THE New Zealand Herald. SECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1876.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4482, 25 March 1876, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1876.

Our correspondent, " Colonist," raises a question to which we hare often called public attention. He estimates that since July, 1870, the province of Auckland must have contributed to the general revenue about £1,650,000, or about £1000 per day for- every working day in the year. The figures cannot be far wrong, the contribution for June, 1874, to June, ]870, being alone £310,842. "Colonist" asks, what has become of all this money 1 What has Auckland to shew for it ? As he justly observes, all our public works are paid for.by loans, and nothing can be gained by looking into their expenditure for an answer: to "the: queries he puts. A' good deal may ;be !done,~ however, ' by .booking into' the : expenditure the whole period" would be confnsing .td the general reader/ and- the expenditure

' for a single year will be sußicientrtoshew ' at a how the "how £ Jjhe \ \ , iApproJmatioii'fAct -.ending | Juiiei 30, be our best and safest guide:, "Wfef firs^state I !iiie gross/revenu'ej^tiuiingghe.V. 611 ending June last, 'was s of which Auckland paid the £310,842 before referred to. Now, a million and six hun- ' 'dred thousand-pounds,"'exclusive "of prol( and local revenues, .seems a-great. • deal to raise from so small -a population as that.of: Hew Zealand.. It would seem, also, 'a good Heal to. spend, but it" flies with delightful ; ease, merely in paying salaries and departments | connected! with the General Government, and. interest .on the public loans. Not-a . single farthing of this sum goes for public works.' Not a single ' farthing goes • towards the expenditure of Provincial , G&vernments. It is absorbed wholly and entirely, in. paying the*,services -of -the 1 General Government, and large as it is, : the amount is not sufficient, but must be supplemented from loans and other sources. The Appropriation Act' for thie : year now carrent tells., tho short and simple tale as follows :— Public departments (which include over £50.000 for Legislature and Executive, but donotinclude Ministers themselves) *-£70,731 Law and justice (which do not include v poliee) 67,355 Postal and telegraphic (including ocean services) 222,970 • Customs 58,292 Miscellaneous .. .. ~ ~ 49 03i Native—practicaUy at the discretion of the * Native Minister .. .. .. 37131 Militia and Volunteers .. ;. 22'sso Public domains and buildings .. .. 29 351 Armed Constabulary ... 9l'doo Liabilities from 1875 .. ... .. '' 35*075 Unauthorised expenditure from previous '* ' year (both this and the last item beiag - sure to appear in the expenditure of next r' year also) .. 55,274 Total .. .. .. .. £747,007 Here we have nearly three-quarters of a million accounted for in services of pure administration' arid departmental expenditure only. We take, no account of the Agent-General's office and'the Immigration Department, no account of the P.ublic Works Department, no account of subsidies to !Road Boards or capitation to provinces, no account of gaols, hospitals, asylums, benevolent institutions, or any of the expenditure of Provincial Governments. Without them, three-quarters of a million' are absorbed every year and fade away like, an unsubstantial vision, leaving not a wrack behind. Add to them— The charges on loans, which now amount yearly to .. „ £04^78"; Civil list (Governor's and Ministers' salaries, salaries of Judges, &e.} .. 28 2#7 Permanent charges (salaries fixed by Act' ' pensions, tc.).. .. ... .. .. 47 701 we have a- grand total of nearly one. million seven.' hundred and sixty-nine thousand pounds—exclusive of £40,000 taken ■ from loans towards paying- for defence purposes" last year.' The total,. including this, . would .be -over 4 £.1,800,000, which may be accepted - as the annual expenditure of the General Government merely to enable it to exist, without enabling it to expend a single penny - for ■ useful'works or reproductive purposes,' 'and without giving a single farthing as capitation, or for any provincial purpose whatever. This is the plain unvarnished tale, and no one reading it can long be in doubt as to' where is the maelstrom in which the £310,000 raised from Auckland last year was so easily swept away. It goes solely in paying charges on the Colonial debt, and in paying the departmental services of- the General Government. The worst feature in the case is this. Large though the sum is, it is not enough. The revenue for 1 was £1,605,002. The expenditure on departments and on the debt for 1875-6 is to be £1,768,840. Unless the revenue increase, we shall have, therefore, a deficiency of at least £150,000 to deal with when the Assembly meet. This deficiency means new taxes or retrenchment. Perhaps it may mean both; but in any case it means that the General Government is utterly unable, let Ministers say what they may, to provide for provincial" services arid public works, except either by loans, by further taxation, or from land-fund. If from land fund, they will have to take over the costly provincial departments connected with its administration and do some of the costly public works to which it is now provincially appropriated. Ministers distinctly tell us, however, that they intend 'caving the land fund as it is, and in that case new taxes or new loans will be their only resource. Where else are they to get the £80,000 promised to the Road Boards and Corporations,' or where else the means of providing for the smallest provincial service, especially when they have "localised" the licences and fees'? We have said nothing about the £50,000 they are supposed to pay every year from the stamp taxes into the railway fund. Nor have we taken into account any revenue from working the railways, which the Colonial Treasurer himself only estimated this year at £50,000 beyond expenses for the whole colony. The prospect of new taxation is not pleasant to any part of the colony. Least of all can it be so to us in Auckland who have no land fund to keep for our exclusive advantage, and to enable us to bear new taxes more lightly. " Colonist " 17111 see, from what we have said, how the money goes for one year, and he may take it as a fair index of the whole period he refers to. When wa add to it native lands locked up or misappropriated, loan expenditure miserably out of proportion to our population, and contributions to the colonial revenue, he will see there is ample room for the essay "he suggests, and the publication of which would be likely to prove extremely useful.

It would appear from our English telegrams, what, indeed, we believed from the first would be found to be the case, that the discussion as to the Queen's title involved a good deal more than the mere question of what she would be styled as the chief ruler o£ India. The question has evidently attracted much attention in England, and Mr. ; Disraeli has had to give the assurance that Her Majesty would not assume the title of .Empress of England, and that her children would not be called "Imperial Highness." The British people, while loyal to the Crown, are plainly averse to anything whichlooks likeanaugmentation ofits powers, and are jealous even of a name. We are quite sure that no change of title would have any effect in increasing the power or influence of the Sovereign o£ England. The rulers of Great Britain in the future will best serve the interests of the Crown by shewing themselves to be anxious for the welfare and good government of the people, rather than for their own personal or official aggrandisement. It will be seen from our telegrams that the Hon. W. Swainson, of Auckland, has been gazetted a member of the Executive CouneiL I This has no political significance whatever, and does not mean that Mr. Swainson takes' any part with the Ministry. Mr. Swainson accepts the position in order to give validity to: certain acts of the Governor, which he can only lawfully do when two members of the Executive Council are present. A few days ago,' His Excellency assented to the expenditure of money at the-Thames, and, if j we are not mistaken. - that act was illegal.; We may remark ; that itTis very considerate, of Mr, .Swainson to accept an office which: gives him a good-deal of trouble, and for l ' which He receives no emolument.

7 In a paragraph in jwe r gave the of a gentleman] who has been making r libraries,; an'd-j^whoJ?xeferring tofthe library" j. of the Gfo'riltianVA^c^atibn/; 2 came less valuable sprits j are j read and; f the betted! jgreabveitent^ \ne- * glected." As a case in point) he mentions. e that a volume of Addison's works had been - removed from the library only once during - six years| while scores "of booka "infinitely ti inferior,-had been worn out by extensive i circulation.--A subscriber to the same vinsti- . tution furnishes us with another,.and_somet what amusing'illustratiorir of j in which the taste 'is trending, 3 which 'supports the - view taken -by - our previous correspondent':—lu the 1 library of-the institution was*an exfcel--1 •of Wesley's critical works. ' years ago one of the. members of .tlie 3 committee, in the fulfilment of his ecclesiasI tical engagements, had occasion' to refer to L that distinguished divine's " Notes on the 5 Romans." The v good old '.man, pondering } over tie tome, fell into a "brown study," * as theologians are somewhat prone to do, : and, abstractedly removing his " specs" from * his' venerable nose, he carefully placed them £ iit the "volume and replaced it on the shelf. A short time back, the committee of the institution determined to dispose of a number of "dead-heads" and works which were; 1 rarely, if ever, uaed, and devote the proceeds to. thepurchase. of new books, 5 which would go into general circulation. 5 In the new "Index Expurgatorius" thus 2 collated, appeared the works above referred * to. Some little dissent was manifested, in L certain quarters, at their proposed sale, ; whereupon the committeeman already alL luded to—who was " sweet" on the "Notes I on the Romans"—offered to purchase the lot, 9 some 20 vols. The committee knowing that the works were falling into good hands, and would be_ duly appreciated and .utilised, ac- _ ceded to the proposal. Carrying his trear sure home, the committeeman, true to his j old instincts, fell back upon the "Notes on » the Romans," when lo ! what should appear but his "specs," bright'and unharmed as when,years before,he ha(T removed them from ' their natural-resting-place. The incident, as might be expected, caused some little fun , among his fellow-committeemen, one of ■ whom waggishly remarked, : that it the » gentleman in question had postponed his investigation of the "Notes on the' Romans" for. one of those geologic periods covered by " the ages of the ages," his " specs" would still have been safe from - tlie lawless grasp of the amusement-hunting, fictionloving class of readers, who constitute the great bulk of the subscribers to our public libraries. • The pretty and characteristic drama, entitled "Milky White," was produced last evening at the Prince of -Wales Theatre for ,the opening of a new season. The occasionwas remarkable for the return of some old favourites to the boards. Mrs. C. Searle was the Mrs. : Sadripp, and Mr. Lawrence took the 1 title-role, both playing their respective parts ! exceedingly welt. Miss Jennie Nye played the part of Annie, and Mr. Collier that of Archibald Good. Roth justified their -constancy to this stage in all changes of performance by their ' excellent, knowledge of stage business and general- powers of adaptation to a variety of distinct characters.' Mr. Alexander's Dick Duggs was sufficiently . pronounced and loutish to make the impersonation generally truthful and effective, The performance concluded with "His Last Legs," in which Mr. Collier appeared as O'Callaghan. This is one of Mr. Collier's most effective performances, and he was on less successful lastnightthanonpreviousocca- i sions. For all these reasons, the performances last night must- be taken as. a success. The annoucement however, "that pleases us most is that of th£ expected return of Miss Carry George to the stage aftera very protracted illness which at one time gave very serious apprehensions to her friends and family.; Miss Carry George, without making any extraordinary pretensions, is one of the most accomplished, truthful, and, in some parts/ successful actresses we have ever had in Auckland. Her return to the stage'will be welcomed by all who admire good aud legitimate acting and personal which place her en rapport with the best and finest feelings of her audiences. We understand the company willbe much strengthened in a few days by the arrival of two or three artists, with whom engagements have been made by Mr. De Lias. Much annoyance was caused last evening to an assemblage of persons in St. Matthew's Church by the mischievous pranks of a number of young larrikins who were congregated outside. These " hoodlums," or whatever else they may be designated, seemed to take infinite delight in creeping cautiously to the church porch, opening the door leading into the building, and applying their first and second fingers to their mouth, emit a whistling sound which would not disgrace the steam pipe of a train. However, the experiment was repeated once .too often, for one young gentleman, emboldened by success ventured too far in the pursuit of V»ia mila amusement, and the consequence was his capture. We regret to say, however, that the captor did not oblige the innocent youth to " walk off on his ear," but instead led him homewards, where we trust the parents will not spare the rod. The music-loving citizens of Aucldand will be pleased to learn that before taking their departure for the South, the Opera Bouffe Company intend giving a grand farewell performance. Monday evening is the occasion selected, and we are.happy to announce that a treat is in store for intending'visitors, fresh talent having been engaged in the shape of .Mr. Cary, the popular baritone, whose. songs contributed so much to the suocess of Smith's Combination Troupe. "Chilperic," and "La Chatte Blanche," are the pieces selected, Mr. Cary taking the part of Divitiacus, the Arch Druid, J in the former. As there can be no doubt but that performance will be a great success, we anticipate a bunker house. We understand that the services of Miss Jennie Nye have been secured by Mr. Sheppardson, on behalf of the Opera Bouffe Company. The proceedings against Major Pitt are somewhat interesting. We should be inj clined to think that the Major's forte is not ! electioneering. He is too blunt, and goes straight to the point. He ought to have taken a lesson from some of the masters of

b the art in Auckland, before the election came - off. Major Pitt said to Hori Ngatai, " Can't j you influence any one to vote for Mr. ; . Bead?" and the prompt reply is, " Unless 1 you give us some money, we can't influence | r anyone." This shows "what are the ideas j - of the free and independent Maori electors, ] and Mr. Johnson's evidence is confirmatory, i . This ought to lead us to moralise upon the i - propriety of allowing Maoris to vote at all, • but probably, if the truth were known, a i ■ good many Europeans are no better, and ' with them, too, money is the most potent i influence. The "inter-parochial" cricket match be- 1 tween elevens from St. Matthew's and St. J Sepulchre's Churches will take place to-day, 1 on the Domain ground. Players are requested c to be on the groundat 1.30 p.m. The teams ' are St. Matthew's: Messrs. Ward, Thorne, .Nolan, Mumford, Waterhouse, Osborne, r Hamilton (2), Dufaur (2), and Choyce ; a emergency men: Messrs. Ward, jun., P. s Dufaur, and Haultain, St. Sepulchre's : a Messrs. Rice, Garland, Connell, Ryan, Wil- T loughby, Bell, H. Gilfillan, G. Ridings, E. < Morrow, Taylor, and Batham; emergency t men : Messrs. Pierce, jun., and Green. g His Worship the Mayor of the Thames, ' M r - Rowe, M,H.R.,.Mr. Richards, Mr. J., s Hall, Mr. C. Wright, and Mr. Renshaw 1 had an interview yesterday with his Honor t the Superintendent in reference to the pro- ri posed expenditure ; of part of the £50,000. b granted in loan to the Pumping Associ- v ation, in driving southwards from the bottom! of the shaft, which is 650 deep. Suble- „ quently a meeting'of the directors of the' , Pumping Association was held on the sub- I T ject, a£ ; Mr."-Tothill's office. " ; | Captain Eraser'has given £5 to have tile! fc Katikati Channel staked. . - - : C ; ~.. 5 c i f«

: Thp Central Board of > lishecl a very useful book, jit S { the information and instruction! which [" and lo calvsc ho ol; - Co mini t to C 3 lean E -require, and that's will commend ) "the educrtional system [at present inppferal; tion througliout tha i province, to, the sym- •. 'pathy of those sjrhbL are-'not infljieacei s. Jsy motives of - *' sectarian prejudice. i The report of the Provincial' Scholarships • examinations of 1573 and~lS74, grammar r5 and reports of the, Central Board and statistical information of .a very copious kind . are.amongst the.contents of the volume. It 1" ils6*"eontaliis~a~ 'list" of' endowments -leased, , plans and specifications for school buildings T' and teachers'houses, and copies of the Edu--3 cation Act, 1872, and the Amendment Act, 1574. The following summary of the ata--1 tistical information . is, interesting, as 2 showing the extent of the operations of the - Board, oven in its -present financially ) crippled position.. The report -says :— 3 " There wereß2B4 pupils on the school rolls ; during the last quarter March. ' The average attendance was. 4929, a propor- , tion'smaller than in other quarters, and due i to the prevalence of measles. At the end of i 1573, according to the latest statistics oh the subject, only 1552 children in - the private schools in this province, and it is r not unlikely'that the'opening of common 3: schools has reduced this number in 1874. - The total number of children between 5 and , 15 in the province, on 31st March last year, when the census was taken, was 16,718, and i this number must since have increased conL siderably.' \J'lt \vould therefore be fair to l that there; should be between , 11,000. and 12,000 children on the rolls of the - various schools in the province. The numi ber actually on the rolls of schools, private , and public, being below 10,000, there remain t between: one: and two .thousand to account L for before the-number is attained to which . the Bo*rd judge—by the experience of other . countries—they have a right to aspire/ The i Board have shewn that the present funds at i their command "are utterly inadequate to • meet the growing claims upon them. ■ ! The ordinary weekly sitting of the R.M. 1 Court, was held yesterday. Several undofended cases were proved, and judgment i given for the plaintiffs. " There: was one, case" of considera,ble'interest part heard, and in 1 respect to which'no comment can-be made ; pendente lite. The facts of the case are as follow :—Mr. C. A. Taylor, son of the head master of Auckland College and Grammar School, Upper' Queen-street, was captain of 1 the Sir George Grey Cadets, who were previously known as the Blue School Corps.' 1 After the disbanding of the corps, he was sued for the uniforms, which were made by Mr. Saunders, tailor, Queen-street. Judgment was given against him for £20, but an opinion was expressed by the-Bench that Mr. Taylor, might sue the parents of the boys for the amounts of the uniforms severally. Mr. Taylor now brought his action against Mr. Melton, the father of one of the boys, for £3 16s. The particulars will bef found in another column. It was shewn that Mr. Taylor, had received nearly £160 of capitation money in four years, and the question in issue was, whether the balance due to the tailor was to be paid out of capitation money which Mr. Taylor had received, , or by the boys. An outline of the proceedings appears in oar ordinary report. The : issue to.be decided is one of importance, and will turn "mainly upon the 'condition under which the lads agreed to join the corps. ' Long before the usual period of the year, ; ' squally weather has set iu. This is subject for regret, not only because useful works have of necessity been suspended, but because a great number of men have, at a very unfortunate time; been.thrown eut of employ. 1 The works at Fort Britomart, the construction of Fort-street, the works at Freeman's Bay, the cutting in Hobson-street, the formation of the road by the beach to Parnell, as well as many other, useful works, have been of necessity temporarily suspended. There is, however, a probability that the forthcoming new moon may bring us another spell of fair weather. If some modern savants are to be however, thi; moon has no influence on the weather at all. All chess-players in the province who desire to take part in the forthcoming match for the Inter-provincial Challenge Cup, are requested to send in their names to Mr. Jakins, on or before the 31st March. We hepe that the Auckland players will muster strongly, so that a good opportunity will be given for practice, and any hidden talent which there is amongst us, will be brought to light. !At present, Auckland holds the premier positionin the colony in the' '.Royal game" —for we do not think, after the defeat of Dunedin, there is much hope for any other place — and we should like to retain that position. Only players who enter will play in the handicap match for the yearly ownership of the Cup, should it belong to the province of Auckland. Two of the trusses for the roof of the new theatre were placed in position yesterday. It appears, therefore, that it is "likely the building will be completed before the contract time, aud the ghost of Banquo fret his part ere long over the bones of the malefactors which repose under the stage of the new theatre. It is to be hoped that the skeletons of those hanged, and. buried in the old gaol yard, will not rise, Fantoccini-like, and usurp the boards to the terror of the legitimate occupants and the dismay of tho visitors. A good many months ago the market clock was taken away for the purpose of being repaired. It had always been sick, and required medical treatment. To what physician or surgeon it was taken does not seem to be known to anyone, and there is still a vacant hole in the front of the marketplace. The want !of a subsidiary town clock is much needed in the southern portion of the' city, and the convalescence of the market clock is anxiously looked for by many of the residents in the neighbourhood. The usual weekly drill of the Naval Brigade took place in the drill-shed last evening. There was a good muster, and the men were exercised in a number of movements, which they executed very fairly. The members of the band were also present, and practised several tunes, much to the delight of all the small boys in the vicinity. The annual inspection of the Company will take place in the driil-shed next Friday evening. It will be seen that the late fine cruahingo from the Union Beach have eventuated in a dividend of 5s per share. Verily the ups and downs in mining are wonderful. The Green Harp was thought to be an unmitigated swindle, but a few had faith in the ground, and now, as the Union Beach, it produces handsome returns of gold, and bids fair to be a good mining property for years to come. The sports at Hatfield's Bay, on St. Patrick's Day, resulted as follow :—lst race, won by Mr. Vanner's Harkaway; Mr. C. Pumara's Bay of"lslands, second. 2nd race, for Settlers' Purse of 3 so vs., Mr. A. J. Hatfield's Lightning, Ist; Mr. W. R. Hatfield's Spitfire, 2nd; Mr. Thomson's ■ Will, 3rd. The sports were concluded with j a ball in the evening, at which Mr. J. Neal ■ i acted as M. C. . We understand that, amongst the 190 ' men who signed the petition at the Thames ' as destitute, was one of the Vesey Stewart settlers, a man who had been awarded a handsome grant of land at Ivatikati, | which he had received because he was a '■ "capitalist," and had money sufficient to * bring his grant into cultivation, and to en- I gage fn farming as an employer of labour. j The Bay of Plenty Times states that in- T stnictions have been received by Captain c Tiirner to cut up 742 acres, situated between '< the confiscation boundary and the Waimapu j river, into two sections without delay. A , n block of -land at Katikati is also being sur- a veyed. j. Accommodation was provided in the police A cells - nigHt 'for "four "persons charged n with drunkenness, two "sailors for disobeying' 8' lawful.commands on board ship,- one woman: a For abreachof the Vagrant Act, and It for being the proprietress of a houss of ill- | : a fame. lb

? are requested to call the attention of sporting men to the fact that the nomination*, v or the Hurdle and Easter Handicap-! will l 'close on<Friday evening next, at S o'clock, au. L ' the Exchange Hotel. j. •>' Divine serTice will bo held in the following •' Peaces of worship to-morrow (Sunday) as under: New Congregational Church, Be'res-ford-street: Rev. Warlow Da vies, Mi 1 I- JKtt-street.^eslevai I , Rev --A-r-Keid, eyenmg. Grafton lioad wis-' t Eev. H. H. Lawry, mbrning; f. WilhaaM, _ evening... -Newton ' Hall: Service at II a.m audX3o"Vm Lome-street? Hall : Rev. S. Edgcr, paitormorning, "Love" in tho Great Sacrifice-"" ' evening, "Those whom God cauuot Save."' 3 " The anniversary sermons of Parncll Wes: i leyan Church will be preached to-morrow r by the Bev. A. Eeid in tho moraine' . Rev. W. J. Williams in the afternoon i and Mr. Barton in the evening. On Tuesday . evening next a public tea meeting will be . held at 6.30, after which the.annual public i meeting will take place, when several f ministers and others will deliver addres-es. 5 The Rev. J. 'T. Hinton, from the Thames, 1 will conduct the morning service in the 3 Baptist Chapel, to morrow' 1 morning, and one of the lay-preachers irithe ? . j evening; the. pastor (Rev. P. H. Cornford). being at the Thames. After next Sunday I the evening services at this chapel will com- • mence at 6.30. j It will be seen by our advertising columns ! that' arrangements are being made for a. 5 social evening in connection with the Lorne- . street Hall congregation for Good Friday I April 14. V The secretary of the Board of Education t announces that bound copies of the Act and i of the Rules and Regulations, &c., may be - had by- school committees and teachers on, 3 application at the office of the Board of Edn--6 cation/ . ' Tenders for the erection of a school-house- . at Flat Bush will be received by Mr. Allan,. ? chairman of the school committee, up to 6th April. Particulars may be obtained at the i office of the Board of Education. . ■ - [ Mr. Dornwell notifies that lie intends to , remove his business to the premises near the ' new Theatre. A dividend of 5s per share has been de- ' alared in tho Union Beach Gold Mining. Company. A sale of leases of land belonging to the Improvement Commissioners will take place on tho 2nd May. . A notice appears elsewhere to army and navy pensioners. A meeting of trustees of the Auckland Savings' Bank will be held on Monday next. A liquidation notice, re Clement Witheford, apijears elsewhere. A bankruptcy notice, re Joseph Moses, 1 appears elsewhere. ':