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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 935, 26 July 1871, Page 2

What is the meaning of the reference of the question of repairing the Christchurch road to a Committee of the County Council ? We may indeed ask what has the County Council to do with the matter at all. We know that it was officially arranged between the General Government and the Westland representatives last session that the Government was to take over the road as a Colonial work, as some compensation for the loss the County sustained through the alteration in the division of the Consolidated Revenue. We have been under the impression that this arrangement had been carried out, and that the liability of the County for repairs to this road had ceased. If such is not the case the Government has broken faith ; but if the responsibility has been assumed by the Colonial Government, what is the use of referring it to the County Council ? It is simply ridiculous asking that body, which has not a shilling to spend beyond ordinary requirements, to vote three or four thousand pounds for the repair of the road. The Council has not the money, the contractor is only bound to maintain such portions of the road as exist, and the onus must inevitably and most properly fall upon the General Government. What surprises us is that during the discussion of this matter in the Council the other night, not a word was said about the position of the General Government with regard to the Christchurch road, although Messrs Bonar, Barff, and Hoos were fully aware of the pledge given and were parties to it.

Mr Guinness, in some letters addressed to this journal some time ago, advocated the payment for public works by land. We opposed it as being, in a small Colony such as this, uneconomical and dangerous. As an instance in proof of the indiiect costliness of the system, we may refer to the completion of the Southland Railway scheme, which was constructed on this plan. The Government gave the land as equal to LI per acre, and the contractors accepted it, but some idea may be formed of the profit they made, when they can afford, as they are doing, to offer the land taken in payment at the price of 15s per acre, whilst the Government is asking LI for its unsold lands.

The business at the Resident Mrgistrate's Court yesterday morning, consisted of the hearing of a few unimportant debt cases. One of them was peculiar, that of Green v. M'Ardle. This was a claim brought by the toll-collector on the Marsden road, against a person who evaded payment of toll. The amount claimed was paid into Court, but as no notice had been given to the plaintiff, he applied for expenses, and the Magistrate allowed him 15s. Later in the day the defendant refused to pay the costs, and a distress warrant was issued for the recovery of the amount.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Cobden, on Monday, before C. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., J. G. He' slop sued James Molloy, of the Twelve-Mile, for L 32, for beer and porter and casks supplied. The defendant admitted being indebted in the amount of L 5 12s, and as to the balance pleaded that the beer and porter were bad, and not fit for use. Aiter a large number of witnesses had been examined, the Magistrate gave judgment for Ll9 2s 6d, making a deduction from the original claim on the admission of the plaintiff that he had condemned some of the beer as bad and ordered it to be thrown out. It was also ordered that as the defendant had not made any contra claim for two months after delivery of the goods, that the casks be returned, and that he pay professional costs and witnesses' costs.

An instance which forcibly illustrates the evil of the County .Council having trenched upon the functions of the Road Boards was afforded on Monday. A petition was presented to the County Council by Mr Dungan praying the Council to subsidise, to the extent of Ll4, a foot-bridge over the Cock-a-Bulla Creek. This is entirely a Road Board matter, and ought not to be entertained by the Council.

Travellers up-river are [cautioned that a large portion of the track between the Twelve-Mile and Camptown has been washed away by recent floods. This has also occurred on the track between Camptown and Nelson Creek, where a piece of the road has been washed away alongside of Campbell's paddock, making the track extremely dangerous, as it now ends in a lagoon, through which travellers must flounder, at the risk of life and limb, as best they may. Repairs at both these points are urgently required, and we hear that Mr Mirfin, the Clerk of Works for the district, has |put on some men to cut bits of bush tracks in order to allow travellers to pass, but the roads are in a fearful condition, and a standing disgrace to ar.y Government. We shall refer more fully to this matter in our next.

The Paroa Road Board is not the only body of the same character that has allowed its funds to be misappropriated by its clerk or secretary. The Provincial Auditor of Canterbury, in his annual report to the Provincial Council, draws attention to the deficiencies of the Avon Road Board, and says: — "The serious deficiency which occurred in the accounts of the Avon Road Board seems to call for some amendment in the Ordinance in respect to the position of the clerks to Road Boards, who ought, in every case where they are receivers of rates or the Government grants, to be required to give security. It may be a question for consideration whether this could not be best secured by the Road Boards themselves insuring the fidelity of their officer in some one or other of the insurance offices, and charging the amount^against the rates ; The return snows

that in eight cases only are these receivers under bond. It also shows that in many cases there is no clerk at all, or other really responsible officer. The duty of paying and receiving money rests upon the chairman, or some other member of the Board. I have found this exceedingly inconveuient, and in almost every such case the accounts are complicated, and an entire absence of method as regards vouchers, frequently entailing a considerable amount of tf*eiible at the audit of their accounts. Much of this might be obviated if neighboring Boaids would unite together in the employment of a paid officer to discharge the duties imposed upon him by the Board, and placed under bond." As an instance of how things are occasionally managed in New Zealand, we may mention that the whole of the Otago portion of the Suez mail was landed at Greymouth, forwarded by coach to Hokitika, thence sent overland over a most difficult road (bad enough at any time, but ten times worse at present, in consequence of the depth of snow lying on the Pass), and then shipped on board the very same steamer at Lyttelton from which it had been delivered at Greymouth. Had the coach broken down under its enormous load, over a ton, we believe there would, no doubt, have been a great outcry in consequence of our local mails being delayed, andhad such athinghappened, the contractors would certainly not have been to blame. At a meeting of the Waste Lands Board, held at Hokitika on Monday, twenty sections of suburban land, containing 110 acres, were offered for competition. Prior to the auction commencing a letter was received from the County Chairman, accompanied by a petition from the miners from the Greenstone and Teremakau, requesting that the sale of land along the south side of the road, from the Teremakau to the Greenstone be prohibited. The Chief Commissioner remarked that the petitions intended for the Waste Lands Board, should be directed to that body, and not to the County Chairman, who had nothing whatever to do with directing the Board. It appeared to him if petitions intended for the County Chairman, and sent to the Board, would receive no consideration from the County Chairman, if forwarded to him by the Board ; he therefore hoped that in future attention would be paid to this, as it would save a great deal of trouble. After this the auction sale commenced, when most of the sections were purchased at the upset price. The exceptions were two sections applied for and purchased by Messrs Cheffing and Whitten, each L 4 4s above the upset price, one section applied for and purchased by John Fassinage at 8s above the upset price, one section applied for and purchased by Messrs Howarth and Finlay at L 4 12s above the upset price ; another section applied for by the above, was purchased by Air Learmonth for L 3 Cs above the upset price. The section applied for by Mr Murphy, to the sale. of which the miners' petition related, induced the Board to withdraw the whole block XLIV from sale, so that the section was not sold. The total proceeds of the land sale, exclusive of the deposits, which is 25 per cent., amounted to Llsl 14s. We notice that an attempt is being made by the owners of the Pioneer cutter, recently built at Hokitika, to create a regular fishing trade. The Pioneer is intended to prosecute the deep sea fishing along the Coast, and it is to be hoped the venture will be successful. We learn from the West Coast Times that the damages done to the Christchurch road, on the County of Westland side, will take at least L4OOO to put it in repair, even if done by the present contractor. At the forty-mile post the Teremakau has encroached so much that it will necessitate a piece of road being made on the terrace at least half a mile in length ; at present there is scarcely room for the coach to pass along. On the last trip of the coach they could not cross the Otira as two of the bridges were washed away in the Gorge ; neither could man or beast get across until Friday evening. On the next trip it is expected they will be able to get within two or three miles of where the coach from the other side can come, after that the mails will have to be carried and the passengers walk that distance. It is thought that by next week the road will be sufficiently repaired, that the coaches will be enabled to get within half a mile of each other, and that half-mile road will have to be made. In the meantime the passengers will have to walk, but to accomplish this, it will require a foot-bridge being made to enable them to get across. Some idea may bn formed of the violence of the gale of wind blowing through the Gorge, as it blew one of Cobb's coaches about fifty yards over large boulders, damaging it very much. Another coach was capsized, and the police barracks was blown down. It appears that an attempt has been made to poison the Warder of the Hokitika Hospital, by means of strychnine put in his porridge. The most extraordinary feature of the affair is that no further publicity to this (if true) diabolical attempt at murder is given than is afforded by a report of the proceedings of the Hospital Committee, which appears in the West Coast Times of yesterday. The matter of fact manner in which the affair is referred to is grimly amusing : — " Letters received since last meeting were also read, amongst which was one from Dr Maunsell, respecting the late attempt to poison the warder in the Hospital by putting strychnine into his porridge, and requesting the Committee to provide another warder as soon as possible, as the present one would not stop any longer. It was proposed by Mr Harvey, and seconded by Mr Ingram, that the letter be reported upon next week, and in the meantime the warder be allowed a fortnight's leave of absence." In the Otago Provincial Council a series of resolutions was introduced by Mr Reid, recommending that a sum of LIOO.OOO should be provided out of the money to be raised by the General Assembly for the purpose of draining and improving agricultural land throughout the Colony by advancing the money on loan, the security being the properties on which the money is to be expended. The resolutions, after some dissussion, were passed. In a discussion in the Auckland City Council on the question of licensing hawkers, one Councillor suggested that commercial travellers should be included in the list requiting a license, as they carried about samples, and peddled goods to the injury of Auckland importers, in exactly the same way as peddlers interfered with the business of the shopkeepers. Bird, the pedestrian, recently "sold" the Christchurch people, greatly to their indignation. He announced his intention to ran eleven miles within the hour for a wa<* er of L 25. The event is thus described :—'"stopwatches having been compared with the nicest precision, pencils and paper produced on all sides to check off the laps, and Bird having taken his preliminaries in the most orthodox manner, anl cleared the corners of the course with great care, the race was commenced with a rush that idfew forth many admiring comments. Unfortunately, however, it was but a flash in the pan, for in the round after he had run his first mile, Bird ran off the course, through an adjacent gate, and disappeared from the public view. To describe the feeling of blank astonishmentmomentary stupefaction— which ensued, and then the hurried secretion of watches, pencils, and paper is unnecessary ; but we may state that the spectators, though a little noisy afterwards, took the hoax in wonderfully good part. The majority of them turned homewards shortly after, and with

what feelings may easily be surmised. The mile run by Bird, we may say, was done in 5m 17sec. We are informed that, subsequently Bird came on the course and said that there was not sufficient inducement for him to run the whole distance, though it may be observed that it was announced that L 25 had been promised him if he did the distance within the time specified." The Hon. Alfred Domett, has, we learn, obtained leave of absence, and will visit England shortly. The prospectus of the Auckland Whaling Company, with a capital of L 20,000, has been issued. A young man named John Crosbie, was drowned recently near Auckland, while out on a fishing excursion. His companion E. Pelley, succeeded in swimming ashore. Two members of the Wellington Provincial Executive have resigned, in consequence it is said, of the appointment of Mr Henry Anderson, to a clerkship in the Land Office. A serious accident occurred on the 27th ult. at Maaratapu, a Maori settlement halfway between Raglan and Waikato. After launching a new canoe, four of the natives went out in her to fish, but they had not proceeded far before the craft upset, and all were drowned. Some time ago a Scottish volunteer corps was formed in Wellington, which has, we believe, adopted the kilt as a part of the costume. We observe that • Auckland has followed suit, and also established a corps called the "Auckland Scottish Volunteers." The Otago Provincial Council, after having debated the question, fully decided to reduce the honorarium to members from a pound to 15s per diem, and a Bill to give effect to it was ordered to be introduced, In Committee on this Bill, the Council, on the motion of Mr J. C. Brown, actually replaced the sum previously paid ! Human bones were discovered by some men whilst pig hunting a few days ago, in a fissure of a rock at Wainui, Canterbury. Sergeant Ramsay, with others, started to the spot, and brought in the head, &c. A medical examination has taken place, and the conclusion arrived at that they aie the bones of a man. A slight portion of light hair was also found attached to a piece of skin. It is supposed that they are the remains of Mr Dickens, who was lost some fourteen years ago, although report says another man was lost some six years previously, on his road from Wainui to the fishing station. In the Otago Provincial Council the following works for the supply of water to the gold fields, to be constructed under the provisions of the Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870, part 3, were unanimously recommended with a view to their construction under subsidy, or by guarantee of interest on the money expended : — l. Head-race from Coal Creek to Bannockburn Ranges, Dunstan district. 2. Head-race from the Little Kyeburn to the workings about Naseby, to be used as flushing water, Mount Ida district. 3. Reservoir in the Tuapeka basin, Tuapeka district. 4.§ And such other works as the Government may deem advisable. We learn from the Press, of the 19th instant, that a meeting of the shareholders of the Pounamou Mining Company (Taipo Reef) was held at White's Hotel, Christchurch. The Mining Manager was present, and presented a report of the progress of the workings, also an excellent map showing the company's claim and the different quartz lodes. The Chairman reported the present financial position of the company, and read the minutes of a previous meeting of directors, in which he was instructed to place the books in the hands of a solicitor not later than the 18th instant ; also, that the scrip was to be prepared forthwith. Much discussion ensued respecting the position of the company, and some information was elicited from the manager, resulting in the determination by all present to prosecute the work vigorously as soon as the snow cleared from the hill. About twenty-five additional shares were taken up in the room, with promises of increased support, After a vote of thanks to the Chairman and Mining Manager, the meeting terminated. In the Otago Provincial Council a resolution was moved by Mr Haughton, which clearly indicates the policy that will be pursued by the Roman Catholic members in , the Assembly, upon the Education question. A number of petitions had been presented from the Catholic residents, praying for assistance to their own schools outside the public schools of the Province. A select committee was appointed to consider these petitions, which, after taking evidence upon various points, made a report which contains the following passages : — "ln respect to the principle in the system of public education objected to by the petitioners, it has been made evident to your committee that no mere modification of it would meet the objections. The very frank and candid explanations, especially of the Bishop, go to show that the Catholic inhabitants cannot be satisfied with any system of education which is not under their own exclusive control, and which is not built upon, and subordinate to, religious instruction according to the tenets of their Church. In fine, the prayer of the petitioners is for support to Catholic denominational schools outside of, and altogether apart from, the existing educational system, and this applies not only to district elementary schools, but to grammar and high schools, and schools for the higher education. 1 ' The Committee declined to recommend the prayer of the petitioners, and Mr Haughton . endeavored to obtain a share of the Provincial funds for the Catholic schools but wag unsuccessful. The Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times says: — "The Hon Mr Waterhouse has not joined the Ministry after all. He was asked to undertake a mission to Sydney to try and induce the Government there to join in the San Francisco service ; and to give him weight in his mission, he was to have a seat in the Cabinet. He was willing to accept the duty, and the matter was looked on as settled, but when he came to discuss details he found that it was really intended to send him on a wild-goose chase, on a mission without the slightest prospect of success. He was willing to go if he was given such discretionary power (to modify Mr Vogel's contract) as would enable him to have some chance of coming to terms with the New South Wales Government. But with the fear of what Mr Yogel might say before their eyes, the other Ministers would not give Mr Waterhouse the powers he asked, and so the negotiation fell through — the excuse offered to the public being, that later advices from Mr Yogel rendered it unnecessary to solicit the co-operation of the New South Wales Government. Ido not think that Mr Waterhouse is altogether pleased with the way he has been treated in this matter ; but it is just as well he has not joined them, for he certainly would never have worked cordially in general matters with Fox, Yogel, and Co. He is. a clever sensible man, of considerable practical experience, and very liberal views. What is termed the colonisug policy of the present Government he approves of, but there I think his sympathy with them ends. If his health enabled him to take an active part in politics, he would be a decided acquisition to any prudent, economical, reforming Government; but ill health obliged him to retire from active political life in South Australia, and the same cause, 1 believe, precludes Ms entering on it here."