THIS Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1631, 27 October 1873, Page 2

THIS Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1873.

" The ill that meu do lives after them ; the good is of t interred with their bones." This is an .accepted axiom, coming from a great master in the study of the cbmmon characteristics of humanity. What may be applied to men generally may, by a process of reduction, be particularly applied to the Superintendents of Provinces in New Zealand. Most particularly it may be applied to the present Superintendent of the Province of Nelson. Supposing he were to die politically tomorrow, there would be abundance of room in his coffin for all the good that he has provincially and actively promoted. He would rest in death as he has done in life — in peace ; the good which he has done being just sufficient to become decent covering for his bones, and to justify the erection of a modest headstone over his grave. But the ill that he has done— is it not living now in the presence among us of such a man as Mr E. J. O'Conor soliciting to be his successor, and might it not, by the accidents of an election, live for a longer time, and in a more ugly form, than any of us would remain to appreciate ? If there is any one person in the Province of Nelson guilty of the charge of contributing to Mr E. J. O 1 Conor's candidature for the Superintendency it is Mr Oswald Curtis. Sleeping and slumbering as the sluggard—sleeping not even the sleep of the weazel — he has allowed the supervision of Provincial affairs to drift to such an extremity as to invite the appearance on the platform of the most aggravated form of political charlatan. After the manner of the ostrich, he has buried his head in selfcontentment and contemptuousness of public opinion until he has found that the enemy is upon him, and not upon him alone, but upon all the honor., and respect in which the office which he occupies should be held. Mr Curtis is not deserving of much commiseration if he should suffer from what he has invited—the contumely of contesting an election with an opponent who, through overweening conceit and a low conception of popular judgment, "now comes forward with very questionable credentials, and with not a tithe of the ability which Mr Curtis possesses did he but choose to exercise it. If the present Superintendent should pursue the contest, as he promises to do, he will have little pity if he is dragged through the dirt ; and, however tenderly he may pretend edly be. treated at present, he will prove to be an extraordinary exception to the rule if, in a contest with Mr O'Conor, he be not compelled ultimately to g<> through, more mire than ever he did in his political experience. But the questions raised by this contest are not questions which solely and wholly affect candidates. The constituency are also interested, and tlltty-ava-i.n.toroatocl-oopooially in selecting a man who, while discharging the duties of his office, will command respect both within and beyond his Province. Mr Curtis ia quite capable of dis charging those duties, while he also commands the necessary respect, but the ; mere negative qualification of possessing capacity for good is not enough. He must give some practical indication of action, or, at least, some promise which shall imply performance in the matter of reconstructing hia Executive, and of considering the mining interest of paramount importance in his distinctively mineral Province. If he do not both promise and perform under sueh 1 public rebuke and shame as are involved in the pretentious to his seat which have been put forward by the one other candidate in the field, he will have a sorry conception of the sorry pass to which he, and no other, has brought the Province of Nelson. If out of' the evil of the present opposition to him there should arise this good, the embodiment of

that opposition will, at least, deserve a medal of commendation, even if it be conveyed by that incomparable medium — leather. As to his opponent, much might be said, but those who are sensible of the best interests of the Province, and sensitive with regard to their own- position as items of a community, can surely appreciate how little competent he is to become the chief, it may be the only, administrator of their affairs — affairs concerning mining interests of every description, the disposal of the landed estate, the promotion of public works, and, last, not least, the character of the community as a whole. Unquestionable as it may be that Mr Curtis has made the situation, and that his accepted calamitous career as Superintendent has culminated in the invitation of a greater calamity, it is to be hoped that the. community will avert calamitous consequences, by, out of two evils, choosing the least, or by searching for some one whose election will involve the smallest proportion of evil and the largest promise of good. It is by no means a necessity of the situation that Messrs O. Curtis and O'Conor should be the only candidates for election to the most honorable public position iv the gift of two arid twenty thousand souls.

Mention has been made of Mr Hoos, formerly County. Chairman, as a probable candidate for election as Superintendent of the Province of Westland, as soon as Westland is so gazetted. We are given to understand that it is not a matter of probability, but a certainty, that Mr Hoos will offer himself for election. The Hon. Mr Lahman may also be expected to become a candidate. Mr White having been authoritatively announced as a candidate, there are now three gentlemen between whom the electors will have to choose. How many additions to thai number may be made within ibe next tw< months it ia impossible to say. It is noi likely that the number will be limited to the three gentlemen who are . thus announced. It is a mere presumption, but not more of a presumption than thpast would justify, that the Hon. Mi Bonar will als6 : be nominated with his approval,- and' the present County Chair man, Mr Robinson, must have a modes* sense of his capacity to discharge the duties of the office, or a keen sense of its

responsibilites, if he do not again present iiunself as a fit and proper person to be President of the Council from and after the year 1874.

The adjourned meeting of the Borough Council was held on Saturday afternoon, in the Town Hall. There were present Councillors Moore, Uoid, Kevr, Dupve, and Acheson. Mr Ke r was voted to the chair. The business was the opening of tenders for the. construction and drainage ot Alackay and a number of adjoining streets. Tab work was tendered for in three sections, and also as a whole. For Section No. 1 — Leathwood and party, L 54 0; Moodie and M'^owan. L4ll ; T. Wright, L 349 16s 9d. Section No. 2— Thos. Wright, L 863 9s 6d ; Moodie and M'Gowan, L 725 ISs. Section No. 3 -Moodie and M'Gowan, LSG3 10s ; Thos. Wright, L 503 3s 9d. The tenders for the whole of the work were— Jas. Brimble, L 2084 3s Gd ; Thos. Wright, L 1652 ss. It was stated that the lowest of these tenders was L 352 above the amount set down in the loan for the work. It was agreed to accept none of the tenders at present, and to return all the deposits, except those of T. Wright and Moodie and M'Gowan, who were the lowest tenderers, the former for sections 1 and 3, and the latter for 2. The n«,me of Dt Acheson was added to the Finance Committee, in room of Mr Masters, and the Council adjourned until Friday next.

Mr O'Conor addressed the electors of Totara Flat at Marshall's Hotel, at that place, at 7 o'clock on Friday evening. Mr Alcorn was in the chair. Mr O'Conor spoke for about three-quarters of au hour, and touched on the principal matters affecting the district. At the conclusion of the address Mr Alex. Montgomery moved — '• I hat Mr O'Conor is a lit and proper person to elect to the office of Superintendent " Mr Neil M'Kinlay seconded the resolution, which was carried by a large majority. Mr O'Oonor addressed the electors at Uranville and HaH-O»nce on Saturday,

On Saturday morning a rush took place to some ground up the Arnold -river, about four miles from Maori Gully. It is reported that the gold is coarse, the sinking between 14ft and 20ft, and the prospects to average from 4gr to Adwt. Our reporter has gone to the scene of the rush, and. will forward reliable particulars as soon as possible) The new prospecting shaft in the Independant claim, Inangahua, has been sunk 75ffc without striking the reef. It is the opinion of these employed that the shaft will have to be sunk other 50ft before reaching the supposed underlay. The reef in the Ajax is looking admirable. While cutting the chamber on the low level for a turn-table a splendid block of reef was exposed, fully sft in thickness. From all portions of the district the accounts are highly favorable.

The reef in Andersrtn's shaft continues, according to the "Herald," to show excellent gold, and has a tendency to widen. After each shift the stone aupears to improve. It is stated that crushing operations will be concluded, for the present, on Tuesday next, on which day a general clearing up will take place. The stone put through the batteries on this occasion, excepting that taken from the shaft, was not so good as the general average hitherto taken from the mine. •Strawberries are already in the market. At Cremorne Gardens Mr Chesterman has a large and promising crop, from which several basketsful of fine fruit have already been gathered. The Oddfellows' Lodges hold District Meetings to-day, to attend which a number of delegates from Hckitika, Ross, and Kanieri arrived yesterday by the Titan and Waipara,. , In Hokitika, Constable O'M alley has been gazetted Inspector under the Public Health Act. In addition to the petition from the Ah aura, for the mitigation of sentence in the ease of Peter Mulvey, a similar one is being circulated in Hokitika, and has obtained a large number of signatures. The dray road which has been for some little time in course of construction between the Kanieri and Big Paddock is now open fur traffic.

At the last meeting of the Hokitika Borough • Council there was read a letter from the Town Clerk, resigning his position, having been appointed County Treasurer, expressing his thanks for the courtesy and kindness shown him during his seven years of office, and desiring to hand over all documents at the end of the current month. Cr Hawkins, in moving that the letter be received and the resignation accepted, expressed the regret which he felt at the loss of the Town Clerk's sei vices, and his gratification that Mr Lazar had been appointed to a more lucrative office. He considered that Mr Lazar's ability and zeal in the discharge of his duties merited a-substan-tial recognition, and he would propose that a written testimonial be presented to him, together with a purse of LIOO, in testimony of the estimation of the Council of the valuable services rendered to the Borough by its Town Clerk Cr Cross would second the first part o£ the motion, but was nob prepared to give his adhesion to the vote of money, as he thought that in that respect the town would consider that the Council had overstepped its duty. He, however, fully endorsed what had fallen from Cr Hawkins. After some further discussion, in the course of which several of the Councillors expressed their high estimation of Mr Lazar's services, it was agreed that his resignation be simply accepted, and that the question as to a testimonial be postponed to next Tuesday evening.

As the latest news from the Haast, the " Westland Register" published the following received from its < ikarito correspondent, and dated October 23 :— " A letter received by a miner on Gillespie's on Sunday last from a mate of his at the Haast rush, informs him that the writer, who was prospecting in the Main Creek, had struck upon a foot and a half of wash with a prospect, of 2grs bo th.c dish, and from a dish of the wash lying upon the reef had obtained Gdwfc. The intelligence, however, has caused no extraordinary excitement." The time for receiving tenders for the construction of the Wainiea Water Race has been extended till noon on tke 12th of November. The joint; anniversaries of the Loyal Greymouth and Hand of Friendship Lodges, M.U.1.0.0.F., will be celebrated to-morrow evening, on the occasion of the annual district meeting by a ball and banquet at Oilmer's Hotel. An extraordinary general meeting; of the Westland Steam Tug and Freight Company Limited was held at Hokitika on Friday evening, at the Diggers' Arms Hotel, John Hall, Esq., in the chair. There were 30 shareholders present. The business of the meeting was to alter the qualification of Directors. A resolution was carried unanimously to the effect that the qualification be reduced from fifty to twenty shares. A general discussion then took place as to the prospects of the Company, which being s itisfactory, it was resolved that a general meeting of the Company be called to take nto consideration the advisability of purchasing two or more vessels, and other business connected with the working of the Company. •