Country News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 285, 14 July 1877, Page 16

Country News.

Telegraph stations are now opened at Coalgate and Rolleston, both in the County of Selwyn. Masterton has been proclaimed a borough under the Municipal Corporations Act. The Government has been pleased to appoint Mr. 11. Wilson first clerk and returning officer. The name of Mr. R. G. Williams is spoken of in connection with the Mayoralty. The polling for the election of mayor is fixed for the Oth August; of councillors on Bth August; and of atditors on 10th August. The Council will first meet on Monday, 13th August. Palmerston North has also been proclaimed a borough, and the same days are fixed for election purposes, &c, as in the case of Masterton. On the report on the destruction of wild animals and venomous suakes, the Government of India has passed the following resolution : " The net results of the measures in force in the different provinces towards exterminating wild animals and venomous snakes is that upwards of 21,000 persons and 48,000 head of cattle were destroyed during one year by wild animals and venomous snakes ; that 22,357 wild and 270,185 venomous snakes have been killed ; and that 120,015 rupees have been expended in rewards." The Lyttetton Times of the 9th says : Amongst the new railway regulations is one (No. 132) which prescribes that "at all facing points the handle must be held down whilst any train or vehicle is passing." It will be observed that there is no provision for the points being locked, as is done on the Home lines. In order, therefore, to comply with the rule, it would be necessary that a large number of extra pointsmen should be employed. At the same time the injunctions laid upon drivers are so strict that any who passed a facing point, which was not held, Avould render himself liable to immediate suspension or dismissal. The consequence is that at the end of last week, the drivers in their zeal for tho effectual carrying out of the new regulations stopped at the facing points along the fine and whistled vehemently. It is needless to ,say that the traffic was thereby greatly delayed, but it is clear that no blame can be cast upon the drivers. The difficulty can apparently only be solved by au alteration in the rule, which cannot be clone without the authority of the Engineer-in-Chief.

A Incensed "Victuallers Association has been formed at Wanganui. Daniel Heggarty, of Carterton, was on Tuesday committed for trial on a charge of arson. The yield of gold from the Thames for the month of June amounted to 27760z5., and the returns from Coromandel show the yield to have been 5590z5.

At the Kaiapoi Resident Magistrate's Court three printers have been charged with stealing a quantity of type belonging to the Canterbury Independent. The Standard remarks that it does not speak well for the agricultural enterprise of the Wairarapa to be informed that the only flour mill south of Masterton is not employed for more than half the year. The Patea County Council has resolved, — " That, with a view to supplement the revenue of the county, the Government be respectfully requested to endow the county with a block of land of at least 20,000 acres, and in making application to the G-ovemment, the exceptional circumstances of this county be pointed out, it being a newly settled county, and a county that has been kept back by native wars." A number of independent electors were nicely sold at Featherston. They knew there was to be a free spread, but did not take the trouble to ascertain where. The Neius Letter relates that they found their way into one of the hotels, and seeing a long table loaded with dainties of all descriptions, they deliberately sat down and ate and drank of the best. Much to their astonishment they had to hand over 4s. each before they left the room. The mistake caused a good deal of merriment when it became known. The brook trout brought from California by order of Mr. Thomas Russell—so much of the shipment as arrived in a healthy state—are re2>orted to be progressing favorably. It is said that the experiment has been more successful in this case than in the case of the salmon ova, assuming of course, the ova to be healthy when i-eeeived. These fish are especially suited to small streams. Another shipment is shortly expected. Some of the settlers at Jackson's Bay have lately turned their attention to the enterprise of capturing seals among the rocks and caves to the southward of the bay, and have been comparatively successful. It is stated by a correspondent of the West Coast Times that a party of five men were absent for five days about a fortnight ago, and returned with a cargo of 140 seal skins. The actual time of killing the seals was only six hours. As they are worth from 255. to 30s. each, they will make a handsome profit by their venture. This party are away on another trip, and tvo more boats are fitting out, and will start as soon as the weather is favorable.

A very interesting discovery of the skeleton of a moa is reported to have taken place on Mr. McTier's farm, in the Awitu district, Auckand. The Herald states that Mr. McTier had some men employed draining a swamp on his farm, and they found, at a depth of four feet from the surface, a number of large bone?, which at first they supposed to be those of a bullock. Upon the matter being reported to Mr. McTier, he examined the bones, and identified them as being those of a moa. A careful search was then made for the remainder of the skeleton, and we are informed that the whole of them, with the exception of one or two small ones, have been found. Mr. McTier intends to send the skeleton to the Museum at Auckland ; and if our information is correct, it will prove to be the

most complete skeleton of this extinct monster bird that has ever been found in the North Island. Thursday's Herald says :—"The departure .'of the mail steamer City of New York, for San Francisco, yesterday, drew many of our leading citizens to the wharf, in order, to bid lon voyage to one of our most prominent colonists, who is revisiting England. We allude to Mr. Thomas Russell. Shortly before the hour appointed for the vessel leaving the wharf, there assembled in the president's saloon members of the Government, merchants, banks, and others to pay their respects to this gentlemen, who has done more for the colony of New Zealand and for Auckland than perhaps any other single colonist. While the. absence of Mr. Russell from Auckland will be generally regretted by those who have seen the fruits of his spirit and enterprise, there remains the fact that no opportunity will be lost by that gentleman in furthering the interests of all which pertain to Auckland and her institutions ; and not only Auckland, but also those of the colony at large. Mr. Russell's stay in England will be somewhat prolonged, but, we believe, a few years will witness his return to New Zealand as a permanent settler in Auckland."

The tone of the Auckland Star has greatly impioved of late, and we had expected to see that it had dropped, together with other bad habits, the practice of continually abusing everything connected with Wellington. But it is not so. The Star in one issue last week had an article on the Wellington reclamation and wharf extension, which it commenced in this wise :—" It will never be known how many hundreds of thousands of pounds, drawn from taxpayers in other parts of the colony, have been expended in building up a city at Port Nicholson. If it were possible to arrive, from official and undisputed sources, at any near approximate of the sum, its publication would send a howl of indignation from the North Cape to the Bluff. Votes taken for the purpose are, however, so muddled up in the estimates that it is hopeless to attempt their extraction in detail. We believe we should not be guilty of exaggeration in naming half-a-million sterling as within the mark. From Southern papers we gather that a new project is on foot, in which the colony is again to fill the role of foster-parent to the budding metropolis on Cook Strait." It then goes on to question the advisableness of the expenditure in reclamation ; but there is no necessity to quote its remarks.

A number of the members of the Georgia Minstrel Troupe, on Independence Day, asked permission of the Dunedin City Council to lire off a few crackers in honor of the day. The request was refused. While the Chinese gambling case was being tried in the Supreme Court, Dunedin, his Honor Mr. Justice Williams said that the effect which the prosecution would have upon Dunedin morality would probably be to acclimatise "fan-tan" among the European residents. Mr. Haggitt, however, remarked that he hardly thought that such would be the case, as he did not think that the game was exciting enough for Europeans. A steamer has been put on to run between Christchurch and Timaru, in opposition to the railway. The proprietors promise to convey goods between the places at at least half the cost charged for railway carriage, in view of which the Herald says:—Several business-men have ordered their goods to be sent from Christchurch by her, instead of by rail as heretofore.

The Patea Mail says that on the Ist August next, Major Brown (Civil Commissioner) is expected to pay a visit to Normanby, for the purpose of handing over to natives interested, the balance of money Government has decided to pay on account of confiscated lands lying between that district and the Waingongoroa River. It is said the balance of land will be taken whether the natives take the balance of the money or not. The Masterton Newe Letter reports an accident which illustrates the danger of playing with firearms. Sam Creighton, a native, had a gun in his hands, and having snapped several caps, merely for pastime, concluded that it was not loaded. Putting on another cap, he said to a Maori who was standing near him, " Now, you're a sorcerer, and I will shoot you." Suiting the action to the word he took aim. The gun, much to the surprise of both, went off, the charge of shot hitting the man in the fleshy part of the arm, and also knocking a hole in the wall. The wound is said to be very slight. The Hon. George McLean has addressed the following letter to the editor of the Alcaroa Mail : —" Sir, —I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th inst., in which you ask to be informed of the steps that have bpen taken in the matter of the erection of a lighthouse at Akaroa Heads. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that the site for the lighthouse has been surveyed by the marine engineer, and the road to it from the landingplace pegged off. An order for the lantern and apparatus has been sent to England. The work of forming the road will be proceeded with at an early date, and the erection of the tower will be commenced as soon as certain necessary particulars connected with the lantern and revolving machinery are received from the engineers charged with the superintendence of the construction of the lantern and apparatus."

Warden Price, the special licensing officer for Kunaara, in opening the proceedings last licensing day, called attention to the disproportion of licensed houses in Kumara compared with other towns. In Christchurch, with a population of 15,000, there are only thirty-nine retail licenses ; in Hokitika, fifty ; in Greymouth, thirty-two ; in Wellington, forty-two. Kumara, with a population of 1400, half of whom were women and children, had already forty licenses, and now applied for nine more. Mr. Price spoke in very warm terms of the inefficiency of the present system of dealing with inebriates. He deplored the increase in the number of cases brought before him of late, and expressed his determination to deal with all in the severest manner the law permitted. He hinted that his experience led him to believe that not only the drunkard should be punished, but also the person who supplied the drink. His Worship spoke also of the advisability of a provision being made, by future legislation, for the temporary seclusion of dipsomaniacs.

There seems to have been a lively scene at the Christchurch Circuit Court the other day owing to the Resident Magistrate of Akaroa being unable to produce a certain plaint required in the hearing of a perjury case. During the discussion Mr. Justice Johnston said the present system of conducting, or rather getting casaf, was highly improper, and until auother system was established evils would continually result. There was no professional advice nor solicitors to get up the case, and, as a natural consequence, the administration of justice often failed. On the previous day a very gross case had broken clown simply because it had not been looked properly into beforehand. ... lam not aware whether the Executive have a proper view as to the duties of Crown prosecutors, and whether they do not think their duties go far beyond the mere conducting of cases in court. Mr. Duncan: I am not supposed to do more, but I often do. The Court : The solicitor's work does not appear to me to be provided for at all, and that is of more importance than the mere conducting of the case. Henare Matua, a Maori chief at Hawke's Bay, is not partial to bagmen. In the Wananga, Henare Matua says to the packmen :—" If you persist to take goods to the Maori settlements after the publication of this my notice to you, and if you are outwitted by the Maori children, or if your goods are stolen, and if you make charge against such children, they will not be in the wrong, but you will be wrong, because you have seen this notice, and afterwards you took your goods to the native settlements. Friend, European, cease to take your goods to the native settlements. Build a shop or store for yourself in some town to which the Maori and Europeans may go to purchase goods from you. My Maori friends, do not let such Europeans come to your settlements. Send them away, and let them go on the road with their goods. If you wish for goods go to the town and buy them, where you can buy goods at lower prices than you can obtain them from packmen, and where you can get the exact goods you are in want of."

The New Zealand Herald has been shown a magnificent sample of New Zealand grown oranges. There were no fewer than twentyone oranges, fully grown and quite ripe, upon one small branch, which was taken to the office, and exhibited by Mr. Rowe. They were grown at Onehunga, not from the pip, but from layers. The tree is about eight years old, and has been bearing for four years. There are now upwards of one thousand oranges on this single tree. This is a sample of what, with proper care and attention, can be done in the way of fruit-gi owing in the North Island of New Zealand.

The Grey River Argus reports an accident to the train from Brunnerton. Between the racecourse and the viaduct, a horse was observed upon the line, which at this point is on an incline, and although steam was shut off and the breaks put hard on, the engine ran into the animal, knocked it over, and mounting the body fell down the incline, but the couplings holding fast it did not fall into the river but remained on the side of the bank. A good deal of alarm was occasioned as there were about twenty passengers in the train, but fortunately nothing more serious than the death of the horse occurred.

Some of the residents of Timaru adopt eccentric methods of alleviating the ennui of existence there. The following appears in the Times: —At 11 o'clock this morning, in pursuance of a bet made between Mr. J. W. Hill and Mr. E. Ball, the former took up his position on the roadway, between the Ship and Clarendon Hotels, in full evening dress and white gloves, broom in hand, and swept the crossings between these two hotels, and afterwards between the Clarendon and the Old Bank Hotels. There was a large crowd of persons to witness the event, and ©n his plucky conclusion he was loudly cheered. The bet was for a new hat and ss. During the operation several coppers were thrown to the sweeper, who afterwards handed them to some children who were amongst the lookers-on. The Dunedin Star expressed disappointment with the County Chairmen's Confeience. It says:—" We had expected to hear the matters of principle in which the Act is notoriously defective reasonably discussed and the opinions of the several chairmen present given with all the weight of their experience, short though it may have been. Nothing was, however, approached or attempted to be dealt with except points of mere technical defect and the drafting of some of the sections; or equally unimportant details of management of elections and arrangement of business. One question somewhat, however, just now of secondary interest in the face of the uncertain future of the county system was certainly talked over, that is whether or not it would be advisable that existing counties should be amalgamated so as considerably to increase the area and reduce the number; and provided other necessary legislation takes place, to which we shall presently allude, we should be inclined to agree with the ohairmen present last night, that such amalgamation is, on various grounds, exceedingly desirable."

The ironworkers of Dunedin have resolved to forward the following petition to Parliament : —" To the honorable the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled : The petition of the undersigned artisans ard others humbly showeth—That we, your petitioners, feel aggrieved at the injustice being done to us by the importation of manufactured materials from foreign parts, since so many of our class have come out here under the Public Works and Immigration Scheme. That we were led to understand that we should find constant employment at our several trades, but we have found nothing but disappointment, and a great number of us are of necessity going idle. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that all railway plant, iron shipbuilding, engineering, and all iron and brass moulding required for public service may be manufactured in the colony, and that tenders may be invited for all such materials requisite for the public service. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray."

HIGHWAY BOARD. Saturday, 7th July. The Board met at the usual hour. Present— Messrs. C. C. Graham (chairman), Cook, Bowler, Wright, Page. CORRESPONDENCE. Sundry circulars from the Government were read, asking for returns as to the financial position of t;he Board, which were ordered to be made up and forwarded with the least possible delay. BANK BALANCE. The bank balance was stated at credit £414 10s. 4d. PARK VALE RQAD. Mr. J. Cole attended to ask for assistance towards the repairs of the Park Vale Road. The Board agreed to give £2O, on condition that the settlers contributed £lO, or in similar proportion, the work to be done to the satisfaction of the Board. OTHER WORKS. It was decided to have a culvert by the side of the road at Mr. Bramley's house on Baker's Hill. Mr. Bowler was authorised to have some trees in the South Makara road, reported to be dangerous, felled ; also to make two culverts on the same road ; and that earthenware pipes be laid where practicable ; also a culvert at the cutting in the south side of Baker's Hill. Mr. Page was instructed to examine and report on the state of one of the bridges on the South Karori Road said to be unsafe.

Mr. Cook was authorised to have part of the North Makara Road repaired, not included in Duignan's contract, at a sum not exceeding £lO, Mr. Cook and Mr. Piendeville were authorised to pass th- first contract of the North Makara ex 1 ""!"! 1 ! - ii, mid certify for payment. Mi'. Monks' offer to erect two iron gates and five chains fencing for £ls was accepted. It was also agreed to have three earthenware culverts put in on the road to Donald's gardens.

ACCOUNTS. The following accounts were passed :—Sturt and Co., £2B ss. 9d. ; C. Goodman, £2O 16s Bd. ; C. O'Neill, £7 3s. 6d. ; Linstea and others, £7 Ss. 9d. ; J. Monaghan, £l7 ss. 9d. • J. McLeavy, £lO ; R, Duiguan, £4O. TINAKOBI ROAD. An application from Mr. Dowsett for a contribution towards covering in the culvert on the Tinakori-road was refused, the Board having no funds available for the purpose. RATE FOR THE YEAR. It was decided to give the statutory notice of the Board's intention to levy a rate of Is. in the £ for the twelve months commencing Ist July, 1877, to be payable on and after the Ist October, 1877 ; aud that the ratebook be left be left for inspection at the shop of Mr. Page, Karori. The Board then adjourned.

THE MANAWATTJ COUNTY COUNCIL, w TO THE EDITOR OK THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL.

Sir, —I feftl that a reply to your Foxton correspondent's letter in your issue of the 27th June is required from me, as a member of the Manawatu County Council for one of the ridings seeking separation from that county. In the first place, it is no sentimental grievance as to the choice of chairman or county town that has stirred up so unanimous a demand for separation on the part of the settlers in the Manchester and Kiwi tea Ridings. On the contrary, it is the hard fact that a large amount of the rates and equivalent subsidy of those two ridings (both newly settled and undeveloped as compared with the rest of the county) is, as shown by the chairman's estimate, diverted to works to be executed within other ridings. The statements in your Feilding correspondent's letter are questioned. But leaving their correctness or incorrectness on one side for the moment, let us look at the chairman's official report of the 27th June—a report avowedly framed to rebut assertions made as to the unfair appropriation of the county revenue, and to disprove the justice of our demand for separation consequent thereon—the best that the chairman of the county can make of the anti-separation case is: that we contribute to the estimated county revenue of £4355 19s. 7d. the sum of £1655 155., or rather more than one-third (a fact your Foxton correspondent carefully suppresses), and that we receive in expenditure within our ridings £llO4 os. 2d., leaving an amount diverted from us of £551155. Now, this sum, though perhaps a mere bagatelle in our chairman's eyes, is a very large and important one to a district like the Kiwitea, with its fifty or sixty pioneer settlers struggling through the mud to their properties; and Mr. Thynne's attempted justification of the diversion of that sum from itslegitimateobjects reminds me very much of the nurse's excuse in " Midshipman Easy," " Please, sir, it was such a little one." Of the £llO4 os. 2d. debited against the northern ridings by our chairman, the item, Awahuri to Feilding, £179, is maintenance on a road outside their boundaries. Stoney Creek to Gorge, our fair proportion is about £9O instead of £llO. Palmerston to Bulls, one-fourth of maintenance, £44 16s. 6d., is expenditure on a road nowhere nearer than four miles to our boundaries ; and contingencies, £BO, is an amount not yet voted by the Council, and not provided for in the estimates laid before the Council.

I also disjmte the fairness of the principle of charging each of the seven ridings of the Manawatu County with one-seventh of the working expenses of the county, thereby debiting a thinly settled riding like the Kiwitea with the same proportion as the wealthier and more populous districts of Palmerston, Foxton, and Sandon, and absorbing all the Kiwitea rates and subsidy for that purpose, without any expenditure whatever on roads. Again, £IOO out of the £350 estimated for the engineering department, is an absurd amount to charge us for the supervision of works to the extent of £390, out of some £3002 set apart for road work. Taking our share of working expenses as one-fourth for the two ridings, except in the case of engineering, where about one-eighth, or £44, the amount proportionate to works is our fair debit, the account stands thus: —(After deducting expenditure on outside works charged against us in the Chairman's report.) Contribution of Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings, £1655 155.; receipts, executive, £75 ; engineer, one-eighth, £44 ; dog tax collection, miscellaneous, hospitals, &c, £147 13s. 6d.; roads formation, £300; maintenance, £9O ; ferries, £4O ; total, £696 13s. Bd., showing £959 Is. 6d. taken from us to be spent in a portion of the county where the main roada have been made and maintained up to the end of 1876 by the Government. In answer to your Foxton correspondent's statement as to the percentage of working expenses or expenditure of the Manawatu Highway Board, I beg to submit to you the infor-i mation supplied to me by the secretary of that Board, viz.:—Total receipts, £3509 15s. 2d.j working expenditure, £259 13s. 2d., or a fraction more than seven per cent. Your corres* pondent also misstates the facts relating to the sum of £350, appropriated by the Government to opening up the Kiwitea Blopk, and my action thereupon. The Government offered to place at the Council's disposal a sum of some £7OOO or £SOOO, of which the £350 alluded to andanother £lls, devoted to making approaches to the Manawatu bridge, were the only suma not contracted for or pledged to definite purposes. The Council unanimously agreed that it was inadvisable, in their then dearth of funds, to accept the large sum already due or falling due to contractors, with the conoomitant expense of supervision, and refused the offer of the Government, leaving members to obtain for their respective ridings, as best they could, the smaller sums referred to above. My correspondence with the member of the House of Representatives for Manawatu, merely statea the fact of the Council's refusal, and requests him to press upon the Government the necessity of expending the money voted for my riding. The Government again offered it to the County Council, and as this time it was unaccompanied by the amount offered before, their offer was

gladly accepted. My letters to our member were all published in one of the local papers, and there is not one word of complaint of the Council's action in them. We in this district feel our helpless condition very deeply. No adjustment of representation can help us now. The County has taken over certain roads, and they must be maintained. Delay on our part in taking action for separation means a loss to us of the, I fear, shortlived Government subsidy, as well as our rates, and the case of the Kiwitea Biding is an especially hard one, in that the land has been sold without any provision for road-making, beyond the rough bush tracks already cleared, which are quite impassable during the greater part of the year, and the cry of the settlers in that riding, that separation should be granted them, in order that they may have at least their rates and_ equivalent subsidy spent in opening up their district, is a demand which deserves every consideration on the part of Government. D. H. Macarthur.

ST TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. S IKj In your issue of the 2nd instant your Poxtoii correspondent devotes a long letter to the movement for the separation of the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings from the Manawatu County, endeavoring by a series of very disingenuous statements to impugn the accuracy of your Feilding correspondent's version of the reasons which justify the separationists in their action. The movement is one on which the residents in the separation districts are agreed to a man. They feel that their future progress is deeply involved in the issue ; and as the ultimate decision whether or no their prayer for separation is granted rests with the General Assembly, it is of importance to them not to allow misstatements to be placed before the public without contradiction. I therefore trust you will allow me, as the elected chairman of the separation committee, space for a few remarks upon the subject. The Manawatu County, as at present constituted, occupies an area of 100 miles by an average of 20 miles, which is cut into two almost "equal subdivisions by the main railway line from the Rangitikei River to the Manawatu Gorge. The Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings, which are seeking separation, comprise the whole of the land north of the railway line and a few thousand acres 01l the southern side. The settlers on this subdivision have only come into occupation daring the last three years. With the exception of about six miles of road formed by the General Goverrunent, and some three quarters of a mile by the E. and C. Aid Corporation, their main roads taken over by the county are entirely unformed. To the whole of this block the several railway stations in the main are practically its posts on which the whole of its traffic whether incoming or outgoing must converge, and it is therefore of the utmost importance to the progress of the settlers that all their available resources should be expended in opening the country to these railway stations. The subdivision on the southern side of the railway line includes all the older settlements of the Manawatu, with some forty miles of roads, a large part of which have been formed and metalled by the Provincial or General Governments, and whiih have been taken over as county roads by the Council. Now, what the residents in the Kiwitea and Manchester Ridings assert is, that the monies which they, a young and roadless settlement, contribute to the county revenue, are being ve y largely taken to keep in repair the roads which an older and more fortunate community has enjoyed for some years past, and which roads the separationists will never seek to use, either to import their supplies or to export their produce. To prove that this assertion is correct I propose to put the Chairman of the County Council, Mr. Thynne, into the witness-box on behalf of the separationists, and by doing so to offer the best possible contradiction to your Foxton coi-respondent's argument. In a statement, ex cathedra, to the Council, attempting to prove that our separation movement was not justifiable, Mr. Thynne admits that our contribution to the revenue of the county is £1655 13s. 9d., out of a total of £4353 19s. 7d., or more than one-third of the whole. His own estimate of the expenditure chargeable to our ridings only amounts to £llO4 os. 4d., leaving a balance to our credit of £551 13s. 5d., which he makes no attempt to show as expended for our benefit, and of the sums charged to us in his estimate, £243 16s. is for maintenance of roads altogether outside our ridings, and a sum of £BO is inserted which never appeared at all in the estimates under consideration, so that even allowing as correct some other items which are open to dispute, the balance which should be to our credit, but which is diverted elsewhere, is £BBS 9s. 5d., being more than one-half of our contribution. The question will naturally arise, Where does your money go ? This is easily answered by reference to two items only in the Council estimates. Out of a sum of £I4OO voted for road formation, our ridings receive only £3OO ; and out of £1602 2s. voted for maintenance, our ridings receive the large sum of £9O. Our position may be briefly summed up. The ridings seeking 'separation contain an area equal to the whole of the rest of the county ; they contain neaily or quite a third of the population ; they contribute more than a third of the revenue ; their representation in the Council is, however, only two out of nine, or, taking the chairman's casting vote into consideration, two out of ten, and in consequence wc have to take what is given us and be thankful, or be subjected to censure from the chairman, in his place, for presuming to think that £390 out of an expenditure of £3OOO is not as much as we are fairly entitled to expect.—l am, &o, W. FOLLETT IIALCOMBE, Chairman Separation Committee. Feilding, July 5.