Untitled

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 403, 14 August 1877, Page 2

The H-.ibour Board Dock dilemma is gradually growing more profound, and the present delightfully inextricable position of aff.iirs will s rely test the mental powers of the maj a-it} 7 of the members of the Co:ird, whilot some of its more celebrated c-ajlnr-orf, whose brains have become terribly t-ixed with over study of their science, will, unless the difficulties which are dadv growing thicker around theai arc speedily dissipated, be compelled to find shelter in the most convenient lunatic asylum. The Contractor avers that the implements for dredging which the Board handed over to him, are useless, and the Board intimates that their inefficiency would not in the least aileofc Mr. Proudloot's obligation to the Board. From the verv iirst hour that the Harbour "Works were mooted there lias been nothing but internecine warfare in the Board, whose disagreements have pariaken very much or the luifcu e of school-girl squabbles. Our opinion is that the harbour was never intended to be dredged, and that the Board im-l.fc just sis well hand the money they aie Ihrowiug away over for the improvement of some other harbour. \\ hat will lie the outcome of the present quarrel it is liiilicult to tell. The fact is there will a'wa*. s be bickering'for there arc too manv masters. Mr. Towsley, of whom nothing but that wHeli is good can be said in ( 'her respects, knows too much about harbour works. He came from Oeelong, where there was a 1 ar : and being in business in that onc-i thriving town, he came to the conclusion that the " bar-rierwas such as would ruin any man. He was quite right, and we only regret that Air. Tow.-sley should have been so unfortunate as to bo compelled to encounter another similar barrier to commerce in New Zsalan 1. But, becau >o Mr. Tew.-.ley once resided in a community that suffered commercially because of an obdurate sandbank, is that any ;o son why he should know more about I:ar■ o-tr works than other engineers. Mr. IW-k v. however, is not the only amateur eiigint.er on the Board, lor there are oilier membviv, who, strange as it may seem, di.-"' 1 grec v, iih that gentleman on tin- question of marine engineering. They seem, l;ov>\ vcr, to have settled the matter eaiiiea .iv, for a c.-raain member may have his ..\vn way t-'-day, hut that is no reason why another should not have his " jiiucraek " ideas carried out to-morrow. Itmust be c .nfcssc'l that this is a little awkward. for tiie contractor, who is about getting tired of the plethora of artists to whom he is amenable. Wo should think that the Board's engineer, for whom we have every e >mmi;eration, will shortly be allowed to retire on a pen-ion, worn out with harassment. Recrimination is the order of the day now, and the Dunedin

papers are lull oi letters from the Contractors ami the B -ard. V\ e observe that they have now r.mvod at the Latin stage, a-, we presume they tlunk that a dead language is the most applicable. " Audi alkmm pui'l-tsi " has figured on the heading of more than one tetter. We suppose it means that it will be necessary to " alter 'em, part '"em, or d:e." Let us hope the quarrel wiil not end so badly.

A teb'gram informs us that " The Native Land Court Bill will be discharged this afternoon, and that the Government will ask le ive to introduce a short Bill providing for all transactions in native lands for twelvemonths." This is very funny. Can

! it he that the Government is unaware of t' j '' features of the Bill ! or is ic willing to risk its existence for the sake of conferring some extraordinary benefit upon some of its members ? We think it is roguery, and an attempt at robbery in broad daylight under our very noses. Allow Mr. Whitiker and his myrmidons, forsooth, twelve months to elaborate and complete their land aggrandisement! This is too good, and will, if insisted upon, hopelessly shipwreck the present Ministry, a consummation for which every right-minded colonist should devoutly pray. It will not be an easy matter to throw a glamour over the visual organs of members of Parliament in connection with this matter. Mr. Whitaker had better. save his own time and that of the House, and preserve the sm.il 1 amount of honour remaining to his credit by aban- j doning the struggle. Let the Government

urchase the lands, and sell them for legiti-

mate settlement to the people, and for ever veto unprincipled transactions with natives that would deprive the Colony of its estate, and result as before in precipitating a Maori Avar. Mails for Melbourne per Tararua close at Hokitika to-morrow at 9 a.m. "he Oamaru Mutual Benefit Building Society will meet this evening at the usual time and place. Business—The receipt and sale of cash. If sufficient inducement offers, Messrs. Swanson and Warburton will run a coach from the Swan Hotel to Boundary Creek to-morrow, for the purpose of conveying persons to the sports. At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, before J. Udall and G. T. Fenwick, Esq.'s, J. P. 's, James Reid, for allowing a cow to wander at large, was fined Ss., the defendant having been before the Court several times previously on a similar charge. The evidence of Sergeant Beattie, Mr. Allan Ward, and Dr. De Lautonr having been taken at the inquest yesterday upon the body of Louisa Tracey, the jury returned the following verdict : —That the deceased, Louisa Tracey, who was evidently in a state of intoxication, fell over the btnk in Itchen-street and was drowned. The jury wish to add as a rider that the embankment at that part of Itchen-street should be fenced." Mr. Sehiuter's Boundary Creek lTotsl will be the iccne to-morrow of sporting operations of an unusually attractive character. The programme of sports comprises a match between two admittedly lirst-ratc shots of Otago and Cai terbuiy for the largo stake of LoO a-side ; a jn'geon match for all comers ; and a firing match between two local men for L"io a-side. A four-horse team v i l leave the Empire Hotel at half past ten a.m. and one p.m. to-morrow, for the grounds. We ventured to express an opinion that the request of the settle! s between Oamaru and Moeraki with regard to a Saturday late train woui i be complied with, and we were not mistaken. From and after the Ist September next a late train wiil lie run on Saturday between O.onaru and I\J o:->raki. The hour has not yet been fixed, but we have every re '.son to believe that the railway authorities who granted the i jtition of the se I tiers pere i\vd that good results would arise from so doing, an I we feel sure that they will not neutralise that good by deciding upon an hour t-h .t would render the concession inconveni")tfc and useless to settlers, and worse than useless to the department.