indian fashion. And now their perfect innocence has been established. This is a sample. Details are not wanting to make other cold-blooded murders and lynching vie with even this in atrocity. But I forbear, v Among the new books of- the '.season is a novel by J. F. Clark, formerly of. Auckland, now of San Francisco, * entitled. "Stock Gambling in San Francisco ; or, The Society in Search of Truth." Those beet acquainted with Mr Clark will not bo surprised at his literary talent, but they would hardly be prepared for such a clever book as his initial step into authorship. The book is well constructed, cleverly written^ and symmetrical and well-sustained throughout. The love atory which zuns through it like a thread of gold is well told, and several descriptive passages occur, of a very high order of literary merit ; but the point of the book is in its exposure of the rascalities of stock gambling, ■ which .has .victimised so many, and despite all exposures, and warnings is destined to do so to the end. Mr Clark has done his duty like a man in lifting

the veil, and showing how the thing is done* He waa a member of the Pacific Stock Board, and must be expected to know, you know. His picture of " High water" (Flood), the banker and stock manipulator, is said, by those who know, to be true to life. I don't know and I don't care. Bat I am decidedly pleased at Mr Clark's snocess as an author. He has been illnaturedly reviewed by the Argonaut, which prints an original play from his pen in the i Christmas number. Other newspapers deal ! more fiirly by him, but they cannot wholly condemn stock transaotions, by which indirectly thpy make so large a revenue. Th« "Society in Search of Truth" is being!, dramatised by its author. So you see New Zealand is looking up. Jiees, in Hawke's • Bay, and Clark, iv the Bay of San Francisco, both old Auckland colonists (the latter wholly so), are making their mark in the. republic of letters. May they prosper. The address and casket to Karl Beaconsfield, from British residents in California, was presented by W. G. Harrison, formerly of Auckland, a rising business man in San? Francisco, who was in London on the occasion. It would have been presented on the 14th December, but the death of Princess*. Alice interfered. The following is' THE ADDRESS. To the Eight Honourable the Earl of Beaconafield, KG. We, British residents of California, have the honour to approach your Lordship with. 'this expression of our high appreciation of thabrilliant statesmanship evinced by you in the late European crisis. We have watched with interest and pride thesuccessive triumphs which your Lordship's genius woa for our bdloved country ; and werecognise that your far-seeing policy has elevated the national name, consolidated the Empire, and caused Britons, however far reamoved, to feel that the tie which binds them to the Mother Country was never closer than^ aow. When peace and war trembled in the balance, and the destinies of nations hung upon mighty issues, your Lordship's wise counsels and firhv attitude turned the bcale, secured to Europe an (honourable peace, assured civil and religiousliberty to oppressed races, and inaugurated a . reign of order and tranquillity where anarchy and oppression were rife. Another isle of fame is added to England's vast poa'sessions;' another gem sparkles in the diadem of our Empress Queen. < These brilliant achievements justly entitle your Lordship to the grateful homage of every true Briton's heart. We, in- California, sendglad greetings across the sea, and congratulate/ Her Most Gracious Majesty and the British Nation in having, during the late crisis, entrusted England's unsullied honour and unbounded resources to such worthy keeping. Long may your Lordship continue at the head of affairs, to wield your potent influence . in the high interests of liberty and civilisation* With respect and gratitude for the invaluable services rendered to our beloved Queens and country, permit us to subscribe onrselvej, Your Lordship's faithful servants, Alexander 2Torbe3, J. L. Woods, W. Patoiv T. V. Walter, W. G. Harrison, Barton.. , Hill, Matthias Gray, W. J. Callingham,. Koberfc Sherwood, F. J. Wilson, John. Melville, Edward Parsons, K. J. Creighton, Frederick Yatea. - ' The City of Sydney goes down a full ship as usual, several Colonials returning by her. Their flighty across the Ameiican Continent usually satisfies them that ''the Britain of the South" is far before any other country. And, indeed, there is little on the overland route to attach apy one to America. , There is to be a decided change in the man,agement of vhe Pacific Mail Company, Cap-- . tain S. Samuels, of Brooklyn, being appointed: General Superintendent;, to reside in San Francisco. The Australian and New Zealandagencies are likely to be stirred up somewhat. Great changes in administration areneeded before it pays. I may write you the history of this Company one day, which willshow what may happen to a joint stock corporation in the United States. Meanwhile I forbear. Jacob Terry.