WELLINGTON.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 25, 18 November 1879, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

[l-'iSOM OCR OWs' COUKSSVOSIIENT.] iixancialj statement. Tho Colonial Treasurer still holds back his Finan--i.il Statement-, promising it now early next week. It is nofc likoly to be of a very satisfactory nature, however, fc the Evening I'ostj speaking with an nir of au thori y, says fchafc Major Atkinson, in his preliminary speech, whuh excited such c HiNterntition, rather und vestimated than overestimated the magnitude of tho liabilities nf the lac Government. Humor has ifc that these liabilities aro so gveit, that allowing for the completion of Native Land purchases already enterod into, rodomp'ion of debentures, -jost of raising loan, ac, tliere will not be mor* than about. £•200, 00 aviii'able for new works. This is anticipating the loan with a vengeance Thon with regard to tho loan, the news 1 ttely received trom London is not of a very sati-f ictory nature. The English Creditor Ims heard of tho unsound financial condition of the Colony, of the prevailing commerciiil depression, and of the " unemployed" a-iitations, and these thing* wil s -riously aftVct. the buoyancy of tho market so far as IN<*w Zealand Stock is coiverned. Ifc will take the Colony years to recover from tho effects of tho maladministration of the Grey Government, and ifc will tax th • capabilities and ncrgies of their sue co-isors to the utmost to place our finances ouco more on a satisfactory footing. AMERICAN BAIIWAY CAUS. With a viiMv of providing iuceisod accomforfc anil convenience to tvav<4Ws on tho Ions; journeys between Duuedin aud Christidiurch, and Duuediu and Invercargill, an order was some time sinco sent to America for six carriages of the latest and mosfc approved style. They havo now arrived, and are no doubt magnificent specimens of tho carriage builders' skill. The first-class c irs are not provided with long rigid seats, but with beautiful arm chairs coverod with vol vet pile, - aud are fitted at one end with a wash stand and all necessary auxiliaries, ani at the opposite end with otlier conveniences equally necessary on a long journey They are decorated inside in the superb style peculiar to our American cousins, and are in every way a great improvement on anything of tho kind yet introduced into this Oolonj-, but one unfortunate blunder has been made in connection wiih— thoy are too large to go through the tunnels, and considerable expense will bo incurred in reducing them to proper dimensions. roßfon.vnox salaries. Tlio Mayoral election Is shortly coming oa again, iv loci, th:) inticj a» to nominations is already published, imi I as any cry fov popularity amongst tho lower orders is better than uono nfc nil, Mr Hut chison has just discovered thnfc the Corporation is paying its officials most extravagant salaries, anil h i ving already referred to lha matter in the City Council, without much sympathy, has called a, public meeting for this evening to consider tho matter. In conversing on this mutter, with townspeople, very many expressions of opinion as to o*ir City Engineer s competency may he heard, and not all ol* thoiu of a favorable character, luit few con-idcr that £800 a year is ..n extravagant sil iry for a in in who has tho wovks in hanl md in prospact that our City Engineer has. I hi.s is tho large- fc salary paid by the Corporation, none of tho others (except perhaps fhe Town CU-rkV) exceeding very ordinary limits. A committee appointed by lho City Council to consider the matter th'iushfc that the Mayor's salary .vouid bear considerable reduction, but that ill the othors should be allowed to staud. lATAL ACOIDENT. A sad acciden i, attended with fatal re suits, occurred ou Lambtun Quay on Tuesday last. A cab containing three Maori women and a Maori man on the box, was being driven along the Quay, when ono of the tram trains which was "standing at the siding opposite JKirkealdie aud Staines began to move away, and the steam which was let off at the time so terrified the horses that they turned right round, throwin/ the driver off the box, and belted up the Quay in the direction whence they had come. This c -l used such v consternation insido fche vehicle that one of the women jumped out and was killed on the spot. At lhe inquest held on the sad nft'iir the Tramway engine drivers affirmed that it •vas quite impossible to avoid an escape of steam such as thp one which had so disvstrous an effect on this occasion. If this is «> ifc is certainly a very greafc pity, aud shows rhit the Tramway company enteivd into rheir agreement with the City Council wifch>ut any knowledge as to their boing able to fulfil its conditions, for one of its essential conditions was, that thero should be no escape of either smoke or steam in the public hovoughfarc. KAILWAY HATES. Tho Hon. G Buckley has given notice thafc ho will move " That ifc is desirable that .-.his Council should bo informed whether r Me Government will (ake into cotiMdenition the present tariff of charges ou tho Kail•vays, with tho view of increasing the rates, so as to make tho worKing of tho several lines realise a fair profit, or at least contn- | outc their full share of receipts m nhk of he revenues of the Colony." I don't tSnnU i here is much chance of this motion being Miviad, and it is to b-j hoped that it woti'i ic. it would bo a retrograde movement, md consequently entirely in the wrong direction, for the rattsave quite high enough it present, if the settlement of now district*, md the cultivation of the soil, are the ends for which wo arc striving. /Colonial industries too, which may bo dependant ou our railway system for distributing their miun factures. would, by adopting such a course, quietly be strangled. Here is a cas» in ( )oiut. I have been fcold, and on tho very best authority too, that the carriage charged by the Railway Department on paper made nt the Mataura Paper Company's mill at Gore, from their mill to Dnnedin, (the principal market) is actually greater than the freight ou Homo manufactured paper is from London to Dunedin ; and this is on che presont rates. Whafc may we expect if . he rates should bo raised ?

Tiik Sl'Aiutow \uis.\.vcE.-*rhe sparrows ippear to bo giving groat trouble to the tinners in Canterbury. Afc a largely at ton-led meeting, at Scuthbridgo, the chairman stutod that tho faimers were paying a tax equal to ls 9d per acre for feeding fcnesft ,>ests, tbrough being obliged to sow an additional half bushel of seed per acre to cover he amount of seed eaten by the birds. He then proposed that an assoniation should be formed, to be called the " El'esmeru Sparrow Associatior." It was then proposed — " l'h-»t a reward of Hd per dozen bu given for eggs, and 3 I per dozen for tie heads of tlie b.rds, young .aud old." Hoth resolutions were "rried unanimously. He heard a shriek, and he rushed upstairs only to find his wife in a swoon* " What's the matter, Georgie ?" he asked, when she had revived. " Oh ! I saw a uionse !" she screamed. " Ah, brace up and have some style about- you !" he ejaculated — " be a man !" Just then the mouse took a tack up his pauts legs, and he yelled, " Fire ! murder ! watch !" and it took two policaman to get him from under the bed.