HOKITIKA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1357, 4 December 1872, Page 2

HOKITIKA.

[FROM OUR OWN CO-RESPONDENT.] ? December^.., . As may be expected, the impending elections are the chief subjects on the carpet at the present lime, and the first nominations in this district, namely, at the Kanieri, the Arahuraj and at Boss, are held to-day.. > Owing to the coach: leaving before the results are deflnitely known, the telegraph must supply the deficient particulars. At the Kanieri Mr Robinson, who has of late years represented the district, will be unopposed, and the compliment will be well deserved, for he is a most conscientious and intelligent member ; it is only ;a pity that, in days gone by there were not more of the. same kind. His election, in," any case, " would be certain, even if a dummy candidate were put forward. At Ross Mr Tribe will have to try conclusions with Mr : Hamilton Cumming, of the firm ,of Camming and M 'Kay, and a very close contest may be looked for. Mr Tribe certainly succeeded in winning by '{a narrow squeak hi 3 representative spurs in the Assembly, thanks to the Totara electors. Since then he has shone with somewhat doubtful lustre in connection with the Mikouui water-race and. Messrs Brogden. There are those who speak of the work in question as a visionary dis- . solving view that has no chance of t ever acquiring substantiality, even under the auspices of Mr Tribe and the somewhat mythical aid of capitalists to be called from the Brogden depths. The hbpjes thus somewhat rudely dashed to earth have materially affected the estimate, of the, member in question, and his return ia yery doubtful. .Mr Camming has been, for a long time BetfclejJ in Rbss in business as a storekeeper there, and has" ever been prominent in public business matters connected with the district. He will have , many friends on the polling day, and Kw return is probable. Tn the Arahura district a lively contest is looked for, Mr - John White, M.H.R. for the district, on this occasion opposing Mr E. Barff, tb| retiring member. It is said that Mr Byrne, of the Road Board, will be nominated, but, even should auch be the case, jit is more than probable that he will not i go to poll, but that tho formgr golleagues I in County Council and combatants in the ; larger arena will have to fight \ their battles over again. It ia said that ;Mr White threatens crushing revelations ; as to corruption; in connection with roafl : contracts, on the part of late members* but whether his opponent is concerned in ■- the nraiter has not as yet appeared. .There; jis apparently every reason for believing I; that this will be Mr Barfg last appearj; ance for some time in his long worn West* land political habiliments, for Mr White, ; can scarcely be defeated. Should he (Mr White) be successful, it is rumored that he will aspire to the chair, and, indeed," 1 Mr Barff has also, in the unexpected ' event of his success, bright visions' of the; occupation of Government House. In: Hokitika as yet there are only three* known candidates, though raore~are nioiS^ tioned. These.are Messrs -Bonar, Cassius, and Hoos, and there , can be little doubt that the first two gentlemen; unless some ' presently unknown star emerges at the last moment, will form the list. Mr Hoos's friends, though, are hopeful, and. will make every effort to return their man.i Mr Chesney has been asked to offer himself, but as he has just returned victorious as well as vanquished from & hymeneal election,. and only arrived here with his wife, from Melbourne, a day or two sigo, it is not likely that he will offer himself. Mr Button will not come forward, and Mr Keogh will surely have more sense than to enter the lists hopelessly. The nomination takes place; to--morrow, when 1 all doubts as :to the starters will be set at resVamT the contest fairly begin. ' I had almoßt forgotten to give you the Qkarito Kst, and this would have been the more , inexcusable, for though the electors who will ; vote will probably not exceed fifty,; there , are no Jess than three candidates for the half hundred candidates to choose from. Mr.Ralfe, the last pick, is ; one of them. ; He does not call for any special remarkj ; the only thing singular in Connection with him being that 'on the recentlyissued survey map of Okarito a Ijill i§ "-. marked that bears the euphonious appefc : lation of Ralfe's JSTob. Whether there, is anything remarkable about the nob ii* question, deponent cannot say. A, tile Dbriovan is a cohipetitpr for^ the honor, as also an ex-" gentleman" in blue, of the oame of Ross, who doffs the police, unir form to don the political mantle. The Okaritians, by the way, seem fond of the preservers of law. and order r their former - member, Mr Scanlan, having belonged to that useful body. ' . " 4 I '• Whoever wins will not have much pf \ bargain, for the finanoeß of the County )te in a wors* iitfttlßth^ ttmbTw*!!

imagined. Salaries have not been. paid for a couple of months, and the hospital here ia owed LISOO. The worst of it is that unless some very unexpected "sweet little cherub" keeps watch o'er the life of the County, things do not seem to be likely to improve. That very radical •changes and sweeping economy of the extremest kind will be needed to maintain even the skeleton of County Government must be apparent under the circumstances. How the difficulties at present existing are to be got over without appealing to the General Government for aid is not very clear ; and whether in case of such an appeal being made it will be responded to is another question. Under any circumstances, a large army of martyrs must be created by the necessary retrenchment. It is said that including 29 police officers of various grades, there are no less than 150 civil servants in Westland, inclusive of those employed by the General Government, and paid out of County funds. Whether the staff is quite as large as this I do not know, but that estimate is within half a dozen or so at the least. We shall know how things will eventuate, and can only hope that they will mend. One thing is certain, and that is, that there can be no future L6OO a-year Weatland ruler, and that the future councillors will have to appraise their services at a considerably lower figure (LICD per annum each) than the retiring ones. The Borough Council having little to do and nothing to spend, are turning their attention to borrowing with a view to extending wharf accommodation further down the river. Inasmuch as at the present time there is amplo room enough for at least ten times as many vessels as now frequent the port, the necessity for such an extraordinary proposition, even from a municipal body, seems hard to understand. Mr Cassius, with the liberality that has ever characterised him, has offered to lend the cash, if uot the work, but there are ill-natured p-ople who are unkind enough to insinuate that he is not entirely disinterested, as the wharf would then reach to opposite some property at present comparatively valueless. • The Coal Company recently formed here have obtained capital prospects, and will noon be able to supply mineral. If you do not look sharp with the Brunner mine, you will find a dangerous rival in this district. Private enterprise always seems to beat Government undertakings.