SATURDAY APRIL 1,1876.

Evening Post, Volume XIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1876, Page 2

SATURDAY APRIL 1, 1876.

Ih* the Home News oi^lQth February,' just Teceived from Auckland there is the following paragraph, with reference to New Zealand securities : — During this week there have been some fluctuations in New Zealand securities. On Tuesday evening last, the Bth inst., it was announced that New Zealand Four and a Half per Cents had fallen a further £ to 95 and 96 " on an unauthentic story that a further large loan was to be issued by the colony immediately." On Wednesday matters - righted themselves, and " New Zealanders" experienced a recovery of ± at 95^ to 96 J. If proof were wanted, this shows that nothing can be sounder than colonial securities, and that idle rumors adverse to them are treated, after a day or two's consideration, on the Stock Exchange, as they deserve. To-day, the 10th instant, no change is reported either in the Indian Railway Market or in Colonial Securities. It is a significant fact in this paragraph that the mere unauthenticated rumour of an intention on the 'part of the Colony to raise a further loan should at once tern* porarily depreciate- its securities. , •If this be so, what would be the result of J a definite proposal to raise a further loan ?. As sooner or later this will be made, it is as well to realise at present exactly how the Colony stands. When Sir Julius Vogel a year . ago obtained the Four Millions, he. gave a .pledge to the Roths? childs that the Colony would not agtdn come into the money' market for a farther loan for two years. It so happened, how* ever, that there were at that time some two millions of a balance of previous

authorised loans still unnegotiated, and the pledge given did not prevent this being placed on the market. The Four Millions were obtained and have been spent. The Government, it is understood, are now working on the other two millions. How much of that has been spent we shall learn by-and-bye when the Colonial Treasurer makes his financial statement, but an impression prevails that it is rapidly going. Be the amount left, much or little, it is all that the colony will have tp_ work upoD, in the shape of borrowe3* money during the "next twelve months, that being the period stilf'to elapse before a fresh loan can"be tried f or in the money market. The colony absolutely cannot apply for a fresh loan in England, before this period expires. Any violation of the pledge given to the Rothschilds, would be disastrous to our credit, and in fact, is not to be thought of. It is not easy to understand how the Government is to tide over the next twelve months with the balance left in hand. Clearly there must be retrenchment and a drawing in of expenditure. But even should this course be adopted, it will not we fear, of itself suffice to meet the difficulty. Money will need to be found somehow. The Assembly might authorise further borrowing, -and the Government might obtain temporary advances in the colony, without going into the* Home money market,; trusting to repay these when at the end" of the twelve months a further loan was raised. In whatever aspect 'it isjviewed, the prospect' is not reassuring. Wool during the last twelve months has suffered an appre-' ciable decline in price, the public works have not yet became reproductive, immigration has been overdone, and in various' parts of the colony people are unemployed. These are signs of the times which prudent^ people will not, disregard, but prepare in* time for the temporary reaction and depression which will inevitably follow. ,

The necessity of the uninhabited islands lying between the Cape of ' Good Hope and Australia being periodically visited 1 "by her Majesty's ships in order* to relieve any cast- ' aways who might be found on them has formed a subject of A some discussion in the Victorian Parliament. Recently in the House Mr. Langton called the attention of the Government to the circumstance that within the last six months no less than four first-class ships., trading between the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies had been quite unaccounted for.. They were the Strathmore, the loss of which has just. been heard of, the Strathnave'r, the Cujzean Castle, and the Loch Laggan. In 1868, in consequence of a request made by the Chamber of Commerce that her Majesty's ships on the Australian station should be instructed irpiEH time to time to visit' the ' Auckland Islands, ' where the General Grant was lost, the Admiralty had instructed the . Commodore on the Australian station to cause the Auckland and bthfcr islands thereabouts -to be visited periodically. - fif_ appeared that for six months > a dumber of , . da9taway£ had ,been left on an island m the "Crozets, which lay in the direct route of the ships coming to the Australian colonies, and it would seem that the ¦ practice has not been extended to those islands. He therefore asked the Premier to renew the representations made to the Imperial Government in 1868, and ask that ships on the Cape station, as well as on the Australian station, sdould visit the several unfrequented islands, which lay in the ordinary track of ships making the Australian voyage. Sir James M'Culloch said he was not aware whether her Majesty's ships had kept up the practice as promised of calling at the Auckland Islands, but he thought there was quite as much necessity for their calling at the islands lying between the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, and he should have great pleasure in calling the attention of the Colonial Office to ~the subject, and expressing the hope that not only would ships call there when passing, but that it 'should be looked upon as a duty that vessels should go occasionally ; from the Australian station to visit thenslands. ' • ' - ' -

The Australian news 'brought by the Arawata to the Bluff is interesting. The M'Culloch Government, discouraged by the fact that their Land, Property, and Income-tax Bills only passed their second readings by. a bare majority, have withdrawn them. Thus the proposals for direct, taxation are pushed.aside for the present session. Encouraged "by 'this display ot weakness on the part of tiie Government, the Opposition intend to bring forward a n*b-confidence resolution. .The Arawata' brings the salmon ova, which will be landed at Dunedin. The result of the experiment will be watched with great interest. * J '¦¦ ' i .r

The supplement issued with the Post this evening contains, in addition to advertisements, a strange story of love, vice, and folly, from Invercargill; details of the collision on the Great Northern Railway, and a variety of other interesting reading matter. Our Dunedin correspondent telegraphs that Mr. J. T. Thomson has been appointed Sur-veyor-General for the colony., The amount of Customs revenue collected at the port of Wellington during the month of March, 187 C, was £11,558 16s 3d, as compared with £15,092 17s 6d collected in March, 1875. The total amount collected for the March quarter, 187G, was £41,141 8s sd, as against £36,930 6s 5d the corresponding -quarter of 1875, showing an increase of £4,211 2s Od. The Government p.s. Luna left for Napier and Auckland this afternoon witti the Napier portion of the San Francisco mail. , Amongst her passengers is the Hon. C. C. Bowen, who goes to Auckland to replace Dr. Pollen, and the latter, if well enough, will return to Wellington. Mr. Charles White has just returned to Wellington, having been completely successful in his effort -to float the proposed FidelityGuarantee Gompany of New Zealand. The required capital, £50,000, has been subscrib,ed 7 in £500., stock, entirely in the four chief centres' of population' and business, -Welling-' ton, Dunedin. Christchurch, and Auckland. A meeting of the promoters will be held in Wellington .on Tuesday afternoon next, when the necessary preliminaries will- be gone through, with a view to commencing operationstforthwith. We understand that an Accident Insurance Company is likely to form a branch of the new enterprise. "At the meeting of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce held yesterday . afternoon, several important matters were discussed. Nothing definite^was done in reference to the, question of a Harbour Board for this port. A sub-committee was appointed to consider what amendments were most urgently required in the. Debtors arid Creditors" Act/ the 'subject' having been brought under the notice of the Chamber by.Mr.^D. T. Stuart at Jtsiasjt meet-, ing. The committee resolved to represent strongly, to. Jthe, City Council the necessity of enforcing Compliance with the provisions of the City Building Regulations, as the numerous infringements- of - those ' '.regulations ' tacitly allowed to continue were- fraught. with serious danger in the event of a fire- such as the recent onein-WUlis^street. „ t . ,\, , The members of the Wellington Fire Brigade "have been actively engaged during the last dsiyot two in putting- their plant in thorough (frder since its active employment at the late fire, and m so disposing it that it can be brought out in full readiness for use at a, moments notice. This has been done at all theibree stations, viz., No-Tin Manners-street, which is under Captain "Wilson j No. 2, in Willisstreet, under Captain Hutchens • and No. 3, the auxiliary station at Thorndon, -which is looked, after, by both those officers. The doors of 'the stations were left- open to-day to let the public see that the brigade is determined to prove itself worthy of the praise and support recently bestowed upon it, and' that it will be able to render still more efficieht service in the future should such, unfortunately be needed. The Health and Immigration Officers paid 3, visit of inspection to Somes' Island this afternoon, . One of the cases of typhoid fever among the immigrants has terminated fatally, the deceased being Thomas Lund, aged 31 years. The other patients are making tavorable progress, and, no fresh cases are reported. ¦ A Gazette issued to-day contains Major Palmer's report on the longitude of several places in New Zealand ; also some new rules and regulations and scale of fees under the Stamp Act; - During the month of March, 1876, the shipping arrivals and departures at and from the port of Wellington were as follows :— Arrivals,

113 vessels, 26,367 tons-, departures, 118 vessels, 26,978 tons. In the corresponding month of last year, itie arrivals were 102 vessels, 19.762 tons; departures, 91 vessels, 17,213 ton*. For, the fupst quarter of the present year,, ending- 31st Marcn, tbf arrivals wefr3B2 vea?f sels, 84,862 tons ; departures, "379 Vessels; 83,342 tons. During the same quarter of last year, the arrivals were 311 vessels, 55,146't0ns j departures, 310 vessels, 56,709 tons. This gives an increase of 71 vessels, and 29,616 tons m the arrivals, and 69 vessels, and 26,533 tons in the departures lor the March quarter of the present year. " Mr. V. J7 DufiSan held~a saleUf town-allot--' ments of land this afternoon. Mr. Budden's property in Abel Smith-street, consisting of an acre of ground and a dwelling-house, fetched £1525, the purchaser being Mr.,ltobert Port. A section at the corner of Lome-street and Cambridge Terrace brought £8 per foot. The schooner Shepherdess was sold by auction by Mr. George Thomas to-day, to Captain Cochrane, for £150. A musical and literary entertainment in connection with the 1.0. G.T., Pioneer Lodge, will will be held in the Foresters' Hall, Lambton Quay, on Monday evening. The Star Boating Club are holding a sort of miniature regatta tliis afternoon. A number of races for small prizes have been arranged to be rowed on Te Aro course. Lovers of oysters will be glad to learn that the season for those delicacies has again arrived, and that Mr. 1 Powneeby has received his first shipment. He has re-furnished and renovated his saloon next, the Empire Hotel,' and will he ready to supply all comers to-night. During the month of March, 1876, 66 births and 34 deaths'were registered in the City of Wellington. The number of marriage certificates issued was 18. During March, 1875, the births were 57, and the deaths 25. , The number of claims for registration on the electoral rolls for the City of Wellington, Wellington Country, and Hutt Districts, re-; ceiyed up to last night^-which terminates the period for registration for, the. present yearwas 281. This number is exclusive of those on the burgess roll, which have not yet been sent to the Returning Officer.,The Colima brings one involuntary passenger, in the person of the Kandavu pilot, Mr. Rich, who having boarded the Mikado, was not allowed to land again, that steamer having measles on board. > The unlucky pilot thus had only the alternatives of proceeding either by the Mikado to Sydney, or by the Colima to New Zealand. He chose the latter. . The case of Fitzherbert v.. Everest; still remains, the- only entry for next week's- civil sittings, of (the Supreme Court. The action is to recover*£s2s l6s 4d, rent of the Hutt Tollgate from Ist July to 11th November, 1875, when defendant was ejected from the 1 tenancy. • ¦ The next sittings of the' Supreme Court at Waagaaui will take place on the 24th instant. Four criminal and six civil cases are set down for hearing. . ' , " A proclamation has been issued by his Honor ' the Superintendent, ' and icomes '.into - fdrce to-dayj to the effect that ,it : shall be lawful to hunt; shoot, take, or kill, during the raonthsof -April, May, June and July in the present year, any of the following birds :¦— Wild duck of any species, bittern, red stilt, plover, wild geese, dotterell, native pigeon, teal, black stilt, plover, and curlews. The autumn criminal sitting of the Supreme Court will open on Monday morning at 10 o'clock, when all jurors and witnesses must be in attendance. We have already published the calendar, which comprises eight cases. A musical and literary entertainment is to be given on Tuesday evening, in St. John's Presbyterian Schoolroom, Willis-street, the Rev. James Pater3on being in the chair. Thirty-six immigrants* ex Terpsichore and Gutenberg will be forwarded to Foxton this evening by the s.s. Napier. At a special meeting of the Licensing Bench held this morning, the license held by John Walkley for the Family Hotel, Lower Hutt, was transferred to Richard Petterd. The following is the return of patients in the Provincial Hospital during and ending the .month of March, 1876:— Admitted— Males, 20 ;• females, 1. Discharged — Males, 14; females, 2. Died — Males, 0; females, 1. Left in Hospital — Males, 43; females, 6. Total in Hospital, 49. ¦ Mr. Young delivered -his fourth lecture at the Terrace School this afternoon, continuing his subject of last Saturday — "The Heat we 'feel." • • • ' < ¦ » The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr. F. Hobbs) arrived by the Taupo ,- yesterday,, and waited upon the Government to submit the following case on behalf of the .Christchurch Corporation: — The Government had forwarded to being 6s 8d in the £ on the rates received from July to December. The Corporation, however, claimed £2,500, or 6s 8d in the £ upon the rates received from November, 1874, to November, 1875, which was their nnarieiaryear, the Abolition of Provinces Act providing that the annual payments should be calculated' on the rates received up to the close of the financial year last expired. The matter is now under the consideration of Ministers. Dr. Lemon and the Telegraph Department in general always show such an earnest desire to meet -the convenience' of the public that we. venture to repeat a suggestion we have already made more than once. It is that the present useless practice of telegraphing the arrival of the English mail at every little pettyfogging port be dispensed with, and that instead thereof the arrival of all " foreign" steamers (t.e., those from any place outside' of New Zealand) on the coast be notified on the shipping board ; also, their progress along the coast. This is always a matter of great interest, to the mercantile community especially, while the other is utterly without use. For instance, the arrival of the Melbourne steamers at Hokitika and the Bluff is never posted up unless bringing the Suez mail, whereas the uninteresting fact that the San Francisco mail has arrived at Wcstport or Poverty Bay is studiously published. We throw out this suggestion pro bono publico. t The goats in the Wairarapa lick the " performing dogs" into fits by their cleverness. The Standard makes the following astounding statement : — " On Tuesday evening last there was a large herd of goats at the Rising Sun Hotel Greytown to attend the raffle for Mr. Edmondson's buggy and pair of ponies." The * Standard does no,t explain in what way the §oats aforesaid took part in the raffle, which is le less important as none of them won. The omniverous bipeds were, it seems, too much for the goats, the result being that Mr. Jorns won with a throw of 44,' but we believe sold his chance for £50. Other chances were sold at £50, £30, and other small sums, and a good deal of money changed hands. Telegraphic information already has -been received and published to the effect that the Suez iriaH ' would ; arrive. :Jate-r this inonft. The explanation of such an unwonted .occurrence on the part of that excellent service is I furnished by the Melbourne 'Argus,' which states ttiat..the 'Bangalore had. been detained hi quarantine, having small-pox on board, and that she was not to be sent beyond Galle, the China taking her place. The latter boat left Galle for Melbourne at 6 p.m. on the 16th March, four days after contract time. As the China is by no means one of the P. and O. Company's fastest steamers, and is, therefore, unlikely to make up much of the lost time, it is not probable that she will reach Melbourne before the Bth instant. . The performance at the Theatre Royal last night was for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins. "Pygmalion and Galatea" and "The Handsome Husband" constituted the programme. In the first piece Mr. Hoskins took the part of Chrysos, and Miss Colville that of Galatea. - It is hardly necessary to say that both were excellent impersonations. The remaining characters were iaMy sustained by the other members of the company. As Mr. Wyndham, the handsome husband, Mr. Hoskins 'appeared to -great advantage, and Mrs. Hoskins as Mrs. Wyndham came in for a large share^pf applause. " Naval Engagements " and " Rory O'More " constitute this evening's programme. ' The Lynch family of Bellringers drew an excellent house at the Odd Fellows' Hall last night. Their rendering of favorite selections from the' Various operas was of course -very fine, and the audience were not behind hand with their applause. Messrs. Keeley and Statham were exceedingly successful in their parts of the performance. Altogether, last night's entertainment was charming, and we must . express - our regret that the weatherjias not been more favorable for them. A splendid -programme will.be .presented tonight, and a screaming farce: entitled " Glycerine Oil," will be performed, by the members of the company. - '

The Rev^ G. W. Russell preached a farewell sermon on Sunday evening last to a large congregation, nPjfch'e .Wesleyan Church, New Plymouth. Referring 1 , to this the Taranaki Herald remaife*:— Since Mr. Russell has been in JVew'Plymouth he has gained the esteem, nojt only of those belonging to his own denomination, but of others with whom he has come in connection, &hd his departure from New -Plymouthlffiiibe.innch regretted. After the usual prayer-meeting had been held in the Wesleyan Church on Monday evening, a presentation of four handsomely-bound Tolumes, comprising "Cassell's Bible Educator and . Dictionary^, jyajumade on behalf of the congregation to the "Rev. "G~. "W. Russell. The" expressions of. kindly feeling and good-will towards' the young pastor were most cordial. In replying, Mr. Russell thanked his friends for their expressions of love, and said he should ever remember Tara'naki with feelings of gratification. The Nelson Daily Times say 9: — "Two vacancies have recently occurred in the Committee of Management for the Nelson Hospital. The first, some weeks since caused by Captain Rough leaving Nelson, was filled by Mr. James Sclanders, and the other, caused by the recent departure for England of the Hon. Dr. Renwick, left a vacancy that,, upon the proposition of Mr. Barnicoat, Speaker of the Provincial Council, was offered to and accepted by Mr. Alexander Kerr, Manager of the National Bank. The interests of this valuable local institution are not -likely to suffer by this change, as both appointees -are men of large business capacity, and although Mr. Kerr has been but a comparatively short time in Nelson, he stands deservedly high in the estimation of his fellow citizens> who will cordially and Unanimously acknowledge the wisdom shown in his appointment to an office he is so well able to fill. ' A European in Rangitikei has been sent to prison for one month with hard labor for thrashing a Maori. We have nothing to, say against the justice of this sentence, but we opine that had "the boot been on the other leg," that is, had the Maori thrashed the European, the punishment would have been milder. As. a contrast to this- case, we find that a notorious scoundrel in Wanganui called Kereopa, the other day made a violent assault' upon a European,' and after being temporarily overpowered by the police contrived to escape. This Kereopa, itis stated, despite all thishas since openly walked about the streets of Wanganui. Now, how is it that he is not apprehended and prosecuted for the assault of which he has been guilty? ' . , Some of the natives in the Patea District will persist in illegally taking possesion of land belonging to settlers. We recently alluded to the case of a settler named Dickie, whose land had thus fora time been illegally occupied, and now a fresh instance has arisen. A Wanganui paper states :— By the Patea coach yesterday news reached town that a similar game to the Dickie Comedy was being enacted, though in a somewhat altered form, in another part of the block. If , would appear that • a number of Maoris have settled on Nicholson's land and refuse to "move on." Really this becomes unbearable. ' The, forebearance • and the longsuffering? of the 1 settlers is admirable, and the wonder wf that they have, not, ere now, cast consequence^ to' the witfdsy and had recourse to open hostilities. ""A curiosity in^tne"sHape,"'-of ; a ; thfeq2iegged duck is now being exTiibitea on the premises of Mr. Goldsmidt, Manners-street. The duck is cdrtainly a curiosity in its way, and as* such will be largely visited by those who take an interest in- such things. ,-¦ •' ';- ,-., They , have a' good and; summary method <tf dealing with blackguards 'in Dunedin. Four 1 desperate characters wenMo that town for the races, but the police neatly secured them before they' had time to do any mischief. Two of ,them had recently gone to Dunedin from this town, and their purpose was described by Inspector Mallard, in court, as probably being to attend the races and swindle right and left. Some suspicious-looking articles for gaining were found in their possession, and the quartet, it appeared, had had a fall out becatise one of them had robbe'd"'a'man r ahd would not share the spoil with the rest of the gang. All the prisoners had been previously convicted, some of their offences being robbery under arms, gold robbery from a bank, grievous assault, &c. One, having only copne.out of gaol two or three days before, was acquitted on the charge of being a vagrant, another was remanded, and the two others were sentenced to a month's imprisonment. - The Auckland Star means to fight to the very death. Referring to the Premier's speech, it concludes an article in the following terms : — Sir Julius does not deign to. recognise the popular resistance to .his nigh handed schemes. We mildly hint that Auckland in the north will resist, not morally "alonej but' pliisically, being swaUowed up by this monster of the bureau ; and we have reason to believe that in Otago, in the south,' there is a slumbering feeling of opposition, that can be readily aroused into a determined resistance that will require fire and sword for its suppression. We believe there are stormy times coming, and New Zealand expects that every man will do his duty.