THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4404, 24 December 1875, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1875.

We must apologise to Mr. Olark for having neglected the financial statement which he has laid before the electors for their consideration. The fact is we have seen too many of these attempts at figures which every young candidate, especially if a "business man" entering on a business new to him always feels bound to inflict upon the journalist whose unhappy duty it is to wade through them. We had hoped to escape this time, for amateur finance is fuH of horror to j most minds. A glance at Mr. Clark's figures confirmed us in this horror. Here was a statement shewing {that the North Island with a revenue of £746,000 raised from 150,000 people, wasbankrapt and helpless unless she could get aid from her more happy neignbours. They with a population of 210,000 or thereabouts, are on the other kand to enjoy a revenue of £1,862,000, to have all their wants provided for, and yet to have £835,000 available for pnblic works and other luxuries. Most ludicrous thing of all, this was to be the result of an equitable adjustment of the public burdens of the colony, or the nearest approach to it which Mr. Clark could see if such an equitable adjustment' yf£re desired. Mr. Clark had clearly oVersliot the mark; vaulted over his hobby-horse and fallen on the other side. The conclusion proved too much, and-was too. absurd to spend a weary hour in mastering its cumbrous details to see where the fallacy lay. We were quite content to let common sense repudiate instinctively so equitable an adjustment of the public burdens and to pass the statement by without criticism, but as Mr. Clark is

dissatisfied with this course we-will endeavour to point out to him as shortly as possible wherein his fallacies lie. ,

■ Let us first state the case as Sir. Clark himself puts it. The North Island is to have a revenue, exclusive of land fund, of £643,000, and the South £1,203,000— very nearly double the amount. The expenditure—merely the present expenditure of the General Government, be it remembered—is to be £356,500 for the North, and £357,676 for the South Island respectively. This extraordinary result is obtained by saddling the North Island with £35,000 for the Native Department, while the South contributes only £500. For Militia and Yolunteers the North Island is to pay £12,000, and the South Island £7,500. The Constabulary, £91,000, is to be charged entirely to the North Island, and with this ends the first chapter in the new " equitable adjustment," intended to supersede that which became law under the same high-sounding title in 1856. Let us now turn to Sir. Clark's adjustment of the charges on the public debt. Tiie North Island is to pay £336,000, and the South £609,500, making together £945,000 for this purpose, a sum very much under the mark, but that we will pass by for the present. Mr. Clark tells us he has arrived at this equitable adjustment, by allocating the charge for "general debt" to each Island in proportion to its "consolidated" revenue, and for works and immigration in proportion to the amount expended upon each. But wherein lies the equity of this allocation, which leaves out of the question altogether, the proportions of the charges on the general debt that must be borne by the land revenue in any adjustment claiming io be in the least"degree "equitable?" This brings us to the land revenue itself, which is stated at £102,000 for the North Island, and £660,000 for the South, and is credited to them at these full figures, and without any deduction, in Mr. Clark's equitable adjustment of the public burdens of the two Islands respectively. The final result of these intricate, and we are bound to add very imaginative calculations, is as follows :— N. Island. S. Island. Revenue o( all kinds .. .. £T45,281 £1,862,97* Expenditure of all kinds .. 092,770 067,170 Available balance for all local purposes 52,505 835,798 In this expenditure is included £140,000 for the three items of Armed Constabulary, Native Department, and Militia alone. Mr. Clark appears to think it equitable that the North Island should bear these charges, that it should take upon itself an amount of the debt proportioned to its Customs or consolidated revenue as compared with the same revenue of the South, and finally that the South should have its £660,000 of land revenue intact to spend for its own purposes, and to bear no share of the public burdens either of Government or of debt, which are to fall upon the Colony. Of course with such free handling and such very innocent assumptions, it is easy to prove anything, but the conclusion proved can certainly not be styled an "equitable adjustment" of the public burdens, which ia, we presume, what this financial statement is designed to illustrate. There is another trifling inaccuracy involving perhaps a few hundred thousand pounds altogether, which might be worth Mr. Clark's attention. He states that he has left out all " provincial revenues" because he has not included " provincial expenditure" such as police, gaols, hospitals, &c. He does this because the one may be regarded as a ir-it-off against the other. But is Mr. Clark not aware that thiß applies only to the landless provinces of which "Westland and Auckland are the only two 1 Their revenue is small and their expenditure proportioned. But with the others it is a very different affair. Take Otago for example. Her " provincial revenue" is no larger than ours inasmuch a3 the General Government absorbs her share of the Customs duties as it does our own. Her " provincial expenditure" however is on a very different scale. Wo take a few of the items for the present year :— Police £26,000 Gaol 15,000 Crown lands administration and survey .. ICSOO Engineers' department 0^275 Education ♦ 35*000 Hospital 7.000 Asylum 0,000 Benevolent instituting, libraries, &c. .. 10,000 Here we have £120,000, to which may be added at least as much for merely keeping in repair the roads, bridges, jetties, and works which are spread over the province. The total sum appropriated for public works and school buildings was £256,000, and all who know Otago are aware how large a portion of this is for repairs alone. Together, the mere repairs and charges above quoted would be about £180,000 in excess of the Provincial revenue—and of this Mr. Clark takes no account whatever. We have not the Canterbury Provincial estimates, but they doubtless would shew even a larger difference between Provincial revenue and Provincial expenditure, which, in nearly all the provinces except Auckland and Westland, are very far indeed from "equalising each other." We have the greatest respect for Mr. Clark. We have full confidence in his high character, but as a " practical business man" he has yet to learn that no one can be a master in political science until he has read much, observed much, and made himself thoroughly conversant with the history and politics of other countries as well as his own colony. A man so trained will learn the value of a principle and strive to grasp it. He will not be led away by the delusion that statesmanship is a mere matter of £ s d nor seek to take the highest flights tili he feels that he has thoroughly mastered the new business to which his hand is to be set.

We are now receiving the accounts of the polling throughout the colony, and may ' make a few explanatory notes on those events which appear elsewhere in our columns. Christchurch has made a change in its representation, and, on the whole, there is an improvement. That city was represented in the last Parliament by Mr. Richardson and Mr. E. J. Wakefield, but the latter had fallen so low in behaviour and self-respect that he was not by any means a credit to his constituency. On this occasion, however, he was a candidate, and received a larger number of votes than could reasonably have been expected. Mr. Stevens, who is at the head of the poll, was formerly a member of the House, and was a strong supporter of Mr. Stafford. We believe he will generally be found supporting the measures proposed for the Abolition of the provinces, and substitute a system of local government, whatever that may be. The 'third member which Christchurch now has is Mr. Moorhouse, whom we like least of all, as he does not hesitate to avow himself a supporter and even an "admirer" of the present Government. Mr. J/ C. Brown" we: reckon amongst-, the .-,Opposition,., ag, he" | aided them last sessionj but we do-not think; he would be found ready to follow in all ciri cumstances the 'lead .of . Mr. ' .Macandrew.'.; ' Mr. ;"Bowen has had ii close fight'for Kis seatat Kaiapoi, but has won. In Wellington,, the two former members have been returned. Mr. Hunter voted against the Abolition Hill, but in his address to the electors he expressed himself clearly against the policy of Separation advocated in utago and Auckjand.

The speechdelivered at Parnell last night by Mr. Reader Wood YfaS one of the best of the series, and ire feel sore will be felt by the Ministry and their supporters to be one of the most damaging, if not the most damaging, which has been delivered during this election. Mr. Wood takes as his keynote the injustice which ia dene to Auckland and the North Island by the present financial arrangements of the colony, If Ministers desire to make one colony, let that be done in the most important respect—that the burdens should be one and the revenue one. The details given by our special correspondent of the dreadful floods in England will be read with great interest.

THE HOLIDAY.

In order to give the employees of the Herald a holiday on Boxing Day, there -will bo no issue of this journal on Tuesday morning.

With the Weekly Herald, on Saturday (Christmas-day), -will be published a Christmas Supplement, containing Christmas poetry, conundrums for Christmas, amusements for evening parties, acrostics, enigmas, puzzles, charades, &c.; fun for everybody, a variety of interesting and thrilling stories, recipes, &c., &c. On the following Saturday (New Year's Day) -will be issued with the New Zealaito Herald and the Weekly Herald, an Illuminated Almanac for 1876. Queen-street tradesmen have prepared, or are preparing their shops, and exhibiting j their -wares, in view of the approaching | Christmas festivities. The show of dried fruits and sweetmeats in the grocers' establishments is tempting to behold ; while the exhibition of prize meat and fat cattle iu the butchers' shops is enough to set one longing for the dinner-bell to ring. Amongst the latter is Messrs. Fisher and Co.'s establishment, who are shewing -nothing but provincial fattened stock, principally from Mr. Robert Hall's farm, at Mangare, and their own. Formerly, cattle fed in the province had a poor appearance, and were little thought of, bnt an inspection of that meat now shewn at the corner of Durham-street will prove that improvements arc taking place in land culture yearly, and the day is not very far distant when we shall, in a measure, be independent of other provinces for live-stock. Mr. Dornwell is this year not behind-hand in the decoration of his premises both with evergreens and prize meat. To-day will be a busy one for the butchers. Loughlin O'Brien, Esq., Registrar of the Supreme Court, retires from the public service from the 31st of December. Yesterday was virtually the last sitting of the Court this year, so that Mr. O'Brien has practically ceased to be a public servant. The late Registrar entered the public service so long ago as 1855, under the late Colonel Wynyard, having therefore been twenty-one years in the department of law and justice. He filled the office of Sheriff, under the late Chief Justice Arney, to which position Colonel Balneavis succeded upon the promotion of Mr. O'Brien to the office the duties of which he so efficiently performed from the date of his appointment in 1865 up to the present year. The late Registrar retiroa on a well-earned pension. All who have had business iu the Supreme Court can appreciate his unfailing courtesy, his constant alacrity to oblige, and his indefatigable assiduity in the performance of the duties of his office. To an unassuming manner, an amiable disposition, Mr. O'Brien united a high degree of scholarship and culture. The regret felt by hiscoUnaguesand the profession for his personal loss will be compensated by the esteem and good wishes which accompany him into his retirement.

The rules -nd regulations under the Debtors and Creditors Act, 1875, have been published for general information. The judge has power to order a matter to be disposed of in open Court, where he thinks such a matter ought to be so heard, or where all the contending parties shall require any matter to be so heard. In appeals from resolutions of creditors' meeting, notice of objection must be served on the chairman (or his solicitor) of such meeting, with the grounds thereof, within fourteen days of the date of the resolution. Notice of such objection and appeal must be seroed on the trustee within three days thereafter. The appeal shall be in the form of a case agreed on by the appellant and the chairman of the meeting. If they cannot agree, the judge of the Court will have power to hear both parties and settle the case. The trustee at the time of the passing of the resolution will be deemed the respondent. The proceedings to be taken by debtors and creditors to obtain liquidation are prescribed almost in the terms of the statute. The Aet has .been already summarised in these columns. The Gazette of the 16th December also contains the forms of the statement to be filed, of the Registrar's certificate, the Gazette notice, the debtors' summons, the order of Court, order of procedure in absence of debtor, and liquidation resolution. The Act comes into operation upon the Ist day of January next (New Year's Day).

The people at the Thames are somewhat alarmed at the prospect of an outbreak of scarlet fever in their community. A correspondent of one of the local papers writes :—" Sir, —I notice with alarm the advent of scarlet fever in our raidat, and would earnestly request butchers who render down fat and kill on the premises—on the sly, of course—and keep pigs in the midst of our people, to discontinue the practice at once, or woe betide us. Scarlet fever broke out in Coromandel near .the shop of a butcher who had been in the habit of doing these things; and I notice the Empire Hotel is not far from an old butcher's shop, and doubtless that is the source of the the plague." Last night's Thames Star says:—"We are sorry to laarn that two fresh cases of scarlet fever have developed themselves. One is unfortunately at Mr. McDowell's, where the first case occurred, and the other is said to be somewhere on the Tararu Road. Measures have been taken for the isolation of these cases, we believe, and it is much to be hoyed that the precautions taken will avert the threatened spread of such an insidious disease. The Health Officer of the Borough should insist on a rigorous cleanliness of all back yards just now, especially in the thickly peopled parts of Grahamstown."

The ordinary monthly sitting in bankruptcy was held yesterday, and the following business disposed of :—F. B. Barnes, discharged ;• E. Kennan, discharged; T. G. Brownell, discharged ; Thomas Wells (deed of arrangement), deed declared completely executed subject to an affidavit to be made by a creditor that he was satisfied with his security ; E. P. Gibbons, Onehunga (deed of arrangement), deed declared completely executed. The details will be found in another column.

The occupants of the cells in the watchhouse last evening consisted of fonr individuals who, overcome by the influence of the weather, had succumbed to the wilea of the tempter and partaken of more liquor than they could with safety carry, and were of course "run in" by the vigilant guardians of the peace. A man for deserting the wife of his bosom, was also provided with lodgings in the same haven of rest.-

I To-morrow afternoon, in the Domain, there will be a scratch match, open to all comera who are members of cricket clubs. Intending players are requested to restrain their annual Christmas gorge within the p torpid point. A condition of partial coma, ;after a surfeit of the inevitable goose, is unfavourable to activity in the cricket-fielel. | His Honor the Superintendent has left for I |the Kawan, where he will pass the Christmas holidays, not perhaps in peace and quiet, have 410 dpubi there will be numerous ■visitors; Tiut atalFevehts 1 in relief' from' troubles of government and electioneering.

. The Treasurer of the Orphan Home thankfully acknowledges the'followmg donations: From Dr. Kenderdine, £2; from G. Holdship, Esq., £2 ; from 11. Chisholm, E»q., £2 2s.

Those who have read " Valentine Vox" trill be, pleased to see _ him > resuscitated at the City Hall this evening, on the occaiion of the grand opening night of Mr. E. I>. Davies, the premier ventriloquist. Mr. Davies, since his departure from San Francisco, has made a moat successful tour in the Australian colonies and the South of New Zealand. He brings with him a talented company, which during the Christmas holidays ia likely to form an attraction. In Mr. Davios is constituted the original "Johnny Riley," and other specialities. The Daily Telegraph thus critices hia performance at the Royal Alhambra Music Hall, London: —" Mr. E. D. Davies, the greatest ventriloquist of the day, must be complimented on the great success he has attained with his two friends, Tommy and Joey. This second engagement at this establishment ia an endorsement of his popularity during an engagement in the early part of the year at the Alhambra. The conversations and songs, whether by himself or his two automaton friends, are distinctly heard, laughed at, and applauded; indeed, we may say, with every truth, that the falsetto notes of Mr. Davies are the only ones we have ever heard touch and bring out a clear and ringing sound from the high aud immense dome of the Alhambra."

Mr. J. C. Firth returned to Grahamstown yesterday, from his trip to the Upper Thames to put salmon ova in the rivers. He was accompanied by Captain Goldsmith, and wo learn that the ova were deposited in the Ohinemuri strem, a mile above Paeroa, and in the Waihou (Thames) some six miles above the junction. In the Ohinemuri stream a very fine gravelly spot was selected, and in the Waihou also a favourable place was found. The ova would have been taken further up, but for the fsct that it began to shew signs of decline. It is believed that COO out of the 700 ova have been placed in the water in a healthy state.

A number of persons last evening, having their spirits slightly elevated by a more than usual quantity of liquor, managed in their pursuit of drunken, frolic to smash several windows in the Auckland Hotel. The police were quickly in attendance, but as the men, now sobered by the consequences following upon their act, appeared extremely penitent and agreed to pay the amount of the damage done, the landlady declined to give them in charge, and they were accordingly allowed to wend their homeward way in deep meditation upon their folly.

It would appear that scarlet fever has taken hold at the Thames, and it is not unlikeiy that Auckland may be visited by the same disease. It will be seen by advertisement that the Central Board of Health for the province directs public attention to the provisions of the Public Health Act Deferring to the giving notice by medical men or householders of any cases of contagious diseases. In remarking on Mr. Swanson's speech at Newton, yesterday's Advertiser has an expression of regret at the state of his health. It says :—" We are extremely sorry to see that Mr. Swanson was compelled through ill health to read his speech. . . . All Tvho know Mr. Swanson, of whatever sh»de of political opinion, will read this statement with the utmost regret. Private letters from Mr. Sheehan state that he is detained still by the heavy business in connection with the Napier land claims that he has taken in hand, but that he may be depended upon to be in Auckland in time to contest Rodney against all comers. We understand that upwards of G5 season tickets were sold yesterday, at Mr. Upton's, for Mdlle. De Murska'a Concerts. The box plan remains open to subscribers for one week. The general manager of the Auckland and Mercer Railway announces that a special train will leave Onehunga for Auckland at 6.40 o'clock this evening, returning from Auckland at 11p.m. and Newmarket at 11.10 p.m. On Christmas Day trains will run the same as on week days. On Boxing Day, (27th inst.) trains will leave Auckland for JEllerslie Gardens every hour. The Christmas sale of poultry, turkeys, geese, fowls, &c., will take place at noon today, in the Market-house, by Mr. It. C. Greenwood, auctioneer. The ordinary half-yearly meeting of shareholders of the New Zealand Insurance Company, will be held on Wednesday, the 12th proximo. Notice is given of the filing of a declaration, by William Birch, of Otahuhu, that he is unable to meet his engagements with his creditors. A call of 8d is notified in the National Gold Mining Company, and of 3d in the Ural Gold Mining Company. Notice is given that the City Council offices will be closed during the holidays.