THE Mount Ida Chronicle AND St. Bathans Weekly News. THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1878. OURSELVES.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 455, 10 January 1878, Page 3

THE Mount Ida Chronicle AND St. Bathans Weekly News. THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1878. OURSELVES.

At this season we venture to allude ego. tistically to a no more abstruse subject than ourselves. We have to thank our lar«e band of subscribers for much generous support, much encouragement in our efforts to improve the paper, and for very much forbearance in our shortcomings. On the whole, as a Goldfields paper and as a local paper, we gather that we have so far satisfied public expectation. At least, complaints of more than a transient kind are not brought under our notice, while to our knowledge very many continue to support our paper to whom the cost is a pressing consideation. Times are tighter now than they were nine years ago, when the ' Mount Ida Chronicle ' was established. Money has to be fought for with more persistency. At the same time, the cost of living has not been proportionately lowered. A local paper, and a paper representing especially the interests of the Goldfields, is as great a necessity now as it was in 1869—probably more so. To make our paper altogether a local paper, we should have very much to impair its efficiency; to make it altogether a general paper would be unfair to our principal and most valued supporters. Between our friends, it is, therefore, very easy to come to the ground. It has not been so here-' tofore. At tfrnes we have felt that the local support might be better; tbat if it were more- generally accorded to us we might have dene better: but such ' we are content to class as times of edi orial dyspepsia. At more healthy moments we acknowledge that the support given is generously given, and console ourselves when we meditate upon our yearly balances in the belief that in the friendly ri fairy with our contemporaries we give full value for all value received, and that none are losers save ourselves.

.No expense has been spared by us in obtaining the _ latest telegraphic news. Our Saturday's issue has always taken up country later news than any oilier paper published in the Province can circulate in the Interior. This feature of •our paper has been much approved of. fhe Dunedin weekly papers, far as they are able to outstrip us in hulk, cannot publish later news than can be received at the offices on Thursday morning. Our sheet has the latest news received from England or Australia or trans] iVing in the Colony up late hour on Friday night.

In this ninth year of our existence we desire to make no ad miserieordiam appeal for support. We, however, remind our old friends and those who have newly come into our midst that our expenses are increasing, and that our work is not purely a selfish work. A paper cannot stand still if it is to fight effectively for the interests of its district. '1 be proprietors of this paper have been content to invest their money, their time, and such small abilities as a merciful Providence has endowed them with for Borne years without much consideration of the y«-arly n-turn, having confidence that in time the success of their efforts would be recognised, and command that moderate reward which all honest labor is entitled to expect in a free country. That time, we venture with all modesty to think, has nearly come. We have served nine years ; like Jacob we hardly contemplate with pleasure another nine years' service for Bachael. Unlik* that very respectable patriarch we have not received even tender-eyed Leah for the labors of the past. On behalf of our proprietors we shall persevere, doing our duty to the public at all times and trusting that our much service, our patiei ce, and the monuments to our industiy visi ble now upon the mountains and shortly to be engraved in roads of iron upon the plains, will obtain their due recompense in increased support given to this paper. The proprietors, like wise men, have long given up any juveni'e dTearns of great things for themselves. They do, however, expect to be relieved from the everharassing tortures of unpaid accounts, and the negative electricitv continually evolved about the fourth of each month. Let the future have in store what it may, the ' Mount Ida Chronicle' will not cease from its fearless denouncement ot all wrong doing and in its exposure of the wrong doer. Neither will it «ease to advocate, in season and out of season, public justice on behalf of the great tax-paying majority in the Colony, the Goldfields, and the people of Mount Ida.

Mb. Bowt?k has substantiated the statement made by Mr. Curtis at Nelson that the Atkinson Government, in spite of all their protestations to the contrary, had reallt, determined to seize the Land'Fui d '• With a view of preparing a policy," stated this amiable statesman, *' dealing " with finance, taxation, and the Land " Fund, lobe submitted with an amended " Representation Bill next session, the " late Government brought all measures " d»wn early last session." What on ••arth bringing in early last session a host of immature Bills had to do with the preparation of a policy to seize the Land Fund in 1878, or to amend the Representation Act, less inspired men than the exMinister of Kaiapoi can hardly conjecture. As to taxation upon property or incomes, when it was hinted at as possible and right, ex-Ministers' breath was taken away. They would not dream of such a thing, and hated their enthusiastic supporters who suggested it most devotedly. The real requirement of the Colony was a host of Bills—incomplete, irreconcilable with one another, and aiming to make the smallest minutiae of administration uniformly barren of all practical utility to any part of the Colony. If a man wanted to kill a pig he would have bad, under the Atkinson-Bowen rule, to consult the Slaughterhouse Bill of 1877; if he wished to fence with his neighbor he must go to the Fencing Bill of 1877 ; I if he tell out with his neighbor, and wished to impound his cows, shoot his goats, or poison his fowls, he must go to the Impounding Act of 1877... Never mind, how 4igajv)ti tfe« eirtufoUuMi, the thumb

rule was to be absolute, and red tape and Bowen to be the signs by which to unlock the dungeon of justice to ail time. Fortunately the unscrupulous minority smothered all this incipient legislation, and rendered effective and fairly Rood alter immense trouble a few fragments of the luscious feast prepared at the commencement of the session.

I On the whole Mr. Bowen did very well at Xaiapoi. He hashed tip his Premier's , figures for the twentieth time in the same [.style as the Eunuch of Ethiopia read ! Isaiah—not understanding what he read; lie reviled .his successful opponents; he commiserated his friend, who he delighted to toady, : the representative of her Majesty ; and he secured a vote of thanks from a few sleepy farmers, in number certainly under fifty* To criticise Mr. Bowen is hardly worth while. A. Tory of the purest water, a Liberal paper cares, little tor his utterances. He is opposed to every essential feature of any liberal programme. He has shown himself opposed to honest administration. He is opposed to changes ot Ministry, to Triennial Parliaments, to Ministers seeking re-election upon accession to. office. In no one thing is Mr. Bowen in unison with the feelings of the times, except in regard to secular education. In that one thing he had not the co-rage of his opinions, and introduced his Education Bill full ot the religious elemeut. He is also in favor of free education, and introduced a capitation tax. Such is the ex-Minis er of Justice. Untortunately for himself he as y t knows nothing of opposition. Pitch orked into the Ministry by his frieius, and pitchforked out by his op ponents, of all men he is most miserable. There may come a time when, having earned his own political spurs by the sweat of his bram and the anxii ty ot his heart, be may do good service to the Colony. But he must give up quoiing figures he does not comprehend; he must give up reviling his opponents ; he must also give up toadying the Governor. With these few lessons, learnt in opposition, Mr. Bowen may again be heard of in politics, but not, however, we hope, as Minister of Justice.

Mails via Suez close at the district post offices on Monday, lllh inst. Wednesday, the 30th, is fixed as the date of the annual meeting of subscribers to the district Hospital. The Committee of Management for 187S will then be elected.

The amount of gold Svrnt down from Naseby on Monday was 3155 ounces. This quantity would be supplied in part from the out districts. Considering the exceptional dryness of the season, the amount forwarded hardly indicates a failing Uoldtield.

Next Wednesday and Thursday are the days rixed for the Mount Ida annual race meeting. At present the field of horses does not promise to be very large, yet, as some good animals are in hand, capital sport may be relied upon. As heretofore, the arrangements are in excellent hands, and even-handed justice will be meted out to home horses and foreigners alike. Lktt; RS have reached the colony intimating that the Kev. Mr. M'Cosh smith, M.A., B. D., and his family, sailed from ulasgow, about the end of October, for Otago As one of our deputies to the lieneral Fresbyteriau Council, Mr. Smith will have much to tell us. During his absence Mr. Morris missionary, had charge of his extensive parish. Mr. smith is accompanied by Mr Cameron, a fourth year divinity student, with a view to work in Otago —' Evangelist.'

. The Committee of Management of the Oddfellows Sports had a satislactory settling of accounts on Monday night at Naseby. The subscriptions received amounted to £,i(j 15s. ; receipt for sale of booth, £ls 3s ; entrance money, £l6 ss. 6d. ; in all £6B 3s. 6d. Of this sum the committee managed to give away £4B 7s. 6d. in p izes while the expeuses were kept at the low figure of £ls 7s. The balance to credit, £4 9s. has been paid into the credit of the District Hospital. The monthly meeting of the Mount Ida Hospital Committee was held on Friday, the 4th inst. Present— Messrs. 11. W. Kobinson, James Browo, B. f.ordon, CL de Lautour, and E. T. George (secretary), a number of account? were passed for payment. The Seuretary was instructed, as soon as the receipts for 1877 were audited, to forward returns for receipt of the aunual subsidy. The date of annual meeting was fixed for the 30thinst, and other detailed business was transacted.

Mr # de Laittocr requests us to notify that he wishes to meet his constieueuts as soon as convenient arrangements can be inade. The first meeting will probably be fixed at Kaseby on Thursday evening, the 24th inst., and the second at St. Bathans on the following Tuesday, the 29th. As Mr. de Lautour fiuds it impossible any longer to devote half the year to his Parliamentary duties, we understand he will intimate his wish to be allowed to resign the representation of the district.

Wk regret to have to announce the death of Mr. John Young, of the Kyeburn Diggings. ■ He was a native of Irvine, in Ayrshire. Mr. Young has long been known to very many not resident in the district. By ail he has been esteemed. He was engaged in mining at Naseby for some four >ears in the early days, and has been settled at Kyeburn for the last eight or nine years, lie was an elder of the Presbyterian Church, and in that capacity will be much missed. His health was failing very rapidly some years ago, when he received great benefit from the advice of the late Dr. Dick, yet for some time he has been disabled from active work. Mr. Youeg was only a little oyer fifty years of age, and we believe his father is still alive in extreme old ag . The funeral is to take place at the Kyeburn Diggings on Friday (to-morrow), the J Ith. A mewing of the Naseby School Commit" tee Wis held at the School House on Monday last, 7th inst. Present—Messrs. H. Wilson (Chairman), Hobbs, Glenn, Gillespie, Ander-i-on, and de Lautour -'The Secretary had not been advised officially but had gathered from the papers that it was the intention of the Government to postpone the election of the .boards for one month, under powers contained in the Education Act. In such case, the incoming Committee to be elected at the statutory meeting thereafter to be fixed would have the power of nomi .ation of two candidates for the Board elections, and subsequent voice in the election. He reported, however, that Sir. A. Holland had consented, should the elections proceed in fue usual form, to allow himself to be sugfested for nomination, and also that Mr de ■autour had similarly consented at the request of the Secretary to the Blaekstone Hill School Committee. As matters were, the question of nomination would, if the elections were postponed, stand o ,r er until after the election of the new Committee. Jhe general position under the now Act was discussed at considerable length, and members generally seemed to think that tha working of the system would depend upon the fair distribution of the grant received by the Board, and that it was therefore highly de* eirable to obtain country nominations. Members of the Board will fficerve-no salary,, but will be allowed reasonable .travelling* exteMMk -»'-■ »

His Lordship JLSishop Nevill. will visit Naseby about the end of the month, before procee<ling to Kugland At Knox Church. Dunedm ; .rOß Sunday, eveuing laat, theiev;. Dr.. the system of catechising the chiklran instead of preaching a sermon. ' This'.plan .of imparting religious education" 'to the : young is to be continued at two eveuiing services each mcfntb. ... J: :. '. ;: • .:.:..,:.•.. •.

A station hand named Kelly got his head smashed near Goodger'a 1 farm, near Cromwell, on the Sid. The injury.was said.to have been caused by a kick from u horse, but foul play is suspected. The sufferer when found was not sufficiently conscious to give a statement, and death took place immediately.

A meeting of the Athenteum Committee was held on Tuesday evening last. Several accounts were passed for payment, bnt no other business of importance was transacted. We understand it is the intention of the Committee shortly to hold a meeting to consider the advisability or otherwise of endeavoring to obtain a grant of land as an endowment to the Atheuwum. ■;,---

Like many others, the Palmerston'Times' has been expecting to hear daily the result or the visit to- the Waiheiho and Highley .Districts, on the 20th ult., of Messrs. Green :.nd Clark, Waste Lands Board Commissioners. It now understands that the Commissioueis, owing to proper maps not having been forwarded from the Survey Office, had to delay the production of their report. The ' Times' states a report is current to the effect that the Governor has been recommended to call the Hon. W. H. Reynolds to the Upper House. We have the best authority for stating that this is incorrect. If, however, Air. Keynolds carries out his expressed intention of retiring from the lower branch of the Legislature, we are confident that a recommendation to this eSect would meet with unanimous approval. Mb. Jas. Wheatley, an old resident near Oamaru, and a member of the Waitaki Couuty County Council, died suddenly on the evening of the 4th January while sitting alone at the tea table. He was perfectly well on the previous afternoon. An apoplectic fit was the cause of death. His age was 67. Mr. Wheatley was well known as the promoter of acclimatisation and sporting. The yield from the golddelds at Thames and Covomandel for the year 1877 was 128,408 ounces, as against fr1,807 ounces in 18 6. The Moanatairi mine contributed about 400,000 ounces during 1877, and paid naarly 100,000 in dividends. The Coroinandel re:;ums for the year are about 6000 or 7000 ounces, and probably another 4000 ounces were produced on the Thames from tailings, mills, &c , of which no account is famished to th« Press. The North Taieri Sabbath schools had its picnic in a tield belonging to Mr. Donald Reid, M..H.R , The day, the provision, the friends, and the scholars were all that could be desired, and the exhibition of life and energy was a clear prophecy of a good time coming for this beautiful parish. We heard that the parson and the statesman had a drawn battle—not in a knotty, political problem, but in the noble contest of hop, step, and jump.—' Evangelist.' The * Morning Herald' on Monday last published the following from its own correspondent at Wellington : —" Mr. Baliance is expected here to morrow. It is said he will be sworn in Ministei of Lands ot once.—The appointments of papers in lieu of ' Provincial »overnmeut Gazettes' tor the insertion of notifications are all revoked There is to be no monopoly in future.—Mr. Bunny is appointed as Commissioner of Annuities. It will be efficially announced in a~few days. The ex-Mayor of Wel.ington, Mr.,Huteheson, is canvassing for the seat, but he has no chance. Mr. Barron, a local man (not G. E. Barton), will get it. "Spectatok," in the Dnnedin 'Herald' writes the following tribute to the late Mr. Murison :—" So poor "Murison has at last joined the great majority. Peace be to his ashes. He was a good, gentle, guileless fellow. When I first made his acquaintance he was generally known as the ' pint bottle of porter,' or the 'little bottle of stout.' Then I think of him in sturdy form on our old cricket ground, with James Fulfcon, Hope, Turton, Kisjlinj:, Tom Butterworth, Worthington, Rees, Coulstock, Hendley, and a host of others. Alas ! how few of them remain. And of them ad, whose manners so genial, whose ways so winning, as those of ' little Bill?' Again, I think of him in the days of 'old Forman.' with his New-foundland-dog bark, and a perpetual cold in the nose. Then 1 pass on to merry moments spent at whist, at billiards at golf, at bowls ; to editorial confabs ; to many pleasant refections with the gods; to ' uichts wi' Burns,' and endless harmless pleasantries, and, above all, to an uninterrupted harmony during many years, and I feel inclined to roam for an hour or two over the neighboring hills to shake off the gloom which poor Bill Murison's sad end has cast over me. Gods blessing rest upon his widow and his fatherless ones."