THE RAILWAY.

Colonist, Volume XX, Issue 2444, 12 September 1878, Page 3

THE RAILWAY.

During the past month, this province has witnessed a remarkable change in public opinion. When our last summary was issued, the Government were enjoying increased popularity, in consequence of their ready assent to the appeal for an addition of some three miles to the Fox Hill Eailway. The disposition to redress the wrongs inflicted by their predecessors, that seemed to be indicated by the commencement of the Port line, and the promised completion at the other end also, was hailed as evidence that the Premier's pledges, to deal fairly by all parts of the Colony, were sure to be given effect to. The many, who had been won by the liberal principles avow«d by Sir George Grey on his tour, and the prospect that the ascendency of favored classes or districts should be no more known, were strengthened in their faith ; while the few, who had held aloof, were in doubt whether, in persistently opposing the Government, either from distrust of certain members or from attachment to those who had been ejected, they might not after all be allowing prejudice to blind them to the true interests of the country. The most sceptical were on the point of admitting that Sir George respected his promises, and that Mr Macandrew, wlien freed from the ties of his Superintendency, could recognise claims outside Otago, and; might even yet develop into a colonial' statesman. All these pleasing hopes were dispelled by the Public Works Statement. Propositions were made, involving the expenditure of above eight millions more on railways,andbindingParliamentto a scheme, that would take fully five years to complete, and that within that period, forbade every change requiring any increase of liabilities. While every part of the two Southern Provinces able to get up a case, not always particularly good, is to have its branch ; while a second route is provided, under the specious title of an " interior main line," in Canterbury; and Otago is sljly given to understand that its old longing for the entire trade of the West Coast, is ere long to be gratified by a connection with Hokitika, through the desolation of the Southern Alps ; the entire northern district is not even noticed, Nelson and Marlborough seem to be unknown to the Minister, and the national project of a trunk line from end to end of each island is totally ignored. If Mr Macandrew is still open to the influence of a dignified rebuke, the words of the Governor at the Dunedin banquet, must strike home. The occasion was the opening of the line to Christchurch, the scene, the capital of the province where branches are to be so lavishly made, and his Excellency warned his hearers, many of them members of the General Assembly, " That their great object should be to help forward as much as possible, and as fast as their means would' allow, the great lines of communication from one end of the Colony to the other. He believed that that would have the effect of smoothing down those little feelings of animosity, which he hoped would Boon be buried, and would only remain as matters of history." Whatever arguments may be used to justify the course -taken by the Government, it cannot be denied that the Public Works policy is no longer colonial. This pnadering to the political influence of certain provinces, as well as the contention that local resources should provide funds, ought, if consistency is to be maintained, to be accompanied by a return to the original design of Sir Julius Vogel, to charge any deficiency in the traffic, as against working expenses and interest, to the district where it occurs. Unless all settlers receive advantages as nearly equal as possible, the Consolidated Fund, to which all contribute, ! should not be drawn upon to make up the loss. So long as thia is done, an indisputable wrong is perpetrated; the weak are robbed by the strong for their own direct benefit. A Government possessing, or being supposed to possess, an overwhelming majority, may for a time, defy a small minority with impunity. It is not a year since Sir George Grey's power to retain office was so doubtful that a single vote was of sufficient importance to command the offer of* a seat in the Cabinet. Many more unlikely changes have come to pass, than :■ there would be a in similar state of things prevailing before another session. . The people may be deceived for a season by lofty professions, but their sense of justice is too k?en for them to countenance high-handed oppression, and the next general election may not be so favorable to the present Goveijnment in the Nelson constituencies, as it assuredly V, ,;: :■".■ ■ ■ , ; ,j ,ia

would have been, if this cruel injury had not been inflicted. Our members. indeed are few, though, if once united, circumstances may easily arise that will enable them to decide the fate of parties, and all will be instructed to withhold their confidence from those who refuse to preserve the colonial character of the Public Works policy. The resolutions and speeches at the recent meeting in the Provincial Hall on the Eailway question were remarkable for their quiet resolution, and their very moderation is a worse omen for the wrong-doers than violence and threats would have been. The Government have still time to reconsider their decision, and take up the completion of the trunk line before the luxury of branches is granted. The receipts from land opened for sale would equal those in several of the districts included in the Statement; the population attracted would be fully as great; the prospect of traffic is better; the finances of the Colony would therefore be quite as safe; and, above all, good faith would be maintained. The case is so clear that to repel our application does not mean a mere error of judgment, which, however grievous, would be pardonable. It will be nothing less than a wilful and deliberate wrong, to be guilty of which affords abundant proof that the interests of the country are not in trustworthy hands. Citt Council Election.—There bids fair to be a more than usually exciting contest to-day, between the five candidates aspiring to fill the three vacant seats in tbe City Council. 0/ tbe retiring members, two are seeking re-election, apparently basing their claims to the confidence of the ratepayers upon their* past actions. The otheis have issued addresses through the columns of. the public Pres*, and the citizens will now take upon themselves the duties of a jury, to find who are the most fit and proper persons to represent them. With reference to this election, we havo received a long communication, of a somewhat personal character, reflecting upon the past actions of Messrs Hooper and Little, and on the probable action of Messrs Cross, Stringer, and Trask in the Council, and our correspondent ventures a prediction as to the state of the poll. His prophecy is that the names as read out by the returning officer will be in the following order:—Hooper 1, Cross 2, Trask 3, Stringer 4, and Little 5. Cheeybbs, Kennedy, and Bent's Minstbbls.—* Mr G. Lingsrd, the agent for these Minstrels,has made arrangements by which a short season of two or three nights will be given in the Theatre Royal, Nelson. The opening performance is announced for Tuesday evening next, »nd although some idea of the performance may be gained by the pictorial posters with which tne town is liberally supplied, it may be added that Mr M. Simonsen is the direotor of the company, which consists ot fourteen performers. From the New Zealand Times we learn that the Minetrols have made a decided hit in Wellington; the I! utoh, Irish, and N«gro specialties of Messrs Cbeevers and Kennedy being exceedingly well received, and Mrßsnt's sketches meecing, as they always do, with the warmest applause. The performance is spoken of generally as a hjgh olass one, and consequently there is little doubt the Minstrels will be well received in Nelson. ; Hematite Paint Company.—Tfc will be seen that tbe Directors have extended the time within which applications for shares iv this Company may be sent in till Monday next. The step has been taken in consequence of the bringing under their notice of the remarkably short time within which intending shareholders in Nelson might apply. Wesley an Chttboh Annivbbsaby,—The tea meeting held in the Wesleyan Sunday Schoolroom on Tuesday evening, was one of tho largest and most successful ever held in connection with the anniversary of that Churob, and a most excellent tea was provided through the generosity of a number of ladies. The public meeting held immediately after in the Church, was also largely attended, the Rev. Mr Bavin presiding. After opening tho meeting, the Chairman reviewed the history of the Wesleyan Churob in Nelson, stating that the present anniversary was the 34th.—Mr Hadfield, the Church Secretary, and Mr Bavin (on behalf of Mr J. Cock, the Cirouit Steward), gave statements of the finances of the Hardy-street Churoh and the Nelson Circuit, which showed praiseworthy efforts had beea made to place both in a state of financial prosperity. —Mr H. T. Thompson, Secretary to the Committee gave a pleasing report of the progress of the Sabbath School, tbe work of which is at present being carried on with greater energy than ever beforo witnessed. The Rev. Mrßeckenham urged those present to aid each other in a friendly, neighborly manner tp attend the services of the Church, and also not to forget that £. s. d. were greatly needed .to carry on successfully Churoh WO rk.—The Rev. James Leightou, the incumbent of Christ Church, gave an excellent speech on Christian unity, and spoke of tho great pleasure he had always experienced iri holding fellowship with both ministers and laymen of the Wesleyan Methodist Ohuroh.— -Mr W. T. Bond briefly referred to the efforts being made in the Churches at Home in aid of the Temperance movement, and particularly the Wesleyan Churoh. The Temperance Sooiety, recently started in connection with the local Church had upwards of 70 members.—Mr Rose spoke at some length on the force of example fo the young with regard to Temperance. The Band of Hope started in connection with the Nelson Wesleyan Church Temperance Society, had already seventy members, and as its Superintendent he cordially invited all to visit it, and aid in the work.—Mr 'Hadßeld stated'the-t the proceeds of the present anniversary would realise, las far as they were able to judge, £21. Tbe Choir sang some beautiful anthems during the evening. The customary votes of thanks were given on behalf of the Trustees of tbe Church. The latter reoeived a few deserving words of praise, as a quiet, unassuming, but earnest body of workers. Monthly Inspection.—The Nelson Volunteers paraded for monthly inspeotion on Tuesday evening last, under command of Major Pitt. The numbers were— , Staff ... .'. ... 2 Band . ... ... ... 8 Artillery ...: ... 51 City Rifles ... 44 , Navals ... ... ... ... ... 43 Artillery Cadets ' : ... 16 City Cadets ... '20 \ Total ... - ... 184 The Bishop of Nelson as Chaplain of the Artillery /Company, Major Jonen, Captain Marshall, and the Rev. A Seagwick were present, and on Major Pitt expressing his pleasure at their presence, three oheers were given for cash of those gontlemon. The Volunteers, headed by the batallion band, marched j to Victory Square, where the ordinary batallion drill was gone through in the usual effective manner, and after some two hours' exercise a return to haadqutrters was made'and the men dismissed, but not before Captain Marshall took the opportunity of expressing his pleasure at the efficiency displayed. At the Magistrotes' Court yesterday, before Joseph Shephard and C. de V. Tesohemaker, Esqs., J.J.P., a fine of 5s and costs was inflicted on Vcre Bogle for being drunk, and one of 10s and costs on Elizabeth Wardrope for being drunk and disorderly. For allowing ohimneys to take fire, E. W. Dee and W. Jones were fined £1 each and costs. R. S. Lucas obtained judgment against E. L. Shaw for £5 12s and £1 15a costs, and M. Lightband against the same defendant for £117s, balance of account and costs. Esi her Midfllemiss euod Uriah Batchelor for a balance of aocount. wherein a question of commission and wages to the defendant was involved. Judgment was given for £2 16s lid,' with £1' il:4s obits- Mr Pitt for pluinhiff und Mr Bunny for defendant. Gorrie and Sons obtained judgment against F. M'Farlane, of Reefton, for £3 19s 6d, balanoe of aocount and costs, 11s.

Thh FiBH Bbigadh Benefit:—-There' is little doubt that the attractions offered for to-nighl will have the effect of densely filling the Theatre Royal. Every effort has been made to giro the public a legitimate entertainment, and those who give their presence will hare the gratification of knowing that .they are thereby assisting in a most u«eful work as well sb witnessing one of the most successful comedies that bare appeared of late years on the English stage. The Fire Brigades, in order to giie zest to the performance, have drawn up a little programme of their own. The Richmond Brigade, for whose benefit the performance is given, will assemble at their head quarters and maroh in procession, with t3rohes and colored fires, to the Station in time to come to Town by the special train from the Country. At the Nelson terminus they will be joined by the Town Brigade, and a grand torchlight procession will march to the Theatre. At the termination of tho comedy there will be a grand illumination at the Theatre, and afterwards the Brigades will march with torches to the Railway Station. We hope to s»S the Brigade thoroughly patronised. , It is positifely stated by Ministerial supporter! that a secret undontandiog existed between the Atkinson Government and Sir Julius Yogel that the latter should voluntarily resign the Agent-General-ship at the end of one year's terra of office, and be succeeded by the Hon E. W. Stafford, who was to be in England ready to take up the duties. Sir Julius Yogel was then to bo sole agent for the oonv«r*i6n of tne £20,000,000 loan* into uniform inioribed stook, receiving for his tervioas the nice commission of f per cent., by which he would hare netted a handsome fortune of £25,000, and the Government would by one stroke hare got rid of a political opponent and placed Sir Julius Yogel in possession of ample wealth for life. It is further alleged that tbe project, though conducted by private correspondence, leaked out, and was frustrated before it reached maturity. If this be true, the name of the Atkinson Government will justly be regarded with exeoration and loathing. — Wellington Chronicle. At the B.M. Court, Tisnaru, Charles Sheridan was charged on remand with making a false deolaratiou before the Registrar for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of marriage. The Magistrate committed the accused for trial at the naxt criminal session of the District Court. The " Manawatu Loafer " in the Wanganui Chronicle writes . —" Capital times just now in the Manawatu! Not a policeman for sixty three miles, and plenty to pick up, for people don't guard their property here as they might. I don't know who is I responsible for the absence of the guardian of the psace at Foxton; this Ido know, that people are carrying on high jinks, and enriching themselves »t the expense of others. It is only a day or two ago that an excellent clua was ob tamable for the discovery of the perpetrator of the outrage at the Foxton ferry house; the second of the two stolen cheques was found, but there was no authorised person in Foxton to follow up the clue." . . Pabliahentaby.—The jok» of the session in ihe introduction of Harbor Board Endowment Bills. Up to the pretent time, only thirty-five h»ve found their way on to the order paper, and thirtj-fir* more are promised. Tho humor of the thing is, that bills have been brought down to endow harbors that even members of tbe Government never hoard of, and some of them are not to be found on the official map. The usual query when a fresh Horbor Bill is announced, is " whor* is it ? " la the Council the other evening, a petition was presented praying that. Government would extend the railawy from Oamaru tp Living" •tone. Whereupon"" the question arose, where is. Livingstone ? and the presenter had to remain silent, because he knew not.— Wanganui Chronicle. . . Inspiration.—The Timaru Herald's Wellington correspondent says:—Mr Macandrew made his Public. Works Statementia a very pleasant, natural mariner, partly reading it, and partly speaking as if extempore. The Home was very quiet and attentive, and the Minister, though not a pretentious speaker, was able to convey his disclosures agreeably and impressively to all his hearers. A story has gone the round to the effect that his peroration was marred to some extent by a trifling incident. Mr Macandrew has not been very weir lately, and it is ■aid in order to support him during his trying two hours' work, the water which wa» set; before him in a tumbler was diluted with a liberal modicum of the dew of Ben Nevis. At he proceeded with his Statement, he took an occasional tip of the grateful compound, and, instead of hia energies "flagging under his task, he became more glowing and roseate as he went on. At length, approaching his conclusion, he paused for a moment to finish th« final.dose of inspiration, with which his glass was yet about a quarter full. Tho pause, however, was fatal. An officious messenger, seeing him looking fondly at the goblet, instantly filled it to the brim with water, and when he raised it to his lips, instead of the expected invigorator, he only met with a chilly, unfamiliar dash of the coldest possible comfort. He sputtered and shuddered for a moment, but recovering himself by a heroic effort, threw all his remaining strength into the concluding; sentences of the Statement. Thb New Eabo Russbia. —The late Karl Russell's grandson and successor to the title is likely, unless orthodox training greatly alters his character and temperament, to cause a sensation when he is old enough to take his place id the House of Pters. His father, Lord Amberley, was known to be very unlike moat members of the aristocracy. In politics he was an extreme Radical • .his religious opinions could only by stretching the term be classed with those of the Deists, and on sociafmatters he thought pretty much as Mr Bradlaugh does. He made no secret of his approval of such restrictions on. the growth of population as are advocated in "The Fruits of Philosophy," and he was in favor of such an entire revision of the marriage laws as would loosen all bonds between man and wife, except those formed of mutual affection and consent. In all these doctrines his son was instructed almost from infancy. To gallop over miles of country on the bare back of a pony, with no clothing but a flannel shirt, was made his ideal of physical exercise and enjoyment, and all his mental and moral development was in keeping with the- training of bis body. Lord Amberley, already a widower, died' before his eldest son was ten years old, and Earl Rusiell started proceedings in Chancsry which compelled the guardians appointed by the father, with the object of carrying on the s»me eccentric education, to surrender their trust, under the same law which has lately enabled the Master of the Rolls to deprive Mrs Besant of her daughter. Since then tho lad has been stbjeoted to discipline and influences more in keeping with those usual to scions of the nobility. As the new Earl Russell is now only in his thirteenth year, all effects of his early teaching may be removed before be attains his majority; but it will bo curious to see whether he proves himself hereafter to be in any way suoh an exceptional aristocrat as his father designed him to be. "Let me see," said a guest as, satchel in hand, he approached the landlord of a country tavern, "the stage doesn't go for pome time yet, I believe ? Am I* right ?" " No," replied the landlord, "you're left. Tbe stage went before you were up." Pbbfeotiok.—Mrs. S. A. Allen's Wobld's Haib Rkstobeb never fails to restore Grey Hair to the youthful color, imparting to'it new life, growth,and lustrous beauty. Its action is speedy and thorough, quickly banishing Greyness. Its value is above all others. A single trial proves it. It is not a dye. It over proves itself the natural Btrengthener of the Hair. (The genuine only in Pink Wrapper), Sold wholfsale by Felton, Gbimwadb, & Co., Wellington, KEMPrHOBNB, Pbosseb, & Co., Dunedin and Auokland, and retail of all Chemists and Perfumers throughout the Colonies.— -Advt. • " Berkeley, September, 1869.—Gtutfcaen,—I feel it a duty I owe to you to expr< t% my gratitude for. the great benefit I have derived by tuning " Norton's Camomile Pills." I have applied to your agent, Mr. Bell, Berkeley, for the above-named Pills, for wind in the stomach, from which I nave suffered excruoi* ating pain for a length of time, having tried nearly every remedy prescribed, but without deriving any benefit afc all. After taking two bottles of your valuable''Pills, I was quite restored to my usual state of hoalth. Please give this publicity for the benefit of those who itay thus be afflioted.—l am, Sir, yours truly, Hbnby AHiPASB—Io the Proprietors of q"«OBIOM'8 OAMOMHJ|PiU&"—<4to.

; Thh Banbury Guardian (England) thus refers to the successful reclamation of land near Aberystwith, undertaken by private enterprise:-—" In the conatruotion of the railway which now conveys many thousands of visitor! every summer to Aberystwith - the Brighton of Wales—the line bad to pass through a tract of country covered with sea-water, which attracted the notioe of an enterprising firm of Manchester men, who have for three or four years been reclaiming it by the use of a set of steam cultivating machinery, con strueted by Ho ward, of Bedford. The surroundings of the locality are so trsaoherous and difficult that the engine bad to be placed some 700 or 800 yards distaat from the land cultivated, indeed before the aid of steam was called in, the attempt to do the work with horses was not only dangerous but impracticable. With the aid, however, of steam, the difficulties of the work were ail overcome, and it may now be said that the great scheme has beoome a remarkable success, for, where but three yean ago all was a watery waste, this year there are hundreds of acres of promising corn crops." SoiBNOB.—A new and extremely' inexpensive form of the eleotrio light, adapted for use in dwellinghouses, has been invented by M. Reynier. It consist! of a needle of carbon, which is prsssed against the edge of a slowly-revolving disc of the same material, through whioh an electric current of a fourcell Bunsen battery passes. The light is brilliant and continuous, and can be tamed high or low, or extinguished at will, like gas.. The oonsumption of material is about a penny per hoar. Edison, the inventor of the phonograph, has sinoe invented an instrument of a similar nature, that measures with extraordinary exactitude the most minute variations of temperature Bnd atmospherio moisture. We stand aghast at the statement of results achieved by this instrument. On the one hand, it can measure the relation and actual heat of fixed stars that are invisible to the naked eye, while in its other form it is so sensitive to moisture that spitting on the floor of a . room will be recorded on its'index. This instrument may thus be adopted by astronomers in the most far-reaching efforts of human observation! and at the same time be of service to the Americans by its gentle though obvious hint that a favorite national habit has a positive damping influence on their social surroundings. . '■