Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4179, 12 August 1874, Page 2

Last night the House agreed, on. the motion . of the Premier, to go. into Committee this evening to consider messages from His Excellency os to the management of roads and of immigration. The hon.' member immediately afterwards made a statement" on the subject of immigration, which will be found in our Parliamentary report, and submitted estimates, an abstract of which appears in another column. He stated that up to the end of June, of the million loan for purposes of immigration and public works, £439,000 had been expended, leaving a balance of £561,000, from which, however; would have to be deducted the expenses connected with the immigrants now at sea. Up to the 30th of June last 17,513 persons had arrived in the Colony mider the operation of the immigration regulations. He alluded to the differences which had occurred between the Government and the AgentGeneral, as recorded in the papers before the House, but bore testimony to the energy with which the Agent-General had conducted the business entrusted to him. The immigration, he thought, had been, on the tVhole, of a satisfactory character. The following are the resolutions relating to the Provincial form of Government in the North Island, of widely notice .given by Mr. Vogel on Monday evening, and, which were placed on the notice , paper'for Thursday not Tuesday, as/ 'was understood in the reporters’ gallery";—“That this, Hbuse is of opinion that, taking , the circumstances .of the ,Colony/ consideration, ‘ the Provincial form of 'Government in the North Island shpuld be abolished; and that in the measure’ giving effect to the same there should also be included a provision declaring Wellington to be the seat of Government of the Colony, and for continuing the localization of the Land Revenue in accordance with what is known as the compact of 1856, That during the recess the Government should consider how best to give effect to the above resolution.” . , . The Ward- Chapman scandal would appear, after all, to have been a case of “ much ado about nothing.” An interim report, which we publish in another column, was brought up yesterday in the ■ House from the Joint Committee, read, and ordered to be printed. It narrated the history of the case, and stated that Judge Ward had acted as unpaid counsel for the defendant in the action Macassey v. Bell. He had become irritated at the granting of the rule for, the production of certain telegrams, on an ex parte statement, and out of that feeling arose his telegram to Mr. Vogel. That order had afterwards been rescinded by the Judge. The Committee had arrived at three conclusions—lst. That the charge mode by Judge Ward against Judge Chapman was not general but specific, and made without regard to its importance ; 2nd. That Judge Chapman, in making the order alluded to on an ex parte statement, did not act in a partial manner ; and 3rd. That the circumstance induced the Committee to think that the Supreme Court Judges should be shifted from time to time. The concluding paragraph of the report was received with some amusement by the House. Mr. Keynolds stated" yesterday in the House, in answer to Mr. O'Neill, that in a few days he would make a statement to the House bn the subject of the lighthouses proposed to be erected on the coasts of New Zealand. Without committing ourselves to the statement that anyone is to blame for the Wellington fire brigades having turned out three or four times lately on what have proved. to be false alarms—the burning of, gorae in the, Town Belt—we may give expression to an opinion that it is very desirable the practice should be checked, if possible. On Tuesday evening the fire-bell rang a peal, and, ope company with its engine was very soon at of Mount Victoria, only to find ,tha.t,,(jhe,,steps taken might be retraced. The officers and men heard with the best feeling-the, pews .that they had been called out for no purpose, and they even described' the event as one that gave them valuable training ; but we cannot do other than remember the story of the boy who cried “wolf” till his call was unheeded. Anyone can imagine that a fireman, after having been fooled half-a-dozen times, would take alight heed of an alarm that would,.he would imagine, prove to be groundless. The matter is an important one, and deserves the attention of the authorities interested. " . Another experiment has been tried with the object of improving the acoustic properties of the Chamber of the House of Kepresentatives, but with results by no means satisfactory, at least to the frequenters, of the reporters’ gallery. The hangings which were hung partially over the ; heads of members sitting close to the walls on either side have been removed, and the hangings placed close against the wall. The effect was immediately perceived in the renewal of the objectionable echo, though not quite to the' same extent as when the walls were barb. The" result was tliat the tenor of the petitipns : presented yesterday by Mr. O'Neill, Mr./ Andrews, Mr. Williamson, ME O’Rorke, and others, could not be accurately ascertained, while Messrs. Steward, Bradshaw, Thomson, Wilson, and T. Kelly gave notice of questions or motions, the tenor of which was utterly unintelligible in the gallery. Some more work for the Government during the recess is proposed by Mr. O'Neill, who on Thursday intends to move ;—“(1.) That it is desirable that the Gold Mining Laws should be consolidated ,and amended. (2.) That 'a Bill should be prepared by the Government as early as-possible after the rising of Parliament, and copies forwarded tothe members of goldfields constituencies for circulation in their respective districts. (3.) That the .Government bo requested to introduce such Bill-next session." At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday; one case of drunkenness was dealt with, and a seaman from the ship Waikato was charged with desertion; but;as the captain;of the vessel was not present to press the charge; the man was, discharged from'custody.. Two civil cases of slight importance were adjourned after a good deal of evidence had been taken. A fine collection of birds apd dogs arrived by the barque Elbe Tradof,lrom *Hobart Town, and will be sold at ■•hucli6n’'t'6-day by Mr; C. If. Vennell, at his rooms. Thb birds consist of Spanish, Cochin-China, and Hamburg fowls, aU;of which have taken prizes at shows hi Tasmania. Certainly a finer lot has rarely been seen together, and no doubt the competition will be keen to secure such excellent specimens; The remainder of the birds are talking magpies and Belgian canaries. The dogs are imported Italian Greyhounds; and are also neat specimens of their kind. A quantity of fruit trees* shrubs, &0., will ho sold at the same time and place.

The New Zealand Forests Bill was read a third time in the House of Kepresentatives last night, and passed. Last night Mr. Vogel moved the second reading of the Immigration and Public Works Loan Bill. Including the amount of the loan of five millions proposed, the debt of the Colony would amount to ten millions, which was apportioned thus ; —£6,500,000 for railways, £1,500,000 for immigration ; £460,000 for roads in, the North Island; £350,000 for another purpose ; £7b0,000 for land purchases, and £490,000 for the extension of telegraphs, lighthouses, &c. Mr. Eitzherbert objected to the proposal of the Premier to use short-dated debentures, and hoped the amount would be limited to one million. Mr. T. B. Gillies remarked that if the loan were granted the debt of the Colony—according to the figures of the Premier himself—would amount to £18,545,000. He thought the Colony was approaching the limits of its borrowing power. Taking -a limit of six per cent, on short-dated debentures that were renewable time after time was an admission that such was the case. Ho was glad to see that the Premier was becoming prudent, and would be only too glad in supporting him in doing so, although he feared it was a. little too late. The House could do nothing but grant the Government the power asked for, as only £144,000 remained in hand for railway purposes, while £2,000,000 would be required in the course of the present year. Mr. Beeves supported the proposition of the hon. member for the Hutt. He said the House bad given a confidence that was without parallel in the history of New Zealand to the present Premier, and the least that hon. member could do was to reciprocate that confidence; but he bad not done so. He did not object to the money being raised; but thought, the powers asked for .in the Bill were peculiar, and might be dangerous. After some remarks from Mr. Thomson, Mr. Vogel replied, stating that the rates of interest proposed were the same as in the Bill of last year and that of 1870. In the Bill of last year, there was no limit to the period of shortdated debentures. He defended the policy of short-dated debentures by the example of the English railway companies. The Treasurer had naturally great anxiety in carrying on large works with borrowed money, and that anxiety was not lessened by the fact that from time to time there were sent Home statements not calculated to add to the credit of the Colony. He only wondered how the credit of the Colony stood so high, and how he had endured what he had from this cause during the last four years. Not a proposition had been made by him this session, but he had been met with croakings not calculated to add to the credit of the Colony. Yet on all sides they saw around them, and in the revenue had positive proof of, the enormously beneficial effects of the policy to which the country was committed, and which he was endeavoring to carry through. The increase in the revenue in the last two or three years alone was equal to 4f per cent, upon the whole ten millions—to say nothing of the increased value of property. The Bill was then read a second time. Its committal was strongly opposed by Mr. Eitzherbert, who objected to being lectured when he humbly inquired into the financial affairs of the country. Hr. Vogel said he did not wish it supposed that he desired to force the Bill through the House, and he had no objection, therefore, to postpone going into Committee until next day, that the House might spend the remainder of the evening pleasantly over the Licensing Bill. The Bill was then ordered to he committed.

In the Legislative Council- on Tuesday the Hon. Captain Fraser, who we might imagine from his statements has been reading some of Keade’s latest novels, clinched his argument in favor of the better management of Asylums by giving a case that had come under his own personal knowledge. A gentleman, said he, came to this Colony many years ago and acquired a large property. Then he was induced to make a will devising this to the family of a relative. This relative, after one or two failures, obtained bis incarceration in an Asylum as a dangerous lunatic. For seven years the unfortunate gentleman who, though weak minded, is perfectly harmless and inoffensive, has been thus confined. After he had been deprived of his liberty three years, the medical visitor to the Asylum certified' to the above effect; and Captain Fraser said he hoped the Colonial Secretary would ascertain for himself what the facts of the case were, and take immediate action if the health of the unfortunate man should not be irrecoverably broken down by his confinement. The Council agreed to the motion of the hon. member for further inquiry into the future proper management of the Lunatic Asylums of the Colony. In moving the second reading of the Otago Beserves Bill yesterday in the House, the Premier observed that the session would be remarkable in time to come for having disposed of two matters that had troubled the House for a very long time—the Otago Reserves and the Otago University. The measure was read a second time without opposition. The Petty Sessions Bill, which was disposed of yesterday by the House, was introduced by Mr. O’Eorke. It is a very short measure though there was a somewhat lengthy discussion upon it, the only operative clause-of the Act simply repealing the twelth section of “The Petty Sessions Act, 1865.” Among the Bills read a third time in the House last night were the Naval Training Schools Bill, the Petty Sessions Act Amendment Bill, the Otago Beserves Bill, the Christchurch Drainage Debentures Bill, the Oamaru Harbor Board Land Bill, the Auckland Harbor Bill, the Whakataki Grants Bill, the Harbor Board Act Amendment Bill, and the Regulation of Elections Act Amendment Bill. A numerously attended meeting was held last evening in the Presbyterian School (the Bev. J. Paterson in the chair), for the purpose of ' forming a mutual improvement society under the title of the Wellington Literary Association. The following officers were appointed President, Bev. James Paterson ; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Thomas McKenzie, James Smith, T. Kennedy McDonald ; Secretary, Mr. Richardson ; Treasurer, Mr. Sealey ; Committee, Messrs. H. McKenzie, G. McDonald, A. Murray, A. Alport, and A, Baker. The meetings of the Association will be held every Tuesday, and the programme for the first mouth has been already arranged. The attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening was rather better than usual, the stalls and the pit being well filled, and there being a very fair attendance in the dress circle. The performance was a farewell benefit to Mr. C. Hi Burford, the stage manager, and the first piece presented was the always mirthinspiring comedy of “ Milky White.” In this Mr. Burford was Milky White, and Miss J. Raymond Annie White, whilst the famous old Dick Duggs was Mr. F. Towers. This piece never seems to tire on an audience, and it was received with roars of laughter. The afterpiece was the amusing burlesque of “Black Eyed Susan,” in which Miss E. Towers appeared as William, and by her arch acting caused great fun. Captain Crosstree was ably delineated by Mr. F. Towers, and Miss Raymond was the heroine. The applause that was rendered was genuine and enthusiastic ; and a number of local allusions that were interspersed in the songs were the cause of much merriment. It will bo seen by advertisement that the company does not propose to play more than the ensuing four nights in Wellington, and as" its members have done much for the amusement of the community during. the short season they have been here they should he liberally patronised. About sixty persons attended the adjourned meeting of the Co-operative Cattle-dealing and Butchering Society (Limited), at the Odd Fellow’s Hall last night. The report of the Provisional Committee was read and adopted. Messrs. George Crawford, John Martin, and Arthur Hayward, were appointed trustees; Messrs T. McDonald and Charles White, auditors; Messrs. A. Hayward, N. Valentine, W. Mitchell; John Smith, C. Firmin, W. Ebden, John Aatill, D. Tothill, and S. Levy, committee of management; and Mr. Moody, secretary. The rules as certified by the Registrar wore read and approved, and the meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

The discussion of the Licensing Act Amendment Bill was resumed in Committee of the House last night, at ten o’clock. The 25th clause, which was that with which the work of the Committee began, occasioned some discussion, but the 26th and 27th passed without comment. On the 28th—“ Resident Magistrate may grant an extension of licenses at races,” &o.—a most protracted; wearisome, and irregular debate took place, lasting till twenty minutes before midnight, when it was passed with a puzzling variety of amendments, after a remonstrance by the Premier with the supporters of the Bill for the waste of time they were making over it. The Chairman then left his chair for twenty, minutes, resuming again at twelve o’clock. By three o’clock this morning, the Bill, the Premier's new clauses, and Mr. Fox’s somewhat eccentric attempts to amend the Act by the introduction of a number of remarkable clauses, had been disposed of, and the Bill reported to the House with amendments. These will be considered in Committee this afternoon. Loyal’s Combination Troupe of Varieties are announced to appear shortly at the Theatre Eoyal. The single women who arrived by the ship Beichstag are open for engagement today at the Immigrants’ Depot. An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders in the Patent Slip Company is to be held at noon to-day, in Messrs, Bethune and Hunter's office. Two earthquakes are reported to have occurred at Wanganui on Sunday afternoon, one at 1.43, and the other at 3.44 p.m. The latter was preceded by a very loud rumble, while the first was merely a slight shake. The direction was from N.K to S.W. mHSM § The Native chiefs who arrived in Wellington by the p.s. Manawatu are stated by the Wanganui Chronicle to be a deputation from the tribes of the district to support Henare Matua in his demands upon the Government and the Assembly. At an adjourned meeting of immigrants, held at the Odd Fellows’ Hall last evening, on the subject of promissory notes to the Government for amount of passage money to this Colony, it was resolved that a petition should be presented to the House of Eepresentatives praying that the amounts of the promissory notes held by the Immigration Department should be remitted to those by whom they were respectively-signed; on the grounds that free immigration ensued shortly after the arrival of those paying for their passages, and that house rent and necessaries of life were at a very high rate. It was resolved, also, to request the members for Wellington and Wellington country districts to support the petition, which is to be left at the Tribune office for signature, and that Mr. Hutchison should present it to the House. After passing a vote of thanks to the latter gentleman for his advice and assistance, those present signed the petition.- The meeting then adjourned. I he short-sighted policy of destruction in preference to conservation, which found an advocate once upon a tiim in the person of Mr. Barff when speaking of the timber of the West Coast of the South Island, finds a supporter in the Greymouth Star, which says ; “ It may be rather a radical and extreme view to take of the case, but our own opinion is that a bush-fire that would destroy a few million pounds worth of timber would be a blessing to the people of the West Coast." Another accident is reported by the Wanganui Herald to have occurred to the Rangitikei coach. It was turning a corner of the road, when the leader shied at some furze a man was cutting. The immense leverage which a single leader has caused the coach to diverge, and the road being very narrow the wheels went over the side, the coach and passengers falling a distance of about three feet on the face of a slope. The accident occurred opposite Mrs. Gower’s place, near Turakina. Mr. Davison, cooper, of Martou, was severely injured, ■ the back of his head being cut and bleeding profusely. He was removed to Mrs. Gower’s, and the doctor sent for. Mr. Jacobs was on the box seat,’ but jumping too soon the coach came down upon his legs, fortunately without doing any serious injury. No one else was grazed. The women and children, of whom there were several, were much frightened. The passengers state that no blame whatever is attached to the driver. - The Eeefton Cmrier says that since the arrival there of the Bev. Father Cummins, lately of Wellington, a'new spirit of energy has taken possession of the Roman Catholic residents, and numerous works are in contemplation to raise the parish to a proper footing. A residence has already been purchased for the reverend gentleman, and it is besides intended to start the erection at an early date of a new church building fully adequate to the strength of the congregation. A children’s school has also been established. . It is stated that Mr. Graham L. Greenwood, Clerk to Courts at Ahaura, has been appointed Clerk to the Magistrate's Court at Wanganui. Mr. Greenwood, says the Grey Hirer Argus, has for several years. .most efficiently filled the offices of Clerk to the District Court, Provisional Trustee in Bankruptcy, and Beceiver of Bevenue for the Grey Valley, besides performing the duties of Clerk to the Magistrate’s and Warden’s Court at Ahaura, but owing to the reductions now being made in the Civil Service of Nelson, in order to carry out the retrenchment programme of the present Government, the duties hitherto performed by Mr. Greenwood are attached to other offices. The hew appointment is one directly under the General Government, and the salary coming to it is larger than that now received by Mr. Greenwood. ; I NELSON. Mr. Charles Canning has been appointed Chief Inspector of Sheep for Nelson Province. A new site for a telegraph office has been selected in Nelson City. It is in Trafalgar Street, between the shops of Mr. Stanton and Mr. Webb. It was purchased at the rate of £l6 per foot. A destructive fire took place lately at Zalatown, Lyell, by which a party of men who could ill afford it have lost their all. Their hut, clothes, private effects, and all they possessed, were destroyed. The town of Eeefton, says the Courier, is now fast assuming n clean and comfortable aspect. Broadway, from end to end, has been freed of stumps and fallen timber, and dressed with a good coating of metal and may be said altogether to be well worth the expenditure. It is gratifying to note that many new buildings of respectable exterior have within the last month or two filled up the principal gaps on both sides of the street, and that other works are in progress to still further improve the appearance of the thoroughfare. The town is also steadily extending in the direction .of the cemetery (no goak intended), and residence sites along the Buller Koad are now commanding good prices. All this discloses a strong faith in the future of the community. • The Adamant hauled alongside the Government wharf on Monday morning, and the passengers were allowed to land, and numbers of them have been about. Taken as a whole, says the Afail, they are a smart looking lot of people, and we trust that they will prove a useful class of colonists. They hail from all parts of England, but especially from the southern counties, and a few are from Ireland. They speak in very high terms of the treatment and attention they received at the hands of the captain and doctor, and it is satisfactory to learn that those officers give excellent characters to those who have been under their charge for the last three mouths. There was a good deal of sickness on the voyage, no less than ■ fifty cases of measles having occurred. There were twelve deaths, all of children, two from measles, and the remainder from bronchitis and diarrhcea. The complement is made up as follows Fifty-two married couples, forty-two single women, and eighty-three single men. Divine service was conducted on board the ship on Sunday morning by the Bishop of Nelson. The Wealth of Nations Quartz Mining Company, Eeefton, Inangahua, are reported to have cleaned up bn Friday week, it being the end of the month; the boxes wore also cleared out,

resulting in 4770 z. 16dwt. of amalgam, which were retorted, together with what was scraped from the plates previously, producing 3830 z. 17dwt. of retorted gold. The directors, at the meeting held on Saturday, were enabled to declare a dividend of Is. 6d. per scrip. This dividend completes the paying back of the whole of the called up capital of the Company. £3250 has been distributed in dividends during the last five months. A private telegram to Wellington lately reported the discovery of some rich quartz in the Monte Christo claim, at the Lyell. 1 ' The Grey Hirer Argus, in giving some particular’s of the discovery, says a first-class leader, averaging six inches in thickness, was cut through in the uprise which Was being driven from the end of the new low level tunnel. Some stone taken from the leader contains more than the average of coarse gold, and the leader presents a very favorable appearance. It was met with 65 feet above the floor of the tunnel, which is in nearly 700 feet. The leader is thought to be a continuation of the Maruia Smithy Leader. Should this surmise prove to be correct (about which there is little, if any, doubt) the leader in question must run through a large area of the Long Drive and Central, as well as the Monte Christo Company’s ground ; and in that case it mil prove a most valuable discovery.. WESTLAND. The extent of the Greenstone rush, which seems to be raising the hopes of the Westlanders, is thus described in the columns o the Grey Hirer Argus, by a recent visitor:— “ There are at present 800 men, and the population is being daily increased by new comers. Although the influx of population is not rapid, there is scarcely a day passes without some addition. There are sixteen claims, now on gold, and several other parties are expecting to strike the wash-dirt in a few days, which mil prove more fully the direction and extent of the lead. There is also a large number of claims pegged off in 'which preliminary work is being done. From conversations I had with several parties now engaged on the ground, I found the general conviction to be that wliile they do not think it will be a pilemaking rush, yet they. all appear to be of opinion that there is a large area of ground that will pay wages. On inquiring what they regarded as wages, I was informed they considered from £5 to £6 per week per man to be fair wages. Although there is little or no excitement manifested, yet there is a spirit of cheerfulness pervading the whole which is pleasing to witness. There is a track, and there is water, and the ground both in the tunnels and in sinking is quite dry, which, on the whole, will make the working of the ground comparatively inexpensive.” OTAGO. - The Tuapeka Times of the Ist instant says, “ The result of the experiment of putting Hospital subscription boxes on the line of railway has so far proved successful. The two boxes on Mr. Goodfellow’s contract were opened yesterday, and although they were only recently placed there, they’were found to contain, on examination, the handsome sum of £7 6s. 9d.” - : Throughout the Province of Otago, in July 256 arrests were made, only 29 of the arrested being women. ,Of this total, 166 were arrested on charges of drunkenness, including 21 women. Seven persons were brought up as being of unsound mind.