Correspondence.

Colonist, Issue 15, 11 December 1857, Page 3

Correspondence.

To the Editor'of the' Colonist.

Sir,—-I deem it not out of place to offer a few observations in reply to Mr. Tucker's remarks of Friday last, relative to the late inquest on the late Mrs.tPratt. ■•',":'•■- .;. v :::';'. ;.'

. Although I duly: respect Mr. Tucker's real interest for detecting truth, I find his reasoning father too! conclusive, and I fear it will dispose to a, pre-occupation of mind, where a cool arid mature consideration of the reasons for. pro or contra is required. Mr. Tucker says "medical writers teach us that ce.itain symptoms in a patient, while alive, indicate the presence of the drug" (arsenic.) Such opinions.may certainly find'but little favour in the nineteenth, say in the second half of the nineteenth century. I do not think that a medical writer of distinction would venture such a conclusive expression. He would probably inform us that there are but few, perhaps no " certain symptoms," of a disease; and as to-the effectsof arsenic hi a living body, he would probably tell us that persons who have taken, arsenic in sufficient quantity to destroy life, die sometimes under the symptoms of a severe inflammation of the whole intestinal tractus, sometimes without any apparent laxation (either before or after death) of those parts'under signs of cebro-spinal afFections and convulsions, sometimes even vomit: the whole quantum of the fatal drug betray no other symptoms, and live as comfortable as before. Again, "and pass sulphrated hydrogen gas through the liquid, or test it with the ammoniosulphate of copper, or ammbnio-iiitrate of copper, (s. silver) when an orange-coloured greenish or brown precipitate, according to the agent employed, will gradually subside; the latter tests were used.'' ' This seeriis tb nie' tobe likewise' too conclusive. Many a reader would be'inducedto'believeaccording to the style: in which it is expressed, that a mere simple experiment with one of these agents would sufficiently prove if a liquid contains arsenic or not.. Sulpherate hydrogen gas, producing an orange-coloured precipitate does not prove by this the presence of arsenic. :,neither can an abrupt test with the ammonip-sulpliate'of copper, or am-riionio'-nitrate of silver satisfy us in this'way. A greenish' precipitate, when a preparation of copper, or a brbvvn^ when a nitrate of silver is eihployed in: experiments, particularly by; non-professional chemists, must always raise our doubts, and imperatively demand a more accurate irivestigation, even when the agents themselves1 are proved to be positively free from arsenic; but would the mere sublimation he sufficient?,;, I think : it:would notj and certainly requires, the sharp, look of a Beryelius to distinguish between the minute crystals of arsenic and those of antimonized, which produces sublimed, like other metals, " lhinute crystals" as ,well.- The specification,of minute crystals, must be considered an .exceedingly subtle affair, and reriiain the respected' territory of professional minerplogists. .' r ~ Excruciating pain* and swelling' of■ my foot, without preceding injury, does prpye as little the evil, to be gout, as possibility can be called fact. , I know Mr; Tucker will agree with-me in this, that in cases where honour and life is at stake, that it is not experimental: but analytical chemis-r try Which we require,-and that when the experiment raises our suspicions, the analysis may solve and dispel our doubts. : I am, your obedient servant, . . JUSTUS.^

To thd Ediior of the Colonist, ' ' .' Sib,—l send you.some: reasons for establishing a market place in Nelson, for the sale of corn, &c, by sample, and bther agricultural, dairy and garden produce in bulk.' I consider the;non-exis-tence of a( market to be a disgrace and a detriment to the Pfovirice of Nelson. , I am, Sir, your obedient servant, ■ ; FAIR PLAY. ■;'

A first and principal reason consists in the fact that market places are established in all civilised communities, are always found to be beneficial, not only- in a pecuniary but moral point of view. Periodical markets bring together persons connected by siriiilar and relative callings, friends from different parts to coriipare the value of their produce, and the prospects of their future labours. It would prevent the possibility, or at least the probability, of sellers disposing of their produce at less than the current market value, and purchasers buying at more, produce would fetch its value according to quality, bad farmers would-not realise a premium on bad farming, and: good ones would receive their honest share of encouragement., ' '; It would prevent the loss of time in town that can be ill spared by .most farmers, in seeking for a fair price for their corn. . . The formation of a,market place, under proper regulations, would induce .the necessity of written ■bargains, binding upon both buyer and seller, proveable in the event of litigation in either rising or falling:markets, thereby checking tlie desire to overreach the other, enforcing honesty upon the adult, by practical example' to. the rising, population, and giving effect to the inculcation of it by precept, and without which the 'Education Bill*' is sheer nonsense.

I thinkit seems absolutely necessary that some : plan should be matured, to protect tlie .public against monopoly by a publicly r'ecognisediiiarket-' place arid time, to adopt a' systeriiatic method of; conducting business by written' and proveable documents in bargains for produce to he delivered,1 and : the satisfactory;, completion thereof by a system of delivery. ,' /' ' ; "", .",'" "'•"'■ , We will suppose a farmer wishes to sell a quantity of corn, he goes to A, farmer of course, hoping to; get the top market price.: A says, .' Well, how. much ? ' Farmer ;takes ; care,to ask enough (but in this he lias sometimes been mistaken' and got fixed accordingly ); well knowing it is easier to reduce than add to it. A offere him'as much below the value as he thinks, the farmer has asked above it. The latter dissatisfied, goes to B, who offers him perhaps less than A.' 'Farmer goes to C arid others with' different' results. After sundry 'glasses;'perhaps, he returns'to A. ' WelL; says :A, ' not sold yet, how,, much how ?' '.I; think,' say 3 farmer, > PIL take your price.' ' But,' says A, 'I won't' give it; you've tried at other places and can't sell at my price, -and you now generously give me the preference, I must have, a greater reduction.' So the. dissatisfied farmer, does not know what to do. A market would obviate all this; he would settle.his business there' perhaps in or half-an-liour, or possibly a few minutes; on satisfactory because current terms.1 The, remainder- of his appointed time in town is ; occupied in making his purchases at the stores, and arrives hoihe in good time, instead of spending half the day "in endeavouring to ascertain something like a fair market price, and perhaps finding himself.at home by midnight, pr late next "day. It-is, well known too,amongst traders that '.the turn' is, either for or against, according to their being" sought for or otherwise. A market; is: a place where' one avowedly goes to buy,? the other to sell; they therefore meet on, an "-.equal- footing, ; and neither can take that advantage which the -want of a market naturally gives. . ' '-.".'"' ' .Little need be said of tlie advantage arising to the Worlting: agriculturalist, i especially, those, who have, every thing to learn, from, their having a meeting place, for comparing notes, the prospect I of their future, labours, the value of their produce, and a variety of topics tending greatly totheberiefit of the agricultural interest generally.: : : Nqw, with regard to the' loose; system of selling; produce, to .be delivered, as, at present -pursued. Perhaps it'may be said that it is difficult of alteration^ because in rising markets you cannot obtain a 'sale note'of the seller; what does this indicate ? Here I think is a'case in point. Sometime since a farmer, sold to a party in Nelson a quantity of corn','to be delivered, at a certain price, \verbally agreed upon; After delivering two loads he re-^ fused to deliver anymore. The case being brought before the sitting Magistrate, he, the seller, alleged as his .reason that he was, not satisfied with the buyers weight. The buyer, complained of loss by non-performance of remainder of contract, and if I remember rightly, the seller admitted having sold the: remainder subsequently at a higher price; The Magistrate regretted, much that it was not in liis power to deal with the case,'in consequence of the loose manner in which the bargain w*as made,' and he was reluctantly conipelled' to. dis* missit. •■ ~ ■ . •:■:'"-...;.:■■•■;, '■-, Comment .here, is useless. Agairi, somewhat a similar case occurred betwecri myself and a man who sold me a few bushels of wheat", at; a cash price. He wasito'.receive the money on production of the miller's receipt, a day or so afterwards. After waiting a week or two, I found he had sold it to another person at 6d. per bushel more, the market price being on the rise. I was of. course defrauded of the difference. ;The person, who at present shall be nameless, who bought it, thought it a capital joke, and erijoyed.it accordingly. (Here too I must remark on the publishing of reports of cases in the Resident Magistrates' Court, which seldom happened previ* ous to the establishment of the Colonist.) In the Examiner now before me, I read the following evidence of a witness. ' Pompey at once accepted my offer. The maize was landed, and while I was sitting upon it waiting for the cart I had hired to come up, Taylor,, .the carter,.came along, spoke to the Maories, and took the niaize away.' So you see the pernicious effects of the Want of system occasioned by the want of a market; is spreading far and wide, and leaving out of the question the not knowing where your bargains terminate, or whether in loss or profit. Such a want'of system is disgraceful, and compels honestly-int'eritioned persons to resort to chicancery in self-defence to enable them to compete with other traders... ,■ r It may be argued by some that it cannot for the present be avoided, on the ground that the demand for corn, &c, has progressively exceeded the production, and that therefore the buyers are not in'a position to enforce written contracts from sellers; this is quite true, but' the,boot may be on 'tother leg.' \ What then will, be the seller's position ? I cari tell1 them, that the buyer-will be able to retaliate/with .much greater loss, to the seller (in the event, of there being no 'bought note*)*in falling markets, than the latter can upon the buyer during rising prices, and they will find to their cost they will be sable to ' better the instruction,' unless it shall be prevented in time., It:is therefore most certainly the interest of the seller to, co-operate with the buyer, as well as vice versa, to establish a system' by which their bargains shall be made safely and completed with- the least possible loss of time, simple in: its operation", and preventive of litigation, expense, and ill-wi11..,., ~ , . 1 nowcome to the next important part of the fnatter, viz., that, of the1 seller obtaining from the purchaser, or from a; properly authorised 'uninterested . person, a just return; of the quantity (or weight) of corn, etc., delivered t tp the buyer or taken from the seller, on his account. In the present state.of the custom, the seller is completely in tlie hands of the buyer,unless: the carman is able to detect any mistake in entering the goods into the buyer's book or slate, or whether the weighing machine arid weights are correct. I should say the majority of carmen are hot able to detect any error of these kinds, and I believe it is not the rule with farmers to be provided with scales,, etc., and if they were, it would not prevent differences. It is therefore necessary to jmt into practice.a just-plan between buyer and seller, to which both could appeal, and both be able' to give as good evidence in case of dispute, in a way analagous to that of a swornmeter s certificate.

A great evil in a small community in advancing markets, is that of 'forestalling,' which, I apprehend, would be presented to a 1 great extent: by a market. In. former times it ■ was punishable in England by pillory, etc.; but this has become obsolete in consequence of the immense trade and competition, the calculations of; speculators being rendered uncertain from-the same causes: But in a small community the combination of a few individuals may, with very little. trouble„ influence prices to suit their own purpose. How often have we heard that on the arrival of information of a rise of prices in other settlements, of persons hastening for the purpose of purchasing among the sellers. The latter suspecting or, knowing their purpose don't know what price to ask, but if the pi;ce demanded suits the purpose of the buyer, in accordance with the information he is in possession of, the grower is,' nailed' at once, if not, up goes the market, and fabulous prices, demanded all over the country. P.S.—Should the foregoing' be thought sufficiently interesting; I intend in my next to point out the remedy and mode of operatiori. , ;

To the Editor of the Colonist. Sm.—Will the doughty 'Dustidos,' of an ' Old Settler,' who seems to know a thing or two, enlighten the public on the latter part of that very funny production in last week's Examiner. It is headed ' Wairau;' the writer starts with ' tempestious weather'—(by-the-by, a bank which'correspondents' and penny-a-liners draw to almost any amount) ; becomes . pathetic ' on our woollyfriends;' quotes poets.; indulges in suppositions on early shearing; riiakes sundry therapeutical observations in the ' scab;' recommends combination among the flock-owners; calls for a rousing of'social action,' which he. pronounces at present to be 'languid and weak;' becomes great in moral "platitudes, and legislative reflections; and then arrives, at the point upon which your correspondents are earnestly requested to give some information,, namely, as to- the 'large sums of money

which have been abstracted from this district, m& expended elsewhere.' - .\ , j;",;.; : .. .. ", , .•-■!'■ Will any of .your readers inform, tlie benighted _ public as to tlie amount of lahd sold in the districtnamed—the amount of money given for suoh land■—arid the expenses attached to the«ale and survey of it.., It would likewise, be well tp mention the. exact period when these ' large funs' wese'abstracted,' arid how' arid by wliorri1 spent1;: and fdf what purpose expended.--' - : ;;" / /'••:•''. ;i-'.: >-.'<' To v stranger this abstraction j of mpneyfrom: one .part of the .Province brings tp,mind;the old t proverb,' Robbing Peter to pay Paul.' " ' • There is one gratifying fact aririouriced, which will please all settlers, old and new, '• that' is, that In that very ill-used district, are beginning to talk of education for .their, clrildren, arid settlers, of roads to their homesteads.'' .',"/■'..'. In doubt it has surprised riiany that' not orily| have such things not been;' talked'- of before, - but= that they have;not been done. ;,:7, .;-; !; ; ; il ..'.,. Yours, 5id, ,.... . ;.-, ..,,-. '■'.'.":.'":-" ■■' '' l:'."'. ,'r',!:V^NQUiRER.';;