OUR HOME LETTER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 818, 28 October 1872, Page 3

OUR HOME LETTER.

The Key C. Fr.-i.ier s.iid he did not feel qualified lo return thanks for the -visitors. He was unable to judge of the qualities of the cuttle, horses, or sheep ; but he could judge of the evidences of prosperity m the district of Tiinnru which he hud thut day witnessed. It was evidently one of the wealthiest and | most prosperous districts m New Zealand. (Appluuse). It was purt of his weekly duty to prny publicly for God's blessing upon the labors <if the husbandman and the produce of the fields, aud lie wus pleased to join with them that evening m rejoicing m the good things Gcd had given them. He wished them continued und increased prosperity. The President then rose to propose " The Health of Mr B IGeld, the Secretary to the Association." He eaid there was an old sayinn "the willing horse v.ay work," and nothing was truer than m the case of their secretary. While they were sleeping he wna working", and when they came down, to the show they found everything workiug smoothly. He thought they could not give Mr Bellield too much praise, for he had been the mainstay of the Association. True, he said nothing about his work, but he did it unostentatiously and well, convinced that it was for the benefit of the district. Ho had much pleasure m proposing the health of their Secretary, and was sure they could not drink it too enthusiastically. The toast was drank with musical honors. Mr Bellield thanked the company for the kind way m which they had drank his health, and Mr Studholine for the flattering remarks he had made. After nil it whs true, although he eaid it, that he had to do the most of the wotk. Still there were others who could lmvy done it better. (No, no.) Yes ; because they could afford more time from their business than he could. He had during seven years done his best to carry out what he had undertaken, and to make i.hu Show a success. He might, perhaps, be allowed to make a few remarks m respect to the objects o( the tiocieiy. As Mr Slack had justly remarked, the country relied much on its sheep, cattle, and horses, and it was the object of every runholder and farmer to breed the best Btock he could. The object of a show was not to bring before a fanner or breeder what stock his neighbor had got; for that he knew already, but what the farmer at a distance had bred. For this reason he was glad to see stock from north of the Rangitatu at the sluw, but was sorry none had come from south of the Waitaki. He regretted that neither Mr Tolmio or Messra Campbell aud Low were exhibiting this year. It would have been more satisfactory if the Canterbury and Otago Association had had those gentlemen to compete with, and they would have had more satisfaction m winning the prize. Ho was sorry when he ascertained that the merino exhibits had fallen off by sixty-two entries, but was glad to find that the entries taken all together brought ! m more than m any former year —not much, but still it whs more. This was owing to (lie increase m exhibits of long-woolled sheep, j cattle, and horses. It was satisfactory to see j the increased interest that, farmers and stockbreeders were taking m the show. It was ' only by supporting such associations that they could hope to see the perfection they desired. About the superiority of the long-wools against which he hud heard such energetic no! no's! he prophesied that they would soon turn the runhulders out of house and home from tho seaboard, to the hills, for they were the sheep for the Binall farmer, who wonld sooner or later occupy tho country. The merino might still hold it s"own m the wild 3of the Mackenzie country. [Oh, oh.] He was quite willing to see them thus give way, as the long-woolled sheep produced more wool and per acre taking no more feed, was on the whole the more profitable unimnl. [Cries of " Question ?"] Ho considered that this exhibition showed that the merino was giving w.iy, and ho believed thiifc at future exhibitions the ' long-wools would predominate us they hud that day. Mr Be.lfield concluded by again thanking the company for the kind why m which they had drunk his health, and resumed his scut amidst applause. Tho toast of "The Ladies" was then duly honored, and responded to by Mr Neilson. The remaining toasts were " The Implement Makers," —m proposing which the President expressed the regret with which Messrs Keid and Gray's recent heavy loss by fire had been heard of m Timaru —and " The President.," to -which Mr Studholtne suitably replied. The proceedings during the evening were enlivened by several capital songs, and the company broke up about eleven o'clock.

[From our own Correspondent.] London, August 16, 1872. We are m the dead-alive season of the year. The session is over ; "everyone" has gone out of town and ia rusticating ; the assizes ara near their end, already most of the condemned are m the " wretched past, " and the nncondemned concern us no more. How some of us, who live upon journal reading, would survive if the British Association and the unfailing Dr Livingstone had not come before us just m time, it is hard to say. The newspapers are all agape for prodigies; but there are no giant gooseberries m these days, and the mammoth mushrooms have failed. An effort has been made m some quarters to raise interest m the approaching conference of Emperors at Berlin, but with small success. We are too wideawake now-a-days to put much trust m the professions of canting William, or the Czar; and as for Austria, woiild the memory of any friendly promises she may make this year induce her, m troubles to come, to side with Prussia against her own interests, or to neglect opposing the encroachments of Russia ? The three great Monarchs of these countries are playing at friendship only because it happens to suit them all at the same moment. Prussia wauts time to strengthen the ties of German union. Russia would still go on arming, unmolested, until France is fit to take the field with her. And Austria wants to consolidate and fortify what remains to her of her empire. The troubles of Spain lessen m interest as they grow older ; and the ways of France are past finding out. As for the the Geneva Arbitration Court, it is not much that we hear from that quarter. Such strict secrecy is professedly maintained, that no one thinks very much of the rumours which come round from time to time. About a fortnight ago the Daily Telegraph published a communication, that was said to have come from a " good source," and briefly related what had been done m the Court up to that date. The presentation of the cases and related documents, it said, was followed by a proposition that the English counsel should argue three points before the Arbitrators; viz : (1) The question of due diligence, as a general principle of law. (2) The international responsibility of England when confederate cruisers entered British ports 1 (3) How far the coaling of cruisers m British ports entailed responsibility- on England for their acts 7 These three questions were argued

at length by Sir Roundell Palmer, and he was answered by Mr Evans and Mr Waite. Mr Cushing, as counsel for the United States, summed \ip the case on behalf of his Government m a speech of two hours, making it his main point to deduce England's liability for the. Alabama from her conduct m the case of the rams; and he contended that due diligence,whieh prevented the sailing of the rams, would also have kept the cruisers m port. On the same side, much reliance is placed on the competency of England, through her Parliament, to have amended the law if she had wished to meet her international obligations. A question of some interest just now m England, and one that may very much affect New Zealand some time later, is, how we are to obtain cheaper meat. One comes across many more persons now-a-days than one used who have plucked up courage and tasted Australian meat, but the experience of most is limited to the beef. I do not hear much about New Zealand mutton, though I faithfully recommendit(andespeciallytheNZMPC's brand) on every opportunity. Some of the country-Poor-law Unions have been trying Australian beef for out-door relief, but, I fear, with little profit, for the prejudices of the British poor are against it, and growing as they do with very deep roots upon a bed of ignorance, the task of removing them is nearly hopeless. Perhaps, a great dearth of animal food, as some people expect this winter, may do something for the meat preservers. From what I hear and see, I believe some such crisis must come before the Australian meats will be received into anything like general use among the poorer classes of this country. 1 know a few clergymen's and poor gentlemen's families where they are already m good demand, but then, they are for the families proper, since the English domestic servants will hardly descend to that kind of diet. The other day I was talking on this subject with a gentleman who has recently come home from near Oamaru, and ho confirmed the opinion that I have generally heard from old colonists and others well up m the question, namely, that a necessary step towards making the preserved meats popular will be the establishment, by the companies, of retail depots of their own through the length and breadth of the land. At present, the price of single tins and small quantities m any other shape, even m the large towns, much more m the country, is raised so high by the number of hands they have gone through, that it scarcely pays to buy them. We have just witnessed a well contested election for Parliament at Pontefract, which is interesting as the first good test we have had of the Ballot Bill at work. The results will give fair reasons for expecting that this Act will prove a real success. In the speeches of the candidates, and m all their measures, it is true, there was an unusual display of personal bitterness ; but this probably arose from the feeling that reason and emotion must be appealed to now where it was formerly enough to excite fears or greediness. On the whole the election went off very peacefully, and the only real hindrance to the efficiency of the Act seemed to be the delays caused on behalf of illiterate voters. A splendid aquarium of great size was opened at Brighton, as a building merely, on the 10th of Agust. It is 700 feet long, and has an average width of 100 feet. The reservoirs and tanks for saltwater, m and under the aquarium, are capable of containing 500,000 gallons, and this great body of water can be pumped into them direct from the sea m ten hours. As a general rule one of the underground reservoirs will be used for purifying, and will retain the water from its first coming m like pea soup till it has become moderately clear, and a striking feature m the purification is the enormous quantity of oysters used, to collect from the water the lime which it holds m solution. At the meeting of the British Association, which was opened last week at Brighton, Dr Carpenter, as president, delivered an address that deserves some notice. He dwelt particularly on the folly of trying to usurp for science the post that ought to be held by theology, and said that " those conceptions of the orderly sequence observable m the phenomena of nature which we call 'laws' are human conceptions, subject to human fallibility, and that they may or may not express the ideas of the great laws of Nature." Such a sentiment will doubtless be hailed with delight by many persons, both m this country and elsewhere, for it is no common thing to see the trustworthiness of science impugned by "one of her own high prieats," as the Doctor has been called.