North Otago Times. TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1881.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2829, 19 July 1881, Page 2

North Otago Times. TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1881.

' Sib George Grey deserves to bo cotn- ' pi i men ted for having let off tho most ''gigantic, most laughter-moving political 1 joke Wer ( perpetrated in New Ze Jaiul. , n wEiiß doofil goyerument bill is now before the country, und as a matter of course all those who have read thia eminently clevfiV production, and who JJc/a^eek/any nense of 'humor, are simmering' with such laughing impulses ad th«v have noi been tmhj^ct to for many a day. Sir (Jusohqe in the very Puck

of New Zealand politicians ; and while opaque-minded multitudes gather round this the latest child of his prolific and playful fancy, making believe to themselves aud to each other that they discover in it all the heights and depths ot wisdom and statesmanship, wo fancy we can see the twinkling, mischievous light in those deep-set, knowing eyes of his, and hear him ohuokling to himself, like his Shakespearian prototype — Lord, what fools those mortals be ! At the same time all the wise men in the country are deeply indebted to Sir George for having furnished them with something at which they can laugh long and heartily in these dull and dreary days, when men can more readily convert themselves into saints than their labor into cent pieces. But to turn to the bill itself. There is, to judge by all we hear, liHle doubt thet Sir George Grey aud hio followers regard this bill as a panacea- for all the ills of New Zealand and a great many other things besides ; and there is just as little doubt that in practice the bill would, instead of mitigating, aggravate those evils. It provides for the creation of local districts, each of which is to contain so many couuties. Each district is to be provided with a prenident and a council, and the number of members for each council is to be fixed by proclamation under the hand of the Governor, The first thing the electors of eaoh local district are to be called upon to do is to elect a president, who?e term of office is to be co-extensive with the duration of the council. Each local district is to be divided into electoral districts, and the number of members which eaoh electoral district may return to the council is to be fixed by proclamation. Every person who is legally qualified as au elector for the House of Representatives may Le eleotcd president or a member of the council ; and the voters for the House of Representatives are to be the voters for the local districts, la other words, the presidents and councils are to be elected by means of residential manhood suffrage. The first writs for local district elections are to be issued by t\w Governor ; subsequently, hy Uiw piealdents. Writs for the election of presidents are always to be issued by the Governor. Such is the method — an admirably simple one, it must be confessed — under which those portentous presidents and local district councils are to be brought into being. We now come to the powers and duties of these functionaries. They are 'to bo empowered to make laws — with exceptions as to customs, lighthouses, telegraphs, post offices, marriage, bankruptcy, the higher courts, and so on — they are to be empowered to make by-laws " for tho peace, order, and good government of their respective districts, provided these be not repugnant to tho law of England." They are to control the Volunteer force ; to make land regulations affecting mining purposes ; to oreate and abolish tribunals of civil and criminal jurisdiction only inferior to the Supreme Court, and to pay and regulate the salaries of the judges aud officers of those tribunals. The president is not to participate in the transaction of business at the council meetings. He is to be " like a star, and dwell apart." The council is to have a chairman, though ; but he is not f,o vote except when the other voles are equal, and then he is to exercise a casting vote. As for the president, he may transmit messages to the council, and all by-laws passed by the council are to be subject to his assent or veto. But how, it will be asked, are these bodies to be provided with funds? Sir George Grey is quite equal to the emergency; he meets it boldly in the last two sections of his bill. All the surplus revenue of the General Government is to be divided amongst the several local districts on the basis of the proportion which the population of each district bears to the population of the whole of New Zealand. Then, the Governor is to grant endowments " of such area and value as may yield sufficient fuuds to provide for each district all requisites for the trade and commerce thereof, and for securing its welfare and the comfort, health, and advancement in knowledge of tho people; such endowments to be from time to time applied as fur as possible in lieu of, and to avoid, the imposition of rates and taxes." Such is a fair digest of Sir G. Grey's local government reform bill. We venture to say that its extravagance as a means of practically meeting the needs of the country is likely to make its author as much talked of as the most brilliant achievement of his long career as a servant of the Empire. The bill is no reform at all. It proffers the people iustitutioas which they neither ask nor need. All institutions cost money, and it but ill becomes a champion of the people and of popular interests like Sir G. Grey to seek to establish in the country a set of superfluous yet inevitably costly institutions. The scheme instead o e simplifying would increase the complexity of local government. "We suppose that road boards and county and borough councils, etc., would continue as at present, and this hybrid counoil of Sir G. Grey's would be added like a fifth wheel to a carriage. It is strangely erratio, too, to speak of handing over the surplus revenues of the General Government to these councils. As a rue the General Government never has any surplus revenues, and it is likely to have less and less as the enlightenment of the public mind increases and strength accumulates amongst those who hold that the true statesmanship is to circumscribe to the uttermost all publio departments, and io raise no more revenue than is just necessary to defray the current expenditure of the nation, leaving as much capital as possible in the hands of the people to be spent as they think tit. Then, we cannot at all agree with the proposal to endow these counoils with land so as to render rates unnecessary. The land is the property of the whole .nution, and should not be all set apart for parochial purposes. If anything is wanted in the way of local government reform the thing that is wanted is a scheme which would simplify existing tauobinery, end

euablo local bodies to raise — oaoh for itself, and without assistance from the revenues or the property of the nation— funds sufficient for their very simple purposes — the making and maintenance of roads and bridges, and other cognate works needed to promote settlement and encourage miniug. No effort to effect this change is majle by Sir G. Gkey : a very unsatisfying effort is made by Major Atkinson. The scheme ol the former is in our opinion entirely impracticable ; that of the latter is only a half-way measure. But if we are compelled to make a choice, we, of course, of two evils must choose the least. To adopt Sir G-.-Gjrey's scheme would be worse than a crime — it would, in our opinion, be a stupendous national blunder.

At tho Resident Magistrate's yos« terday, before Mr Sumptor, J.P., four first offenders were discharged with a caution for being drunk and disorderly, and William Walsh was fined 10s for a like offence. The usual monthly meeting of the committeo of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be postponed until Thursday, tho 28th inst. This arrangement has been made in consequence of a largo sale on the 21st, and for other special business., There h little difference now in tho London market between New Zealand and Adelaide wheatH. The former ia quoted at 48s ex ship, and tho latter at 48s ex warehouse. This may be iiocounted for by the fact that I it is some time since musty and sprung wheat has been sent home from New Zealand. A speoial meeting of the Borough Counoil was held yesterday afternoon to open applications for the office of Town Surveyor. The Council wont into committee to consider tho applications (14 in number), whioh were eventually reduced to three, and, after a lengthy discussion, Mr W. A. Harper was eleoted tn tho office. A number of blackbirds having been liberated at RodoasUo, Mr M'Lean requests anyone on whose property tho birds may happen to locate themselves not to molest them. A'nongst those who remember tho blackbird in the old country the request will meet with a roaty compliance. Tho blaoLbird ia an insectivorous bird of great value, and for this reason aloney if not for its singing, it is worthy of protection. Mrs O'Brien's boarding«hou«e in Thames street narrowly escaped being burnt down last night. One of tho children in tho house accidentally set fire to the paper and scrim on tho wall. Tho firo was noticed, and timely aid arriving, the flames were put out with a fow buckets of water. Some of the furniture was damaged in removal, but beyond this and tho destruction of the papor and sorim, no loss was sustained. Tho firebell rang out, but the fire had been extinguished before tho Brigade had time to arrive on tho scone. There was a crowded attendance at tho South School on Sunday night, when the second regular service of tho now P'^byteriun congregation was conducted uy the Rev. Mr Cameron The ohuroh appears to hive marie a fair start, and it rests with tho Presbytery to keep a reaular lupoly. Mr Cameron intimated that the Rev. Mr Ryloy, of Otepopo, would preach next Sunday miming and evening ; and he thought Profeisor Salmond would officiate on the Sunday following, Tt is questionable if the proceedings at the special meeting of the Borough Oounoil yesterday were entirely regular. Tho Council, having gone into committee for tho transaction of certain businoss, appears to hare entirely forgotten , to resume for the purpose of receiving or otherwise dealing with 'the' c6minitte»'» report. It is unnecessary to point out that a committee oven of tho whole Council h a very different thing to the Council itself, and unless tho Council ratifies what is done in committee, whatsoever is so done is of non-offeot, An advertisement appeared in yesterday's issue whioh is of speoial importance to farmers. It is an offer made by a gentlemau from Homo to trout with them for linseed. Tho growth of flax cannot altogether bo said to be a now industry, for we are aware that it has been produced profitably in this district. The offer made by tho advertiser should enhance its value, for a remunerative prioo is announced as going to bo offered for the seed of the plant. The fibre cvii be disposed of as the grower thinks fit, and in the Home markots this will find a ready sale. In Great Britain at one time flax was thought to bo more exhausting for the soil than any other crop, but it is a crop which wo believe will pay well to manure heavily for, if neceisary. The refuse of tho flax itself will bo found a good manure. However, the question of whether flax will or will not pay to grow can bo easily Bottled. With a local market and a fixed price for tho seed, farmers will require very little calculation to arrive at a conclusion. Tho calculation is certainly worth making, and we have no doubt that farmers will giro tho matter their attention. A meeting of the Chmaru Mutual Improvement Association was held last night lti St Paul's session-room, the president, tho Rev. A. B. Todd, in tho chair. There were about 15 members of the association present, and Mr G. Browoloe read a paper on the musio of Scotland, The paper traced the history of the progress of Scottish poetry and musio through its various stages, and the speaker enlivened his address by singing a number of the songs of the Scottish bards |he was reviewing, conspicuous amongst whom was tho universal favorite, Burns Amongst the interesting information contained in the papor was the explanation that '• Coming thro 1 the Ryo " means not coming through a rye-field, but fording tho river Ryo. Tho paper was most interesting throughout, and the concluding song, " Auld Laug Syne," was sung with spirit by all iho members present. At tho conclusion of tho rending a vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Brownloe for having como forward almost at a moment's notice, having only been asked that morning to deliver an address. The next meeting was arranged to take place on Monday next, when the programme would be impromptu speaking. At the beginning of the financial year 1880-81 the mortgages for the whole colony amounted to Ll 1,512, 132, of which L 2.482.207 was paid off during the year, but L 6,727,898 more was borrowed, making the present total of the mortgages U5,627,823. Of this total mortgage indebtedness, Canterbury, Otago, and Southland arc debited with more than threefourths, or Ll 1,310,784. Fresh mortgages to the value of nearly L 7,000,000 wore contracted during tho year, thus— as a containpoiary observes— bearing out the Colonial Treasurers assertion that the proper! y-tax had not proved detorront to tho investment of " foreign " or other capital. Tho Wellington correspondent of tho Timaru Herald givei the following account of the recent ' ' scene " in the Honse. On Thursday night thoro was a very low soene in tbe House on the Licensing bill. Mr Reeves and Mr Pyke and one or two .others were very noisy and obstructive, using anything but elegant language, and behaving badly, Sir William Fox roso in great anger, and proposed tho adjournment of the bill for a fortnight to allow of tho pissing of his resolution for shutting up Bellamy's, which, he said, would put a stop to such disgraceful scenes. His meaning was perfectly plain, and the members who considered .themselves to be alluded to, attacked Sir William Fox very violently, Mr Reeves outraging all the bounds of deonnoy, espesiaUy in one most improper reference to Mr Saunders, who had not provoked his wrath in any way except by being a total abstainer. Mr VVeston unfortunately misconceived Sir William Fox's rebuke to have been direoted at him, because he sits near Mr Reeves and Mr Pyke, and he bitterly resented it, but quite in the manner of a gentleman. Mr Reeves having threatened to keep tho House bitting till nix in the morning, the Premier, who is utterly

worn out "with overwork, lost his temper, and sharply reproached Mr Reovos, who then turned upon him, a«d gave him a taste of his quality, and precioua rough stuff too. Mr Bheehaa joined > in the fray, eidicgwith the noisy ones, and -adding fuel to the fire, and altogether it was a grant hubbub. It -was just one of those scenes whioh ought really to reflect no disoredit on the Houso, because nine-tenths of the Houso had no* thing to do with it, and ar». as much scandalUed and disgusted by it as anybody, but 'for which, nevertheless, wie House gets the blame. .The Chairman ; of Committooa is oousidered to have shown a certain amount of weakness in not insisting upon Mr Beeves bohaving himself in a reasonably decorous manner, fho oommittee as a whole woro in an excellent temper for business, and -wore getting on very well when this disturbance arose, entirely on the part of two or three mombcrs who do not protend to consider tho propriety. There will be a World's Fair at Rome in 1885-86, under tho honorary presidency of the Prince Amadeus. This is definitely decided up. The exposition at Moscow has been postponed till JBB2. t A correspondent of tho Brisbane Courier recommends turpentine as, a sovereign remedy for Jockjaw and cramp, In the one case it is poured warm into tho wound, in the other it is applied on flannel to tho throat and ohost, a few drops being taken in sugar in severe oases. , The Hawke's Bay Herald is informed that a considerable number of hawks' feet come to Napier from the Wanganui aide, and that hawks' heads are sent from there to Wangauui. The reason for this t is that their Acclimatisation Sooiety pay a reward' for the feet, whilo in Wanganui the money is paid for the heads. As an instance of the rapid flight of news by moans of the newspaper and the telegraph, tho Register has been informed by an Adelaide gentleman, who roooived tho in> formation frcm his San Francisco correspondent by tho last mail, that tho latter, whilo on tho way to Sacramento on May 1, got tho San Frauoisco Call containing an acoount of tho wreck of the Tararua the day -previous. There has boon another publioan's scandal in Sydney, a man named Thomas Craig, a woolbrokor, having jumped out of the topstory window of a hotel, whilo in tho horrors, and thus met his death. Ho had received L5OO from Homo somo short titno previously, and had been lodging at the publichouse for two months, being latterly almost continuously in a state of drunkenness. The Coroner at the inquest made somo strong comments on the practice of many hotel* keepers furnishing liquor as long ns the poor slave of intemperanoe had the money to pay for it. 1 In tho course of the excavations necessary for the reconstruction of the baths at Ourkheim, in tho Palatinate, the workmen have come upon an onormouu iron chest containing the celebrated treasure of the Abbey of Lhnburtf, which disappeared after the siege of tho Abbey in 1504. The treasure is supposed to have been put in safety by tho abbot out of fear of an attack. It is composed of a large number of vases and other objects of gold and silver, of precious stones, and a host of coins of tho fifteenth century, There are also a number of articles of worship, dating from tha commencement of the Abbey, which was constructed by Conrad tho Salic, and hit wife, Queen Gisela, and opened in 1030. By the law of the Palatinate, half tho treasure goes to tho State and half to tho French company which has tho working of tho baths. Tho Daily News says of Mrs Butler's picture, " Rorke's Drift, " in the Academy : It is a, powerful picture, in which the artist has not hesitated to socuro her effect. by rather coarse and obvious means. Wo Bee tho do fence from within. It is dusk, but tho burning roof of a neighboring house lights up tho soonp. Tho heads of Majors Bromhoad and Chard and of muny of the privates and other soldiors are p irtraits. All are in oner* getio attitudeH. One man slips a cartridgo into his rifle, which a daring Zulu has seized by the barrel. Others hurry up with ammunition. Only a few of tho enemy are distinctly made out behind the wall of moalio bags. Tho picture is suro to attract crowds, and is a piece of history. It in exhibited by permission of tho owner, tho Queen, Some merchants use but very littlo judgment in advertising (says an exohango). So long as they have an "ad " in some paper, paying for it, they thiuk it id sufficient, and trust to luok for tho consequences. They shut their eyes and discharge their gun in tho air, and wait for tho game to drop. They aro shooting for duck and get orow. Advertising requires as inn oh good judgment as to tho selection of organs, as any other department of a merchant's business, Judicious advertising always pays, He should advertise in an organ that will reach his customers. There are somo business men who seldom advertise, anil they are always complaining about then trade. They treat advertising as the improvident shiftless fellows do their roofs. When tho sun shines, they do not need patching ; and when it rains, they oannot patch them. When trade is fair, they see no need of advertising ; and when trado is dull, they Bay they oannot afford to advertise. Moral : repair a leaky roof when it is fine weather ; and advertise in all seasons. Advertising pays all parties interested better than any other commercial investment. " . ( ' . The London Times of May 20th says that on Wednesday, in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, the hearing of evidence was o included in the action at tho instance of tho liquidators of the City of Glasgow Bank against Mr Maokinnon, of Balliaakill, Argyleshire, for payment of L3II.CGG. Tho liquidators alleged that whilo Mr Mackinnon was a director of tho bank from 1858 to 1870 he misapplied money to the extent sued for. Tho defendant gave a general denial to the allegations of tho liquidators. The evidence was taken before Lerd Shand, and occupied five days. The documents in the case were very numerous, extending to no fower than eight volumes, containing nearly 4000 pages of printed matter. Tho evidonoo had referonce chiefly to the transactions of the Glasgow Bank in connection with American rail* way securities. In the course of his evidence Mr Maokiunon said that when he left the board of directors his idea was that the amount of tho Amerioan accounts, oapital and interest, was not morethanLSOO.OOO; he was very much astonished at the amount disclosed when the Bank stopped. In 1861' ho began to make periodical visits to India, where he had founded tho firm of, Mackenzie, Maokinnon, and Co., about 1846 ; on. that account ho was anxious to retire from the directorate. When re-eleoted in 1866 ho made certain stipulations as to the time he would bo able to devote to the bank business, and 'in 1868 ho again urged Mr Stronach and his oolloagues to allow him to retire. To show that he was in earnest he sold some of his shares so as to disqualify himself for the directorship. He consented to continue at tho entreaty of Mr Stronach. la 1869 and 1870 his attention, so far as the bank business was concerned, was chiefly directed to the Amerioan accounts. Since 1870 he had nothing to do, directly or indireoted, with the bank management. The evidence taken in the oaßo will be reported by Lord Shand to the first Division of the Court. A oaso of somo interest has just been tried in tho Queen's Bench Division of tho High Court of Justice. Miss Emma Eva Partridgo,£daughtor of a substantial Devonshire farmer, sued Mr Richard Woosnam, a commercial traveller, for violating his plighted troth. There was no doubt whatever about tho original promise, but apparently Mr Woosnam saw somebody he liked better, and hastened to be on with the new love with a celerity and, wo may add, a faithlessness which deserved all the punishment it has received. It was in the course of a happy day in Epping Forest the engaged couple mauaged to fall out.. Mr Woosnam's ungallant account of the affair * was that Miss Partridge evinoed a liking for the "flowing bowl," whioh jarred upon his pre-matrimonial notions of what was fitting and proper. Three glao»es of beer, • glass of pori, one of gin and cold

water, two more glasses of beer, two glasses of sherry, and a bottle of stout, wore all laid to the charge of tho young lady in question by hor former lover. Down to the second gloss of sherry ho had treated hor, he avowed, as " one whom he loved," but that second g'ass proved too muoh for his feelings. It in comforting to find that the jury did not believe much of this story, or, at alt oventt, saw in it no sufficient reason why a man should break his blighted troth ; ou the contrary, thoy gave five hundred pounds by way of compensation for a broken heart, and adaei a rider to the effeot that the rustic damsel left tho court " without » stain on hor oharaotor." Miss Partridge may therefore console horself for the loss of hor suitor by the vordiot of , the jury, 1 A> Maine correspondent of the Boston Journal tells this incident. In a certain town iu'Maine some farmers went out haymaking and Carried with thorn a jug of oider, which they put in tho shade of a tree. While they j were at work a snake swallowed a toad, which swe'led him greatly. He then crawled near to the jug, which was tipped over on the ground, and espied another toad on tho other sido. Seeing the quickest way, the snake stuck his head through tho handle ot the jug and quietly swallowed the poor toad. Now, to the snake's amazement, he couldn't move either way, as he had swallowed a toad on either side of the handle. In that peculiar position he was captured by the farmers. Agreeable prospects for the coming four or five years are held out to mankind at large by Professor Grimmer, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It would appear from this learned gentleman's vaticinations that the earth having got herself mixed up with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, is about to undergo trials of a very unusual and painful character, and that the tale of her sufferings will not be completed until the ojoie of the year 1885. Among her infliotions will bo winters of unprecedented duration and forooity, tremendous hurricanes and innumerable earthquakes, which by theiroomprohensivo destruotiveneso will abundantly prove that the groat forces of nature delight in warring upon the handiwork of man. Torrential rams will flood vast traots of country, and swoop away whole towns and villages, drowning their inhabitants by thousands. Volcanio throes will cause rivers and lakes to overflow their banks, and kill millions of their finny denizens, which, cast up on terra Jlrma, will decay and give out grievous effluvia. The waters of springs will become un* drinkable. As a consequence of these noxious phenomena tho Black Death will reappear in North-Eastern Asia, and, traversing ilussia with appalling swiftneia, will Bwoop down upon Central and Western Europe, slaying its hundreds of thousands daily. ' Should Professor Grimmer's gloomy prophecies be fulfilled, the inhabitants of this distracted g'obo will be fully justified in remonstrating seriously with the baleful celestial bodies, whose unoalled-f or interference with a harmless, and, upon tho whole, well-con-duofced planet, will have been attended by such extremely unpleasant results. Certainly a moro dismal prophecy than tho foregoing it would bo difficult to imagine. In aegrco, it varies from grim to grimmer.