The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1869.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2542, 26 February 1869, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1869.

Spoetino.—By a telegram from Nelson, dated 3.55 p.m., yesterday, we learn that the Waimea .steeplechase .was deferred until to-day, owing to had weather. Panama AUiL.-The steamer Wellington did not leave Wellington until 3 o'clock, yesterday afternoon, with the mail. The Wellington is expected to arrive at Lyttelton at 9 a.m. to-day. Bishop jENNEH.-From our files of Otago papers we learn that Bishop Jenner is making a tour through the outlying districts of that province. He has addressed several meetings, and seems to have been very cordially received. Journalistic—We have to acknowledge the receipt of full files Of the Daily Telegraph, a new penny morning paper, recently started in Melbourne. Our new contemporary is very creditably got up, and will no doubt fulfil its intended mission satisfactorily. Requisition.—We understand that a requisition, signed by most of the principal inhabitants of Lyttelton, has been forwarded to Mr J. D. Macpherson, asking him to come forward as a candidate to represent the town in the Provincial Council at the ensuing election.

■ Rotal Irish C. R. V.—A concert in aid of the of the above Company was given in the Town Hall last evening. The attendance was a large one, and the concert passed off very successfully. The majority of the pieces were encored; and the audience appeared to be more than ordinarily delighted with the entertainment. Fatal Accident.—A carrier named Robert Mapkay ,was killed by a kick from his horse, whilst proceeding along the Coal Track, on Monday last, and an inquest on the body will be held aUhe Hospital at noon to-day. Full particulars of the accident were not to hand last night, hut will be brought forward in the evidence before the Coroner.

' Theatre Royal.—There was a large attendance last night, and Wednesday's programme was repeated with increased success. " Did you ever send your Wife to Camberwell ?" is an amusing, but rather coarse farce, .and the objectionable points were made even worse by undue prominence and unnecessary repetition. The last piece, a fairy burlesque, entitled" the Marble Heart," was not very successful. Kowai Pass Baceb.—The following are the entries for these races, which come off on March 2' :'-For the open hurdle race, Mr Murphy's Merrimac,Mr Middleton's Albatross. For the district hurdle race, Mr Watson's Shamrock, Mr Williamson's Maggie, Mr Maxwell's Discount. The Maiden Plate, Mr Brabazon'a filly by Camden—Deception, Mr Mossman's Polly, Mr Maxwell's Sunbeam, and Mr Farrell's Homcbush Pet. The Malvern Stakes, Mr Money's Tiverton, Mr Delamain's Patch, Mr Maxwell's Nugget. Kowai Pass Cup. Mr, Brabazon's filly by Camden —Deception, Mr Middleton's gr. g. Albatross, Mr Maxwell's Nugget, Mr Maxwell's Sunbeam. ■

Control of Sim.-The New York Times sa>s: —It Nature wants man to touch the forests with a spiring hand she no less indicates that he shall me his utmost energy in breaking up the soit of the prairie, and when possible plant trees. The quantity of rain in Western Nebraska and Kansas is replied to have doubled since the early settlement in those regions, and the reason doubtless is to be found both in the planting of trees and the opening up of the soil so as to absorb more moisture. • Moreover brooks, or ' branches" as they call them out here, are starting up in gullies and gulches hitherto dry. Colorado and California, States generally utterly dry for eight summer months, have this year begun to have heavy rains The same causes are probably at work all over the 'dry season portions of our country." On the other hand, Ohio and Northern New York are echoing the complaints of the French Agricultural Report, that the felling of forests is the ruin of rivers. These natural laws stem plain enough. Man should learn to follow them.

A Clever Upholder op Law.—A correspondent of an Auckland paper te ; ls the following story. The occurrence took place at the great native gathering at 'Jhinemurt, at the end of last month, held to discuss the question of opening the Upper Thames as a goldfield:—"l may mention a rather curious circumstance that happened on Saturday afternoon and which illustrates very niceiy the Maori character. An enterprising dealer had sent up a considerate quantity of liquor calculating upon a large consumption by the orators and listeners of the Assemble. On the invitation, it is mid, of a powerful and distinguished Hauraki chief, tliedea'er set up a Bellamy's close to where the orators addressed the people. The aforesaid distinguished chief thought himself entitled to levy a kind of black mad, and wanted five bottles of ru-u without paying anything for the saine. Tin's the merchant demurred to, and the chief in a short time afterwards returned with ; n uive policeman, captured the man and seized the whole stnek-iu-trxde as being vended contrary to law. A considerable quantity of spirits were consumed'by the n,lives in the first flush of iheirzeii to vindicate the law-they wantedauiltimkpaymentfor having so rigidly adhered to English law. it was then proposed and and ear/i< d that thespirits should he soid by auction. Theu)ot/)i'ro was b tiled off, and que smart fellow assumed the p<rt of auctioneer Battles of rum were started at Is and went up to 5s or 6a ; brandy : s and 7s 6d. Further discussion took place as to what they should do with the money produced by the sale <me inveter.nely legal-minded man contended that it should be band d over to Mr Mackay as it was the produce of Cus toms seizure; anothtr man, who hid a majority in bin favour, proposed that tutne.eo should be bought with it; but I believe at last it was agreed that it shoud go to purchase sheep fr .tn Mr Thorpe for the fond of the party. _ But the matter did not end here, tor the natives summoned the dealer, brought him before a native assessor, who. after hearing the evidence, found him i>uilty of selling spirits illegally, 1 and sentence him to pity a fine of. £3, or, to be imprisoned for ilnee months. Court expenses, issue of summons &c,came to 16a. The money waj paid, m ihe affair.'ended, Altogether, it was a sm'irt :transaction— the natives got the liquor for tiotliine levied'■'the fine, and have siipplitd therhwlvea wihfood as well, and all in the name of the law." .

Waimba- south Steeflechabe.—The Nelson Examiner of Feb. 17, say*:—We print to-day the entries for the Great Wairaeasouth Stakes, which were made a few days ago. The field for this race will not be «p large as was expected, enly flvehorses having come forward j but there is reason to believe, from the horses being pretty well matched, the racing will be good. Mr Holder's Sprightly, from the manner in which he ran last yew, is the favourite, whilst Kustic is not without friend*, which may be said also of Gamester, who has foot sufficient to belt the two horses named if he will but jump kindly. Mr Schroder's mare and Mr Hunter's gelding are botli reported to he good fencers with a fair turn of speed, so l hit a more open race could not.be desired by a man who seeks to make a book. The'entries for the Hamli. cap closeon the 22nd, and the meeting will qome off on the 25th.

Nelson Races.—The Examiner of Feb 17 says:—The unanimous decision come to by the public meeting on Monday evening la«t, thtt the Duke of Edinburgh should be invited to pay Nelson a visit during his sojourn in New Zealand, has determined the Turf Club to hold our annual Kace Meeting so as to suit the Prince's arrival, which it is believed will take place in the first or at the latest the second week in April. There are not many sports we can offer our Royal visitor which would be likely to afford him interest, but if the Turf Club be properly supported by the Reception Committee, Nelson, which possesses undoubtedly some of the best horses in the southern hemisphere, can give his Royal Highness a day's racing suoh as no colony need be ashamed of. A programme of the Meeting is already sketched, and as soon as the Club can ascertain the assistance to be afforded to them, the programme will be published.

The Superintendent of Mahlborodgh and his Constioents.—Mr Eyes met the electors of the district of Wnirau recently, and gave a full statement of his reasons for supportiog the Stafford Government in the last session of the Assembly.. His Honor, on the conclusion of his speech; was censured by several speakers-Messrs J. Ward, Collie, Goulter, T. Robinson, Gorrie, and others. The meeting was a good deal divided in opinion, and a resolution, thanking their representative for, past services, and expressing confidence in him for the future, though declared to have been carried by the Chairman, is questioned by the Express as being the true feeling of the meeting. This journal observes:-" Another meeting is talked of and ought to be held, to consider the propriety of petitioning the Governor in favour of a dissolution of the Assembly, on the ground that parties are to evenly balanced in the House, and that the people of the Wairau are misrepresented." A Clever Abomqinal Cbicketer.—The Queanbeyan %(New South Wales) is reponsible for the following:—ln a cricket report last week we briefly alluded to the astonishing play of Johnny Taylor, an aboriginal youth who formed one of the Gininderra team. His abilities, however, deserve more than a passing notice, Johnny Taylor is the son of one of the aboriginals attached to the Gininderra estate. His father, Jemmv Taylor, was hims -If a fine cricketer, who will be remembered as dying suddenly at Ginindarra a few years ago. Johnny was a lad then, and after his father's death left the neighbourhood for a time. He has since returned, and is now a member of the Gininderra cricket club. Mr W. Davis, who himself may be regarded as the life and soul of cricketingin this district, and who is captain of the Gininderra club, thus writes of his protege:—" Johnny Taylor, whom our Braidwood and Yass friends will remember well as a boy of 14 playing with the Gininderra team against them, has lately returned to Gininderra, and is now 19 years of age. He has become what he then promised bo well for—a first-rate all-round player, as his score in the late contest with the Queanbeyan players will show, he having scored 35 runs for 4 hits, a feat which, I think, Ins never been excelled in the colony; altogether he scored 117 runs in his two innings." From such a testimony as this, coupled with the proofs of his powers, it is not too much to expect that Johnny Taylor will yet win for himself a wider notoriety asan aboriginal cricketer.

' Local Industries is Hawe's Bat.-The Herald of Feb. 13 says :-We are informed that the wool-scouring business is now so far increased at the Hawke's Bay boilingdown establishment as to turn out eight bales of scoured wool daily, and is likely to double (hat quantify before the close of the Beason Samples from the several flocks are being preserved with a view to affording valuable information to runholders at the next meeting of shareholders. It is already found that a marked difference exists in the Btate in which wool Is sent from the various stations some flocks shorn early being comparatively clean, and capable of being turned out in beautiful condition, whilst others shorn later on fern-covered runs are so full of almost impalpable fern-dust, and so dyed by young fern, as to retain a very dingy appearance, even after the most careful washing. A great deal of unnecessary trouble is sometimes given to the sorter by elaborate folding and twisting of portions of the fleece: as every fleece has to be spread out to be cleaned and sorted, it should be folded as simply as possible. Great expense is, in some cases caused to the runholders, by the way in which " locks " are sent to be scoured, being mere masses of wool and sheep-dung in nearly equal proportions—apparently the sweepings ot the shed. '1 hey should be carefully picked before they leave the station, as, otherwise, the l runholder has not only to pay for the carriage and washing of such trash," but also freight to England on all impurities which cannot be removed by washing, besides the injury which the actual wool must suffer in value by such mixture. The wool from Poverty Bay arrives in excellent condition, and speaks volumes for that district. Experiments are abnut to be now made in meatpreserving, with a view to testing the English market by small consignments by the Ida Zeigler. If successful, the value of all property in this province will be much increased. It is hoped that the result may be known in time to admit of the business being largely entered upon nexc season ; in the meantime, the present favourable season seems to promise well for boiling-down. General Sherman on Indian Warfare. -We are indebted to the New York Herald for the following summary of General Slierman's views on Indian warfare, and on a policy of temporising with the savages and submitting to their cunning and apparently humble propositions, which when acceded to only give time to the enemy to concoct fresh plans of vengeance. General Sherman, in his communication to General Sheri;lan on the 14th last October, says:-« As to the extermination it is for the Indians themselves to determine. We do not want to exterminate or even fight them. At best it is an inglorious war, not apt to add mucb to our fame or personal comfort, and for our sildiers tp whom we owe our first thoughts, it is all danger and extreme labour, without one compensating advantage, To accuse us of inaugurating or wishing such a war is to accuse us of a want of common sense and of that regard for order and pence which has ever characterised our regular army. The settlement of Kansas and Colorado, the injustice and frauds heretofore practised on the Indians, as charged, is not of our making; and I know the present war did not result from any acts of ours. It was begun and has been carried on by the Indians in Bpite of our entreaties, and in spite of our warnings, and the only question to us is whch:-r we shall I allow the progress of our Western settlements to be checked and leave the Indians free to pursue thejr bloody career or accept their war and fight them." He further informs -heridan that he will say or do nothing to restrain our troops from doin t what they deem proper on the epot, and will'allow no vaime charpeN of cruelty or inhumanity to lie t'lt-ir bunds, but will use all the powers, confided in him to the end that the Indians—the enemiV of our race—Bliall never be able to make war again. In conclusion, he says to Sheridan, '■ You may now go ahead in your own way, and I will back you with my whole authority, ijnd stand between you and any efforts that iisy be attempted in your rear to restrain your purpose or check your troops. I believe that all the departments of our Government, civil and military, are now uuittd in thkeon-

elusion, and I have no fears but that the Congress and the people will alwavs sustain us, provided we meet with reasonable success." Madbitios.—The correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, writing on Deo. 29 says:— Official newß has been received of the intended visit of Prince Alfred to the island in 1870. His Royal Highness will, no doubt, have a cordial reception; although it cannot be supposed that this little island will prove as attractive as some of the larger coloniesAustralia, for example. It is perhaps fortunate that the Prince is not expicted to arrive for more than a year hence. During this interval Mauritius may, perhaps, partly re over its prosperity, and thus be able to give Her Majesty's second son as suitable a reception aB could be desired. Disturbances have lately arisen between the Government and the population of the neighbouring island of Bourbon, brought about.it is supposed, by f'e want of sympathy on the part of the Government, with the stagnation in tradeand the general decline in the prosperity nf the island. The French war steamer Tndre, just arrived, brings news that at St. Pierre, one of the town? of Bourbon, some riots we*e committed by the populace; and in order to disperse the crowd the military were forced to use their firearms, which resulted in forty of the inhabitants of the above town having been killed and sixty wounded. Martial law his been proclaimed both in St. Pierre and St. Denis. The latest advices from the Cape of Good Hope are unsatisfactory as far as the gold discoveries are concerned: and the leading Cape papers are now endeavouring to discourage emigration to the Cape with a view to gold digging. It is, however, right to state that no news has yet been received from the last and best equipped parties which have gone to the diggings. Perhaps these may turn the tide once more in favour of mining. The Government finances are in a declining state, but to reduce the expenditure seems to be a matter .of extreme difficulty. The Budget for the coming year has just been voted by the Legislative Council, though it was only passed by a majority of one vote, and that was the casting vote of his Excellency the Governor. The unofficial members, with two exceptions, refused to vote the funds for 1869 until a further reduction was made in the expenditure; and it was proposed that this reduction should be in the shape of a tax of 10 per cent, on the salaries of all Civil service officials, which were increased to their present scale some years ago on account of the then prosperous state of the colony, The official members of the Legislative Council, whose pay would of course have been affected by the proposed measure to a man, were for the adoption of the report on the budget for '69, notwithstanding that H was perfectly well known that the expenditure was quite out of proportion to the revenue for the coming year, and, in fact, that the latter had in many instances been exaggerated. The HorsE op Lords.-Mr Lowe, in the course of a recent electioneering address to the members of the London University is reported to have said:—Let us turn now to our House of Lords, which has no power to control the decisions of the House of Commons. Perhaps, in the last resort, it ought not to have, but surely, if we have a second Chamber, we ought to get out of it all the advantages which a second Chamber possesses. It has been suggested that the peers should have the power of electing certain portions of the House of Lords, and that the Bishops should be turned out. (Laughter.) Well, I will give no opinion whether the latter plan would do good or harm. But election by the peers themselves would be just the system we now have in the election of Scotch and Irish peers: they are Liberal or otherwise according to the politics of the electors, and therefore I suppose that the persons elected under the proposal I have referred to would all be Tories. (Laughter.) Then, as you know, the creation of life peers has been suggested. Well, I haye never been able to picture the sort of man who would consent to sit by the side of the descendants of the Orusaders as a peer for life, Not that I suppose ynu could not find plenty of men to do so, but I doubt whether they would be of a class to reflect much lustre on the Upper House, or to have much influence in producing good legislation. The objection that at a time of excitement the House might be swamped by such creations, and its share in legislation thus brought into contempt, is so obvious that I need not dwell upon it. We may, perhaps, here consider with advantage how the Uoman Senate was formed. You will remembi r that the consuls, the as Mies, the qiiestors, and the holders of some other offices obtained the right of sitting in the Senate for life, and that thus the Senate was perpetually j recruited by men who had undergone the ordeal of popular election, and had acquired experience in the transaction of business while filling positions of high trust. It seem* to me that this was an admirable system, and the Roman Senate prubably lasted centuries longer than it otherwise would in consequence of that syßtem. Would it not be possible in this country to name certain offices, the possession of one of which, for a certain number of years should give a man a seat in the the House of Lords, not as a peer, but in his own nami', as a senator ? You would thus import into the House of Lords habits of business and industry, combined with experience and high position, which would give that House the necessary weight in our Constitution—not a weight whereby to thwart or overthrow the decisions of the people, but the power of considering and sifting questions brought before it in a way to command the respect and confidence of the people There is another suggestion which may be made. Practically, the House of Lords cannot commence any measures, on acount of certain standing orders of the House of Commons, which resent interference with their right of granting supplies. Thus, the Lords are doomed to compulsory idleness during great part of the session Now, an immense advantage would be gained if those standing orders were d»ne «way with, for you would not then have the Honse of Commons almost exelusively'at work for three parts of the Session, while during the remainder of the Ses«i.m the House of Lords are almost alone at work."