FRIDAY, JUNE 12.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3403, 12 June 1868, Page 2

FRIDAY, JUNE 12.

The meeting held at Mangonui a few days ago to consider the question of local selfgovernment is only one evidence the more of the critical position of our institutions. The agitation may be an intelligent or an unintelligent one ; the people may know a good deal of the present evils, or they may know very little about them ; but at least the agitation is a real thing, and will have very real effects. So far as this agitation which results in public meetings, and public expressions of opinion, goes, we are heartily glad to see it. !For years past our chief weakness has been our carelessness of public matters ; we are convinced that, amid some drawbacks, we shall find our future strength and safety 1 in the eager interest which we take in politics. That we .shall, act hastily, and, it may be, make serious blunders, is probable, but that on the whole,- we shall do better than we hare done ift'^we tlunk, certain.

But wliile viewing with great satisfaction the agitation of which the meeting at Mangonui is but one more instance, we cannot conceal from ourselves that there are several dangers connected with it into which we may easily fall. "We may readily imagine we knowmore than we do of the present position of our institutions,— of their strong and their weak points, their sins and their virtues. On the other hand it is easy to fancy that the evils we complain of can readily be done away with. "We may imagine that a petition to the Assembly, backed by a request to our representative to lend it his aid, will da all we want. Lastly, it is easy to fancy that we know what change we want, when this is very far from being true. The meeting at Mangonui, fully reported in" our issue of yesterday, supplies an illustration of nearly every one of these weak points. The long speech of the member for Mangonui was evidently the event of the meeting. The remarks made by others were (if we except those made by Captain Butler) only in support of the main conclusions arrived at by him. The petition adopted was but a corollary upon th c speech made. But in the speech itself we find evidence of a want of clearness. The vast expenditure upon salaries, which unquestionably injures the prosperity of the country, is referred to in such a wajr as to leave the impression that the Provincial Governments were in some way responsible for this evil. The slowness with which settlement progresses at Mangonui is set down to the obstacles thrown in the way of settlers with a view to keeping them in town. The want of money in the Provincial Treasury is adduced as a strong argument in favour of the economy of local self-government. In all these respects the member for Mangonui is at fault. In not one of his statements is a principle involved,, and aprovincialist — say an ardent Provincial Secretary, for instance — could easily find an answer to each count in his indictment. He might say the province does not waste money on salaries now. It keeps very few officers, and pays them very moderately. It indulges in no Civil Service Act, and is now a model of economy compared with the Colonial Government* The facts would bear the Provincial Secretary out in his defence so far. Again, he might say the Provincial Government has sent many immigrants to Mangonui, and has spent a good deal of money in the hope of increasing the population. If the charms of the district could not secure them when they are once settled, then it is not the province but the district that is to blame. If the "want of money in the provincial chest is urged as a reason for separation, the answer is simply, there would be vastly less even in proportion in that of Mangonui after it had set up on its own account. The want of some sound reason for desiring a change in the scheme of our government is manifestly a serious want. "We are not sure that the existence of exaggerated notions about the rapidity with which a beneficial change can be effected are not more serious stilL The member for Mangonui must now go to the Assembly pledged to support a change in our institutions, but he will go without any clear idea of the kind of change he is to support. He expresses his contempt for compound government, but he gives no sign of having thought out a system which shall be free from this vice, The truth is that the people of Mangonui, like too many other people, do not know ■what they want. It is easy to complain of want of roads and lack of population j it is easy to speak strongly about the comparative prosperity of Auckland and of Mangonui; but it is not so easy to suggest a remedy for such things. No one disputes the existence of the evils alleged. No one can say that Mangonui is nearly so prosperous a place as Auckland or nearly so populous as Onehunga, and we have no doubt everyone would be glad to see it become as prosperous as the one or more populous than the other. But when we come to close quarters with the question — how this is to be done — we areas much at sea as the member for Mangonui himself. The first step to anything like a definite result must be to find out the present position of things ; and, as Mr. Ball neglected to do this, wemust try to supply a fewfacts which might have been useful to the Mangonui meeting. The Customs revenue of Mango* nui ranges about £900 a year. The port dues are almost nominal ; the land sales (and consequently land revenue) are quite so. The two or 1 three publichouses in the district yield a mere trifle of money to the Treasury. Of the Customs revenue one-half goes to the Colonial Government as a matter of course. The services of a postmaster and Customhouse officer; of a Eesident Magistrate, clerk, and interpreter; together with various postal services by land and sea, are deducted by the Colonial Treasurer, amounting in all, according to this year's estimates, to nearly £800. The balance is held by the Government at Wellington towards paying the interest on Auckland's half-million loan, and that balance will amount to a sum of £350 less than nothing. Hence it would seem that at present the rest of the province of Auckland pays £350 a year on account of Mangonui, to secure that district a Postoffice and a Eesident Magistrate. It is true that the Provincial Council has not voted much for local expenditure at Mangonui, but unless in very prosperous times perhaps this could scarcely be expected. In saying this, we do not oppose new institutions, neither do we wish to bolster up old ones. Our wish is the simpler one of understanding where we are and what we want. Any new institutions founded, on wrong ideas of things must disappoint, and will probably faiL Any attempt to cast aside- Provincial Councils and Superintendents on the plea _ that they are guilty of offences of which they are not guilty, must in some; shape recoil* upon those who are thus guilty of political insincerity. ' We, too, in common with the people of Mangonui, wish to see an improved state of things We would fain see a simpler form of government than that which we now have, ''- and a more economical treatment of our public revenue than we have yet experienced. But r we do not wish "to see things done hastily ~ now, to be repented of. bitterly , hereafter. We do riot wish to see districts petitioning for separation which have no revenue of their own to support any Government, or" to do any public work. We do not wish to see petitions sent to the* Assembly which, pointing out no grievance clearly, and suggesting no definite course for the future, are nothing better than weapons in the hands of designing politicians whenever they may choose to' use them. It is not the sms pj pjrovincialism>d_much as its Borrows that form a cogent argument now in favour of a J change. , It is not the unjust . Hying, but; the approach-

ing natural death, of the Provincial Government that forms the reasonable basis for new arrangements, so far at least as places like Mangonui are concerned. But the change that should spring from this is a yery different thing from the one naturally springing from bitter complaints of injustice and bad government. If bad government and money wasted in Auckland is the grievance, a Cfounty Act like that of Weafcland might remedy this ; but if general depression and the absence of progress is the evil, affecting equally the province at large and its out-districts, then the oure must go deeper. Then no mere change of name will suffice, — no permission to expend revenue, which does not exist, upon our own roads. In short, we must start with a just idea of our disease before we can hope to treat it with success. In this, we fear, the people of Mangonui, equally with those of the Bay of Islands and the Thames, have failed as yet.

A public meeting of the eleotors of East Ward No. 2 and Wait Wudi Not. 2 and 3 was held at the City Board offioei yesterday, for the purpose of electing members to serve on the City Board of Commissioners for the arid wards. The affair seems to have exoited no interest whatever, for there were only fifteen persons present altogether. Notwithstanding this unmistakable indication of apathy on the part of the eleotors, the proceedings were not wholly devoid of novelty or entertainment, or unsaggestive of ourious, if not pleasant, reflections. Mr. George Staines, with the same singular good fortune as that which characterised his return to the Provincial Council, was declared duly eleoted, ■ without opposition, for West Ward No. 2. It is not often that "patient merit" is richly rewarded, and, having iv one brief week become a provincial legislator and a City Commissioner, it may be reasonable and fairly assumed that he hat, for the present at least, reached the gaol of his ambition. Mr. John Graham, of Newton, is the ohoice of the electors of Wrst Ward No. 3. East Ward No. 1 stood in imminent danger of going without a representative for some time, for no eligible eleotor could be found to second the nomina tion [of Mr. James Harris, and the proposer was under the necessity of twice going in quest of a stray elector who could be induced to back him. Captain Freer at last came to the rescue, and Mr. James- Barns was deolared to be duly eleoted. The announcement in each case was received with indifference by the meeting, and, except the proposers and seconders and the candidates themselves, no one appeared to take the slightest interest in the proceedings. We learn that Mr. Davy has resigned his seat in the Provincial Counoil as member for Marsden, and that a writ has been issued by the Returning Officer Colonel Balneavis— returnable in thirty days, for the election of a new member. We think that, in fairness to the electors whom Mr. Davy represented, he ought to have resigned at least a month ago in order to have given time for a new member to have been returned to represent them in the approaching session of the Counoil. This, now, i« impossible, for before a new member is eleoted the Council will, in all probability, be prorogued again till after the nexb session of the General Assembly. The same also may be said with regard to Mr. JRowe— if that gentleman intends to resign his seat in the Council, — and rumour is pretty strong on the subjeot, two candidates already having appeared in the field. We think it is quite time that some steps were taken by him to inform the inhabitants of Newton one way or the other. It is certainly not right to wait until the very day of the session before announcing his resignation. In any case Newton cannot be represented at the next sitting of the Council, neither oan Marsden,— and the blame must lie somewhere. Our Onehunga correspondent makes the following remarks concerning steam communication between the Maßukau and Melbourne :■—" How soon will the mist that now obscures the sight of the Auckland merchants disappear with respect to the great advantages the Manukau possesses to what the Waitemata does as regards direct steam communication with Melbourne I The following are the inducements offered : Time saved, two days or more. Saving of time is .the greatest boon to commerce, the others being the vast saving of fuel, and consequently all minor. items in connection with the agreeable but v6ry expensive luxury of a steamer. Setting aside the Melbourne prices, the above advantages are of such a nature that the sooner the merchants dismiss from the,ir minds those jealous feelings well known tq exist, the better for themselves and the province at large. Nature has endowed our harbour with qualifications of no mean value, and the time must come sooner or later for direct steam communication 'to exist between the Manukau and our silver colony." • A preliminary meeting of Churchmen,convened by circular, was -he}d yesterday at Mr* A. Buckland's rooms, Haymarket, § * to consider what step should be taken to' maintain the fundamental principles of the Church constitution (according to the original voluntary compact of 1852), according to the doctrine and polity and legal position of our maternal Church, in opposition to the material changes and departures from it which have been made for some time past by the Synods, and resolved upon by the Bishops on their sole authority in their petition to her most gracious Majesty in 1865." Owing to the ■hqrt notice which had been given of the meeting, or the indifference with which it was regarded —we do not presume to say which— there were only two or three persons present besides the convener at the hour appointed, and, after nearly half-an-honr's delay, there were only six persons present altogether. Mr. Kempthorne laid before the meeting a paper whioh he had prepared, embodying certain suggestions respecting the steps proposed to be adopted ; and with a good deal of apparent reluctance on the part of foe meeting, permission was obtained to read the document. It was voluminous and comprehensive in character,- and the meeting appeared to be unanimously of opinion that no action could be taken upon it until it had been maturely considered. After some discussion, however, it was agreed that the meeting should adjourn until the 25th instant, at 11 o'clock, »nd that in the meantime members should be f ornivhed with copies of the paper. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday the only defended case brought before Mr. Beckh&m. Wat that of Thayer v. Jeffreys, to recover the sum ol £1 2s. 18s. was paid into Court, but plaintifi refused to accept it. Judgment was given for plaintiff for fourpence more than was paid into Court. The case of Quick and Co. v. Giblett Brothers ww adjourned until next Thursday. The Otahuhu division of the Royal Cavalry Volun teers will muster for parade at two o'clock this day a.t Otahuhu. All members are requested to be ii attendance. Several paroels of land on the Ararimu block, parisl ofOpaheke,wereofferedlorsalebyauctionattheWast( Lands Office yesterday, but;the followinglots wer« the only ones disposed of :— Parts of lots 91 and 92 oontaining 500 acres, at IO«. ,peracre; Mr. P. Aitken part of lot 90, containing 5£ acres, at 10s. per acre Mr. M. Shaughnessy.- 7 At the Police Court yesterday, three drunkardi were punished in the., usual manner. Bridge Hawkey was 'committed lib' the Lunatic Asylum, oi medical testimony, as being of unsound mindj_Johi Pepper pleaded guilty to stealing a Crimean sbir from off a fence in Hpbsonrstreet, and was sentence! to two months' imprisonment. We are requested to state that in the oase of Johi Wells and Catherine Douglass, sentenced,to imprison menfc for larceny at the Police Court, on Tuesda; last, the witoe« called by the male prisoner for th defence was not' apprehended by the police, and thu prevented from giving evidence. Prisoner had bee referring to the witness, when Mr. Naughton mad a statement which he intended to refer to th prisoner himself, but which the reporters misundei stood -and made to appear'as though relating to th witness. Yesterday morning the police received inf ormatio that a silver watch had" been stolen during the nigt from the cabin of the cutter 'Frances,' which wi lying alongside the I Custom-house Wharf. Tl matter was at once placed in the hands of deteotrv Murphy, who very cleverly followed up the informi tion received, and, during the afternoon, succeede in capturing a teaman named John Rodger* alii Dering, who was at onoe taken to the lock-up an lodged in durance vile. It appears that the prisont had formerly been employed by the captain of tl * Frances;' and Murphy, with Mi naval foresigh bafore apprehending Rodgers, succeeded in trade the stolen properjjv ,to a loan office, where it hi Been left Vy ainan answering to UodgertfscUscriptioi The' prisoner will ,bf brought up bafore his Worth •Mr. Bflokhwri this morning.

r Ye»ter«lay afternoon Walter Greene wu arrested by Serge Ant-uißJor Molloy for breaking » window »t Knight's eating-house, in Queen-street. This is tb^ same fellow who, a short time lince, received two month*' incarceration for smashing four panes of glass in one of the window* of the new Supreme Court-house. Hia punishment would appear to havo had nd deterrent effect upon him ; in fact, from the display of his abilities in this direction yesterday, one would imagine that he rather liked being lodged and fed at the expense of the province. The cosy quarters at Mount Eden, with ample v ratious and warm olothing, proved too seductive. The remains of the late Mr. J. Wilson were yesterday afternoon consigned to their last earthly resting-place* The deceased died atShortlaud (where he had been carrying on business as a storekeeper) after a brief illness of two days, and was yesterday morning brought up to town in the steamer 'Tauranga.' Having been a member of the Auckland Naval Volunteers, by which body he was much esteemed and respected, it was determined to give deceased a military funeral, and yesterday afternoon the members of the Corps, under the command oE Captain Guilding, assembled at the drill-shed, Princes street. The coffin of deceased was placed uponairan carriage, oovered with the union-jack, and, headed by the bands of the Naval and Rifle Corps, the melancholy cortege moved up Queen-ttreet, Karangv hape Road, and on to the Cemetery, the band playing the " Dead March" in Saul, and the gun-carriage on which rested deceased being drawn by hia late oomrades. Arrived at the Cemetery, the coffin was borne bj the Volunteers to the grave. The funeral serrioe having been most impressively read, the , usual salute was fired over the grave, and the Volunteers returned to town. Had it not been for the extremely unpropitious state of the weather, there would have bten. a very large muster of Volunteers. A little boy named William. Wiltshire was on i Wednesday missed by his parents, who had just come up from the Waiwera. Information was given to the polioe in the evening, and yesterday morning the child was found by conetable Lloyd on the Onehunga Road, close to the to wn,. whither he had wandered during Wednesday. The poor little fellow —only five year* old— was lying down, thoroughly ■ worn out, having had nothing to eat since the ; preceding morning. Lloyd at once gave him a ' hearty meal, and in the course of the day he was brought on to Auckland,, and returned to his parents,, who had, as may naturally be supposed, been in a ■tate of great anxiety through the disappearance of the child. Edward Mooney was, last evening, apprehended on warrant by detective Murphy for using abusive and threatening language towards his wife, who stated that she was afraid to go about the streets while he was at large. The Paris correspondent of the London Star wiites under date of January Bth: "The evening before last, on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, a new system of lighting street was tried with the most signal success. The experiments were made under the direction of theinventors, MM. Tessier dv Mothay and Marechal. The light produced is of the purest white, like that | of moon-beams, and which allows one to read a newspaper at 25 paces from the projector, and admits of the same delicate shades being distinguished. The discovery was made by a chemist preparateur, who had no idea whatever of inventing anything new as to the lighting of cities. He was merely experimenting with the hope of discovering some means of taking photograph* at night. He, however, hit upon a new and magnifioent light, which will evidently replace gas with great advantage, not only in an economical point of view, but likewise in the quality and quantity of light obtained. So intense is the 1 glare produced that it will probably be difficult to modify it sufficiently for use in theatres or in private 1 dwellings, the more so as one of the proprietors confided to me that rouge, poudre de riz, sepia tints laid on eyebrows, and every species of facial adornments are made painfully visible. The combustion of ordinary gas by oxygen is the principal secret of the process. A small cylinder of magnesium interposed in the centre of a jet in combustion becomes luminous, and produces a quantity of light measured at sixty times that which would be produced by ordinary gas. A oube metre of this new species of gas costs but 72 centimes— 7id. Thus three cube metres of ordinary lighting gas and four cube metres of oxygen, the price of which amounts to Bf. 90c. affords, according to the experiments just made, the same amount of light as would be produced by 100 cubic metres of ordinary gas, the price of which would be 44 francs, thus realising for the same amount of light an ecoromy of 35 francs 10 centimes. On the Place de I'Hotel de Ville the result of the experiments was cheered by the crowd."