WELLINGTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 411, 1 September 1868, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(FR.OM OUR SPEOIAI, OOBRHSFONDENT.) August 21, The motion for the abolition of. the. postage on newspapers has been lost by a considerable majority. The reasons of those who voted against it were, tha,t the Colony could not afford to. lose the 5000 a year which the postage brought in, and that the postage was not felt as a, tax Mr Yogel endeavored to convince the House that by restricting the free circulation of newspapers between this Colony and other countries., we were actually limiting the operations of the most powerful colonising agent we had ; and showed by sta.tistic.3 that the circulation of newspapers since the tax had been inflicted had very seriously fallen off. Ma.ny speakers refused to regard newspapers iv any other light than a mere commodity, and would not admit their claims to any special privileges. And so the motion was lost, An attempt will be made to have the postage remitted on exchanges, but I am not over sanguine as to the result. — The Libel Bill passed its second reading yesterday. It is simply a declaratory Act, copied from ' one recently passed in America, to the effect that all reports, fair and impartial and without malice, of the proceedings of any public body are privileged. Messrs Yogel and Harrison have charge of the Bill, and they referred to recent decisions of the judge at home, to show that the utmost liberty was now extended to the Press, "so long as its functions are administered in a fair and impartial spirit. The Charge of the Chief Justice Cockburn, in the late cause celebri, " Risk Allah v. the Daily Telegraph," contains opinions as to the privileges of the Press which would have startled the public twenty years ago, but in this age more liberal ideas prevail. During the debate Mr Reid, member for Taieri, opposed the Bill, because he thought that if a newspaper could fully report all that took place at petty Road Board meetings and such like, the privilege would offer a temptation to the indulgence of personal attacks and charges by the members of such bodies. Mr Harrison assured the lion, member that it would rather operate as a check. upon the exuberant feelings of speakers, if they knew that all the nonsense they uttered would be published. The second reading of the Bill was carried on a divison by 26 to 21 ; but I think, an attempt will be made to throw it out in Committee. —A Select Committee, on which your Boroughs' member has 'been placed, has been appointed to inquire into the accounts between the General Government and the Provinces. There seems to be a "reat deal of confusion on this subject, some of the Provinces having received more than they were entitled to, and others much less. . For instance, Mr Curtis, the Superintendent of Nelson, told the House that he had , been placed in a very awkwark position, in consequence of the Government having made an overpayment to Nelson of some £14,000 for the March quarter. Acting on the assumption that the Provincial Chest had only received its due, and that the Provincial share of the Consolidated Revenue would keep up at something like that rate for the ensuing twelve months — the estimates had been framed accordingly. Now, however, they found themselves in the unpleasant predicament of having to refund the .£l4,ooo— and, of course, the future revenue will be on a reduced seale — making a difference in the calculations of the Provincial Government of nearly Wellington is. in still worse I plight. For some time her treasury has been empty, and the Provincial Government have kept putting off the creditors by promising to pay them as soon as an alleged debt due . to the Province by the General Government of £LO, OOO is paid. It. now turns out that the General Government does not owe . the money, and the Province has virtually become bankrupt. — The works in connection' with the great

Wanganui bridge have been stopped ; there is no prospect of the patent slip being gone on with, there are no public works in progress, and the servants of the public can't get paid. Verily this is a strong proof pf,the decadence of provincial institutions. An extensive exodus towards the Auckland Gold Fields is going on. Every steamer passing through here northward is crammed with passengers of all classes. I have noticed several merchants from Punedin, who are contemplating starting business on the Thames. The news both in the papers and by private hand is very exciting, and yet I fear if the diggings will employ a large population. With the exception of some few lucky persons, such as Hunt, the capitalists appear to do the best in share dealing. Some almost incredible instances are related of freaks of fortune in this way. I was told only yesterday, on most undoubted authority, of a case in which a young man, a clerk in one of the Auckland banks, bought a share in a claim for .£IOO, a few months back, and sold it the other day for ,£14,000. From the latest advices, it appears that the discoveries are extending inland ; and what is more important still, a range similar in formation to those at the Coromandel and Thames, known as the Waitakerei Ranges, which extend from the north head of the Manukau Harbor up to the Kaipara, is reported to present auriferous indications, some quartz exactly like that of the Thames having been brought down and tested with a good result. The Auckland people are in high glee, and predict wonderful tilings as soon as the spring Sits in.. Dr Hector's opinion is that the auriferous rocks which are found at the Thames extend right across the island, passing through the Taupo district. This js very probable, and I am assured by one versed in such matters, that it is the ; knowledge of the existence of gold that prevents the natives allowing Europeans to travel through some of the districts which are now closed. Quite recently a party of prospectors have been 76 miles up in the interior from Turakina, and although they were not successful in finding gold up the river, they express their cionviction that the country about Lake Taupo is gold-bearing. -^-Nothing has been heard lately of Mr Groves, who for some considerable time has been prospecting on behalf of the Wellington Government, and I think the Wellington folks have almost abandoned the idea of a gold field anywhere near the "Empire City." August 22. In the House of Representatives yesterday there was a smart debate upon the second reading of the Disqualification Bill —or, as it is facetiously called, "the Abolition of Yogel Bill"— a measure which has been introduced by the Government to prevent all paid Provincial officers, excepting Superintendents, from holding a seat in either House of Legislature. The principle of the Bill is that no one deriving any emolument, directly or indirectly, from the revenues of the Colony, should. I have a voice in the taxation of the Colony. Mr Stafford, in moving the second reading, told the House that, so far as its fundamental principles were concerned, the Government were determined to have "the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill," and pointed out the various disqualification measures which had from time, to time been passed by the Imperial Parliament, and by the legislatures of the several important colonies. As may be imagined, the Bill was not at all relished by the Provincial Party, and particularly those members who hold Provincial office ; for instance, the Bill affects Messrs Yogel, Heaphy, Reynolds, Haughton. Brandon, Burns, and one or two others whose names I cannot at the moment recollect. And even those members who approved of the principles of the Bill, thought that it ought to have been delayed until after the financial statement ; because, if the Government propose to terminate the partnership of the Provinces with the General Government in the Consolidated Revenue, there is no necessity for the measure, as Provincial officers will then derive their salaries from an independent source. This was the prevailing opinion of the House. Mr Yogel, in the course of his remarks on the subject, stated that he did not feel greatly concerned about it, aa in all probability it would be his last session in Parliament, After a long debate, which was enlivened by the passage of personalities between various hon. members, the second, reading was agreed to, and the Bill ordered to be committed in ten days. Mr Stafford snubbed Mr Yogel very forcibly yesterday afternoon.' Mr Yogel had a question on the order-paper asking the Colonial Secretary if it was the intention of the Government to dissolve the House at the termination of the present session. Stafford, in that quiet, but most contemptuous air, which he can assume so well,' blankly refused to answer the question, the manifest impropriety of which he (the Premier) was sure the House would recognise. Yogel was completely shut-up. — A Bill has been introduced to prevent and punish the adulteration of flour and bread, and, the punishment of those who give short, weight. It originated in the . " Lords," andj as might have been expected-, is full of absurdities, caused ; by ! the ungrauiatical construction of the - claused . For instance, "one' clause, which is for the purpose of compelling bakers, or their servants, to carry a s scale and weights with their bread, reads, "Every such per-, son, &c., shall constantly cany sufficient scales, &c." Attention was drawn to some of these ridiculous mistakes, and the House ; was convulsed with laughter! — The committal' of the Newspaper Libel Bill was postponed last night, for three days, and from the expressions made use of by some of the members, there will be a hard fight to carry it. As the session proceeds — if its present snail-pace can be called proceeding — the chances of a change of Ministry are becoming less. The Opposition are constantly affording examples of its want of organization, and only yesterday Mr Fox, the leader of the party had to apologise to some of his own supporters for having taken certain steps without their concurrence, which his position ought to enable him to take, but which had given offence. On the other hand, the Ministerial— or, rather, as it is called, the "Colonial" Party— is being strengthened, not only by accessions to its ranks, but by the adoption' of a policy suitable to all.— Mr Haughton has given notice to move a resolution abolishing the export duty on gold in the Province of Otago. He had in the first instance made his resolution to apply to the, whole Colony ; but I understand that the Westland and Auckland members opposed that, because, until they saw what policy was to be adopted with regard to

the division of the Customs duties, they could not support a measure which might leave their gold fields without revenue at all. During the debate on the Disqualification Bill, Mr Dillon Bell took occasion to deplore the falling off in the status of the House, and Bpoke regretfully of th« "good old times" when such, men- as ••- - Fitzgerald, Domett, Whittaker, Weld, and. Richmond were ornaments of the Legislature. Mr Haughton gave him a very good retort for this insulting speech ; he said — "I can' tell the hon.. member and those allied with him, that there men in this House — the ' new men' that the hon. member ao depreciates— who will form the future destinies of this Colony. The hon. member may regret the 'good old days,' when he and his friends did much . as they liked, but I tell the hon. member that the Colony will be no longer governed by a Brummagem Aristocracy." And Mr Haughton is quite right; the days' of fancy politics are over, and there is a party of young members forming that will in time be the most powerful combination in the House. The Ministry are not slow to recognise this fact, and by cultivating the alliance of, what I may term, the Young New Zealand party; they may perhaps suffer a little in debating power and brilliancy of oratory, but they gain a strong support which all the witcheries of the Opposition cannot alienate. The . Opposition leaders affect to despise this new element, but I know that it is a source of tribulation to them, and they would fain see its influence thrown into „, their scale. The Lady Bird returned this afternoon from visiting the scene of the wreck of theTaranaki, bringing with her Capt. Francis and the crew. When the Lady Bird left tfie unfortunate steamer was lying in fourteen fathoms, bolt upright. A diver went down and examined her ; up to that time the hatches had not burst open, and some hopes are entertained about raising her. Whether the Company is in a position to incur the risk of spending a thousand pounds or two in the attempt or not is a doubtful question. The Taranaki stood in the books of the Company at £18,000, not a penny of which was insured. There were 110 passengera on board, several of whom had arrived by the Panama Mail steamer and were en"" toute to Auckland. Their loss would be; very serious, as no luggage was saved' except such as happened to be on deck or in the cabin. One very distressing case occurred : a family, consisting of a retired officer, his wife, and three children, just out from home, not only lost the greater portion of their luggage, but a large sum L of money in gold which was in the hold. Captain Francis speaks in the highest terms of the behaviour of all the passengers, with the exception of some diggers in the steerage, who, when tie vessel first struck and Capt. Francis was getting the boats ready for the women and children, flung their swags into the boat, and would have taken possession of it had they not been prevented. Amongst those who worked the hardest in getting the mails ashore and saving what could be saved, were the Bishop of Lichfield, his son, and Lord Burleigh, all of whom were working up to their waists in water for some time. ; . August 24.. Last evening, despatches were received , from Colonel McDonnell, announcing the destruction of the rebel pah at Ngutu-p---te-manu and the defeat of the enemy. After having burnt the native villages on the outskirts of the hush, Colonel M'Donnell, with 270 men, struck boldly into the forests, and after a tedious and trying march of twelve miles came up to the pah, which was strongly fortified, and defended by a large body of natives. Aa soon as our men were observed by the Maori scouts, a desultory fire was opened" upon the attacking party, but the Colonel had ordered his men v to withhold their fire until within pistol shoVof the enemy. When the time arrived, our men poured in a deadly volley, and at once charged the parapet of the pah. With so much impetuosity was this assault made that the Maoris gave, way at once, and. after some sharp hand to hand fighting inside they were compelled to effect a retreat with severe loss. The pah was then destroyed by fire. Our loss has been rather; - severe— four killed and eight wounded. The attaoking party was composed almost entirely of the raw recruits recently raisedj and they, are said to have fought . splendidly. The Native Contingent had not arrived at the front iii time, so that our men have all the credit to themselves. No doubt this success will be promptly and effectively followed up, and the district entirely cleared of the savages that ■ infest it. Captain Hunter, the officer against whom some serious charges were brought 'respecting his conduct at the: time of the Native attack on the redoubt at Turutuni Mokai, has' been acquitted by the Court of Inquiry appointed to investigate the matter. , j j To-day is a dies non with the Assembly, .; nothing but .work in Select Comtnittee.^ being done. To-morrow the Libel' Sill comes on again, as also Mr Vogel's motion to make Westland a Province — a motion which he has had two or three time* before on the order paper, but allowed it Jo lapse. ' On Wednesday, Mr Harrison's." adjourned motion for a Committee for the - re-adjustment of the charges for the Canterbury debt comes on, and on Thursday the Westland Representation Amendment Bill will be read a second time. The financial statement, is expected to be made at the end of the week. On Friday, Mr : Haughton will , move an important t re- 1 , , solution, viz. :— "That it is desirable that£ the Electoral Franchise should be extended to all subjects of her Majesty in the Colony, who shall be of full age, and able to fill up their own applications to betplaced upott the Electoral Roll." T - don't suppose he will succeed in passing it, but he will have a good many supporters, and a beginning will be made in the direction of manhood suffrage. j ■ ■ „ -• . ; August 25. In a former part of this letter, I referred to. the possibility of members f or - country districts agreeing on some general., policy: The resolutions that, have been arrived at are substantially as 'follows :— The General Government to take all the Customs duties, and in Teturn maintain police, gaols, and justice, and pay off the debts of the Provinces. The Provinces will then have to depend upon local taxation and their land fund. Iniher case of Provinces less encumbered than' .others, they are to receive debentures tp» equalise them. Outlying districts are' to have a portion of the land revenue allotted to them. Such I understand are the proposals submitted to the Government^ andl

which I belieTe the Ministry are prepared to favor. August 26. In the House yesterday, a petition from Wanganui, containing 700 . signatures, was presented by the Hon. John Hall, praying that the Wangauui district may be separated from the Province of Wellington and created a county. This petition gives a most complete contradiction to the assertion recently made in the House by Mr Fox, to the effect that the county scheme was only supported by persons with little or no property at stake. More than 300 of the persons signing this petition are landed proprietors, and more than four-tifths of tho registered electors have signed it. A Bill introduced by Mr Curtis, for enabling the reserves on the South-west Gold Fields of the Province of Nelson to be declared Crown Lands for the purposes of sale or mining, was passed through Committee and finally passed. Notice had been given by three Gold Fields members — Messrs Bradshaw, Mervyn, and C. O'Neill, of some highly important amendments of the Gold Fields Act which they had intended to get carried under cover of Mr Curtis' Bill. Mr Bradshaw wanted to make a miner's right available for the whole Colouy ; Mr O'Neill proposed to reduce the price of a miner's right to 10s, and Mr Mervyn's proposal was to extend the size of blocks for -agricultural occupation from 50 to 100 acres. All three were however withdrawn, partly because of some informality, and partly because there was not the slightest chance of carrying the two first ones. Motions of this sort are frequently tabled by hon. members as a sort of soupcon to their constituents, knowing at the same time that no practical result will follow. For instance both. Mr Bradshaw and Mr O'Neill can claim the thanks of their constituents for having even tried to obtain especial favors for them. The weather here is intensely wintry ; yesterday snow fell in Wellington streets a thing that has not occurred for 12 years. .The hills behind the town are white, and the wind is colder even than that which comes down the Grey Gorge on a winter's morning. The town is very dull, business people of all kinds are complaining bitterly of the badness of trade ; and as for amusements there are none to be had. The N.Z.S.N. Co. have decided to raise j the Taranaki; tenders arc called for in to-day's paper.