The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1869.

Press, Volume XIV, Issue 1885, 30 April 1869, Page 2

The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1869.

"We published on, : Tuesday a summary of-a Bill which has been prepared in Mogiand by Mr Pitzherbert,. with the view—such is the natural inference— 6f bringing it before the. Assembly during the approaching session. Mr Hall has since written to us to disclaim on behalf of the Government any intention of bringing in the Bill. There is some mystery about the authorship, or rather the connection of Ministers with the Bill, which time perhaps will clear up ; meanwhile, unless the putative, father will come forward to acknowledge his offspring, it remains a disowned vagrant, an unfortunate waif and stray, whose beginning and ending are alike enveloped in obscurity. Singular that axk elaborate scheme, the preparation of ;which must have cost somebody much pains, and probably some expense in getting it professionally drafted, should be given to the public at last, only, as it were, by Btealth, as though the author was ashamed of his work. Bu§ whatever doubts may be cast on the authorship of the Bill; whether it emanates from the Government or is the casual production of some would-be legislator—whether it be born of lawful parentage, or s> nullius; at all events here it is. It lies before us as the first definite proposal for de aling with a matter which more than any other vitally affects the welfare of the colony. As such it invites our criticism. The main object of the Bill, as set forth in the preamble and title, is to promote colonization in New Zealand by v the introduction of immigrants ; which it proposes to accomplish by placing the management of immigration in the hands of a Board of Commissioners "constituted by Act of the \So far we are cordially We suppose there is!no man, at all acquainted with the affaire and

condition of New Zealand, who does not admit that the revival of immigration on r> n extensive scale has become a necessity—that is the only way of lifting the colony out of its present difficulties and lightening the weight of the public burdens. Nor is it less clear that the work cannot be undertaken by the provinces. They are in no position to do so. They simply have not the means to carry it on. Immigration in their hands has come to a standstill; nor, with the exception of Canterbury and Otago, which still possess some land revenue, ia there the smallest prospect of any of them being able to resume it. There remains but the one alternative. The colony must take on itself the task which the provinces are no longer able to discharge. The isolated, intermittent, and frequently conflicting efforts of the several provinces must he abandoned in favour of a process which shall be uniform, systematic, and J steadily maintained. In a word, we want a system of colonial immigration. The essential features of such a scheme are —that its finance be based on a broad principle, applicable not to this or that division of the colony only but to the colony as a whole. That its practical operation be according to an intelligible and consistent method, framed without the slightest reference to provincial or other sectional distinctions, and having regard to nothing but the interests and requirements of the colony. That it be removed altogether from the sphere of politics; and that with that object the management be committed to men in such a position as to be unbiassed by local or party considerations, uninfluenced by the popular cries of the day. and, above all things, under no temptation to let their proceedings be governed by the possibility of the gain or loss of votes. The Bill before us professes to embody a scheme of colonial immigration, and it will be well to observe how far it fulfils the above conditions. We shall in subsequent articles examine its chief provisions more minutely, but we may state in general terms our reasons for holding it to be as feeble, as incoherent, and withal as mischievous a piece of legislation as could be imagined. There is no principle in it, nothing on which one can lay hold as the leading idea of the measure. All is nerveless and flaccid. The framer seems to have sought to be all things to all men; to propitiate the colonial party by a outward profession of colonial principles, while in reality making himself subservient to the pernicious elements of provincialism. The Commissioners who are to be invested with the power of borrowing and spending an annual sum of £100,000 are the Premier, another member of the Cabinet, with the Superintendents and heads of counties; a purely political Board, reducing the whole thing to a scramble among the provinces for money, the one which can bring the largest amount of political influence to bear upon the Government getting the lion's share of the spoil. The financial part of the plan is almost inconceivably confused and most mischievous in its effects. In one province the expenditure on immigration is to be repaid out of the I territorial, revenue,.Jn another Qut of the provincial share of the consolidated fund (already pledged to the colony as security for the interest on the debts of the province) thus casting another load on provinces which are already sinking ioto the mire under the weight of their present liabilities. We do not join in the parrot cry of danger to the Canterbury land fund, by which writers in the Lyttelton Times conceal their ignorance and earn a cheap reputation as vigilant guardians of the provincial welfare j but we cannot too strongly denounce a proposition which, by maintaining the present financial relations between the Greneral Government and the provinces, would perpetuate those sectional influences and combinations in the Assembly which have been the cause of nine-tenths of the evils that harass this unfortunate colony, and so long as they exist must be destructive of any progress towards nationality, and are absolutely incompatible with any good government. But on these and other points we shall have more to say hereafter. Lyttleton Pabish Gathebibg. — The Ljttelton Parish Gathering was again postponed till Monday, the 3rd in&t., through the inclemency of the weather. Town Hall Company.—The fourth adjourned meeting of the shareholders of the Town Hall Company was held yesterday afternoon at two o'clock, in the side room of the old Town Hall. Present —Messrs Ruddenklau, Tombs, Harrington, and Packer, jun. In con-, sequence of there not being a sufficient number present to form a quorum, the meeting adjourned sine die. LIBTTT.-CoiONEL McDONNEIX.—Wβ observe, by ah advertisement in the " Wauganui Times," that thie officer is about to publish a vindication of his conduct, "rendered necessary to refute the calumnies printed and circulated regarding him ac Commander of the the West Coait of the Northern

LtttblTOH.—Messrs Cameron Brothers, of this port, have purchaaoii from Mrs.«« <r Holmes and Co. the steam lighters Muilogli and Novelty, and will carry on the lightering business under the emtne arrangements as Messrs G\ Holmes and Co. have been doing. In addifion to the two steam lighters, they own the Streamlet and William schooners, which will both be employed aa lighters. From their long connection with the trade of Lyttelton, we have no doubt but they will give every satisfaction. Rangioba and Mandevtlle District. — A public meeting, called by Mr M. Diion, M.P.0., was to have been held at the Kaikainui Hotel, Kaiapoi, on Wednesday evening last, having for its object the consideration of the division of the Eangiora and Mandeville Eoad Board district, and other matters to be brought before the next Provincial Council. About half-a-dozen persons assembled, and the boisterous state of the elements probably caused the absence of the convener as well as of many others.

Detebminbd Suicide.—Captain Watson, of the barque Prince Alfred, which arrived at Auckland on the Bth, reports an extraordinary case of suicide, by a young man who was a passenger by his vessel from Sydney to thie port. William Ryburn, a respectably dreeaed young man, about thirty-five years of age, was the name of the unfortunate man. He was last seen alive about eight o'clock on the evening of the 7th, and was perfectly sober at the time. On the following morning, as he did not make his appearance at the breakfast table, a search was made for him, and on proceeding to hie cabin it wae discovered that he had taken the whole of his luggage, &c, and jumped overboard in the night. The deceased also took a splendid gold watch and all his money with him. Captain Watson is unable to give any reaeon for his mysterious disappearance, as he generally seemed in good spirits and health. The deceased was observed by the crew to be hanging over the rail, looking at the sea, during Wednesday afternoon, but he said nothing. Opinion on Sepabation.—Mγ H. Armstrong, in his farewell address as late member of the Southland Provincial Council, cays —" I hope never again to hear the cry of * separation , raised—it is a cowardly and selGeh one. If our positions were reversed, and we had the Maori to cope with here, we should feel hurt and aggrieved ii our fellow colonists in the North Island left us to struggle alone. Want of an increase to her population is telling very severely upon this colony; no new blood comes in to keep up the flow of circulation, and impart a more healthy tone physically and socially to our weakened constitution, and it is not likely to flow in. New Zealand will not be favorably known as a field for emigration until the native difficulty is overcome by the united efforts of all classes of both islands— until it has been discovered that the legislation and administration for some 200,000 people does not require the machinery for a thousand times that number—until Otago ceases to look upon Southland as a rival, and Canterbury as a formidable one; until provincial jealousies and selfishness die out, and our provincial politicians work together for the common good of the whole colony." An Expected Royal "Visit.—On Sunday last a telegram from Christchurch was received by the Mayor, stating that Captain Montgomery, of the Blanche, intended, should the weather permit, to bring his vessel—containing the Duke of Edinburgh—into the Oatnaru roadstead at about eight a m yesterday, on his way to Dunedin. It is not every day that a Prince of the Blood visits Oamaru, consequently the demonstrations by which the citizens intended to show their loyalty to the British throne, and their love of the country whence they came, were as elaborate and anxiously prepared as the ehort notice allowed. Guns were fired at sunrise, gongs and criers were heard in all the fetreets—every one was astir—but at eight a.m. there was no Blanche and no Prinoe. Business was suspended daring the day, and everyone was in expectation of his arrival till about two pm, when a telegram was received from Dunedin, saying that the Blanche had arrived at Port Chalmers. Mr Payne's guns and Mr Rivers's gun gave their royal salute, and the disappointed citizens dispersed to enjoy themselves, each in his own way, much amused and a little disappointed with the memorable visit of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Oamaru.—" Oamaru Times." A Nbw Zealand El D'obadov—A letter from Westport appeared in the Liverpool Courier, giving the following glowing picture of the Buller district :—"This is a wonderful place. The mountains seemed crammed with gold. The diggers make about £80 per man per week. About 16.000 ounces leave Westport every month. The place is full of all sorts of treasures j even the common etones on the roads glitter in the sun like silver, with mica ; and on the beach to Charleston the sand is blood red, being composed of minute rubies. This extends for about two miles along the coast. Our house looks out from the front over the vast and mighty ocean, the beach extending for miles f»nd miles. The township is not a quarter of a mile from the sea, and at the back hills upon hills rear their heads in majestic splendour, some covered with perpetual snow. The gold-fields are quite close to us, in fact all around us—Caledonian diggings, six miles off; Giles , Terraoe, three ; Addison's Flat, six ; Charleston, twenty j Brighton, thirty-two. Some people fancy this is a barbarous and uncivilised pluce quite the reverse ; there is a great deal to be seen here. Diggers will have amusement, and scatter their gold about like wild oats. The reverse of this picture at Westport, is that you see nothing green ; no gardens nor shrubs j not even a blade of grass."