The Bruce Herald. TOKOMAIRIRO, JUNE 8, 1865.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 61, 8 June 1865, Page 3

The Bruce Herald. TOKOMAIRIRO, JUNE 8, 1865.

Although at the opening of the Provincial Council, a few weeks ago, the Superintendent expressed a sanguine hope that the legislation of the session would result in a final settlement of the land question, it would be difficult to conceive anything" more unsatisfactory than the resolutions which were adopted, and on which the new Land Bill is to be based. The Council, in a iew days, arrived at a decision on a subject which should have claimed its attentive consideration for months, and it can scarcely be wondered at if the decision thus hastily arrived at is crude and unsaj tisfactory in the extreme. Hasty legisi lation has always been one of the most glaring of the faults of Provincial Councils, and in no previous instance is the danger of such a course more strikingly apparent than in the Land Resolutions before us. A question involving interests of the greatest magnitude — a question of vital importance to the Province, and on the decision of which depended, to a great extent, the future financial position of Otago, was, as far as the Council could do so, finally disposed of in a few nights. Resolutions were placed upon the notice paper, and almost before the members' of the house had an opportunity of attentively reading them they came on for discussion, and long before the public had time or opportunity almost to read them they were passed by the Council. The question as to the future disposal of our pastoral lands is decidedly the mosc important subject that has. yet claimed public attention in the Province, and it is admittedly one of great practical difficulty. The ordinary course for the legislature to have adopted in reference to it would have | been' to have introduced the resolutions, < and, after discussing* them, to have adjourned their final consideration to the next session. In this way the country would have *been enabled to express an opinion regarding the scheme, and the members of the house would have been able to mature their views and to dispassionately consider the various phases of the subject. This course, however, did not suit the views of the party most interested in the disposal of the pastoral lands of the Province, and as that party unfortunately commands a majority oi the House, the Land Resolutions were hurried through in a most unseemly manner. Had the consideration of the resolutions been postponed until next session they would never have passed in their present shape, for the public would have indignantly protested •against them, and refused to allow the provincial estate to be sacrificed in the manner defined by the resolutions. We have no hesitation in saying 1 that the pastoral lands are to be sacrificed. We are convinced that the scheme pointed out in the resolutions will entail an enormous loss on the Province, and that the resolutions are most unfairly favorable to the run-holders. Twelve months prior to the expiry of the present licenses the carryingcapacity of the several runs is to be assessed oy assessors appointed by the Superintendent and approved of by the Council, and the present licensee is to have the option of re-leasing the run at a rental of sevenpence per head per annum on small cattle, or three-and-sixpence per head on great cattle, on the estimated . irrying capacity. This process is to be repeated as the new leases expire, and.'the runs will thus be converted into a kind of heritable property, which will descend from generation to generation. Taking it that the average carrying capacity of the runs is nearly one sheep to every three acres, the rental will thus be about two-pence per acre per annum, and a single glance at the prices at which runs are now selling will show what a very low rent this is. Then again the tenure will be much more certain than it is at present, and compensation is to be given for improvements in the very unlikely event of the original lessee under the new regulations ceasing* to continue in possession of the run. The position of the runholders under the new regulations will be infinitely more secure than it is at present, yet they are to pay a rent considerably below the present selling value of runs the licenses of which have only two or three years to run, and which p r e liable at any time to be declared into \ Hundreds. , Then, who is to assess the value of the

run 1 Where are disinterested parties, capable of performing 1 the task, to be found, and what security is there for the faithful performance ol the work when the assessors are found ? What, too, will the valuation cost to the Province ? These are all grave questions, for which we can see no satisfactory answer, and- they are questions which we fear received little consideration at the hands of the members who voted for tb.3 resolutions. The runholders have for years haa the free use of their runs, and under all circumstances the runs would be worth at least ten per cent, more to them than to any one else. We cannot see what claim the present licensees had to the consideration, not to say favoritism, with which they have been treated, unless the fact of their having bad a valuable monopoly in their hands for years constitutes a claim forits partial renewal. Our pastoral lands have been long enough unproductive as a soui'ce of revenue, and when the opportunity occurred every effort should have been made to render them hereafter as profitable as possible. Instead of this being done, an attempt has been made to perpetuate the monopoly in a modified form, and an ' interested majority in the Provincial Council has endorsed the attempt. If it was not from fear that the arrangement might be upset if time for consideration was given, why was Mr. Dyer's motion, asking for the postponement of the resolutions regarding pastoral lands till next session, nega*. ! tived. i Fortunately, however, the evil is not yet ! irremediable. The resolutions passed by the Council will have to be embodied in a bill and passed by the General Assembly before they can be sent to England to receive the royal assent, necessary to make them law. The inhabitants of Otago have an opportunity of petitioning the tieneial Legislature to refuse its assent to W* resojlutions, and in all probability the Assembly would comply with the request, if urged by a large number of the settlers. Several ot the Otdgo members of the Assembly are known to be opposed to the resolutions as they stand, and the exertions of these members, if supported by numerously signed petitions, will no doubt prevent the passing of a measure fraught with such injustice and disaster to the Province as ! the Land Rill about to be introduced. We are glad to see that Tokomaiiiro has taken the initiative in this matter, and we trust that the meeting on Saturday next will be numerously attended, and will result in^a decided expression of public opinion on the subject. Let a petition to the Assembly be agreed on, and if similar steps are taken in other districts (as we have no doubt they will be), the Land Resolutions, or rather the Bill founded on them, may be consigned by the Assembly to the " tomb of all the Capulets." 'fis, a consummation devoutly to be wished by all who have the future welfare of the Province sinceri ly at heart.

Owing to a pressure of advertisements at a late hour we are obliged to hold over the j letters of Mr Thomas Murray, Mr 1 homas Shaw, and Mr Peter Robertson's second letter Garrotting has commenced in Dunedin. One night last week, Mr GK P. Clifford, the Secretary to the Acclimatization Society, was knocked down from behind, and while insensible, was robbed of his purse containing a considerable sum of money. When knocked down, Mr Clifford had just entered the Acclimatization grounds, and was close to his own home. Mr Cliff ord had been engaged during the evening in taking money at the doors of the theatre, duriug the Philharmonic Society's concert, and no doubt the thief supposed that the money received was on the person of his victim. This, however, was not.the case, as it had been handed over to Mr We^t. No trace of the perpetrator of the assault has been discovered. The earthquake on the morning of last Saturday week appears to have been felt all over the Province. It was felt both at Waihola and at the Woolshed, and the various couutry papers contain notices as to its having been observed at Waikouaiti, Queenstown, and other places. The Dunedin Philharmonic Society gave a Miscellaneous Concert in the Theatre Royal last week. The attendance was numerous, and the well-selected programme was excellently gone through. Mrs W. H, Mumford and Miss Bell e ach sang solo's, and were rapturously encored. A soiree in connection with the recent opening of the new church at Waihola, is to beheld in the church there on Tuesday evening next. At the meeting-of the General Education Board held in Duaedin^oh Monday last, the appointment of Mr David Todd, as teacher of the North Tokomairiro school, was approved of.

We undei stand that the Tpkomairiro Young Men's"Mutual Improvement Society is making arrangements for the delivery of a course of lecture during the winter months. The services of several gentlemen have been secured, and we are sure that the public will heartily snpport the Society in its efforts to provide a ratioual and intellectual species 6f amusement during the long winter evenings'. The usual quarterly Meeting of the Tokomairiro Property Investment Society, was held in the School-house on Monday evening last, when fourteen shares of L3O each were disposed of at an average premium of Lll 2s 6d. per share We believe that the "Bruce Rifles have altered their drill arrangements. In future, there will be an ordinary drill every Tuesday evening, and Compulsory drill every Friday evening. The line of telegraph is now in working order between Christ church, Dunedin, and Invercargill, but no intermediate stations have yet been opened. It is, we believe, definitely arranged that offices are to be established at Oamaru and Timaru, but ye have not heard what places have been selected between Dunedin and Invercargill. We presume that Tokomairiro will lie «ne, as it undoubtedly has the greatest claim to the position ; but at present there is no sign of an office being opened here. We would suggest that the public meeting on Saturday next could not do better than take the subject into consideration, and memorialise the Government regarding it. The" Tuapeka Recorder recently drew attention to the very absurd and nnfair conduct of the Post Office Department in advertising the list of unclaimed letters in the various country offices in a Dunedin Paper instead of in the local journals. The 'Dunstan Times ' and « Evening itar ' have reiterated this complaint, and we need scarcely say that we quite agree with them. If the object of advertising the unclaimed letters is to lead to their being claimed by the parties to whom they are directed, surely the proper medium for advertising in, is the newspaper published and circulated in the district to which the letters have been addressed. Such a course would be the most likely to ac complish the desired end, and we sincerely trust that it will ere ]ong be the one adopted. The official declaration of the state of the poll for the election of a successor to Captain s:aldwin, in the representation of the Gold Fields has not yet been made. All the returns from the various polling places have not as yet been received, but the returns to hand render it certain that Mr C. E. Haughton is the successful candidate, and that his majority will be a large one. Mr Bradshaw stands next on the list, and then Mr Campbell. The Commissioners of the New Zealand Exhibition have published the list of honorary certificates awarded by the jurors in the several classes. Amongst the awards, we find the following :— Mr Peter M'Gill, Tokomairiro, oats of superior quality; Smith and Co., Tokomairiro, superiority in wool scouring. Mr J. Forsytb. ingenious wool washing machine, of his own invention. Mrs Tait, Clutha, Provincial made hosiery" — socks and shawl. Mr J' G. Lewis, Clutha Coal. A medal has also been awarded to the Tokomairiro District Committee, for specimens of coal from the district. The usual quarterly meeting of Justices of the Peace will be held in the various Licensing Districts on Tuesday next, for the purpose of considering applications under the Licensing Ordinance. Copper is reported to have been discovered in the Waitahuna Valley, towards the Waipori. It is said that Mr Hacket (formerly Dr Hector's assistant) has applied for a lease of the ground, with the intention of working the load. A meeting of the members of the Chiircb of England in this district, is to be held in the Court House on Monday evening next, at half-past four o'clock, to take into consideration a scheme for the erection of a new church. We observe from an advertisement in another column that the annual Court, for the revision of the list oi voters for the district of Bruce, will be held in the Court House, Tokomairiro, on Tuesday, the 27th insfc. We are indebted to the ' Daily Times' for our report of the Supreme Court proceedings. We understand that a Government survey party commenced this week to survey the proposed line of railway between Tokomairiro and the Clutha.