The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, JAN, 1, 1886

Clutha Leader, Volume XII, Issue 598, 1 January 1886, Page 2

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, JAN, 1, 1886

Aj3 to his 3 i\v borrowing and publio works propo lis, Sir Julius Vogel says the question iangs very much upon 1 a decision ast whether th© public works policy iriauf: irated in 1870 has or has not on the "v iole been a success.' It is marvellous, e says, that any number of person) c a be found to question a, success whi< appears to hini to be as clearly estah shed as that one and one make twV i So one wtjq Mbasi '; studied : •the Treanur^ fo character and watched his career k [1 feel surprised ihat Jne should think t marvellous tnat anyone, should cups |on "the success o£ his scheme oi p 10. In the caTrryihg' oup 1 oi thatschp I thirty millions of money Iwas borrow jand spent, aiid from' his •

I ppiit of constitutes / coriplet? i .' sue«^ss.^:: But most, people 1/take a broader: yiewipf the questiony

and in considering /the success or otherwise of Sir; Julitis'*> great and noble scheme of they view it in different aspects. .'' That the money was borrowed -we, alt know to. our dear bought ; experience. : /£hat it was .expended we also know. But was it expended in an ; honest,^ and prudent :i manner ? This ■ is^pne aspect of the ; question, and we fear it must be answered in thenegative. It is admitted on all hands that out of the borrowed

funds many works were undertaken

not because, they were works of Colonia^^JooVtonce, but as payment for politßvS^^O^rt given to Sir Julius Vpget'(ind?hVs colleagues of the Continuous Ministry. In ..this class are catalogued the. "political railways," which have long been a; bye-word and a reproach to the Colony. It is also admitted .that in . jthe' prosecution of works that were of Colonial importance and that were necessary, there was manifested an inefficiency, extravagance arid recklessness that was altogether unjustifiable, and should not hare .been- tolerated. Another class of works must be mentioned. We refer to schools, post and telegraph offices, and other public buildings, all constructed out of borrowed money. Many of these buildings are of wood, and may only be serviceable for 20 or 25 years. Thus our. children. will not only have thrown upon them the burden of the cost of these buildings, but they will also have to t>ear the cost of replacing them by other buildings suitable to their then existing circumstances. Surely no honest man can approve of such action on the part of those, who liaye had the control of our borrowed -millions. It is, in plain language, deliberately practising a swindle upon our own immediate sons "a.nd daughters. This is as plain as that one and one make two. But the swindle has, so far, been carried out without let or hinderance, and thus, to the mind of Sir Julius Yogel, the scheme has proved successful. If our memory serves us right, the sum Sir ■Julius in 1870 proposed to borrow was ten millions, and this was to place the permanent prosperity of the Colony beyond doubt. Well, we have borrowed three times the amount, and what do we find? Why, that commerce and every industry is to-day and has for years been suffering from a depression such as the Colony has not before experienced. True, for some- . time after the borrowed money began to flow in we enjoyed a of comparative prosperity, but this was in a great measure due to the high prices then obtained. for all classes of pastoral andagricultural produce. We do not for a moment believe that were Sir Julius to be allowed to borrow and .expend another LK),000,000 this would indnce prosperity to any appreciable degree,.- so long, as prices of produce continue at the present low standard. And as soon as the money was gone the depression would return with ten fold intensity. Judged by the results of our 1870 venture, his new heroic: •scheme must be discarded by all who look upon New Zealand as a permanent .home for themselves and their children. It must be admitted, however, that this new scheme, is thoroughly consistent with Sir Julius' Vogel's past career, both public and private. .His "Statemanship " may fairly be said to have been confined to scheming, borrowing and spending — very bold and reckless borrowing and spending. We believeevery prudent man in, the country now feels that w« have had quite enough of such statesmanship. We* do not say that borrowing can. be altogether stopped. Such works as the Cafclins railway, must be extended to points where they will be both useful and reproductive, and to this end a limited amount of borrowing will be necessary. But what the 'country above all things wants is rest, rest from financial surprises, rest from the fear of what such men aa the present Treasurer may bring about, rest from legislation. The people want peace leisure and confidence in attending to their business, and developing the resources of the country. They want to be let alone, and allowed "bo work oat their own destiny. It is to be hoped this policy will be the one upon which our representatives will insist when they next return to their places in Parliament..

According to "our practice in the past -this' issue of the Leader is reduced to six pages, the .object being to allow our staff to enjoy a little relaxation during the annual holidays. ■ '■$$£.#<■). £*'b Day sports will he held to.day at Stirling, Wiltshire Bay and Milton. The annual races will be held at' Clinton.

The Highland Society's annual ball was ■held .in Barr'u Hall on Tuesday night. About 40 couples vw«re present. Mr T. Crawford made An efficient M.0., and excellent music was. sup- , plied by Miss Sharp i(piano) and Mr John Sharp (violin), also by several pipers, for Highland reels, &c. Refreshments of all kinds were ■abundant. Dancing was kept up till an early hour, everything passing off very pleasantly. A narrow escape from tire occurred at ithe K Crown Hotel here about half -past 11* /O'clock on Wednesday night... It appears a boarder had gone to sleep in one -cf the front bedrooms leaying his candle burning. '■■ _The •result was that the:curtain .caught, fire, which was ; "speedily communicated to the 'roof. , Fortunately, fche glare was noticed in time, and the fire was extinguished before much daractge SKWdppo, '

Z:. An addition of 105 vols. has just been inndeto the Waitepeka public library.; These have been received from Messrs Bell and Bradfate, Edinburgh. Harper's and Cassel's Monthly, Leisure Hour, Chamber's Journal and Good Wordß, also the Glasgow Weekly Herald, Scotsman and Anglo- New Zealander have been ordered and will arrive at the end of January. :

, The modals for acts of braveay, "awarded ' by the Huinaue Society, of Australasia to Richard Phelan, J. C. Miller and Wm. Potiki, were presented by his Honor Mr Justice "Williams at the Supreme Court Dunedin, on Monday afternoon. Amongst those present were the Hon. Mr Stout (the PfeitiibV), Mrs Stout, the Hon. Captain Fnwer, tM lion. W. J. M. Larnach, Messrs Brown ami Bradshaw, M. fl. R.'jj, and. Messrs J. E. Ueiiiitston and J. M.tcgregor, but the attendance! was small. His 1 Worship the Mayor (Sir. J. Barnca) presided. His Honor Mr Justice William'? briefly recounted the circumstances under which the acts of bravery w«re performed and then' handed ths medals to Miller, Phelan and Potiki. The two former were awarded for rescuing two Dunedin High School bbya from Bird Island, in November 1833. Th*t to PJiiki wus awarded for saving Mr*. Morice from dr6wniug at Wiltshire Bay on the 23rd of December, J 'tßߣThe Hon.. Mr Stout also addressed the maeting and concluded by nioViug a vote of. thanks to the Mayor and Mr Justice WiUiama. .

The picnic at Kaihiku on Christmas Day proved a great success. Mr George Johnston kin.lly gave the use of his large' paddock at Douglas .Place for the pur|>nst>, and certainly better ground could not ho desired. Theiinorning looked threatening, preventing a few from attending, but the day proved all that could be wished for, a i.ice breeze tempering the hott. More than 200 people must have been on the ground. A good many came fromAVaropa and Waiwora. Refreshments were served out at the house in great abundance, both edible and drinkable The tea was much above tho average of many picnics, and certainly would have afforded no ground for a weak joke (2) which was overheard lately at an affair of the same sort :— " I say, Jack, why do you sot your cup of. tan on the gronnd ?" " It's ,bo very weak, Tom. I thought I would let it reßt !" G*mes, both for adults and children, were heartily Roiie into all day. Races, vaultiug, quoiting, throwing the cricket ball the farthest, etc., for all of which prizes were given, were keenly contested. A swing was erected, and proved a great acquisition, as it was Kept going the whole 1 time without intermission. There was also a platfftrm ou which to trip the light, fantastic toe, to the accompaniment of a violin. Altogether, the day was a red-letter one in the annals of Kaihiku, and should the picnic be made an annual affair, there is very little doubt but. that it will increase in popularity. !

The Temperance picnic, held at Mr Smith's bush, Stirling, on Boxing Day, proved a very successful and enjoyable gathfiriug. It is estimated that th^ro were about 700 people on the ground during the day. The number would have been much move, but for some raisunderstniidiug a« to the railway fares from Lawrence. From that district a 1 on?, at le«nfc JSOO were expected, ami a special train to accommodate that number was provided, but only 20 persons availed therosfllvos of it. Although rain threatened, the weathnr. proved vory suitable for the picnic, and- games of all sorts usual on such occasions were enjragod in. The contingents from the various districts amply provided themselves with refrt?uhm»nt.s, while fruit, lemonade, ka. wen for sale at stalls on tha ground. About mid-dsiy addr»s(n»« vors delivered by Messrs A. W. Grant, M'Lean, Gilbert, and others. Mr Grant took the opportunity of referring to th« provisions of the Licensing Act, which he said wan .the moot liberal in its nature of any similar legislation in existence. It conferred upon tho people 1 as much piwer aa the famous Maine Liquor Law of America, ami he marvelled at the apathy of the Temperance party in not availing themselvos of the facilities It gave them to control, or even to stop, the traffic in strong drink. He also reminded theni th^t. Licensing. Committees hail absolute power to' refuse 1 all applicxtions for renewals, and exhorted them to use their utmost exertions to return men pledged to fclut course at the approaching elections. — The Milton Fife ajid Drum Band enlivened the proceedings, by playing, selections at intervals during the day. Before . starting on the return journey, Mr It. Neill, ißlue Spur, addressed f th-» meeting, and concluded by roovinsf a vote of thanks to Mr Smith for tho use of the s?ounl, which vote was carried with chcera. The p<»rty then left, after enjoying a very pleasant d»y'a outing.

There is one very convenient and very pleasant holiday trip, which doin not B<mm to be known to many in tin's quarter ; at .all ev.eivtgj we believe it is patronised by but very few from the Clutha. We refer to the trip, to the mouth of tbe Taiori river. For several years past Mr M'Kftgg, of Henley, has had a small steamer—' the steam launch Waiau— on the river for the accommodation of. pleasure seekers. The Waiau , however, was found to be insufficient for the increasing trade, .and Mr M'Kegg has this year replaced her by the steam yacht,, the Waiwera. This is;a very pretty, comfortable little steamer, capable of accommodating about sixty passengers. On Saturdays and holiday* she leaves Henley on the arrival of the trains from both north and south, steams to the mouth and returns in time to catch Ihe evening trains. The distance per river is nine miles, and occupies about an hour each way. The scenory is very romantic,^ the nver banks being rocky cliffs and steep wooded ridges. For the lower half of the distance the river takes a number of sharp bends which makes it present the 1 appearance of a succession of land-locked lakes. A fine beach runs along both east and west from tbe mouth of the river, and an extensive coast view is obtained. This inclndeu Brighton, Green Island, the Ocean beach atDunedin. the Peninsula, ko. The river trip is much taken advantage of by picnic parties and pleasure seekers from Dunedin and occasionally a number of friends take tents and provisions along with th»m and camp out in the bush near to the mouth for a few days. There is plenty of fishing and shooting iv the neighbourhood ; and a prettier spot for enjoying a brief respite from the cares and troubles of active life, it would be difficult to find. The Taieri river trip is gradually gaining in popularity and we believe that even the Waiwera will soon be found too small for the trade. Mr M'Kec? makes a genial jolly ctptain, can tell a good story, has all the Maori and other traditions of the district at his fingers' ends, and does everything possible towards the comfort, pleasure and happiness of all who patrojji«e his graft.

Vital statistics for . year ending . 31st December, 1885 V! in the Registrar's district of Balclutha:— Births, 114; deaths, 27 ; marriages, 13.

Mr Walter Allan of Balclutha has been

appointod Agent for the Australian. Mutual Live Stock Insurance Company. This is the first time an Agent for such a company has been appointed here. The rates of insurance seem very reasonable, and no. doubt will be taken advantage of by many of the. settlers of the Olutha. (

An attempt was made to break into Mackenzie's store here on Christmas night, and the same was repeated th« following evening. The back door wan forced, but an entrance was prevented by a fork having been placed against the door inside. The whole evidently was the work of a novice, ■ who it is supposed merely wanted to procure-a bottle of grog.

The prize-lis<( of the forthcoming Olutha Horticultural Show has now been completed. It will be seen that the special prizes are on a liberal scale. This should ensuro good com* petition. Although the season hitherto has not been favourable to horticulture, it is to be hoped that all, both 'in the town and district, will do their part to-mako the show a successful one.

Owaki Correspondent. — Our library jb .progressing slowly but surely. At. a meeting held on Monday night the Si>cretary slated that a parcel of book* had lately arrived from Homo, consisting of an excellent assortment of works on biography, travel, fiction, science, farming mut religion. Steps were then taken to raise money to socure some of the ** Government subsidy in. aid of Public Libraries.'? The Rev. Mr M'Lareu was elected President for the ensuing year ; Messrs Saiinders and Logan, Vice-Presidents ; Mr G. Dabinett, Treasurer ; and Mr Bryant, Secretary and Librarian. The other members of committee . are Messrs Knowlew, ■ Loo*, Latta, White and Martin, with power to add to their number. A vote of thanks was passed to the out-going committo*. —The powder mill has boon idle for 'some time past. The saw mill has atno stopped work ; but I hear that another one ia to be started at the foot of the lake.— -The woather has been very fine this summer so far. Nearly every one has been praying for nvin. — The road to Catlins is now in very good condition. It is to be hoped that the County Council or the Government will do something during the summer to prevent it Veeoming such a slough as it was last winter.— Many visitors pay ua a visit on account of the trout, which are reported to bo plentiful.