MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR EUROPE and AMERICA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 140, 15 June 1893, Page 5

MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR EUROPE and AMERICA.

OUR HOME LETTER.

AUCKLAND, N.Z.,

June 15,1893.

Parliament will meet on the 22nd of the present month, and the Colonial Treasurer will bring down the most encouraging financial statement that has ever been presented in the history 0 { this colony, showing a gross surplus of something like halt a million, details being fully given in the speech of the Premier, reported in this issue. Since the last session of Parliament there have been several by-elections, but no change in the relative strength of parties according to the avowed politics of members old and newMinisters and private members of Parliament have been busily engaged addressing their constituents for some weeks past, and, in view of the general election, which will take place about the end of the present year, the approaching session should be of comparatively short duration. The Liberal party, notwithstanding the loss o f its late chief, the late Hon. John Bailance, is gaining in strength daily, and will, no doubt, be returned with even a larger majority than they now claim. The result of the elections at Inangahua and Wanganui has been received with great satisfaction by the supporters of the Government throughout the colony. In each case there were circumstances that invested the choice of the electors with special interest, and we regard the heavy majorities that have been cast for the successful candidates not simply as a tribute to their personal merits, but as a hearty endorsement of the policy so successfully pursued by the late lamected Premier. There was, no doubt, a touch of sentiment introduced which was, to a certain extent, effective in election speeches. Wanganui was the seat left vacant by the death of Mr Baliance, and Mr Willis, the Government candidate had, for many years, been his close and valued friend. Sir Robert Stout had been urged by the dying statesman to give his aid to the Liberal Party, and it was understood that it was largely in deference to that request that he consented to re-enter political life. But we do not think any considerations founded merely upon sentiment would "have been strong enough to secure in each case such a heavy majority, if there had not been a profound conviction throughout both constituencies, that the progressive policy of the present Government,which is supported by Sir Robert and Mr Willis, is conducive to the welfare and prosperity of the colony. We need hardly say that we welcome the return of Sir Robert Stout to Parliament, and that we regard it as an important accession of strength to the Liberal party. When the Government was left without a head, we did not share in the opinion, loudly expressed in some quarters, that themantle of the late Premier must necessarily fall on Sir Robert's shoulders. There were many reasons why Mr Seddon, who had borne the burden and heat of the day, and who had virtually conducted the administration during the long illness of his chief, should take up the Tunning. The coming session will severely tax Mr Seddon's powers of leadership, but so far, nothing has transpired to throw doubt upon the wisdom of placing the reins of the State chariot in his hands. The question of the future position of the newly-elected member for Inangahua may be safely left till the results of the next general elections are known. With regard to the Wanganui seat the Opposition candidate has been rejected with an' emphasis that must cause a very unpleasant shock to his friends, who believed, or professed to believe, that be would head the poll. The returns to hand show that in nearly every part of the electorate Mr Willis had a substantial majority. It was thought that in Wanganui itself the Prohibitionists would give a block vote for Mr Carson, but either their Liberalism has been too strong Jor» their water-drinking principles or their united vote has not influenced the result so much as was anticipated, for in the town Mr Willis scored 321 votes more than his opponent. The heavy majority in favour of the Government candidate is 'he more noticeable because at last elections Mr Carson ran Mr Bailance a very close race. The late •Premier's majority was only 23, and feeling ran so high that at the declaration of the poll some miscreant threw a rock, which hit Mr Bailance on the toouth. The result of the present election will, no doubt, be attributed by the defeated party to Mr Carson's absence from the colony, but we are inclined to ascribe it more to the fact 'hat experience has given the Wanganui electors a more correct estimate 01 the views held by the late Premier than they had three years ago, and 'tay believed, notwithstanding the Liberal opinions put forward for Mr by his supporters, that that jj^uleinan, if returned, would use his best efforts to defeat the general policy Of th« C.U /"^.,«vv..v,=n(- Wo

Never before has a greater audience assembled in Auckland than that which gathered in the City Hall on Tnesdayto bear the Hon. Mr Seddon, Premier of New Zealand. The spacious building was crowded by people of both parties. Every seat was filled, every alley, every square foot of standing room was fully occupied. Mr Seddon commenced his address by saying that he would place the position of the colony fully before them. After a sympathetic allusion to the late Mr Bailance, who had lived and laboured and died in the cause of the people, he went on to defend the administration of Sir George Grey from the unjust attacks made upon it by unscrupulous opponents. He said that Sir George Grey bbtained authority to raise a loan in 1879, but Sir George did not spend a penny of it, whilst the Atkinson Ministry, which succeeded the veteran statesman, immediately borrowed and spent three millions of it, and lost no time in borrowing and squandering the rest of it, for indeed the Continuous Party lived by borrowing and squandering. In disposing for ever of the unmitigated lie that the Grey Ministry left the colony on the verge of bankruptcy, the Premier did an act of justice alike to living and dead statesmen who have been slandered with a persistence and malignity which is almost incredible. Mr Seddon was not satisfied with general statements, he has picked out year by year the expenditures which have actually taken place on account of the ,£957,177 for. native land purchases which was impudently set down as a liability against the Grey Ministry, and those of his audience who followed the list of figures must have been overwhelmed with amazement and indignation when they were told that of this bogus liability only ,£68,030 became due and payable in the first year after the Hall-Atkinson Government took office, £56,887 in the following year, £37,912 in the third year and, in fact, that during the six years following the retirement of the Grey Government from office only £287,725 of the bogus liability of £957,177 had become actually payable. The Premier quoted figures in proof of the correctness of his Napier statement that the colony during the last Adminstration lost more than 14,000 people. These people had been driven from their homes by the bad times brought on by bad treatment. Land settlement had languished, and young men whom the colony had educated and trained had been compelled to seek a living in other countries, because there was no room for them in the land of their birth. Mr Seddon estimated the loss to the colony from this source as follows :—Capitalised value of 14,000 souls at £120, £1,680,000; left indebtedness of £60 per head, £840,000 to be borne by those remaining. The Continuous Ministry, prior to the last general election, said that further borrowing was necessary, that no more economy could be exercised, and the property lax must continue. That was their opinion. But it was not the opinion of the country, for the verdict of the country was given dead against every one of these proposals. With regard to tha property tax, everyone remembers how Auckland was twitted for its demand for a repeal of that oppressive impost. The Contiguous Ministry disappeared, and the property tax shortly followed it. Mr Seddon declared the Bailance policy to be that there should be no more borrowing, and that equal protection should be given to capital and labour. The measures of the Bailance Ministry have not been followed by the predicted disasters. Capital had not been driven from the colony, land settlement was steadily progressing, a solid prosperity was pervading the colony," and the lost population was returning. Some of those who have returned to their old ,home say, " We have the finest .country and the finest people under the sun." The expenditure has been greatly reduced ; public works have been constructed and the public debt has been reduced, together representing the large sum of £400,000, without having recourse to borrowing. During the long administration of the Continuous Ministry nearly thirty millions had been borrowed, and a good deal of it had been squandered, whilst the taxation, chiefly levied on those least able to pay it, had been enormously increased, though the large landowners had been allowed to escape their just burdens. Mr Seddon said that such an injustice could no longer be tolerated, and he was determined to remedy so great an evil. A state of things had grown up in New Zealand worse than existed in Ireland, only that our small population had made it not so apparent. He said that one person drew £85,000 a year from the colony which he spent elsewhere. We have long held that absenteeism has been one of the great curses of Ireland. Unless it be checked here by a much larger absentee tax than is now levied, the steady impoverishment of New Zealand is certain. Mr Seddon drew attention to the enormous estates held by a few people. On one block of 185,000 acres, only no souls lived, whilst land to the value of £32,000,000 was held by only 2,028 persons. The Premier said he was not going 'in for revolutionary measures, but the old system of the man who earned the least having to pay the most must be changed. Such taxation must be changed, and settlement must proceed. rPh« r.n» B rnm<>ni-wcre unwilling to re-

fair to the people of the colony. Mr Chaplin's Small Holdings Act, recently passed by the Imperial Parliament, empowered county councils to take land from landowners whether they liked it or not, whilst for merely suggesting such a course the Ministry were denounced as if they were the seven devils of Socialism. Nevertheless, they were determined not to let the people go elsewhere for land because they could not get it in the land of their birth. Mr Seddon said, " If the owners will not sell it we will take it. You can take lands for roads and railways under the Public Works Act; is not land for settlement of infinitely more importance than either 1" The Premier made a great point when he said that the North was almost in the same position as to native lands, as the South was in respect to the land held by large landowners. In both cases the land was locked up and must be reieased. He said we owed a great deal to the natives for retaining so much land, otherwise it would have fallen into the hands of great landowners, and no land would have been left for settlement. He said the time had fully come to deal firmly, but iairly, with these unused native lands. Under the present system the natives found their lands had gone, and the money was in the pockets of the lawyers, with the result that the Maoris had neither land nor money. The native land difficulty would vanish under a system of Boards of Selection and Arbitration. "We have been charged," said Mr Seddon, " with neglect in not dealing with the native land question, but we had other difficulties to settle; but now that these are out of the way, we mean to tackle the native land question, fairly, but firmly." We regret our limits prevent any notice of the able manner in which the Premier treated education, the railway administration, women's suffrage, and the labour question. In all these points Mr Seddon's proposed policy is sound, and will be endorsed by the country. The Premier was evidently master of the great variety of subjects be dealt with. He was in full accord with the great assembly which listened with close and patient attention, and with a vivacity and enthusiasm characteristic of Auckland audiences when s man stands before them with something to say, and who knows how to say it in a clear, manly and honest fashion. Mr Seddon's reception must have pleased and encouraged him in the great work which lies before him. Plis address has, without any doubt, •, greatly strengthened the position of the Government in this part of the country, and will encourage the Government to carry out the policy indicated by Mr Seddon with so much firmness and moderation. Tho scheme of a watar supply for tho borough of Davonporb is now fairly on bho way to conaumm.'vtion, and tho,loan ap- ! plied for by tha borough authorities for the purposes of waterworks for the North Shore having been successfully negotiated, bonders for tho Devonport: borougli waterworks loan of £15,0001 were opened at tho National Bank | on May 29th. The tenders wore 1 opened in the presence of bho local manager | of She bank, tho Mayor of Devonporbj (Mr E,. W. Alison,), and Messrs R. | Cameron and M. Niccol (councillors). It was found that the sanguine anticipations of fche borrowers had been more than I realised, the total amount of subscriptions being £18.900. Accordingly, tho loan was ever-aubscribeel to the amounb of £3,900. The prices ranged from £101 15s to par. Tbo rate of interosfc is 5^ per conb. Tho security oilerad by tho borough ia exceptionally good, and then) ia no doubb thab j the ioau is a convenient and safe invest- j meat. Those who have ejected tho negotiation of tho loan have reason to congratulate themselves on tihe success which haa attainded their efforfca. Tho succbhs of this loan is all tho more to be remarked inasmuch a3 it is a novel experiment. This is the first public loan of the sorb raised locally, and the result proves thab moderate loans for public purposes can be eflected quite as aucco&sfnlly in the colony as furbher afield. It is rather to be hoped that an example of this sorb will encourage dependence on local financial resources, as againsb tho practice which has so long been in vogue of ruahing to London for the smallesb loan. Borrowing is happily not in fashion in tha colony an present, bub nothing can be said against a loan for such a necessary purpose as a water supply. Besides the convenience of a local loan, there is tho further sabisfacbion of knowing thab the interest doss nob go to foreign debenture-holders, but; to local lenders. The Devon port Borough Council will very shortly sat about putting the wa-'er-works scheme into operation now that the financial difficulty has been overcome. Tho Council intend to let the work iv two contracts—one for supply of all material and tho other for the construction of the work, Tenders, it is expected, wjjjl be in and r.ccepted nexb month, and it is thought that j the v/aLerwurks will be finished aboub j twelve months after the acceptance of- the j first Cjj&racb. The iron pipes will have bo I be ortraied from England, and they are expectod to arrive here in aboub 4£ months after tho firsb tonder is accepted. The work of laying tho pipos, erectiug machinery, etc., will then be commenced at ; once. The water supply will be obtained from Lake Pupuke, or Takapuna, a site having been araanged for on tho southern side of the Lake. The water is to be taken direct from the Lake, due precautions to be taken for proper filtration of the water. The distance from the Lake to tho reservoir, which will be on the top of Mount Victoria, at the North Shore, is 3 miles 57 chains. The site for the reservoir is an excellent one, being on a suitable site afa the summib of the hill. It will contain aboub 300,000 gallons of water, and the reticulation pipeu will distribute the water to nearly every street in the borough in which there is a houso. The weekly consumption io expected to be about 250,000 gallons. Tho water 13 bo be carried through a nine-inch main from tho Lake. In a litole over a year, ib ia anticipated, Devonporb will thus have an excellent watersupply. Mr Gillies, treasurer of the Dunedin Harbour Board, reports adversoly on Sir Julius Vogol's conversion of loans scheme. He points out the high price of the Greymouth and Wesfcporfc4 per cent loans, compared with five and even six per cent loan 3 of other Harbour Boards, and saya bho ox--1 l-!ftn ia f'mf Mia /i f 4>

The " New Zealand Trade Review," says the " Post," publishes some interesting ■ figures showing how trade in certain lines is centring in Wellington. During the year 1892, 3274 barrels of cement were imported to Auckland, 10,515 to Lyttetton, and 9,698 to Dunedin, while to Wellington the number was 17,609. The import of corrugated iron was to Auckland 20,753cwt, to Lyttelton 21,490cwt, and to Dunedin 26,064cwb, while to Wellington there came 50,873cwt. The quantity of fencing wire was—Auckland 25,945cwt, Lyttelton 24,211cwb, Duuedin 37,378cwt, and Wellington 65,709cwfc. These are all heavy goodß, and no doubb tho superior advantages which this port possesses for handling and distributing bhem accounts in a large degree for the figures w,e have quoted. The annual accounts of the Government Insurance Department show the n6W premiums have amounted to £20,688, whereas in 1891 they only reached £19,982. Renewal premiums also show a substantial increase, being now over £212,000. The item of interest has now reaohad £100,000. The total revenue from all sources was £342,617. Tho death claims (£84,366) are virbually the same as lasb yesr. Endowmenb policies matured amounb to aboub £23.000, and cash bonuses to £20,000. Surrenders, including loans released by surrender, show a, substantial reduction, namely, £23,000, as against £28,000 in 1891. The expenses of management show a decrease both in amount and in relabion to premium income, the reduction in the latter respect being over one per cent. Since tho close of the financial year tho' Government Interest for the purchase has been defined in the following blocks of native lands:—Bay of Plenty district, Papamoa block, noar Tauranga, 8,000 acrea; Taumaba, five blocks, containing albogebher 7,500 acrea; Ot-awa block, 4,200 acres ; total, 19,700 acres. In the King country, the interosia defined, in bhe same manner since the 31ot March are as follows : Ohura Block, 20.200 acres, and in Taumatamahoe Block 82,600 acres. Every effort will now bo made to have theao valueblo lands opened for settlement. Ifc will bs obsorved that bhe total area above mentioned greatly exceeds the total area of all the native lands acquired by the previous Government from bhe beginning to the end of the chapter. Work will not be allowed to rest, bub every day steps will bo taken to acquire more and more land and to settle people upon it. Thoresulba of bhe collecbionof agriculbural (statistics for tho colony made in February and March last, as compared with the returns for tko previous year, show a decrease of 1,879,521 bushels in the j estimated gross product of wheat in the 1 colony, a decrease of 1,115,031 bushels of oat", a decrease of 34,542 bu&hels of barley, and a decrease of 57,873 fcona of potatoes. It is believed thab tbo estimates of she grain crops for 1892 were too high, aud the estimates for the current year have therefore bean checked by means of the thresh-ing-mill statements which htwo bean received. Deductions have also been made for loss by weather and the Hessian tiy. Tho decrease of the crops shown in bho comparison of one year wibh the other ia probably nob entirely real, but partly duo to the statistics for thia year being move trustworthy bban those of 1&92. In the extent of land broken up, bub nob under crop, thore is an incroaso of 13,800 acre*,- bub in the total number of acres 1 I under crop {exclusive of land under grasses) ihcra is a decrease of 51,444 acres. The extent of land in sown grasses shows a very aubsuatial increase, bus there is a large docrease in grass-seed. Tha product returns show thab in Auckland provincial district there aro 221,481 head of cattle ; Taranaki, 126,700 head; Hawks's Buy, 54,241 head; Wellington, 155,144 head; Marlborough, 7.666 head ; Nelson, 31,024 ; | i Westland, 7,721; Canterbury. 67,850; I Ofcogo, 136,612; .total for the colony, 806,439 betid of catblo, including 305,270 breeding cowa. The Wellington "Post,"referring to Mr Houghton's new woik, ?ays :—" We have j recaivod from Mr H. Brett, Auckland, a j book descriptive of ' Rural New Zealand.' 1 Ifc is got up in oxcellenb style, after the ! most approved American model, well I printed and profusely illustrated. The author is Ml' Houghton, an Auckland barrister, who-uppears to have deno well, and j produced what will be a good advertisement for the colony, and valuable to send bo friends elsewhere." Mr E. Tiogoar, author of bhe "Maori Polynesian Comparative Dictionary," recently received by posb a medal from the Society of Science, Lettors, and Arfc, Lon-1 ! don, with an accompanying resolution cf j tho Society and some prioted matter, showing thab Sir Walter Buller was one of its vice-presidents, aud C. Rous Marten, late of Wellington, was a fellow, and the Duke of Took another vise-president The " Evening Post" last night says that this ia idontical with Sho bogus Litorary Society exposed in London "Truth" last year, existing for bbc benefit of ibs socretary, one Sburman, and Sir H. V. Goold, an impecunious man of title. " Truth "of April 20th, last, says : " Sturman, • having found bio buaineuo in England spoiled by tho exposure, has turned his attention to the colonies and the colonials, and is seeking from whum to secure guineas as subscriptions from mom- j bers and Fellows." Mr Tregear has paid 1 nothing for his medal, but judging from the antecedents of fche Socieby, the honour is senb to a genuine case, so that his name tcay eerve as a decoy. His monumental dictionary, of course, would enbiblo him bo such an honour were fche Society a g&nuine thing, and bhe facb of his name appearing would probably be a bait, to draw ambitious nonenfciea. One of the Society's sourcos of revenue is the pretended examination of schools. Ib examined, according to Sturman, acmo fifty a yaar, granting1 certificates, for which ha charged 2;i 6d bo 7a 6d per head. Certificates of passes " with honours " in such things as anatomy and phrenology, were sold tho parents of] more children for a guinea each. Probably i others in the colony are now receiving J Sburman circulars. fl.M.s. Orlando, from Sydney, with Admiral Bowden-Smifch on board, arrived j ab Wellington on June 9bh. The Admiral made au official landing ab 3 o'clock in tho afternoon. Colonel Pafc. Boyle, Captain Hunter-Blair, and Mr Claybou (repres6nbing His Excollcucy), Sir Patrick Buckley (representing tho Ministry), His Worship the Mayor, tho Commandant (Colonel Fox), and Lioutenanb-Colonel Newall were ab the breastwork to receive him. Tho Permanent Artillery furnished a guard of honour. The Admiral, with tho Flag-Cap-tain and Flag-Lieutenant, will stay ab Governraonb House while bhe Orlando ia in port. So far as tho vessel's movements have been decided upon, she will remain ab Wellington unbil June 19, whon she will leave for Auckland, taking her departure from this port on 2nd July for Tonga, Fiji, Noumea, Brisbane, Melbourne, and fchenco to Sydney. Tho Orlando experienced some rough weather on the voyago over. Several changes havG taken place in tho officers' lists sincie the vessel waa lasb in those waters, as follows :—Flag-lieutenant, C. F. Corbobb ; secretary bo Admiral, F. C. W. Kylar ; clerks to secretary, Charles S. Wonham and Robert Batt; captain, Chos. R. Arbufchnof ; navigating lieutenant, 1 Henry H. Tarleaae ; torpedo lieutenant, H. Orpen; sub-lieutenant, Colin McKenzie ; surgeon, Alfred J. Pjckbhorne; engineer, Mr Sheen. Nearly all the midshipmen who were on board when fche vessei waa lasfc j'

i bered, Tawhiao acceptod a Government ; pension of £220 a year at the hands of the i Hon. A. J. Cadnian, Native Minister, and • received the first quarter's instalment. The i idea then was that the "king" difficulty t bad been settled forever, and that Tawhiao had surrendered all claims to the Maori . kingship and to an independent "kingdom" amongst the Maoris. However, it seems that the "king" Maoris still cherish the notion of an independent power amongst themselves, and adhere to Tawhiao as. their king—ab any rate a considerable section of them does so. i At a recent large native meeting at Maun- ; gakawa, near Cambridge, in the VVaikato, ' Tawhiao was prevailed upon to return that > portion of the pension which ha had already accepted, so as not to compromise his manet, i as Maori King. ' We now learn that Tawhiao has done so. A telegram from Cambridge states that Te Rawhiti, secretary to Tawhiao, yesterday forwarded to \ the Hon. Mr Cadman, by Post Office order, . the sum of £58, being the repayment of a pension of £56 6s, paid by Mr Cadman to Tawhiao, with interest added. The money ; was collected by subscription amongst the natives assembled at Maungakawa, as , Tawhiao did not possess it. It is seated that1 tho natives were very much annoyed at Tawhiao's acceptance of the pension. Tawhiao, however, excused himself by eayiug that tho pension did nob imply a surrender of all his claims to Maori kingship to the Government; it was simply given to him as a present " because he was an old man." The natives considered that tho pension was a kun-rua —a device of double meaning. It \703 shown at the Maungakawa gathering t,hab tho Wuikato Maoris thought that Tawhiao had seriously compromised hia position as head of the Maoris by the acceptance of a pension, and they would nob have anything further to do with him unless he relinquished his pension. Tawhiao has his good points, for he has sacrificed himself in the cause of patriotism by giving up his comtortable pension, rather than commit what would be to him a breach of taith with tho Maori race. Tawhiao is now getting very feeble. His ago is about sixty-eight. The price paid for a portion of the Pareroa estate, near Timaru, purchased under the Land for Settlement Act from tho New Zealand and Australian Land Company, is betweon £10 and £11 por acre. Those who kuow it describe ib to me as very fine land, very suitable for village settlement. Ib ia only nine miles from Timaru. Another Canterbury i purchase is one hundred and soven acres, from Studholme, ak the Selwyn Junction, alongside of thu present I village settlement, which it will be used to > extend. Since tho Board last sat, ib has received a number of fresh offers of email areas in Canterbury, but so far no large estates have been offered. One or two offers of properties are made from Auckland, but the positions are bo inconvenient that they woro declined. The Commissioners appointed to hold an inquiry into tho kauri gum industry, have taken a large amount of evidence, and wil report to tho coming session of Parliament). Th.o Commission sets forth that Messrs J. 0. Firth, J. Giles, R.M,, and Gerhard Mueller, of Auckland, have been appointsd Commissioners to inquire into the state of the kauri gu'mfields north of the city of I Auckland, and tho working of such gum- ! tields, whether situated on private I lands or Crown or native lands. Tho I Commission is appointod bo inquire into the following matters : —(1) The number of parsons engaged in gumdigging, and the proportionate nationalities of the same, including Maoris. (2) The truth or othonviso of statements that have been made to the effect that persons of alien races are about to ! come to the Baid gumfields in large | numbers. (3) The average earnings of I men digging for kauri gum on the! caid gumn'tfldg. (4) The proportion of | such metn working under contract, and tho proportion working free from contract. (5) To what extent the contract system obtains as bettveen the gumdiggera and' tho storekeepers who purchase the tfura. (6) The methods of paymonb inoao in use on the said fields, and the prevalence of the " truck" system. (7) The foes pr.id to tha Crown for digging gum or the right bo dig gutn on such fields, (8) To adviso generally as to tho system of working tho said guruHelds boat fitted to prcßorve tha interests of the Crown, and at the same time to promote tho kauri gum digging industry. The Commissioners are empowered to examine all books and papars which may i be deemed necessary for thdir information. Tho Commieaion also has power to call and examine on oath, or otherwise, as may be allowed by law, all witnesses and other persons judged to be capable of affording any information touching tho gum industry. Tho commission is issued by the Governor-in-Council subject to the provisions of "The Commissioners' Powers Act, 1867," and "The Commissioners' Powers Act, 1867, Amendment Act, 1572," After an animated dieenssion, tho Wellington Anglican Synod decided to delegate to tiio Archbishop of York and tho Bishop of Durham the nomination of a successor to Bishop Hadfield. This effectually disposes of the Question whether the new prelate I shall bo chosen from tho ranks of the EngI lish cr colonial clergy. The decision of tho Synod, which has been awaited with a good deal of interest in tho empire city, will take many by surprise. A few weeks ago ib aeemod highly probable- that (he Wellington episcopal staff would be placed in the hands of a colonial clergyman, but it is evident the tactics of those who favoured a locai selection placed them at a disadvantage. The narrow spirit of partisanship the advocates oi choosing a colonial clergyman have all along displayed produced the inevitable reaction, and uot or>]y was ib decided to procure a bishop from England, bub to make assurance doubly sura, it was resolved that ib bo a condition jof selection "that no clergyman who had held a cure in New Zealand be chosen." This addition waa probably mado to defeat the munceuvrea of the party euid to be I favonraolo to the appointment of the : Roy. Mr Still, formerly of Wei- ' lington, but now in England. It can hardly fail to strike anyone who reads an occounb of the proceedings that in dealing with the office in their gift, the Synod representatives had taken very little trouble beforehand to mako themselvoo acquainted with the fitnes3 of colonial clergymen for the Episcopate. The only names brought' prominently forward were those of the Dean of Waiapu and tho exincumbent of Sb. Michael's, Christchurch. Wo referred on a previous occasion to these gentlemen, and we may say again we are not aware that either Dean Hovell or tho Rev. Walter Harper has given a simplo proof of fitness for episcopal honours. Bub we are of opinion tbab even in New Zealand a suitable clergyman mighb be found without much difficulty. . We could namo several who, so far as qualifications are concerned, are head and shoulders above either the Dean of Waiapu or the Rev. Walter Harpor. But why limit the j choice to this colony ? There are many clergymen of excellent administrative ability and scholastic attainments in Australia. The appointment of an ecclesiastic from a neighbouring colony would have the distinct advantage of securing a bishop free from local prejudices, and ab the same time possessed of colonial experience. It is quite clear tho choice ought not to lie simply between a local and an English