Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1886.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1520, 19 February 1886, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1886.

The near approach of a general election, almost, as a matter of course, leads to the formation of cabals against sitting members in th»* interests either of stranded politicians, whose services have been dispensed with l>y constituencies, or of persons ambitious of a seat in Parliament, who conceive that they were born to set the world right. It is no secret that there is anxiety in certain quarters to oust the representative of this district, although lie has been thoroughly faithful in the discharge of his duties, and by the consistency and energy of his conduct has well merited the confidence, that we believe him to possess, of the great majority of his con-j stituents. Mr Fergus has made for himself a good position in the House, being able t£ speak with ettVet on subjects with which he is familiar, and never obtruding his opinions in debate—talking for talking sake, as is the manner of so many shallow-pated menilx*s. . The debate of last session we take to have been that which took place on the motion of Captain Russell to reduce the Public Works Estimates by £. r )00,000, and it was a very j general opinion that Mr Fergus delivered I on:? of the best speeches in that debate. With 1 regard to the Public Works Statement, the honorable gentleman said that "the Minister proposed to gain the ear of the House and the credit cf the country by adopting the same vicious practices which he adopted when previously holding the same office—that is, of 'dangling before the colonial nose the proverbial carrot,' showing to the country certain votes which he has neither the will nor the ability to expend, and making they people believe he is going to open up ney j avenues of traffic and develop new districts i which at the present time are lying in a stale of barrenness and waste. In the face cf avowed engagements to the amount »f £1,900,000, he brings down estimates shotL ing that he is going to spend a further sutm which he has not at his command. Last year, (Mr Fergus went on to say, when speaking on the question of the East and West Coast Railway) he incontestably proved that the colony had practically entered into engagements for the construction of railways, which would not cost less than £10,600,000, a great many of them originally scheduled when Mr Mac an drew was Minister of Public Works; he had reasoned on that ground that it would be inadvisable that the colony should enter into any more engagements until it could sec that it had drawn to some finality on the works which it was legitimately obliged to complete. The East and West Coast line was one of those so scheduled, and recognising that the House had in 1884 granted certain concessions towards the construction of this railway, he was willing to abide by those concessions. We all know (he said) the history of the line sines then. Attempts have been made by the Government to force a most monstroi:3 proposal i down the throat of the country by main force | —a proposal that a foreign syndicate should j not only get a vast area of land, but that we | should also give them for a considerable '

number of years something like JEiOO,OOO a year, drawn from the pockets of the taxpayers of the colony, and also that the Government should pay, over and above this great annual charge, the loss which undoubtedly would be considerable on the working of this railway. The present attempt that is being made in these Public Works Estimates to have this railway constructed is even a more iniquitous one than the celebrated Meigg's scheme!" Mr Fergus, speaking with the authority of an expert, proceeded to denounco in very plain terms the idea of the colony undertaking so costly and presently useless a work, and in support of his views he quoted largely from the reports of Mr Thomas Calcutt, Mr Blair and the several Commissioners who have investigated the question of the direct and indirect advantages to be expected from the completion of such a line. The whole tenor of these reports, he says, goes to show that, as was demonstrated by the Commission appointed by the Canterbury men themselves, that there Is no prospect whatever of the railway paying at the present time. The reports, he asserted, " all tend in the same direction to prove that, though this line might be of colonial importance and might have to be undertaken some day, the time had not arrived when the construction should be undertaken." Mr Fergus in his able and comprehensive treatment of the question of this railway did much towards settling it, at least for the year, by the very effective process of stopping the supplies. The honorable gentleman, in conclusion, declared that he should like to have seen the whole of the railways proposed to be constructed in New Zealand referred to a committee of practical men entirely outside the colony, so as to get an unbiassed opinion from them as to those which should lirst be constructed, and instead of going on from year to year voting small sums for this line and for that, the construction at once of some of those best adapted to increase the general prosperity and bring the expenditure on them to an issue should be undertaken. " The Government do not mean to do this. The same piecemeal policy which has obtained in the past characterises the present Government; and arc worse than any Government who preceded them. They are pliable at any moment on the promise of a few votes ; they are quite willing to put on a few thousands here, to squander a few thousands there, in order to retain the muchcoveted seats on those benches. There is only one unction we can lay to our souls; the powers at the present time which are keeping them in are gradually fading away, and I hail with very much satisfaction the tone which is being taken up by the Press of this country and by the people of this country, and it is to the effect that those honorable gentlemen have violated all the trust the colony has put in them, and that they must be swept from their seats at no very distant date!"

Oar readers are reminded of the concert at the Town Hall to-nifjht, in aid of th«* Brass Band funds.

The next monthly outward Home mail, via San Francisco, will close at the Queenstown Post Office on Thursday morning next at half-past 10 o'clock.

The return cricket match between Arrow and Queenstown is fixed for to-morrow week on the ground of the home team. A scratch match here has been arranged for to-morrow afternoon, but members appear to be rather "rusty," aud we fear their chance of success in the forthcoming match is small—unless they go well into practice iu the meantime.

On our fcirth oa-.'c will he found extracts from a [ report (just received from the Government printer) by Dr (ira'olum, inspector of hospitals, etc. The document, which was brought up at the last sitting of Parliament, was evidently valuable in assisting the Ministry to embody some of the l>est features in the complicated and unworkable Hospitals and i Charitable Aids Bill originally brought down by ! them, and afterwards retained, more or less, in the improved Bill which is now amongst the statutes of the country. r St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Dunedin, [ was opened on Sunday by his Eminence Cardinal I Moran, when there were over 2,000 persons present, j The collection for the day amounted to £1,600. Up I to the present the cost of the building (which is [ only a wing of the complete de»ign) has been 1. £20,000.

' At Wednesday'* meeting of the Otago Waste Lands Board, an application by J. C. Fenn that sections' 7 and 9 to 17, bush reserve, block 111., Dart, be proclaimed a small glazing tun was referred to Ranker for rejiort. —Certificates of application for gold-mining leases were grauted to the Invincible Q. M. Co., to J. Watson and another, and to N. M'Comrie and others, Shotover.—J. Kerrin's certificate for agricultural lease, C'ardrona, was approved.—Mr Simpson's application that Runs 214 and 344k, Wakatipu, be grouped as one, was di clined at present.

Letters from a Ratepayer, Warden's Court report and other matter of local interest are held over.

We are glad to learu from Dr Douglas that Mr W. Priuce, is gradually, although slowly, recovering from the serious accident which befel him a week ago. Mr Fletcher (Mr Tiince's partner) is expected from Auckland for the purpose of setting in motion permanently, an undertaking which Mr Priuce may I* said to have completed—namely, the electric works of the Phoenix mirte, Skippers reefs. In compliance with a requisition the Mayor has proclaimed to morrow week a public holiday, on the occasion of the visit of the District Executive of the Ancient Order of Foresters. We hear that every preparation is bfiig made by the local Court to suitably receive the delegates, who will arrive on Thursday. On Friday afternoon business connected with the annual meeting will be transacted. In the evening a banquet will be given in the llarp of Erin Hotel, and on Saturday an excursion will be made to the Head of Lake and back.

We notice by circular that another useful work (in its special line), under the hand of an old acquaintance, his Honor Judge Broad, is about to be published by Messrs Bond, Finney and Co., Nelson, namely, the New Zealand AfnijLilrates' Court Guide, which is intended as a manual for the use of magistrates in their civil jurisdiction. Tiie book is divided into five parts, treating of the constitution and jurisdiction of the Court (with digest of Supreme Court decisions thereupon), practise and procedure, digest of the laws of evidence, ami what must be proved in particular cases. There is also to be an appendix containing the R.M. Act and amendments.

Seeing that Dr Barry, Bishop of Sydney ami Primate of Australia, has quite lately been amor. 1 ,' us, the following extract from the School Guardian may be read with interest by many of our readers:— " We rejoice to see that under the pri:nutial encouragement of Bishop Barry, a yt eat effort is being made to promote special religious instruction in the schools of the diocese of Sydney. At a coat of between £IOOO and £ISOO a year, eleven salaried teachers »re employed in visitinir the schools and giving religious teaching in the hour permitted Wy the New South Wales Education Act. Seventytwo of the clergy also take part in the same work, and a few voluntary laymen also help. In this way 200 weekly lessons are l»eiug given in 160 primary schools, and there is good reason to 1 relieve that before long this excellent movement will cmbrace aJ> the schools is the diaoese, about 317.",.