The Bruce Herald. " Nemoime impmie lacesset." :" TOKOMAIRIRO, OCTOBER 16, 1877.

Bruce Herald, Volume X, Issue 946, 16 October 1877, Page 4

The Bruce Herald. " Nemoime impmie lacesset." : " TOKOMAIRIRO, OCTOBER 16, 1877.

The new Land Bill which is likely to pass this session of Parliament may probably be considered a measure .of a tentative and temporary character. The Waste or Crowa Land is a subject which is susceptible of a large amount of legislation, and -whatever may be said in favour ofthe proposed new Land Act, it is not likely that it will prove eventually altogether satisfactory, the probability being-, that. it. will require to be considerably amended, or even repealed, before the lapse o f many years.] Th e ■"' framers" ' of the Act appear to have been convinced that present circumstances required that- the land lawshould vary to a considerable extent throughout the Colony, though there certainly does not appear to be , any absolutely insuperable jbstacle in; the way of making the land law inifprm.; Many advantages would be likely o accrue from having such a uniform land. aw. Among others, if the land law was mi form, intending emigrants be ible to obtain" something "HW& a c f ear \fa 9 >f what .the ,land ; : la\\ of Few Zealand s, ami as Jtg; the facilities offered ibr tU^ JKirebaseJ of land here ; liixt

with the law in. the diverse state it has hitherto been in, and is left by the new. Act', any attempt by people abroad to obtain a clear, conception of the land law of the Colony, is likely to prove a rather bewildering task. The present Government may not give more satisfaction, and maybe quite as retentive of the sweets of office as the late one, but the measures of the late Ministry were not remarkable for originality, and theijr action exhibited an inclination to avoid j opposition. Whatever necessity the framers of the Bill may, plead as an excuse for respecting previous land legislation, it is still probable that they have endeavoured to avoi d stirring up opposition in Parliament, by accommodating the law to the local pro^ divides of 'the residents of the abolished pro- '■" vinces. It was thought that by the operation of the Abolition Act the provinces were dead and gone, and that nothing was left for .the Provincialists to do .but chant their requiem; but now it Would seem that the. provinces have, like Macbeth's snake, been only scotched, not killed. By the new Land Bill; there, seems to be a quasi rescuscitation of the old provinces, by their being made into land districts, with Boards to administer land laws. specially. made for each district. In. the debate on the Land Bill, considerable discussion appears to have taken place as to whether the Boards should be composed of nominees of Government, or of elected -of the people. It seems probable these Boards ■will possess extensive powers, and that the land will be to a considerable extent at their .mercy. For the Boards, to be nominated : maybe more convenient, but it is hardly as 'i likely that nominated Boards will administer the land in as popular a manner as.Boards composed wholly or partly of representatives of the people would do. Though nominally the waste land belongs to the Crown, and it may be said that therefore the Queen, or her- representative, should appoint officers to deal with, and and sell the land, yet in fact the waste land belongs to the people, and it may with more propriety be said the people have a right to appoint officers to act as stewards of the public land. _ It. will remain to be seen how far the nominated Boards give public satisfaction, and if the people should have substantiaLcause for dissatisfaction with the action of the Boards, it may become an imperative necessity to make the Boards elective.. There would be less objection to trusting nominated Boards to administer the land law, if the action of jthe Boards was regulated by express provisions, but the proposed Act leaves a large amoont of power with the Boards. The Otago Land Board, as at present constituted, has happily shewn itself disposed to open up land for settienient, and Hbas generally received favourably petitions of the people for land, but it was quite possible for the Board to have taken a much more objectionable course, and If it had chosen to do so, there does not appear to be any. course open for the! people to have obtained -attention to their just claims. As to the sale of land on deferred payments, as far "as we can make out, by a perusal of the Bill, it would seem the power given to the Governor to. set apart land to be sold under that system extends over the whole Colony. We think it would have been as well if the Bill had given a definition of the words " perisonal residence," under this system. Is a license-holder never to go, for four years, beyond the boundary of his land, or, if he may do so, how long may he stay off without infringing the law f Might he leave his land for some months in the year, and, if so, for how many, to get work at sheep-sbearrog, harvesting, or road-making ? All that should be required is residence sufficient to guard against dummyism.

THB Tokpmairiro Road Board, in future, will meet at 6 o'clock in the evening. Mates Tia San Francisco will close at the Milton. Post Office on Thursday morning, at 7.30. .

The dreaded Colorado beetle has been identified ibeyond the possibility of a doubt as infesting a potato garden near Napier. ' Jas. D. I). Macaiisteb has been appointed Eegißtrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for Wakatipn district. ' Sib William Jervoisa i^ill visit Eew Zealand in December or January to report upon the defences' of the Colony. • The New Zealand Timber and Woodware Factory Co. of Dunedin is about to open a branch at Wellington. The same" company lately purchased a fine kauri forest in the Auckland province, and it is to be hopsd that its enterprise" will be well rewarded. . A pecuxiaeitt of the destructive earthquake along the South American Coast, is, according to a private letter received from a gentleman residing" in one of the seaboard towns, that tlie •wavesj which numbered seven in all, did not rush in till half-an-iiour after the shocks. When they did come, they were oHmniense size and force. A Dtxnedin merchant has spent the past ten days in a secluded portion- of the south, in order effectually to escape being called upon to serve on the Jury in the Proudfoot case, as he seldom esc>P es anv unpleasant jury work going on, and waßal "^iid to risk the chance on this occasion. The Peniir* u * a > w kich uas l° n S uad tue name of bein" a stao? 12 " 16 ■'district,- is advancing. A .clieese factory has hC™ resolved upon, a building is already erected, and jwations are- to commence next month. There : « n0 reascm whv the company's market should not .**. fche Province, and it is to be hoped" that the vent.? 1 * will be ■well managed and profitable.

" "The early bird catches the -worm." O"or peripatetic jotter recommends young'.'men in search of a wife to travel Dunedin ward by the earliest mowning train. He 'says the other morning ho had all the carriage to himself, save and except a dozen charming young ladies, his on the occasion. He has deterlained fcotrayelin future by that train,

Mr G. B. Barton has, in the v Supreme- Court, Dunedin, obtained a rule nisi to quash the Warden's order, cancelling the certificate of the Tipperary Mining Gold-mining Claim ; the grounds on which the rule was granted being fraud and want of jurisdiction.

A start has been made with forwarding milk to Dunedin by .the early morning train. About 30 gallons of fresh milk are now sent every morning from stations between Grey town and Mosgiel, and the trade, no doubt, is capable of very considerable extension.

A concert, to he given for a benevolent object, will take place m> St. George's Hallj Milton, this evening. The programme, which will be found in our advertising columns, is a full and diversified one, and should attract a large attendance.

Collections on behalf of the Indian Famine Belief Fund will be made in the Milton Presbyterian and Episcopalian Churches on Sabbath next, when we hope that goodly amounts will be contributed. The movement, we are glad to see, is entered into with the utmost heartiness in various parts of the Colony, and we trust that the several towns in tin's Province -will readily respond to the cry oLthe distressed and famine stricken millions. ■ ;

The negotiations for the completion of the new Ministry are still going on. Sir George Grey and Messrs Maoan drew and Sheehan have been sworn in. Mr Ballarice is expected to become a member, and the names of Mr Evans Brown and Mr Fisher, of Canterbury, have, as representatives of that Province in the new Cabinet;, been mentioned. Sir George Grey -will probably be Premier, Mr Macandrew will be Minister of Public Works, and Mr Sheehan, Native Minister.

TnE handsome new church erected from plans by Mason, Wales, and Stevenson, of Dunedin, with accommodation for 350, for the Presbyterians of Kaitangata, was on Sunday opened by the Rev. Dr Stuart. The attendance in .the morning reached the utmost capacity of the church, and had representatives from Inch Clutha, Stirling, and Balclutha. " The afternoon service was for the children. In the evening the church was again well attended. Commanding a fine prospect, the church is comfortably seated and beautifully finished. The collections amounted to £56; • ■

At a meeting of the Mount Stuart Road Board yesterday, a deputation of Adam's Plat miners waited on the Board for the purpose of requesting that a road line through property occupied by Mr Walter Miller should bo opened to the public. After a discussion of abouttwo hours' duration, it; was resolved that Mr James Adam should he appointed to wait upon the TVaste Lands Board at its. meeting on Wednesday to request that body not to sell the sections through, which the portion of road passes until a road line is reserved. This motion was agreed to in consequence of Mr Miller, who is a member of the Board, threatening to prosecute any person who may make use of the road line in question.

It would appear that Mr John Lawrence, of Otakia, who gave evidence in the case of Sinnbtfc v. Campbell in the Resident agistrate's Court, Milton, on Tuesday last, while on his way homeward from Waihola the same night was attacked by some one who stealthily approached from behind and dealt him several severe blows on the back of the head. He was discovered on the road severely wounded on the following morning, and had no recollection of what had befallen him since he heard the sound of approaching footsteps the previous night. The case calls for stringent enquiry by the police. Mr Lawrence bears several severe cuts on the head, and is badly bruised.

A correspondent whom nature has endowed with very little in the way of good sound round-, about common sense, has lately plagued us with some exceedingly amateur compositions, which he terms his "Dreams." Out of consideration to him we consigned his productions to the -waste paper basket, and now he writes fco us -. — " Would you be kind enough to return them two letter?. Or them two dreams to me. If you don't intend to publish them j As soon as you Can ; As I don't intend to trouble N. Zealand papers no more with them." On the principle of being thankful for small mercies, we hope our correspondent will religiously adhere to his present determination.

In the division in which the late G-oveynment secured a majority, prior to their defeat, the most ingenious tactics were displayed to secure doubtful^ votes. Mr Travera gave a pair for the Government and against Mr Larnach's motion. That, it is said/ was completed, but lie. made a speech directly against his pair, and declared that he was not bound by it then, as circumstances were different. The Manders story is the good one. With wonderful 'cuteness the member for Wakatipu.had coquetted with both parties, and been, so to say, manipulated, arranged with, engineered — what you will, or whatever is the" proper and most expressive phrase— by both. JJaph thought they had him, and the Opposition was the last to spe/li|m in the day of the division. Manders disappeared.* He was sought for tight and left by tho Government whips. It was found he had. gons home and gone to bed — sick, it was said, Captain Morris, in a cab, called, and by some soldierly blandish.ments and clever management, contrived to secure the application of other influence than his 6 wn, and . succeeded in bringing off the . voter triumphant.

A defutatiost, appointed by a public mee'ting of the settlers of the Taieri Beach, consisting of 'Messrs James Milne and Walter GHbb from the Taieri Beach, and Mr James Mackay, of Waihola, waited upon Mr W. N. Blair, District Engineer, in his office at Dunedin on Wednesday last, with a view to urge upon the Q-overnment the advisability of erecting, a siding at the Titri Railway Station for the convenience of the Taieri Beach, Waipori, and Tuieri Ferry settlers. Farmers in these localities are at present debarred from enjoying the benefits of railway communi- ( cation "for their produce which they would be 1 enabled to load up at Titri were a siding formed theie. This would involve the cutting of a canal seven chains in length, from the river to the

I siding, so that boats from all quarters of the river I jpuld lie alongside the station to Unload. The I settleTS. of the; district undertake to form the ycanal, if the Government provide the siding; and the Taieri Beach settlers have already subscribed about one half of the necessary cost among themselves. Mr .Blair promised to aid .them by r.e£omjnending theerection, of the

siding, ou their making a formal application, which we trust will speedily eventuate.

James Hogo, who attempted suicide at Lake Waipori on Friday morning last, had been employed as shepherd with Mr Ritchie on the Terrace run, Waipori, for Bis years. After Mr Ritchie sold the property, Hogg went to the Waiwera as shapherd, but shortly after was seized with a fever, and since then he has been almost out of employment, which seemed to trouble his mind. On the morning of the occurrence he had breakfast as usual, in Mr M'Pherson's, and went out. Mr M'Pherson immediately followed, and found him lying in a flax bush, with a gash in the right side of his neck, and bleeding freely. He had laid himseff down to die, and, when found, was still holding the blood-stained knife in his lmnd. Messrs MTherson and Moore stopped the bleeding, and took him to Dunedin.

A somewhat peculiar case will come on for hearing at the Balclutha Resident Magistrate's CourtT tO'inorrowv Some time ago it was discovered that; by some means or other the stables of the Crown Hotel, Balclutha, had caught on fire, and had been extinguished before much damage had been done. An old empty bucket was found near the Bpot, and from this it was supposed that some person had taken up his quarters in the stable for tha night, and had .accidentally set fire to the stablesOn Monday, the 6th instaut, a man giving tho name of Thomas Ross, who has lately been employed as a groom at Balclutha, gave himself , into custody for wilfully setting fire to the stables. When doing so, he made a statement to the effect that a resident at Balclutha offered him a sum of money to do so, and gave, him a bottle of kerosene to aid in the success of the project. That, on seeing the flames, he repented of what he had done, and smothered the fire with the aid of his coat.