THE The New Zealand Herald SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1876.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4534, 25 May 1876, Page 2

THE The New Zealand Herald SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1876.

The publication by the Premier, in his second letter to Mr. Macandrew, of the programme laid down for " taking possession of the provinces," is explained fully in the last Auckland Gazette, which contains'the correspondence with Sir George Grey respecting the duties which the three able Civil Servants sent to him were to perform. From this correspondence we find that what we had regarded as a frank statement of Ministerial

policy was only a copy of the instructions given to the.'Civil Servants to.guide them in their enquiries, and to shew what was expected from them. The correspondence begins with a letter of introduction from the Premier to the Superintendent. This letter informs His Honor that "Messrs. Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles are visiting, in succession, all the provinces, in order to obtain for the Colonial Government (no longer the ' General Government' apparently) the information necessary to prepare estimates for the Provincial services after the abolition of Provinces takes place." He solicits His Honor's good offices, and concludes, "may I ask you to introduce them to the members of your Executive, and to any officers of the Provincial service with whom it is desirable they should consult, as also to allow them access to the Provincial offices." Accompanying this letter are the instructions given to Messrs. Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles, and of which the copy is forwarded for His Honor's iinformation. This is the document to which we desire more particularly to call attention. It i 3 an amusing compound of ignorance and impudence, and could never have come from any other Government than one in Wellington living among Civil Servants, the victim of perpetual adulation, and free from the criticism of an outspoken Press or the wholesome check of a disinterested public opinion. Not. a shadow of doubt seems to cross the Ministerial mind that whatever Sir Julius desires will bo done. It is his good pleasure to treat the Abolition Act as final, and the Local Government Bill as a matter of no importance. It is also his good pleasure to cast aside altogether the reasons why the operation of the Act was deferred till after the next session of Parliament, and to assume as definitely settled, that, which was to be submitted to the next Parliament for ratification. " For your guidance, I have to inform you," writes Sir Julius to the three travellers, " that the Government intend to incorporate, as stated below, Provincial with General Government services. In some respects, as for instance the land and the education administrations, which it is desirable to continue under local control, the incorporation will mean little more than the appointment of the General Government department with which the local department will correspond." Here we have the Premier's idea of local government and our own vindication of the statement we have so often made that, as developed in the abolition scheme of the Ministry, local government was only a shadow and a farce. It means "little more," to quote the Premier's own expression, " than the appointment of the General Government department with which the local department will correspond." Was it for this the provinces are to be abolished, increased work thrown on the Assembly, and increased patronage and power, to a dangerous extent, placed in the hands of the Ministry 1 The evils are apparent. The benefits we are altogether unable to discern, or to see how, in the smallest degree, the colony is to gain by abolition of this character. If the government of Superintendents and Provincial Councils is to be exchanged for the personal government of Ministers and UnderSecretaries, responsible only to a helpless and, as the Premier apparently thinks, servile Parliament, the change from Provincialism to what is called local selfgovernment will be only a mockery of the people and a delusion to Government supporters. The Commissioners were not to report at all on the Police. Nor were they to trouble themselves with charitable institutions, more than to indicate their present cost and footing. The Government intend to hand the Police over to the Minister of Justice and the charitable institutions over to local control " without, it is hoped, any intervening taking charge by the General Government." The Commissioners were " to be careful'to treat the Superintendents with the respect their high position merits and to remember their functions still continue," a caution in which arrogance and vulgar snobbery are combined so offensively as to constitute it an insult to authorities in whose favour the forbearance and politeness of these three Civil Servants were thus ostentatiously ordered. They are also reminded that Provincial Auditors are General Government officers and that they may apply to them for information and such aid as they may require. They are then told for their guidance that the transfers of Provincial duties will be :— (1) Executive Departments to the Colonial Secretary's office, (2) Police force to Minister of Justice, (3) Crown lands, goldfields and survey to the Crown Lands Department, (4) railways and public works, and public plantations, to the Minister for Public Works, (5) Harbour Departments to the Commissioner of Customs,. (6) Education, for a time at least, to the Minister of Justice, (7) everything else—hospitals, asylums, li&c, to the Colonial Secretary. As to these hospitals, schools, asylums, &c, which were to have been paid for out of the Customs revenue, the politician must be very green who doe 3 not see that local control " without any intervening taking charge by the General Government" must mean in their case "at local charge" as well. Government may subsidise them to a greater or less extent for a short time, but it is very unlikely ihe Assembly will merely vote money after a year or two for local bodies to spend. Many who have been hitherto ardent supporters of abolition will be surprised and disgusted when they find this is all the Premier understands by the term and by the cry for more thorough local government than Provincialism supplied. They will see at once that it means nominally putting the colony under the control of the Assembly, but really under the control of the Under-Secretaries, who will hold the threads in their hands, who will be more powerful than Ministers themselves, without whom Ministers will be helpless dummies, and upon whom each Government as it takes office will be entirely and absolutely dependent, just in proportion to the magnitude and complication of the departments under Ministers' nominal control.

Of the many scientific inventions for recording the periodic recurrence of natural phenomena, not the least valuable towards the prevention of accidents at sea, and consequently the preservation of human life, are those connected with meteorological observation. Twenty years ago the field of simultaneous data was bounded by a few miles of coast line, or the cumulative overcast of level and unoccupied land such, as Salisbury plain, or the Yorkshire moors. At that timo hardly any scientific observations were made out of England. The only weather wise were old seamen ; and Captain Marryatt has left us several graphic pictures of these worthies literally " on the look out for squalls." But now we know that the whole of Europe, from the North of Scotland to Madrid and Constantinople, furnishes the facts every twelve hours which go to make up the best comparative tables for reliable prognostica-

;ion. It is true that the journals in the coljny publish from day to day theweathersigns, from which predictions of moderate certainty may be made, but the particulars,, although positive and reliable, are separate, and therefore of little inferential value. A gale of considerable severity has visited the harbour af Auckland within the last few days. It was no doubt expected, but that is a very small propnrtion of the information desirable on such occasions. A knowledge of its probable duration, its direction, the characteristics by which it is accompanied, would be useful, because enabling a particular town or district to send on the news of its dangerous culmination or its exhaustion. There 13 a meteorological department in Wellington, presided over by Captain Edwin, who, we are told, is a competent man, but we hear of nothing being done in the way of forecasting storms in this part of the colony at all events. We cannot do better in a notice like this than to give some account of what is done in Europe in this respect, and this will be best effected by transferring to our columns one of these weather reports : — " The large area of low pressure which was advanciugonour south-western coasts yesterday bas spread slowly northward, and this morning we find its centre neir Holyhead. Ihe mercury is consequently rising over France and the greater part of England and Ireland, while it is falling in Scotland and Norway. The recovery has been rather brisk in the south-west of France, so that equally high readings are found in that region and in the north of Norway. Pressure is very uniform over these islands, and gradients are slight on all coasts. Temperature has fallen somewhat over France and our south-eastern stations, but has risen in most other places. The wind is fresh from west over France, from south-west in Germany and Denmark, and strong from northeast in the north of Scotland. On our other coasts very light breezes are reported, which, however, shew a distinct cyclonic circulation, being southerly on the east coast, easterly in the south of Scotland, and northerly over Ireland. Thunder and lightning have occurred in the north of England, and rain has fallen at nearly all places. The skyis now cloudy or overcast, except in the south-west of France, with rain fallin f at many stations, and snow at Oxo. The sea is rough at Stornoway and Wick; moderate to smooth elsewhere." It is obvious that any person reading the above, would understand the conditions under which he would have to make a contemplated journey in any particular direction. It were well if, in New Zealand, the Marine Board would, following the example of the Lords of the Admiralty, have compiled a daily bulletin of meteorological observations, transmissible to every town and coast village in the colony for general information. This is partially done already by various parties connected with shipping and mercantile interests, but not in a manner to afford information to those who are unskilled in the interpretation of natural phenomena. It will be seen by the perusal of the above extract, that the weather indications collected over nearly twenty degrees of north latitude, including Norway, Denmark, the British Isles, and France, are massed with a special object; the cyclonic circulation of the lighter winds, the variability of temperature, anil the uniformity of discrepancies of temperature over this whole plane of observation being distinctly noted. A person of experience in calculating the probable result of the notation, which we possess already, might indeed arrive at tolerably accurate conclusions to guide him in a particular instance. Such persons are, however, very few in number, as compared with those who absolutely require this to be done for them—and are comprised in the seafaring population of the colony. We may learn that it is "cloudy" in Canterbury, that there is a " blue sky" over Dunedin, that it is "calm" at Wellington, that dullness and " light breezes" prevail at Napier, that it is •' squally" at Taranaki; but few people have given themselves the trouble, or are suliicieutly skilled even if they did so, to make a comparative estimato of these indicia, with a view to a generalisation for a special object in view. Let us consider what might be done by the aid of the above brief and highlycompressed notification of the state of the weather. It is probable that persons interested in the assurance of ships at sea would find their advantage in knowing that "the low pressure was advancing on the southwestern coast, having its centre near Holyhead." The " mercury rising" over France would not be unprofitable information to the tourist, the traveller, or the sailor. The fact that the " gradients are slight on all the coasts" would give courage to embark upon some fair venture. Then follows the note of a "fall in temperature" in the south-east of France, and a '" brisk recovery" in the southwest. These are tilings which those who run are supposed to read without being told, but the fact is glaring that those who run do not read them, and none are so negligent in forming forecasts of weather as the very men whose lives and fortunes depend entirely upon its fitful manifestations. Of course, this notice is suggestive, and those who would have to give it any practical effect need only to kuuw the way in which the accuracy of their observation would be most useful to the iniblic to induce them to make their weather notices comprehensive as well as correct.

We are glad to observe from the telegram of our own reporter in Waikato, that the King has received the Native Minister in a friendly way, and that there is a prospect of an amicable conference between them. "We do not see that much practical good can result, but perhaps the benefits to be obtained from these interviews may be made manifest to the European colonists some day. While on this subject, we may say that, although on many points we think the administration of the Native Office, especially in respect to native lands, has been faulty, and calamitous to the country, we have ever acknowledged the many good qualities of Sir Donald McLean, whose knowledge as respects his own department is perfect, and whoso antecedents, skill in the language, and unfailing patience and good temper, peculiarly qualify him for dealing with natives.

Many persons expected I;hat as His Excellency the Marquis of Nonuanby was at present in Auckland, tho usual Birthday levee would follow at Government House yesterday. The weather at all events was not very favourable for going about, and under the circumstances, perhaps ,the amount of disappointment will be but little felt. We are glad to learn from several Northern subscribers, that our article on the forfeited forty-acre land grants, together with the extract from the report of Captain Ueale as to the quantities of land available and suited for settlement, has been productive of much good. One of our correspondents writes that several applications have already been forwarded to Mr. D. A. Tole, tho Commissioner of Crown lands, for increased holdings in various Northern districts. The North yet will make up for long neglect at the hands of some of our rulers. A young lady, the daughter of one of our AVyndham-street business people, we regret to hear, met with a serious accident on Tuesday night last whilst proceeding with another lady to her parent's residence in Nelson-street. The night was dark and wet, and when tho young lady was going down close to where she intended to pay a visit, she slipped, falling on the ground and breaking one of her arms. A correspondent informs us that the num. ber of engineers, &c, in and about the railway offices at present is as plentiful as " leaves in "Valambrosa;" and he wonders very much whether they are all on Government pay. We cannot answer. A Civil Service examination for youths about entering the public service, we learn, has been fixed for this day week. We believe about twelve boys have 'announced their intention of competing, and the examination will in all probability be conducted at the office of the General Government Agent, Major Green. '

We understand that His Excellency, with Lady Norraanby and staff, will leave Auckland on the 6th proximo, "for the Empire City. The Luna will come round to the Manukau to convey the vice-regal party to their destination. We understand that Mr. Barstow, who, is we have already stated, has been appointed by the Native Minister to enquire into certain charges in connection with some recent Northern native land purchases, has' not yet definitely decided when he will commence proceedings. The early meeting of the Assembly should be a strong reason for hurrying on the taking of evidence and Snishing the investigation. The many friends of Miss Alice May and Mr. Allen will regret to learn that their In : lian trip has been a pronounced failure. The company has broken up, and Mr. and Mrs. Allen, Mr. and Mr 3. Hallain, and Mr. md Mrs. Vernon, have been giving concerts, but even these have been comparative failures, as the people have been surfeited ivitk, amusements. An entertainment in aid of the convent schools was held in St. Mary's Hall, Oneaunga, on Tuesday evening. There was a large attendance. Songs, dialogues, and the drama constituted the evening's programme, md in which the Misses Underbill distinguished themselves. Dancing followed, and was indulged in until an early hour. The barque Wanlock, from Glasgow, is now daily expected with further shipments jf water-works plant, for Messrs. T. and S. Morrin's contract. The barque Vallejo, now an her way out from Liverpool, has also a quantity on board, and the remainder of the plant has been shipped on board the barque Robina Dunlop, from London. On arrival of these vessels no time will be lost by the contractors in fitting up the machinery and finishing the pipe laying, when the Auckland Water-works, so far as the contractors are concerned, will be an accomplished fact. English journals have been forwarded to us containing a letter written from Auckland to some friends at home, by Mr. T. B. Knight. The writer takes a somewhat desponding view of the position of the colony, which, of course, he has a perfect right to do, if he chooses. We must say, however, that some of the statements made are not correct, as, for instance, the following : — " At Russell, a coal mining district, I learn from a manager there are 300 to 400 men out of work; in fact, throughout the whole colony, men find it very difficult to get permanent work." In a statement of receipts and expenditure of the land fund for the quarter ended 31st March, IS7O, the provinces are represented in the following manner :—Auckland : Receipts, £4011 12s 2d; expenditure, £3705 5s 4d. Taranaki : Receipts, £0429 9s 9d; expenditure, £9470 3s 9d. Hawke's Bay: Receipt's, £IC, 4220s 5d ; expenditure, £15,429 7s 3d. Wellington: Receipts, £17,457 2s 7d; expenditure, £19,37S 4s Id. Nelson: Receipts, £10,779 15s 2d; expenditure, £10,537 2s Bd. Marlborough : Receipts, £IS4S 17s 3d ; expenditure, fISO3 4s 9d. Canterbury : Receipts, £103,351 2s; expenditure, £103,204 Ss Sd. Westland: Receipts, £3047 Ss 7d ; expenditure, £3G4S 9s 7d. Otago : Receipts, £45,270 16s Sd; expenditure, £4S, 150 14s 2d. It will be noticed at once, by a consideration of these figures, how unjustly Auckland is treated in regard to the expenditure of the money obtained in this way, as compared with the other provinces. Though, with the exceptionn of Marlborough and Westland, Auckland's receipts from the sale of her lands is the smallest, yet the amount kept by the Government is,' proportionately, far the largest. The sum expended in Wellington, Taranaki, and Westland (the latter very little), is in excess of the receipts ; but in all the other provinces below them, excepting Auckland and Hawke's Bay, however, the disparity is very trifling. Canterbury, with an income from this source of over £100,000, has all but £100 of that amount returned ; while Auckland, with only £4000, has about £250 taken from her. The Napier Telegraphies the following: —A singular story of crass ignorance comes to us from the country not very many miles from Napier. In a household in a certain district, a child was born, which, from the hour of its birth, gave evidence of au early death. A travelling preacher was accordingly called in to perform the baptismal rites ; but the holy man confessed his inability to accede to the request as he had aot been admitted to Orders. A few days afterwards the child died ; and the same itinerant "lay reader" was requested to £»ive some ghostly consolation on the occasion. This he did to the best of his ability, but lie took care to inform the bereaved that the child having died unbaptised, it could not receive Christian burial. It would have to be taken at the dead of night to the cemetery, and at midnight, thrust into the grave. Under these circumstances, the parents did not see why they should go to the expense and trouble of such nonsense, aud accordingly buried the baby in the garden. The " lay preacher" should certainly receive some token of public recognition of his knowledge of the religious persuasion of which he is supposed to be a chosen aud burning light. When the blind lead the blind, can we be surprised at the so-called irreligion of the age? The North Otago Times says :—'•' We are glad to be able to note the commencement of what promises to be a very considerable export of slate from this district. By the cutter Hope to-day 11,000 slates have been forwarded to the Dunedin market, and we feel sure this will be the precursor of many similar shipments. The states in question are from the extensive quarries recently opened near Otepopo, which are being worked by a company formed under the name of the Otago Slate Company. The company has already about 40 men in its employ, aud will be able to turn out 12,000 slates a week to commence with. The slate is of first-class quality, aud should soon drive the imported article entirely out of the market. It is difficult to over-estimate the value of this important addition to our mineral resources, more especially when there is reason to believe that the slate formation extends for some miles, specimens of excellent slate having been shown as found in the immediate neighbourhood of Hampden." The Neio Zealand Times has the following account of the tragical affair near Masterton:—"lnformation was recived by the police yesterday that a Scandinavian, named Lars Neilson, had been shot dead at the Seventy-Mile Bush by another Scandinavian. It appears that Neilson was mad, and had been going about wounding people with a billhook until he was shot. Hud his performances not been arrested he might have killed a few men. According to the telegram received from Constable McKenzie, at Masterton, an inquest was to have been held yesterday. Since the telegram conveying the above information came to hand, a written report was received from Constable McKenzie, which, as will be seen, differs considerably from the telegram, and puts quite a different complexion on the affair. Constable McKenzie states:—'About 10 o'clock p.m., on the night of the 11th instant, Berut Lymrsou, a Scandinavian, residing at Heketahuua, arrived at Masterton, aud reported that Lars Neilson, a Dane, about thirty- two years' of age, a surveyor's labourer, had been going at large in an insane state, using a pickaxe, attacking every one with whom ho came in and wounding and maiming one or two women who were unprotected. When Bernt heard of this he took his gun, and riding ont, met him on the high road near Jacob" son's accommodation house. He approached him, and when within about ten yards, accosted him, saying, ' I will kiU you.' Bernt then levelled his gun and fired, the shot taking effect in the throat of Neilson, who fell to the ground, and never spoke afterwards. The body was carried into Jacobson's house, where it still lies. This statement was taken from the perpetrator's own lips —(Signed). Alexaotjer McKenzie. Inspector Atchison, on receiving the above report, at once gave instructions to Mr. Fraser to send a telegram to McKenzie, directing him to arrest Lymrson on a charge 1 of murder." b

"We hare to acknowledge the receipt of|a late number of the Illustrated Sydney News, a journal which has recently been considerably enlarged and improved. It contains a large amount of reading matter of a useful and entertaining kind, and possessed of a more than local interest. The illustrations, which are 33 a whole well executed, are as follow:—"The Race for the Rous Handicap ;" "The New Grand Stand;" "Sydney Street Architecture;" " Mr. M. L. Salomon's Auction Rooms, Pitt-street;" "Mr. J. B. Holdsworth's New Show Rooms, Georgestreet ;" and " The New Zealand Insurance Coapany's New Premises, Pitt-street;" " Shooting Wild Pigs;" " Tunnel and Cutting on the Newton Boyd Road, New England. District;" " Vaccinating the Native Cieiv on board the P. and O. Company's R.M.S. Sumatra, at Port Phillip Heads;" " Wreck of the steamer Banshee, on Hinchinbrook Island ;" " Laying the New Zealand end of the Telegraph Cable ;" "Prize Stock at the Exhibition ;" "Opening of the Extension of the Great "Western Railway to Bathurst;" " The Coranderrk Aboriginal Hop .Farm—the Hop Kilns, and the Dinner Honr ;" "Returning from a Pleasure Trip ;" " Wairoa River and Punt, .Province of Hawke's Bay, N.Z. ;" and " Polj'flesjan Sketches." There is also a beauftfullylithographei allegorical picture entitled "Forward," emblematic of New South "Wales, which is represented as a young maiden, holding in one hand the flag of the colouy and in the other a laurel wreath, and having on her right a digger, and on her left an engineer. The Auckland correspondent of the Thames Star points out to the General Government how reductions ought to be made. We quote a portion of his letter :— On the next floor of this building, I go up and encounter the Native Lands Court Department. It was only recently its chief was appointed Judge, having so little to do. Amongst his colleagues, one gets a salary for doing nothing, while others are equally fortunate in being handsomely paid for what may reasonably and truly be termed killing time. In addition, there are a chief clerk, record clerks, clerks, draftsmen, " clerical clerks" and " unauthorised expenditure clerks ;" some of whom even acknowledge that owing to the unwillingness of the chief aud some of his assistants having anything to do with the last amended Act, they are not overburdened with work. . . I next come to the Inspector of Surveys offices, one of the most costly I think of any in the building. The staff generally is enlisted from the sons of Cabinet Ministers and superior heads of departments. Of course the head in such a case must be a favorite, and as a consequence things have gone on so nicely that a large amount of work which properly should have been discharged by other branches of the service, is entrusted to the Inspector and his subordinates. This department should be amalgamated with the Confiscated Lands office, and one or other of the chiefs should do the work of both. There is yet another sinecure office in the building, I refer to the District Registrar of land, who gets a salary of £700 a year, for simply doing nothing, if we except the large portion of his time spent daily in bank parlors and solicitors' offices. Persons who have visited this official seldom find him in, and when they do, he is generally engaged perusing the "Government organ." Why some other duties are not tacked on to him I cannot understand, but it seems perfectly astonishing, no matter how favored the office holder, that he should receive such a high salary. Those who are competent to form an opinion absolutely assert that he could easily undertake the duties of Deputy Commissioner of Stamps and Examiner of Titles, and then not be overburdened with either too much official work, or suffer too much mental anxiety. Mr. Henry-Maudesley, one of the partners iu the celebrated engineering firm of Maudesley and Field, is now making a tour of •New Zealand. He attended a meeting, of the Pacific Lodge of Freemasons in Wellington lately, he being a Past Provincial Grand Master,, and a P.S.G.G. of the grand lodge of England. He gave some interesting particulars of his travels, menti6ning that he had been lately at Jerusalem, and had attended a lodge meeting held on Mount Zion. He also had been present at a lodge meeting held among the American Indians. He also remarked that much light had been thrown on Scripture history, and many evidences of its truth discovered by late explorations in Palestine. He referred to the natural wonders of New Zealand as grand illustrations of the Almighty power of the Great Architect of the Universe. Illustrative in a small, but striking way, of the effect of the working of the Native Office, an anecdote was related in the report of the Good Templar Parliament just held at Taranaki, A Maori Lodge was formed on the East Coast, and, delighted with the prospect of redeeming the natives from drink, Sir Donald McLean at once came to the front. There was no pretence of poverty on the natives' part. They are infiuitely better off and better able to provide for themselves than many of their white brethern. The sum of £20 of the public money was sent to them by Sir Donald, nevertheless, to buy the regalia for their new lodge. Mark the result ! The Maoris, deeming it only one of the customary departmental bounties, divided it among the hapu, and the money intended to buy the regalia of a Good Templar's Lodge (says the Worthy Grand Templar in the report), was actually spent to a large extent in drink. The worst of it is, that the Maoris became demoralised by the transaction, the Lodge fell through, and Good Templarism on the East Coast has not yet recovered the blow.— Nelson Mail.

A match, for £50 between the horses Gladstone and Mystery is to tako place'tomorrow at the Ellerslie racecourse. A coach will leave the Occidental Hotel, a.fc 2 p.m. for the above event. A musical and literary entertainment will be gi\en tomorrow evening in the City Hall, in aid of the WesbEnd cricket ground. The programme appears elsewhere.