The Bruce Herald TOKOMAIRIRO, NOVEMBER 9, 1865.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 84, 9 November 1865, Page 3

The Bruce Herald TOKOMAIRIRO, NOVEMBER 9, 1865.

The late resignation of the Weld Miriistreyj in consequence of the result of the division on Mr. V^dgers motion that the provinces should be allowed to participate

in the revenue to be raised by- the proposed Stamp Act appears to*give rise, to .some important questions- for consideration. The- peculiar*- political I ..: situation..- of NewZealand^ wkb" its several : Provincial Governments anddts- one General Government, must render it ifi matter fo* considerable difficulty for any- Govermnent tocarry on- satisfactorily the business of thenation.; Take the^ present case as an instance of>this. -J. The General Government, . for the purpose of meeting;. an extraordinary expense for the coming 1 yearj. tind- it necessary* to endeavor to obtain an increase • in the revenue by the im position of< another tax> andtherefbre bring- forward a > bill for imposing-.; a- Stamp duty* The Ministry rely nponv the passing 1 of- thisAcr, and'baildnheir futufe scheme of policy upon the supposition,, that- they, will' receive an increase 7 6f re ve-nue to the ex^ tent of the duties so be collected under the - Act. When, however, the bill comes before the General Assembly, an unexpected* difficulty occurs. The Provinces insist upon having-, a half of the revenue to beraised'under the Act*. TheresuLt of thisis, that the Government is- nonplussed y. their schema of future policy- falls to theground, and Ministers find themselvesplaced in a quite unexpected position, inasmuch as half of that revenue which they proposed to raise for an especial purpose isclaimed- by the Provinces, to be applied to^ purposes entirely different. Now, it isimpossible for a government to carry onthe business of the country without a sufh'oent reserve ; but, if out of every pound' of revenue which the General Government, with the greatest difficulty manages to raise, the Provinces are to be -allowed ten shilling's, the General. Government will.' continually' be finding*, itself placed in a very awkward position. In- fact, under ' such circumstances, it is difficult to understund how the business of the' country cam be carried on!. It is a question for serious consideration, whether ic : would not beadvisable to have, either one Government ■ for the whole of New Zealand, or on3 • Government for the North Island and onefor the Middle Island, instead of k dozen-, different Governments, each., claiming to* participate in every pound of revenue 1 that is raised. How would her Majesty's advisers in London be able to carry oh the - business of the United Kingdom, if Scot--land,-Walesa and Ireland were to insist ,upon having at Jtbeir awn disposal theihalf ; ' of all revenue that should he raised in thoserespective countries?' Perhaps here- thepublic revenue would; be more advantageously applied under the direction of thecollected wisdom of New Zealand, or of that of one island, than under the collected wisdom of single Provinces. The Provinces are very, desirous to have the application of public funds; but, as faras past experience goes.. Provincial Governments do not appear to have exhibited.'any large amount of wisdom in ithdrap*< lication of Provincial revenue. This revenue they have often spent extrava--gantly, and .for purposes of no immediatenecessity, instead of apptying* the sametowards die obtaining of some substantial, good. Provincial Governments are also« open, in some degree,' to the charge of not having* applied the Provincial revenues in an equitable manner. Take, for instance, the case of territorial revenue, or money arising from the sale-ofCrown Land in this* Province. Considering. the nature of that revenue, one would suppose that districtsfrom which such revenue had been obtained ought to have been allowed aclaim to a fair proportion of the montiy arising irom such sale, and that district towns •nighc have expected that there should have^ been applied for their benefit — the amount raised by the sale, of their town sections. In the appliciainn of territorial revenue, . however, there has hitherto been very little recognition of the rights of districts and' towns to a participation -in such revenue. There, will doubtless be various opinions as to thcs propriety or- advisability, of tha ' Provinces having insisted at the present time upon a participation in the revenue to. arise from the proposed Stamp Act;, but, all things considered^ there may arise a question, whether it Would- not "have been <*s well to have allovyed the whole of such revenue to be retained, foV the present at least, by the General Government. Such revenue would perhaps have been as advantageously applied by the General Government, for carrying on ihe general, affairs of the nation/ as it would have been >; . if frittered away by Provincial Governments.

We learn that John Dewe, Esq. has In en appointed Registration < >ffi<:er, ior the newly formed Electoral Districts oK Taieri, Bruce, Clutha, Oainarn, Waikouaiti, Manuherikia, Hampden, and the Gold, fields Boroughs. Mr. Dewe has also. been, instructed to prepare EJectoa-l liolis (or the above districts, with as little delay as possible. We have ri ceived the first number. »f the 4 New Zealand Guardian', i Religious and Temperance Journal published in Christchurch. The number before us is most creditably got up in every, respect, and contains a mass of intelligence, respecting the . reKjiious and temperance topics of the various Pro.vinees of New Zealand^. I-tome &c- We cordiallj'" wisli the 'Guardian' every success, ami believe that it will » e largely patronised b}' tho e who have experienced, the want of a Colonial Journal^ confined exclusively to the subjects with ivhich it proposes tu dbaL T o-day beiiigthe anniversary of the birth ©f H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, will of course be observed as a general holiday: There will be> compulsory parade for the Bruce. Rifles, at the. Powder Magazine, at ten o'clock, a. m. ,. after which. .the Volunteers will proceed to the Butts,, where the. first match of the season will be fired!, between nine officers and non-commissioned' officers, and a like number of privates. Kanges — 150, 200, 250, and 300 yards :. five . shots,, at each.. Beyond the Volunteer demonstration, we have not heard of any other arrangements for keeping the holiday, or providing amusement.. . The Distillation Bill, which has passed, both Houses of. Assembly, is a -very short one. It merely repeals the Distillation Prohibition Ordinance, so far as, to make it lawful for the Governor to license such persons as he may see fit to carry on distillation, subject to such regulations as may hereafter be made by the Governor in Council. As originally prepared by the Weld Government the ; Bill contained 163 clauses, and entered into fujl details as to duty, license fee, col L lection of duty, &c. The, time, however, did not permit of* this bill being gone fully into, go that a temporary measure was passed to make provision for carrying on. Distillation till after the next session of. the Assembly. "We understand that the excise on the home made^spirit will be about Is. or Is.. 6d. a gallon less than, the import duty charged on the spirits imported from abroad. Mr. li^hittaker has beeni elected Superintendent of. Auckland, without opposition. The Dunedih Corporation has resolved; upon a rate- of ; Is. 4cl. in the^ pound for this year. It is understood that Id. in the pound out of this- will be devoted to the support of > the. Fire. Brigade. St. Luke's Church, Oamaru, was opened for Divine Service for the first time on Sunday week. last. The Rev. E.G. Edwards,. Rural Dean,, officiated in the morning, and' the Revs. Gifford. a;;d. Dasent.also took part in the service, . and' in the afternoon Mr. Dasent preached-: The- ehureli. will not be consecrated till early in the, y«tar, when it is. expected that the Bishop of Christchurch will visit the various parishes in. this portion of his diocese. The High School Cadet Corps last week presented their Drill Instructor, Sergeant Stevens, with a handsome gold rin^ and . breast pin, in recognition of his services for the. last 18 months. The Captain of the Company, Major Richardson, made the presentation, and warmly thanked the Sergeant for the interest he had taken in, and the efficient state to which he had brought, the corps,. Mr. J. C. Brown has been elected member of the Provincial Council for -the- Lawrence district. EKs opponent was Mr. S. Strong. In one of the Order Papers of the General Assembly we find the following Notice of Motion : Mr. Se well to move, oh the Public Expenditure Control Bill going into Committee, the insertion of the following claus<#— '■* If any person, being a member of the Executive Council, shall, during a Session' of of the. General Assembly, advise the Governor to prorogue or* dissolve such Assembly without the supplies requisite for the Public Service forthe current financial period having been- fifrst voted by .the House of Representatives* os-having. been otherwise appropriated bylaw, or shall; threaten or declare t> any Member of the Legislative Council or House of Representatives his intention so to advise the Governor, with & view to prevent the General Assembly from exercising control over the expenditure, of the= Public lie venue, or with, a view to induce such member of the Legislative? Council or House of Representatives to vote or from voting upon, the question in such Assembly every such member of the Executive Council shall forfeit and pay to any person who shall sue for the same the sum of L20004 to be recovered with full costs of suit in thfir Supreme Conrt of, the. Colony, and every such person shall, upjn conviction of such, offence, cease to be, and.. shall be, disqualified from being a member either of the Legislative Council or House of. Representatives for the space of three years, frojti, the. 4at«>, of. such conxifition.«.

We understand that the -Works of the Copper Mining Company, on the ridge between Waitahuna and Waipori, are progressing satisfactorily, under the management of Mr. Ilackett.* A large and paying, though not very rich, lode has been struck, and will probably soon be extensively worked.. In the same neighborhood large quantities of Cinnabar, haye. been met with, and it is anticipated that a lode of that mineral will be discovered. The.' Southern Cross ' states that it has received private information from a correspondent in London, well informed oh all matters relative to. New Zealand, to the effect that at the date when the las* mail left England, it was .in serious contemplation by the. Home Government to invite Sir George Grey to retire under thje Governors' Retiring Pension* Bill ol last session. ° : Mr. C. E. Haughton, MH.R, has been elected to represent Queenstown in the Provincial Council, by a. majority of 37 over his opponent, Mr H-. Mandeis. We are t^lad to see that Mr. Biss, Acting Chief Postmaster lor this Province, has amended the advertisement calling for tenders ior the various mail services for next year; by requesting tenders to.be sent in for. a daily service each way betweea Tofcomairiro and the Clutha, instead of three times a week as at first proposed. -We hope that the claims of Tu;'peki» to the continuance of a similar service will also »>e regardtd. The Assembly has passed a Bill to enable Prov ncial Councils to give grants of land to all Volunteers who. have served fur a certain period. ' The Provincial Government have refused permission to the. Jiruce Hifles to erect their Butts in the Police paddock, on the grounds that the position is not a safe one, and that duting faring the Police horses would be in •danger. The proverb says, a- bad excuse is better than. none,, but we think it would have been better- ior. the Government to have re- • used without giving any reasons, instead of assigning reasons which are so utterly absurd and uutounded as the above. A better or sater range is nut to be had in Tukomairiro than the. one aliuded to; but there seems a disposition on the part off certain influential I parties to thwart and discourage the Volunteers in every possible way , and the refusal to let them complete the.- butts commenced on the strength of the Superintendent's nmark when in Tokouiairiro,.that he saw no objection to tue required permission, being given, is but one instance, of many which we could refer to. At a meeting of the General Education Hoard last week it was resolved to make Bal Clutha a separate educational district. The request of the Warepa Committee for a new ' school- house was refused, bat it was resolved to continue to. renfe the church for fehe purposes of a school Amongst others, the followinji tenders for the lease of Educational Re serves were opened* and a decision postponed to the 10th instant ."r— West Taieri, irregular block, James. Reid, L ls. lOs;.R.. Gardner, L18; (} Nicol, Ll.fi &<. Table Mill, block 2, 40a. j J. Llardy, L5 ; block 3, 40a. J. [lardy, L3 ; ] block 1, 76a. A. Sutbetland, L7.125, and R. Brownlee, Ll 16 *; block r, 40a. R. Sutherland, LB. Utakia, block 2, 40a. P. M'Laren, L5. . The annual meeting of the subscribers to the Tokomairiro District Library was to have i been held in the SchoollKjuse on Monday afternoon last, but in consequence of the very unpropitious state of the weathar, the meeting was adjourned to . hursday evening next, at 5 o'clock, when it is hoped that all who. really take an interest in the progress of this useful institution will attend. We are glad to observe that the members for Bruce intend to take an early opportunity of meeting their constituents, to give an account of their proceedings, during the recent session of the 'Assembly.. ' An advertisement in another column intimates that A • essrs* Macandrew aad Burns will meet- the electors as follows - — On Monday next at Waihola, on Tuesday, at Tokomairiro, on Wednesday at the Clutha, • and on Thursday at East Taieri. A numerously-signed requisition has been presented to Massr3. Adam, Clarke, and Dyer, the representatives of Tokomairiro in the Provincial Council, inviting the,ni to meet, their constituents prior to the next sitting of the Council. The requisition has been responded t>o by these gentlemen naming Saturday evening next, at six o'clock, for the meeting, which is to take place in tlie Sclioolhouse. A mesting of the Milton Road Board is to be held in the Schoolhouso on Tuesday evening next at 5 o'clock.. A serious accident lias occured in Wellington Harbour, a boat from thesis. P,:«be having upset while loaded with passengers for .shore. All exc*»j>t one were rescued. The missing nmn is Captain Sleigh of the Waikato Militia, who is supposed to be drowned, ailthough his bod}', has not yet been recovered. Captain Sleigh will be better known to most of our readers under the name of Dr. Sliegh having about three years ago practised lor some time in Tokomairirp-as a medical man. Be was a son in la.w of Mr. Kennedy Greenland, .

An inquest was held at: Inch Clutha last week,' before the coroner, Dr. Smith, on the body of Jessie Grigor, who had died from the eflects'of poisen. Prom the evidence adduced, it appeared that deceased and her brother had been at a neighbor's to spend the evening, and shortly after returning home deceased stated that she had taken corrosive sublimate: Mr. Giigor at once applied the usual antidotes and sent for medical assistance'. Dr. Manning was shortly in attendance, and deceased for a time rallied but after lingering for a few days died. A verdict of temporary insanity wa3 returned.