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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 10012, 18 July 1879, Page 2

The announcements made in our Christchurch telegrams that tin; Lyttelton Harbor iJo.ird loan of L2 0,000 has been floated at F.i(fJ 7» 10d, and the C'hristchurch District Dfainago ijoard loan of LIOO,OOO at LIOC, should encourage us to look forward hopefully to the result of Otu Harbor Board and Municipal loans. The prices obtained for the two loans mentioned show that Colonial securities, are still in ui'C-at favor at Home, anil that there is every prospect of tlie 1JT,,000.000 loan proposed ov tlie Government beinjj obtained without difficulty. The Hon. K. Campboll has just sold Station I'.ak. consisting of 33,000 acres livchoM and -IS.(XX) leasehold, with 40,000 sheep. rv!'. it i«; ntwored, about LIOO,OOO, to Mr. John Dougl-*, ,A JJo.iiif .J'oyal. A telegram was at iiie meeting • f t'no Municipal Council fit evening fr.in Mr. Shrimaki. that the Oaniaru Lmds Kschrur_'t- liili had been read a first time. and that the second reading had been fixed for Tuesday next.

A special meeting of the Harbor Hoard V?a held to-day, when there were [in-sent — Mr. <>. Snntpter (Chairman), the Hon. !<". Campbell. Messia. .litken, Gilchrist, llassell, and Steward. Several kttorn from tlie Union Bank were rc.nl witli reference to the floating of the LIOO.IMM loan, and agreeing to advance to the Hoard in the meantime such sum* an might ho roiuired to carry on the harbor works. It was decided to place fee debentures in th•: hands of the bank with •i-jtr.ietio.-is to forward them House by the outgoing Jiiati. and to float the loan, or a-f much of it as might be sanctioned l»y Parliament, at Hie best juice obtainable, provided that the Hoard's consent be obtained before the loan if lloatcd at below par. At rut:.'emcnts were then made !or the lightering of the l'unkeld, the Hoard agreeing to undeitike the work at the rate of 3.->. ii.t ton in addition to the harbor dues of 2s. Viti-i arrange mint was agreed to by Mr. Andeicon. who was present. Mr. Steward mentioned that it might be well to strengthen tii-; hands of members supporting ti-e 1 Jill empowering the vesting of the .Matron ln ..ua endowment in the Hoard. It was then resolved. "That in the- opinion o'" the H. >:*. rd it i- iiighiy ile.--ir.ibk- that the endowment set a<tde for tiie ()ama''ii Harbor Hoard Land Aet. should be Vested absolutely in the Hoard. with full power to man.-iL'e the .-mm". .-.[id rh.>i t e members for the di.-irict in the Ho;i-e of llu.ae-iOiitati es, and the Ibms. MiEkr. < V.rnpbell. and iloiine.; furnished with a copy of this resolution, and to give their „;:[>nort to the !'>iil now before the i.'oit-e." Tilt board then rose. One of the most welcome items of intelligent.! that lias met our eye for some time is that which tel.'s tx-t of the probabili y of the Covenmunt adopting stringent measures to stamp out the native dillieulty 1./ taking possession of confiscated lands and celling titem in spite of naive opposition. The n;:t:difrieulty will never be settled by another ue .in-* We have always maintained that .Maori.i 1..W-; no such word in their vocabulary as ieekuey. and {hat j thev le.kon hesitation as cowardice.

That .-ticii is tile ease imi.st now 'no apjiarent t>/ £!■•>;:: who have read iiio accounts which have been jntlili.:!;'-.! concerning the Ito rupture. Had iiiot;oVi_i nnii.iK. '.vlion trouble wai iru-jt ;1• i•- ti.e poli-'y which luv-i obtained fur years, and v. iiich v. as fi.oli-Sily thought 1«y ?>!r. Shtehan.s prcdeeessor.-* to In- ;lie only IS'-H:- of dealing with the natives— if they li.fl arrested tin: lirst native a'-'iiiv.-sor. ami treat,>d tttiii <=i:msHr.ri!y —ttic present diliietilty would have heeii at rmce settled. It is evident that the Maoris had not tiic least idea t!i t they WrtiM down iip'iii them tiie ire of lie: settlers to ,-iteli a pretty tunc. or tlev v.oui l not listened t'-> the evil j>iv,i,iptiic.'s <jf t-se lunatic ' Hi' tiiem are now fte[i;iV*;»l of the liberty t'leV s.. L'le.sttv piic'c, au-'i it is* not at all likely tiiat if the survt'vm> were one? more set to work on the - would put their U*?;tds into such a noose as that v..Veh ca-jrht t'ifir eornp.inior.*. 'j'lie real settlement of tiie native question woul i he a

matter over w h : eh the wi-.fle Colony would, have cause to rejoice, and it is only to lie broiiglit about by firmly and resolutely grappling wills it. At l.nt evening's iiioering of the Municipal Council, the Works Co umitteo r.:i).«rteil that they had made arviDgement.i with tlie Harbor Hoard for secure fencing of the Lagoon, and that Mr. Henry Aitken had agreed to place gates at the open space on the Thames-street, uide, a: the bridge. It is therefore to ba hop;-; that we shall be spared the unwelcome task of chronicling any more sad cases of drowning in that treacherous water-hole. Mr. Kees showed considerable bad taste in the House yesterday by giving notice that he w;#u!d move, on the 31st inst., that the conduct of Sir William Fox, in accepting honors for political services rendered, except through the Government, was unconstitutional. The principle sought to be laid down by Mr. ll';cs is an absurd one. That a man who may have served the Colony for many long years should be debarred from accepting from Her Majesty well-merited honors unless he secured the consent of stroog political opponents who might be in power is a monstrous proposition. The date for Kimouncing the nominations for the positions of members q{ the Municipal Council lias been fixed for Friday, Qijth .July. Those who retire bv eliluxion of time arc—Mr. Spence, High Ward : Mr. Procter, Jetty Ward : Mr. I'amilton, Thames Ward; and Mr. Liddie, Severn Ward. In addition to these vacancies another councillor for Severn Ward will j;?y ; to ! e elected in the place of Mr. Gibbs, the Mnyo/ elect. The Otepopo llifles. muler :he command of Captain Diehl. mustered very v. oil at their inspection parade last evening, r.-id t'.e arms and accoutrements were found to be in excellent order. The corps have d .eided to adopt the same kind of uniform as No. 1 Company, scarlet, tunics, blue trousers, and helmets. The Kellys are not yet caught. The Victorian Government, after having expended so many thousands in searching the country for these ruilians, have confessed themselves bcateii, and have withdrawn their search parties. ..It speaks loudly of the villainy of some of the Victorian up, country settlers when the <.Government have been so thoroughly circumvented in their attempts to bring these murdering marauders to justice ; or it saya little for the efficiency of the Victorian police force. The present Government are being blamed for allowing Hiroki and other M iori murderers to remain at large : but we think that, all things considered, our Government is less culpable than that of Victoria. The caj>ture of the Kellys is a matter in which the whole of the Australian colonies are interested. We would not be far wrong in predicting that

they will, as soon as an opportunity offers emigrate to parts where they will be out of the reach of harassment from officials and others to whom they are pretty well known, and who knows but that they may favor us with their presence.