North Otago Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1871.

North Otago Times, Volume XX, Issue 965, 25 August 1874, Page 2

North Otago Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1871.

In continuation of the remarks published in a late issue upon the present crisis, we will now endeavor to -explain and make clear what the " compact of 1856" (go often alluded to during the recent debate) really meant and means. It must, however, be borne in mind that the colonisation •of New Zealand was not at its commencement an act of the Imperial Parliament, but was brought about by the •enterprise of private individuals. The .New Zealand Company was a company •organised and set on foot by a number of large capitalists, and influential gentlemen and merchants in England, who were desirous, from patriotic motives, to colonise New Zealand — a country at that time but little known, and less understood. The portions of the colony to which the attention of the company wad originally directed were Wellington, Nelson,, and Taranaki. In these v district ' large purchases were made by the company from the natives and sold in England, from skeleton maps, put together after imperfect surveys. Under these circumstancea, it is not to be wondered at that the company's operations proved a failure, and that home purchaser!, upon arriving in the Colony, found that the description of their purchases were vague in the Extreme, and a clear title unobtainable. It is not, therefore, matter of surprise that the company, at the end of twelve years had plunged itself into inextricable difficulties and financial embarassments, from which they were powerless to extricate themselves.. In the meantime the Imperial Government, having taken charge of the colony, and a colonial .Government having been organised, it was deemed desirable, for the 'general interest, to extinguish the title of a company which attempted m much and accomplished so little in the way of colonisation. It was found that 'the company had saddled the colony with liabilities amounting to nearly L3OO,OO0. It became necessary, therefoie, that lome definite arrangement as to the payment of this liability ■ should be made. The company were at this time in possession of a Considerable landed estate in various parts of Both island*. After considerable deliberation and lengthy negotiations, the "Compact of 1856" vtiM 'entered, into, based upon the following resolution : — That it it expedient, ai part of a general permanent arrangement to redoem the New Zenlaml Company's charge on the land fund upon the terinV offered by the company and •■tented to by the Imperial Government, tiz., the payment to be made on the 5th >f April, 1857, of a siim of L200,000, towards which all

moneys in their hands at jbhai'date in excess of tKo interest, shall bo (applicable by way of reduction ; the Imperial Government guaranteeing the loan for that object. The L200.000 to be obtained in England .upon the best and moit favorable terms practicable. This resolution was assented to by the House of Representatives, which at that time numbered only .37 .members. (we take our figures, which from memory we believe to be correct, from the r>unedin "Erenjng Star"),. of whooi. Auckland returned 12, New Plymouth 3, Wellington 8, Nelson 6, Canterbury 5, and Otago 3. However insufficiently the Middle Island was represented in the House by which the compact was made it was a positive agreement binding upon the Colony for the future. Following upon the first resolution, a series of subsequent detailed resolutions were adopted, the most important of which, for the better understanding of the subject, we subjoin : — That this House is of opinion that the administration of the Waste Lands of each Province thai] be transferred to the Provincial Government of such Province, and the Land Revenue nhall be made Provincial revenue, subject to the following charges :— The Province of Nelson to be tubjeot to a charge of £66,666 13s. 4d., to bear interest »t the rate of 4 per cent., with a sinking fund of 2 per cent. The Province of Canterbury to be subject to a like sum on similar terms. The Province of Otago to be subject to a like sum on similar terms. The respective Provinces of Auckland and Wellington to be subject respectively to i charges equal to the proportion of the permanent loan borrowed for the purchase of Native Lands in such Provinces respectively, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent., and a sinking fund of 2 per cent. The Province of New Plymouth to be ■abject to a charge equal to a proportion of the permanent loan borrowed for the purchase of Native Lands, with interact at a like rate* and with a like sinking fund, after allowing a sum of £20,000 as a free outlay to be made in that Province in the purchase of Native Lands without charge to such Province. After such outlay of £20,000 shall have been made in the Province of New Plymouth as aforesaid, the Colony do guarantiee out of its general revenue to make up nrtv deficiency in the gross proceeds of the land sales within such Province, so that the sum derivable from such gross proceeds be no less than £2,200 in any one year. Thus it will be seen that if Mr "Vogei, be sincere and honest in the expression of his determination to leave intact the " compact of 1856," the cry of the Provincial party, " that its Land Fund is in danger" (so far, at least, as the Middle Island is concerned), is without the shadow of foundation. So long, indeed, as this is made the principal feature in the proposed reconstruction of the constitution — for it is nothing less — there can exist no legitimate cause for dissatisfaction on the part of any of the Provinces of the Southern Island. Even were the county system to supplant that of Provincialism, a faithful adherence to the " compact of 1856" would secure to each county an equitable proportion o£ the land revenue derivable from the district. The debate upon the Abolition Resolutions introduced by the Premier closed on Thursday night last, Mr Stafford in support of, and Mr Fitzherbsrt in opposition to the resolutions, refraining, much to the surprise and disappointment of all, from speaking ; while the Premier did not think it necessary to offer one word in .reply. Why it was that these two honorable members, from whom such great things were anticipated, and who, it was confidently reported, would have delivered the most effective speeches upon the subject, chose to remain silent, it is difficult to surmise. Mr Stafford, no doubt, saw, from the infallible "counting of noses," that without further assistance from himself, the battle which he had so long and ably fought, was at length won, and preferred to allow the vote to be taken without' putting himself forward in the matter — satisfied within himself with the fast approaching consummation of his past labors j while Mr Fitzherber? , from the same cause, must have felt clearly that any effort on his part, however brilliant, would be utterly powerless to 1 avert the issue, or any way arrest the torrent which had set in in such overwhelming force against Provincialism, and therefore decided to hold his peace. Mr Vogel also could not fail to perceive that the House' was with him — that the game was in his own hands — and that such being the case, any reply which he could make would be a mere utterance of words, an unprofitable expenditure of physical power, and a useless waste of public time. Patent, however, as it must have been to all from the commencement of the debate that the result would be a victory to the Government, the actual division must have been a surprise, even to the most sanguine supporters of the Premier's resolutions, the numbers present being, for the resolution, 41; against, 16; leaving a clear majority of 25 rotes* _ • Thus, then, has practically ended the labors of the parliamentary session of 1874, s one of the shortest, but not the" least important, and eventful in N the history of New Zealand. /A, small amount of routine business still' remains to be dealt with, but there is little doubt that the end of this week will produce the prorogation, and the viceregal speech, sending home hon. members to their respective constituencies and their expectant families.

Otmobo School.— "We desire to draw attention to a concert in aid of the funds of the Otepopo School, which it adyerUtvd in oue present issue to talc© place in the school-room, Otepopo, on the •rening of Friday, the 28th instant, at 8 o'clock p.m. Oiuabu Rime Banghjes.— This Company was inspected by Major Atkinson on Thursday last, The attendance, was. small in consequence of tereral members" being absent on le»T0 and others sink; Major Atkinsou put tbe Company thr6ugh company and skirmishing drill, which passed off Very satisfactory. Db Oabb.— This gentleman gaye Tery succeuful entertainments in th« Masonic Hall on Saturday and last erenings. He also lectured on Sunday erening, taking for his Bubject " The Immortality of the Soul." He announces that to-night will be his last appwranoe in Oamaru. -'

ToMTK OotJNOIr..— Tb» usual fortnigbtly meeting of the Municipal Council took place on the evening of Thursday last. A full re* port of the proceedings will be found else*, whew. , Lodge Oamabtj KiLWimnno, 8.0.—* The regular monthly meeting of thU lodge take* ptace in the Maionio Hall to-morrotr (Wednesday) evening. A full attendance of members it requested, as the busineTs'tb be transacted is important. N.A. and P. ABSOCIA.T1OM.-Tbe adjourned meeting of thirAisociation was held on Saturday. There wu * good attendance. The business wu chiefly connected with the revisal and completion of the programme of the Show, to be held on the 19th and 20th November next. Another meeting will be held on Saturday next, at 1 p.m.* for the purpose of appointing Judges, and other business. Memben are specially requested to be present. Pbksbttebian Chuboh.— At a meeting of Committee held on Friday evening, it was, decided that the contributions for the pro* posed additions to the churoh be collected, and the following gentlemen were appointed for the districts opposite their names : — Messrs i R. Jaokson and W. Young, fortheArdgowan, Cave Valley, and Waiareka ; B. M'Aulej and , P. Orr for Totara ; J. Hood and A. Herdman for Jetty Ward ; J. J. Spence and J. Main* land for High Ward ; J. <J. Flett and W. S. Fitzgerald for the South-western portion of Serein Ward ; D. Fleming and B. Hewat for the North-western portion of Severn Ward ; J. Bee, J. Falconer and W. Christie for Thames Ward ; and J. T. Brans and J. H. Milligan for the Landon district. Cremation. — Late telegrams informs as that the Hon. Mr MantelTs resolutions re the power of any person to order, by will, that his body shall be burnt, has been affirmed by the Legislative Council. The Fir* in Pmnces-strwt, Dpnbdin. —From the « Daily TimW of yesterday we extract the following condensed aocount: — The fire which occurred in Princes-street on Saturday morning was one of the largest and most destructire that hare taken place in Dunedin for many years. There is no doubt that the fire originated from the furnace on Messrs Guthrie and Larnach's premises, and from the inflammable nature of the stuff stored there, soon obtained a hold orer the whole premises. Messrs Haworth's iron and spouting store, and the Spanish Restaurant, were also destroyed. The total insurance on the buildings and stock belonging to Messrs Guthrie and Larnach amounted to oror 1/20,000, ~ of which the following may be taken as destroyed : — New Zealand Co., Guthrie and Lsrnach, L3000; Haworth, L500 ; Spanieh Bestauraut, L600 : total, L4100. Messrs Guthrie and Larnach were also insured in other offices to the follow ing amounts t — National, L2500 ; South British, L2000; Norwich Union, L2000* Victoria, L2000 ; Standard, L1500 ; Australian Alliance, L1000. Messrs Huworth were also insuaed in the Boyal for L500. Messrs Gibbs and Clayton, with the exception of a guarantee from Messrs Guthrie and Larnach of a few hundred pounds, are uninsured. Their loss is estimated at L2000. Mr Bendle, chair-maker, was altogether uninsured. An inqnest will be held on the fire. Tub Ward-Chapman Cab*.— The Wellington correspondent of the " Daily Times*' thus remarks : — " The Ward-Chapman Committee is now approaching the end of its/ labors; and is reported to hare probed the mystery to the bottom, and found out all about how you became possessed of the now celebrated telegrams. It Has not yet reported on the subject. It is to be hoped that the evidence will be printed. '' Much of it is of a most' extraordinary eOnraoterf and «he nowlist in search of materials for an orthodox three yolumes of s6tisation, would find plenty here. Conspiracies, bribes, female influences and treachery, plot and counter-plot, seductions, and even, it is said, something in the nature of a double murder and the burial of the bodies in a back yard, all find a place in the evidence of this most extraordinary of extraordinary cases. I am not in tha least-joking in giving this list ot sensations." The revelations which have taken place during the late inquiry in this extraordinary case has induced the Government to determine upon the apppintmeut of a Boyal Commission to probe the matter to the core. What has been hitherto ' written and insinuated upon this subject seems to point to the course proposed as the right and proper one. CJlKTXBBTTbt Railways. — As a proof that the work is being pushed forward in earnest, and that the enoumbered wharves are being cleared, it may be mentioned that 139 full waggons, not including empties, carrying .nearly one thousand tons of freight, left Lyttleton for Christchurch on Monday. Ltttxbton Wat«b Supply.— Ai will bo seen by a letter addressed from the ..Govern* ment to the Borough Council, 'the former have decided to adopt Mr Higginson's scheme of bringing the water from the Heathobte, and that gentleman has been instructed. to prepare >plans forthwith. Wbstport Harbor Works. — The Westport Protective Works are progressing. The , " Times" informs us that under the direction of the Besident Engineer eight small floating breakwaters are being constructed for exptri- , mental use in protecting the river bank in small bays, now in course of being shored up by fasines. , The breakwaters consist of triangular frameworks of wood braced together. These will be moored a short distance off the river bank and kept in position by guy lines' secured on shore, the object being to break the force of the surf coming at high tide, and thus ensure the safety of the temporary pro* tective works until heavy stone can be deposited. The plan has been tried elsewhere and found successful. LtJRUCNi ahdPapapa.— "Augar," writing in the ' Australasian" of the 8th inst., says i — The New Zealanders Lurline and Papapa, both engaged in the Melbourne Cup, arrived in the Ofago on Tuesday night. They did not experience a very pleasant voyage, and I, believe both horses were thrown during the royage, but fortunately neither experienced any serious injury. It is said that Lurline will go to Sydney to run for the Metropolitan, and the support awarded to Her farors this .idea ;'T)ufc nobody seems to know anything ot her future movements ; and as the visitors were enjoying a spell at Kirk's Bazaar when I paid my visit*, they could not be seen, so 1 shall have to defer any remarks as to their -appearance. Lurline's arrival has caused a run to be made' on her for the Metropolitan, for which she has been backed to win about L4000 at 100 to 9. For the double event, Metropolitan and Melbourne Cup; : 5000 to 25 has been taken about Lurline and Papapa a°nd various other animals hare been backed with the- New Zealand mare. 'i - .*? - Thi Tbadk o* Auckland. — The vastnesa of the trade 1 of Auckland, says the "'Now Zealand Herald," is demonstrated, in the fact that there were recently alongside the various jetties twenty-two vessels, including .eight ships and barques. There /wort? also ten steamers of all sizes, including the mail'steamer - Cvphrenes. In the stream there w^re-jlying. five vessels of large tonnage, and one steamer 1 (auxiliary). On the stocks there were six vessels, some of them of large dimensions, and thers was a large fleet . of small craft — not easily , counted'. t ' ;>-'•' Immigrants to Tnuxu. — In an article on the subject of the employment of immigrants at Timaru the " Htrald" says ; — As regards the subject of the whole discustion, we can only say that from all quarters we hear the cry for labor ; Mr Tripp's letter in ouy columns this morning echoes it ; and the jus* tice of it is eppfirmed by the evidenoe of the immigration officer, who, beset by contractors and employers of all Trinda, has asked the Government to send 150 men as quickly as

poiiiWo, arid, h«« otkcd in rain ; and who, from hj| undoubtedly reliable experience, is convinced' tfiat, as soon at large V barrack acooinmodifcion is provided, three or four shipload* of suitable immigrants would readily be absorbed in the district, with mutual boiefit to themselves and the inhabitants. , w Thb MXR, FOR QUWMSIOWK.— =The .following extnet from an artiole in the " Wakatip Maff Tieaded "Our Heprerentative" seems to ndicate that tbe member for the Lakes is nt at present in great faror with his constituens. " The district, however, seems to be mad a shuttlecock between these two battledorei — Messrs Pyke and Oreighton. The forme comes down by the Lady Bird, and the Ltter takes the vaoant berth and goes up >y her. Mr Oreighton is in no great favor with his Auckland constituency, who desire kirn to resign. They deem such representatbn misrepresentation and abuse of d«legat*d power, and decry, as we do, the sea-saw airangemwrts of then "joint editors" of (he " Guardian." We are not, therefore, singular ia our opinions, and have used much milder language than that indulged in at Auckland. We have no hesitation in pronouncing representation of this class as a prostitution of the electorate vote." A comaphndont of the same payer asks,, if Mr Pyke is entitled to the L150 honorarium for his 14 days' services.