THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1874

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1766, 2 April 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1874

Ouk telegrams to-day are more than usually interesting. The Imperial Parliament has been opened, and the policy of the new Conservative Government declared in the formal Speech from the Throne. So far it does not appear that Mr Disraeli intends to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor by indulging in profuse promises of startling measures — on the contrary, the only measures indicated as being necessary for the Ministry to- press upon the attention of Parliament are few in number and of a Conservative character. For many years the necessity for simplifying the transfer of land has been felt to be necessary, and probably the measure now promised by the Government will be something akin to the laws on this subject obtaining in this Colony and in Australia. We do not profess to know what the judicial measures that are mentioned are, but we presume they will relate to the more economical and expeditious administration of justice. The proposed Bill to interest, and removing some of the restrictive provisions of the existing Licensing Act that have proved to be only oppressive and utterly worthless for the ends they proposed to secure. The appointment of a Royal Commission to consider the Acts relating to Masters and Servants Will be hailed with satisfaction by the working classes, and probably lead to legislation bearing upon strikes and other industrial disputes. Mr Butt, the leader of the Home Rulers, has made a great fiasco, and by his ill-timed action and precipitancy must of necessity have damaged his cause. To propose an amendment which if carried would have probably involved the resignation of the Government ;vas asking too much even from the most indulgent House, but it is evident also that he had absolutely -no support but that minority of fifty who no doubt were all pledged as Home Rulers at the late elections. From the number of v*ote3 against Mr Butt's motion — three hundred and fonrteen — it is apparent that both Liberals and Conservatives united in expressing the opinion that it was not desirable " that the House should legislate in favor of Irish selfgovernment." It is hard to say if, after this crushing defeat, the Home Rulers will bring forward auy measure upon the shbject, it certainly does not appear that there would be any chance of carrying it at present. Justice aud everybody must by this time have been satisfied with the continued incarceration of those Fenian prisoners who have been guilty of political offences only, and Mr Disraeli inaugurates his new term of office by promising their release shortly. This done, another "grievance " of one section of the Irish community will be removed and a source of irritation swept away. The famine in Bengal is to be met with prompt and extensive means of relief, a loan of no less than ,£10,000,000 being proposed to be raised by the Government of India, £3,000,000 of which is required immediately. It is only by measures of this kind that a calamity, to which former famines in India, disastrous as they have been, cannot be compared, can be averted, and it is satisfactory that the authorities have risen equal to the occasion. The safe return of General Wolseley is indicative that the Ashantee war is over, and it is to be desired that the hope expressed by Her Majesty "that the negotiations >ith the King of Ashantee will lead to a more satisfactory condition of affairs on the West Coast of Africa will be realised." The commercial "ews announces that money is rather dearer, and that the expectation of a fyrther advance in the rate of discount, has caused a curtailment of operations. Wool is easier, and the last sales of this staple do not appear to have passed off with much vigor.

Amidst all the outcry of depression and so on which is heard around us, it is not uninteresting to turn to the statistics of the ( trade of this port, and see what thay have got to say upon the subject. The Collector of Customs has kindly supplied us with a comparative return, showing the amount of Customs duties collected at this port for the quarters ended respectively 31st March, 1874, and 31st March, 1873. It will be Been from the

table published below that the total increase for the March quarter of 1874 amounts to £3221, or at the rate, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, of over 45 percent. No doubt some of this increase is due to the new tariff, but it may be observed that most of the items which are not in any way affected by the new duties, exhibit a considerable increase in consumption. For instance, spirits, which contributed £3224 in the March quarter of 1873, have produced £4096 this quarter. Taking jthe return as a whole it serves as an indication that the trade of the port is steadily improving. The following is the return : —

The news relating to the Palmer diggings, which appears in our telegrams, appears td be a repetition of that brought by the Albion last week. At any rate it. gives no new facts, and the probability is that it is merely confirmatory of the information previously to hand.

To-morrow being Good Friday there will no publication of the Grey Rivbr Argus. A meeting of Justices to Revise the Jury List for the district of Greymouth, will be held at the Court House, on Thursday, the 9th inst. A cricket match will be played on Good Friday, between the Second Eleven of Greymouth and the Marsden Cricket Club. The following gentlemen will represent the teams : - Greymouth : North, Howie, Piranni, Kettle, Perkins, Gittoes, M'Kinney, Gleeson, Jones, Ryling, Coy ; T. Woods, umpire. Marsden: Bell, Bixty, Rigby, Haswell, Dobson, Britson, Bramwall, Poole, Nadin, Outhwaite, Johnson, Mitchell. We believe we are correct in stating that over six hundred new new claims to vote, in the Grey Valley district, have been lodged with the registration officer. The gross value of the gold produced by the Wealth of Nations and Anderson's Quartz Mining Companies, Reefton, from the commencement of operations to the present time is L 21.200. The Free Methodist Chapel, Nelson Creek, was opened on Sunday, 15th March. The Rev. J. Pendry prftached in the afternoon and evening to large and attentive congregations. On Monday, 16th March, a public tea was provided, when the tables were well furnished, and presided over by Mrs Allen, Mrs Olson, Mrs Hunter, Mrs Stephens, Mrs Hausen, and Miss Macdonald. The buildinji was filled with members of all denominations, and after tei were addressed by the Rev. J. Pendry, Messrs Styles, of Rsefton, PrettyJohn, Penrose, and Barnett. Ministers of other denominations invited were not able to off very satisfactory. Vote 3of thanks were proposed and acknowledged. After singing the doxology and pronouncing the benediction, the meeting broke up. We take the following itetf.s from the Inangahua Herald of Tuesday :— The Inangahua Quarrz Crushing and Gold Mining Company have decided to proceed immediately with the construction of the waterrace to supply the motive-power to drive the batteries. — The news from the Alexandra mine, Boatman's, is favorable, indicating a likelihood of their very shortly getting the continuation of the Fiery Cross lode in the tunnel now being driven. — The e contractors driving the Anderson-In-vincible tunnel went in 20ft last week, and at this rate of progress, a very few weeks will bring them to the boundary, when the reef should be Btruck, and a large supply of stone very quickly available. At a meeting of directors of Anderson's Company, held last week, we believe that it was resolved to order five additional head of stampers immediately, which would raise the crushing power to 20 heads. The following notice by the Public Trustee appears in the Gazette /—Public Trust Office, Wellington, 18th March, 1874 —It is hereby notified to all holders of Policies of Life Assurance granted by any Company, carrying on business in New Zealand, that the right of registering their Policies in the Public Trust Office, in pursuance of "The Life Assurance Companies Act, 1873," is limited by the said Act to twelve months from the Ist day of November, 1873, in respect of all Policies entered into or granted before that day, and to a period of six months from the said Ist day of November, 1873, in respect of all Policies granted or entered into on or after that day. J. Woodward, Public Trustee.

March Qr. Marca <Jr. leads of revenue 1874. 1873. |r. £ s. d. £ s. d. Spirits ... 4096 0 1 ... 3224 S 9 Distd. in N.Z. 69 9 1 ... 30 17 6 Cigars and snuff 172 11 7 ... 164 17 6 L'obacco ... 1269 9 11 ... 1021 12 6 Wine .. 545 210 ... 349 15 10 beer, &c, in bottle ... 198 13 9 ... GS 11 3 Do. in w00d... 7 10 0 — Cea ... 567 8 9 ... 490 2 9 Coffee, cocoa, &c 41 7 0 ... 33 8 6 [)o. roasted... 16 5 0 — Sugar, molasses 880 11 9 ... 737 12 4 Joocls by weight 717 11 11 ... 266 4 7 Measurement... — ... 325 9 6 \.d valorem ... 136S 7 9 ... 212 6 3ther goods not speci£'d.above 413 2 I) ... 426 16 1 £10,363 11 5 £7142 9 7