Province of Otago, New Zealand.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 73, 31 August 1865, Page 3

Province of Otago, New Zealand.

' Provincial Treasury, /Dunedin, sth August, 1865. t Sir— l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of July 29, 1860, relative to your salary as Speaker of the Provincial Council, and in reply to inform you that your instructions will have immediate attention. ' I have the honor to be, Sir, 'Your obedient servant, (Signed) ' Frederick J. Moss, * Provincial Treasurer. 1 The Hon. Major Richardson, ' Speaker of the Provincial Council.'

Memorandum of Amounts paid into- ac- ' count Major ■ Richardson, Union Bank of Australia, Dunedin, salary as Speaker of Provincial Council :—

; ■.-.- .• ' ;. : (Signed) ' Alfred R Oswin, -i- ;'■'■' : ■ ■■•; ■' Sub-TreS§urer. fTreatfurjrj JDunedm,. '.; "' ':

(Memo.) ' Mr. Thomson's (Country Member's); expenses for List year were— - Mileage . . £7 10 0 Expenses . . 37 0 0 £44 JO 0 'I mention Mr. Thomson's name as coming' from same district. (Signed) ( R J. M.' It will be observed that on the 19th of January Major Richardson, in unequivocal terms, requested that the payment of his salary as Speaker might be discontinued, aud that the payment for the preceding quarter might he regarded as payment of his expenses as a country member. Were we not justified, therefore, in making the assertion which we did ? Owing, however, to some ■ -mis-management in the Provincial Treasury, the letterTeferrec 1 to remained unnoticed, or at least unattended to, and the salary in question was, we believe, regularly paid into Major Richardson's account at the Union Bank. Major Richardson, however, was living 1 in Wellington, and we have authority for saying that the first intimation he received of the neglect of his positive instructions on the subject was on i*eading Mr Gillies' letter in our columns. It will at once be seen by reference to the above letters what course he adopted. We had asserted that Major Richardson had declined to receive his salary. Mr Gillies, in reply, asserted that the salary had been regularly drawn, or rather, thac the public accounts showed that it had been, ana proceeded to moralise on the extreme gullibility of some people. As matters of fact both assertions were strictly true, but we have more than a suspicion that at the time Mr Gillies wrote he was aware of the existence and contents of Major Richardson's letter of the 19th j of January, but was willing to avail himself of a quibble to damage the position of a political opponent^ If so it was scarcely a fair or generous course to pursue. Howevei*, our readers are now in a position to judge of the whole merits of the case, and we are mistaken if they do not acquit us of the crime with which we are charged by Mr Gillies— attempting to mislead the public — and pronounce Major Richardson's conduct disinterested and generous. We may add that, the salary having been paid to Major Richardson, he considers that he will be best consulting the interests of the public by appropriating the amount to certain public uses instead of repaying it to the Treasury. The purposes to which he intends to devote it are, we understand, as follows :— LSO, in addition to the sum already given (about £130) towards the fund for annual prizes t.o the best marksmen in the High School Cadet Company, of which "he Major is honorary captain ; £50 for* a similar lund to the Clutha Volunteers, on condition that the district supplements the gift by raising £80 j and the remainder, about £50, towards forming' a book fund for the Benevolent Institution on condition that another £50 is raised for the same purpose. We think the public will agree with us, that devoting the money to these purposes is much better than repaying- it to the Treasury, and that Mojor Richardson is not inclined to benefit himself at the expense of the Province. "We observe that a meeting of the Bxiilding Committee of the Episcopal Church is to be held in the Courthouse, on Saturday afternoon next, at 3 o'clock. On Tuesday last one of the Catholic Priests in Dunedin paid into the Provincial Treasury a £1 note, as conscience money, forwarded for that purpose by a miner, now of Sandhurst, Victoria, formerly of Otago. We -wonder in what manner he defrauded the Government, by evading taking out his miner's right, neglecting to pay gold duty, or how 1 We understand that contracts will shortly be called for for stretching the line of telegraph wire from Tokomairiro to the Lakes. We are sure that our Clutha readers will be glad to learn that there is a prospect of the p.s. Tuapeka returning to her original task of navigating the Clutha river. Our Dunedin correspondent mentions that she is now being prepared to resume operations there, and ■we hear that it is more than likely that that her services will be rendered i-eally beneficial to the district by coastal steam navigation being carried on in connection with her work on the river. We have been requested to draw the attention of producers to the fact that Messrs. Duncan and Young, of the Dunedin Soap Works, are purchasers of tallow to ' any

Amongst the new insolvents we find the name of .Robert Smith, Auctioneer, Dunedin. r-Debts* £3051 4s. lid. ; assets, including real and personal estate, £2714 16s. ; deficiency, £33G Bs. lid. Causes of insolvency : Refusal of a bank to give him temporary accommodation after a promise to do so, and his having given a mortgage to thebank on that understanding,, and general, pressure of creditors. We have much pleasure in being able to state that the Government subsidy of books for the Tokomairiro District Library (about 200 volumes), are now on their way from Dunedin, and will probably be added to the Library by the beginning of next week. Last week there was a Rifle Match between the officers and men of th'e Dunedin Naval Brigade. The officers, came off victorious by 34poiuts. The Wellington Parliamentary correspondent of the ' Lyttelton Times' is responsible for the following items regarding the proceedings oi the Assembly : — " There is a proposal to make Mr Prendergast, of Otagc, SolicitorGeneral of the Colony, without a seat in the Cabinet. The House was to be asked to assent to this proposal, as well as to that of giving the Premier a position in the Cabinet without portfolio; but, as both propositionsare concerned with finance, the motions were postponed until after the Kstimates. The appointment of Mr Prendergast is, nevertheless, a fact. It remains to be discussed whether a non-ministerial officer ought to have a seat in the legislature, as Mr Prendergast has. * *" * * * * * * — " The ' Loan Allocation Bill ' raised the debate of the day. This is a measure, purporting to be in accordance with the Loan Act of 1863, for charging upon the Provinces ot the North Island those sums which have been spent out of the three million loan for the permanent advantage of those. Provinces. The figures were not printed in the bill; but it came out in debate that a quarter of a million was all that the Government proposed to make chargeable on the Northern Provinces, the rest upon the colony as a whole. You will see at once the effect of this proposal upon the House. On the one side the South. Island members were horrified at the idea of beariug a full share of L^oO^OOO for the prosecution of the war, towards which purpose two years ago, they had voted only half that amount, it seemed to them that after all the advantages gained by Auckland, the adjudication of one million out of the three to that province alone, would not be more than just.. On the other hand, the Northern provinces denied that tho expenditure was for their per- * manent advantage, as the Act intended if sh.mld be. The soldiers had been withdrawnbefore confidence was restored ; the lands had * had not been confiscated as they had expected; the military settlers had been kept out of their homesteads ; the immigration had been stopped before it was well begun; and as for surveys, roads, and so on, there Avas nothing of the sort worthy the name iu all the North. Holding these very opposite views, the extreme North and South in the House agreed at least in opposing the Grovernment. They wanted the second reading of the Bill postponed till the accounts of the expenditure on the loan should come down ; but the Government stuck to their point, and carried the second reading, with a promise not to go on with the measuretill the House should be fully informed of the composition of the items.' The number of tickets issued for the Tokomairiro Art Union has proved quite insufficient to supply the demand for them. The whole of the 200 have, we understand, been already disposed of, although^ the drawing is not to take place for nearly a month. As a verylarge number of persons have been disappointed in obtaiuining tickets the Committee have arranged lor a second drawing on the same principle as the nrst,and with equally good prizes to take place a month later. The programme of the Tokomairiro Art Union, No. 2, will be found in our advertising columns. The Siiperintendant of Canterbury has proclaimed Otago an infected place under Xih^o Diseased Cattle Act. ' "v~ Last Saturday there was a most successful Amateur Concert in the Exhibition Building, Dunedin, in aid of the. Organ Fund of St.Paul's Church. Mrs Mumford kindly lent her valuable aid, and altogether the entertainment was a most successful one. About 400s persons were present. Supreme Court Buildings are now in courseof erection at Hokitika, and it is expected that ere long Circuit Courts .will be held there. Mr F.Walker has been gazetted Provincial Secretary vice Mr - Dick. * It is understood that Mr Moss the present Treasurer will be the leader of both the; Executive and the Council- H ; ' 'V.' The Account of the Dunedin City Corporation has been transferred from the Bank of New Zealand to the Bank of Otago. MrHaughton has introduced a Bill into the Assembly to lim^fi^liability of Mining Companies, and td|^H^ such companies to-be-forined .withou'tfHHlomplicated preliminaries of the 'Joint StocK "Companies Act' requiring^ to be gone through. *

The 'Evening Star,' "says:— 'We' united" standthat nearly all the commissioned- officers of the various Volunteer Corps in Duuedjn have been placed under arrest, in accord'inc*. •with instructions received from Wellington. This bias; arisen put of the proceedings adopted by them in relation to a charge of insulting behaviour tott lady by an officer which was published in a letter in this journal. We believe that the officers generally felt called upon to ■vindicate themselves; and at a meeting they ■unanimously requested the Major commanding to institute an inquiry into the affair. Maj <r Cargill applied to us for the names of the parties, which were promptly given up ; but it appears that as the officer jimplicaled was not in uniform at the time the alleged offence was eommitted, the commanding officer did not eonsider it a case to call for his interference. The officers afterwards held a meetings at ■which the course adopted by Major : Caruill was dissented from, and it was decided to forward a statement of the case and cojiiey of ' the correspondence on the subject to the Minister for Colonial defence at Wellington. Subsequently we are informed, i} was decided as the "better plan to wait the result of Major Cargill's reference to the War Minister— which result is, as we have already said, the placing under arrest of all -the officers who have taken part in the proceedings referred to. We believe the original, intention of the officers will now be carried out, and that representations on their part will be at once lor warded to Wellington-.;,,...: The following is the text of the New Provinces 1 Act introduced by Mr Macandrew, to repeal the existing Act with t'-at title :— " A Bill intituled an Act 7 to regulate the establishment of New Provinces in the Colony of New Zealand. He ; it enacted by the General As7se'mbly of N ew Zealand-, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as fol--lows;-:—L The Short Title of this Act shall be >The flew Provinces Act, 1865.' 11. From and after the passing of ihis Act no New Province shall -be created or established within the colony -of New Zealand, unless by Special Act of the Legislature, anything contained in ' The .'■ New Provinces Act 1 858,' to the contrary nerepf notwithstanding.' We have received a pamphlet containing the " Chronicles of the Fall of Gotham," in teri chapters. These amusing sketches were originally published, or at least the first few of them were published, in the .'Daily Telegraph 5 about eigteen months ago, when they attracted a good deal of attention. They , are understood to be the production of : Mr.'"S. Syms, and no doubt many of those . who enjoyed reading the lively Chronicles* when they first appeared will be glad to weleome them in a complete and compact, form. We can answer for their containing a fund of amusing matter, and being well worthy of perusal. Many of our readers will remember that some time ago it was. rumoured that the appointment of Assistant Resident Magistrate ' in Dunedin had been offered to and accepted hy the Hon. Coutts Crawford, Inspector of Post Offices. The 'Daily Times' waxed exceedingly rabid on the occasion, and in a rather abusive and personal; style questioned JVEr. Crawford's qualifications for the office and' endeavoured to get up an agitation on . the subject. , The only result of this was that the Chamber of Commerce gave it to be ■understood that a member of the legal . profession would be the most acceptable person for the office, and shortly afterwards it was announced that Mr. Crawford had declined the appointmenik We should not now refer to these facts had it not been that a Dunedin contemporary recently stated that Mr. Crawford's appointment had been cancelled in consequence of certain remonstrances from Dunedin. As this statement is alike untrue and unfair towards a gentleman well known in the Colony, and occupying a high official position, we may be pardoned giving a brief history of the offer of the appointment and its result. .In January last Mr. Crawford, who was in Wellington at the time, received 2,. letter from Auckland informing him that it was intended to appoint him Assistant Resident Magistrate at Dunedin. The intelligence was both unexpected and unwelcome to Mr. - Crawford and he at once replied stating so, but being in the Government service he. did. not feel justified in absolutely declining to accept the office if the Governiment pressed it. : Before his letter reached [ Auckland: .he received his official ..appointment .-.. and at once wrote . reiterating his previous objections and stating that he would not give a final answer, on the; subject till he saw the Attorney-General, then expected in Wellington. In the meantime, as there was ; a possibility of his being obliged to accept ihe situation,-Mr. : Crawford wrote to some friends in Dunedin* making some enquiries! about the place, and hence arose the rumor that he. was actually coming to Dunedin. On the arrival of. the Ministry in Wellington the offer of the appointment was again made to Mr. Crawford, who positively declined to ac r , cept it; The ■ original offer was made without . ..Mir. Crawford's- knowledge or consent, and. without his- -entertaining the slightest sus-, picion of the: probabilty of the thing. Tinder „t hese circumstancefija^hink; Mr. Crawford .hks been ratherSHHfc^- treated by the Otago press;, and M^^MJpf ore gladly publish. . the -above . autherHß^ particulars of , ..the easer,. '' : ■•■'■ ' '' V:,. :' : „ ..'..."-. '.. \ "'- r ' {

The Wellington correspondent of the *' Lyttleton Times' gives the following quaint sketch of the present Postmaster-General : — ' ' Major Richardson finished the debate, with his comical turns of fancy and quaint little conceits. When speaking, he looks as dry as a Waitara bone, all butthe eyes, which are decidedly humourous, and, in feeing; so, only reflect the man within. It is the Major's pleasure to work very hard at ths commonplaces of life and office. Tin the Paradise where he is to be blest there must be plenty of digging to do, or hs won't enjoythe fruits and flowers. But if his work be done for his own pleasure, as clearly the Major deems it his duty to others to amuse them ; for, whatever be the subject or the occasion, his hearers always come in for some polite joking. If you were to take the figure of a respectable elderly ancient— say Zoroaster — cutin cork, and set it dancing on. the wires; of a piano, you would have some notion of how Major .Richardson adorns his wisdom with humour, and mitigates authority with playfulness. < A Bill to regulate the sale of poisons has been brought before the Assembly, of which the following is an abstract : — That the term ' poison' shall refer to and include all substances to be mentioned in the schedule, and that the Governor shall have power to include such other substances in the shedule after such shall have been published in # 'Gazette.'- Every person who shall sell poison, shall before the delivery thereof, enter in a book, in a form set forth in a schedule, a statement of the sale, with the name, description, and quantity of poison sold, and the purposes for which it is required, and such entry shall be signed by the vendor and purchaser, or if unable to write, then by a witness. No person shall sell poison to a person unknown to him, unless in the presence of a witness of full age known to the vendor, who shall also sign the entry of sale. No person shall sell poison to other than a person of full age. The poison sold shall be enclosed in a glass bottle, or paper or other package, and on the outside shall be affixed the word ' poison,' in letters of not less than half an inch in length, printed in red ink. No person shall sell arsenic, or strychnine, unless the same shall have been mixed with soot or indigo, in certain proportions : provided that, if such admixture shall be calculated to render the poison useless for certain purposes, then it may be sold pure in not less than lOlbs. -weight. For evading the above pi'ovisions, the vendor shall be liable, upon conviction before two or more justices, to a penalty not exceeding £20. The Act is not to extend to the sale of poison when forming ingredients of medicine, or to the sale of poison wholesale in the ordinary course of dealing. The two poisons named in the schedule, are arsenic and strychnine ; the former of which means arsenic arsenious acid and the : arseniates, sulphurets of arsenic and all colourless poisonous preparations of arsenic ; and the word strychnine includes strychnia and its salts, nux vomica, and all colourless poisonous preparations of strychnia or its salts, or of nux vomica. \ Amongst the Notices of Motion on the Order Paper of the Assembly for the 29th inst., we find the following : — Mr. Macandrew to move, this House is of opinion — That it is expedient to make provision whereby Arbitration Coxirts may be established within such Provinces as the Governor, upon the application of the Superintendent and Council thereof, may see fit. That with the exception of jurisdiction, in cases of Insolvency, Intestate Estates,. Probate, andDivoice, such Arbitration Coiirt. shall have the same civil jurisdiction as the Supreme Court of the Colony ; subject to the same rule as regards appeal, and that its" decisions shall be enforced by the satne machinery which gives effect to the jvidgraerits of -the Supreme Court : Provided always that it shall not be obligatory upon any such Arbitration Court to entertain any case involving less than £20, which maj 7 be adjudicated in the Resident Magistrate's Court. That no barrister, solicitor, or attorney shall be permitted to plead or to conduct any case before such Arbitration Court, unless the said barrister, solicitor, or attorney, shall be a principal in such case .• That in Province or District in which such Arbitration Court shall be established, there shall be appointed not less than . . Public Arbitrators, three of whom shall be selected by ballot, to adjudicate in each case : Provided always that no such Arbitrator, to be so chosen, shall have any interest, direct or indirect, in the case referred to; him. That a Registrar shall be appointed for each Arbitration Court, who. shall jbear the same relation to such Court, as regards his functions^ as does the Registrar of the Supreme Court towards the said Supreme Court ; and that the rate of fees to be charged for trying cases in such Arbitration Court: shall, be regulated by the Governor in Council, ;so. as merely to cover the actual expense of the Court. That the Government be requested ,to prepare and bringin a Bill .founded upon ; .the; f psegoing general principles, so as to provide for,, the establishment of such Arbitration Courts at the earliest I possible period!. : '■ "' y : ''-'" : I

"We regret to learn that Ensign Julius, of the Bruce. Rifles, has resigned his commission, in consequence of being about to leave this district for a time. .. . . - • We can scarcely understand the apathy which exists among the Tokoniairiro farmers on the of a Ploughing Match. A meeting was called for last 'Saturday evening, to take steps to get up a match, but so few persons attended that nothing was done. Probably the inclement weather had something to do with- the scant attendance, but we shall be very sorry if the matter is allowed to fall to the ground ih consequence. ■ •■ ■■ '■■ .-.-■■ = ; ; ■ The Re'v. R. L. Stanford's lecture on 'William -Wiiber-force ' is to be delivered in the School-house ou Wednesday next. This will he the third of the series now in course of deliver}' under the i auspices of the Tokomairiro Young Men's Mutuallmprovement Society. On parade j on Friday night last, Captain Jones read a letter from C. H. Street, Esq. , stating that Major Richardson had placed in his hands the sum of Fifty Pounds, towards forming a fund for an annual prize to the best i rifle shot in the c<>iuity:ofr Bruce, on condition that a similar sum was raised, in the district. Mr. Street expressed a hope that steps to raise the required -amount .would at once be taken. Captain Jones stated that he had little doubt of this 'beins; done, and the company appeared to coincide with' him, and to be much pleased at the prospect of an annual prize being established. One of the telegraph wires through this township hangs in a very loose . and apparently unsafe condition. It was broken some weeks ago j and, although re joined^ it was not stretched, and therefore droops very much for a considerable distance.

1865. £ s.-d. Feb. 17. January salary . . 16 13 4 March 6. February do .. 16 13 4 April 18- March do .. 16 13 4 May 8. April do .. 16 13 4 ' June 2. May do .. 16 13 4 July 30. June do .. 16 13 4 July 31. July do .. 16 13 4 " : £116 13 4