THE COLONIST, NELSON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1868. SIR DAVID MONRO AND THE MORALITY OF MINISTERS.

Colonist, Volume XI, Issue 1080, 31 January 1868, Page 2

THE COLONIST, NELSON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1868. SIR DAVID MONRO AND THE MORALITY OF MINISTERS.

What Sir David Monro said on this subject in his address to the Committee of the Financial Eeform League, and what is printed in his revised address are two rather different things, a point which is a\\ that at present we desire to show. Some facts which told against the Centralising party, which Sir David supports, and especially against the present Ministry, are very carefully deleted from the address as printed. We content ourselves with one instance^ Sir David, referring to what he termed the partnership between the Provinces and the General Government said thut had that partnership not existed the Colony would have been spared witnessing the " disgraceful spectacle" of a Minister of the Crown confessing in hia place in the House, that Ministers had bought the votes of members of the Assembly! These sentiments of his own, which he gave to the Committee, Sir David now strikes out of his address, and, likewise, in quoting from the speech of Mr. J. C. Richmond, on Sept. 3rd- ! [see the last column of the lecture], he studiously omits the confession of Mr. Eichmond to that " disgraceful" purchase, "which confession formed part of his address as delivered. We here copy from Hansard the omitted sentences : — "Of course, Sir, the Government do not like this partnership, but they feel this, that if they had ventured in the present session to come down with any proposal which would effect the utter destruction of that partnership, they must have failed ignominiously; at all events, we should not have carried the House with us, and should not have hought the votes which mj honorable friend the member for the Goldfields charged us with buying. And here let me say that I do not shrink from the imputation. We did, in a sense, buy certain votes; but it was in no bad sense; that is to say, we have got the assent of certain gentlemen to our proposition who would not have given their assent to any extreme measure." We can only repeat here, what was remarked by a member of the Committee when these lines were read, that " Ministers in thus buying the votes disgracefully sold their principles in order to retain their places." And yet it is into the hands of such men, and of such Ministers that Sir David Monro asks the public to surrender such powers of local Government as | they still possess. Absit omen !

The Escort from Charleston to Westport, on Jan. 22nd, brought over 3500 ozs. Cultivation ov Chicobt. —We believe an attempt is about to be made here to introduce the cultivation of the chicory plant, which is a plant fond of marshy soil; is raised from seed, strong and easily cultivated, sends out a large root (the commercial article),-which in its raw state is worth about £5 a ton. It is at present very scarce in Melbourne, and it is considered by persons interested in its growth that the climate of New Zealand, and particular parts of the soil of this Province, would be admirably adapted for the plant. June is considered the proper season for sowing the seed, a supply of which will, we understand, reach Nelson before that period, in order that those inclined to try its cultivation may ha*B an opportunity of making the experiment. Gold from Mokihinfi. —The Westport Star of January 23rd says : —" The various bank agencies at Mokihinui were closed yesterday, and last night about 1000 ounces of gold were brought into town from that place for the banks. News, however, from Mokihiaui is encouragiug. During the past ten days &[ considerable quantity of new ground has been broken into, and good prospeota obtained," '

The s.B. Wallaby arrived at Hokitika on Jan. 25, with 2186 ounces of gold, shipped at We3tporfc. Thes.s. Bruce arrived on the same day at Hoki« tika, with "ZOOlozs., shipped at Fox's river. • Seven: Persons Burnt to Death.—A. dreadful fire occurred on Nov. 24 near Middiewich, ia Cheshire, by which seven lives have been lost, the sufferer being Mr. Edward Cooke, his wife, four children, and a nursemaid. Mr. Cooke occupied a solitary farmhouse in the neighborhood of>Nantwich, together with his wife, four children, three male servants, and two fsmiles. Mrs. Cjoke was up late on the previous Saturday ironing some linen, and she left the clothes-horse full of clothes before a blazing fire in the kitchen. A man servant, -who slept on the premises, came down about 4 o'clock to see what time it was, and found the " house place" in flames. He managed to get to a room occupied by a servant maid, whom he awoke, The master hearing ■ the alarm, came down the stairs leading to the kitchen from the apartment where he slept, but either from the fact of the smoke overpowering him, or from a thought of those he had left behind, he rushed back upstairs, and nothing more was seen of him. . Two servant lads escaped. One of the girls, who slept in the same pai't of the house as her master and mistress, got on the sill of one of the windows". Mrs. Cooko, with a baby a few weeks old, tried to stop the .girl, exclaiming she would be killed. The girl persisted in jumping out, and so saved her life. The manservant, in the meantime, who had first given the alarm, had procured a ladder which- was placed against the house. He endeavored to get to his master's room, and broke the window. He heard a cry from his mistress, but owing to the flames - and smoke wa3 unable to render any assistance. He then set off to Middiewich for an engine, which was brought as speedily as possible- to the spot; but as the house wa3 one of the old-fashioned, thatched buildings, built of lath and plaster,• its destruction was inevitable. On a search being made amongst the blackened ruins, it appeared that such had been the violence of the fire that scarcely any trace of human remains could be found for some hours afterwards. Eventually portions were found of, it is supposed, four of the bodies —viz., thoseof Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, themnsemaid, and one of the children.— Some News.

The Massacre of the Captain and Crew of the Marion Kenny.—We {Sydney Morning Herald) have been informed by one of-the crew of the Marion Benny, who fortunately remained on the island of San Christoval, that Captain Delany proceeded to Rubiana, (Solomon Islands) to trade with the natives for beche-de-mer and tortoiseshell. ■ Londo, a chief of Eubiana, was communicated with as to procuring articles for trade, bnt said he could not get tortoiseBhell till the following day ; -Captain Delany determined to wait, but Londo still put him off with a promise thpt it should be brought- on board on the third day. In the meantime,- it appears the natives had held a council on the beach, and formed a plot to massacre the crew and seize the vessel. They went on board ; the captain was in the cabin at -the time. They called on him to come on deck to buy some fish they had previously promised to get for him; the captain declined, and Londa still requested Captain Delany to come on deck, but he told the native chief to trade with his mate. Londo called out in his native tongue "Are yo* all ready, get round the men." They immediately rushed the men, took their arms, and then strangled them on deck; —as no natives were allowed to come on board with arms they thus made use of their hands, being about' ten natives to one European. While this was going on on deck Londo went down into the cabin and taking the captain unawares, attempted to strangle him, when a struggle ensued, but Captain Delany threw the chief and jumped on him, when the chief called on his men to assist him-, three of whom went into the cabin, and all four bound the unfortunate Captain Delany, dragged him on deck, and, it is supposed, killed him by dashing out his brains against the cables, as his grey hairs were seen on them. Tha deck was covered with blood from the galley aft on both aides. This information was obtained from the friendly natives on the islands. We presume thafe steps will be taken to punish these savages.

Colliery Explosions.—-An explosion occurred on Friday, November 8, at the Ferndale Colliery, in Rhonda Valley, Glamorganshire, by which 170 men and boys lost their lives. The colliery is a steam coal colliery, and gave employment to more than 350 men and boys, of whom 300 generally worked during the day, and 50 at night. Thirty-five" horses were employed below the surface. The pit being a "fiery" and deep one, every precaution was adopted by the proprietors, Messrs. D. Davies and Son, to prevent explosion from fire-damp. The cause of the ignition of fire-damp can only be conjectured; but as several carpenters were at work in the pit putting up comß stall for horses, it is suggested that one of them, thinking of little else than to get the best light he could to go on with his work, managed to open his lamp, and thus ignited the fire-damp, which was plentiful in some of the workings. On the other hand, gas guages appear to have been blown towards the stable, which would be hardly consistent with the theory that the ga9 was fired in that place. This will be a question for the Jury to investigate. The list of the dead amounts to. 159. So far, 65 widows and 130 or 140 orphans are known to have been rendered destitute. The saddest case is that of a widow who saw the bodies of her husband and three sons brought into the house, while six small children were clamoring around her for bread. The temporary provision given by the owners of the pit is 7s. fo» each widow and 2s. for each orphan per week. With a view to afford permanent relief, meetings have been held at most of the principal towns in the county. —The same day, November 8, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, an explosion of fire-damp took place at the Holly Wood pit of the Staffordshire Silverdale Company, by which three of the cojliera were literally blown to pieces. Fortunately, the rest of the workers of the pit had just left it, and these three poor fellows remained below to put up a door in connection with the ventilation of the mine. While they were thus engaged, the gas took fire with terrible effect. — Some News.

A Tragical Event took place at Bath on Friday night, November 29. For some years past, it has" been usual during the winter to hare weekly " penny readings." The authorities have sanctioned them by their presence, and either the Mayor or some leading citizen has usually presided. The newly-elected Mayor, Mr. Francis Slack, took the chair in the Guildhall. His Worship was observed to grow suddenly faint;. Three medical gentlemen who happened to be present, immediately ran forward, but their assistance was unavailing. The Mayor was dead. Death, in fact, had been instantaneous. He was laid out in the Council Chamber, and the sight of one so well-known,r who but a few minutes before had addressed his " fellow-citizens," thus lying lifeless with his robes of office still about him, caused the most profound and painful impression.— Home News: Fenian Outhages.—Constable Kenna, who was shot in the streets of Dublin on October 31, as stated in our last, died on November 7, in Mercer'a Hospital. Sergeant Kelly, the other wounded con« stable, is very weak and hardly likely to recover; An inquest was held on Nov. 8 on the body of Kenna. The jury found that deceased came to his death while discharging his duty from a pistol-shot fired by a man at present unknown. — A respectable Protestant farmer, named Waters, was murdered on Friday night, Nov. 22, near Ballymahon, cpunfy Longford. The body was discovered next morning on the public road about a mile from his house, with two wound* —one in the back, the other in the chest, from a knife or dagger. Some attribute it to Fenianism, aa deceased was heard on that evening to express strong opinions on the conviction of the Manchester Fenians. —Another policeman has been shot in London. On Thursday, Oct. 31, Thomas O'Brien of the. A reserve —a mounted officer—wa3 patrolling a lane near Friern Barnet when he saw two men near a haystack. He asked who they were, and receiving an equivocating answer, told them to step put into the road. They did so; and then he-sawtbat one of them*had a portmanteau. He asked what was in this, and on being told to look for himself said he should take the men into custody. One of them presented a pistol at him, which he seized. It exploded, however, at the moment, and wounded him so severely on the left hand that amputation was subsequently found to b# necessary. ' The ruffians who fired the shot etotped -~KQm Newt, ■