THE Otgo Daily Times. "Invenium viam aut facium." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30. 1862.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 217, 30 August 1862, Page 4

THE Otgo Daily Times. " Invenium viam aut facium." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30. 1862.

Natural events have done and are sfil' doing for Otago, that for which other countries are striving and panting'as the chid element tor their successful development From the shores of British Columbia, fron» the vast solitudes of Central Australia, fnm the fertile table lands and plains of Queen* - land, and from the fragrant Islands of tin Pacific, is arising one cry—the cry for th*s vital machinery, which, exciting nature hersel' to greater effort*, shall call (forth the'latent energies of the soil, and force the earth v disgorge its spoil, won by the hidden agencit? of far time from the chaotic elements of creation. The younger natioua of the age are ali craving for that population, which i* now being impelled by fortuitous circumstances to the shores of Otago. Whilst other colonie? are, by devoting large sums of money, and by means of special agents, striving to stimulau the flow of population to their borders, tht stream is fairly flowing to this Province bearing on it the energy, perseverance, ami enterprise which has accomplished so much for other countries, and ban done so much already for this. There are few, if any, oftlu Colonies of Great Britain, that find themselves, so richly endowed as the Province oi Otago has been, and will in all probability" continue to be. No government of a new community ever had a greater supply of such rich and plastic materials for fashioning into a prosperous and happy community as are found, ready to tb.e~hand3.of the Provincial Government of Otago, and nothing scarcely a wanting but the skill and careful handling •f the artist to construct the work.

It is a singular feature in the English character, that whilst individually and collectively capable of initiating and oi carrying out the grandest (schemes of civilizition, the magnificent results they ultimately achieve, are generally reared upon the ruins and confusion of a first attempt. In warfare, in the construction or undertaking of any gigantic enterprise, the collective energies of the public have been too often stultified at the outset- by the want of efficient and prompt organization. Indomitable perseverence, ami boundless resources have enabled them to triumph over the first disasters, but not until great injuries have been inllicted. We may quote as a modern instance, and one which we import into our subject for the sake of illustration—the campaign in the Crimea. The finest army in the world, equipped with every appliance, and furnished with a proJigality known only to the hand of Great .'Britain, with all the necessaries for its support, was half sacrificed by the simple want of proper organization of the resources at command. The nation looked on and chafed with ceaseless anxiety at the confusion, and ultimately energy and good sense triumphed, and the close of the war found the British Army in a state of efficiency in every department, unequalled in the history of warfare. The Provincial Government of Otago has much resembled in its conduct that of the military authorities of the time we mention. The gold discoveries which, twelve months ago, opened out a new future for this Province, and brought in their train so many and great interests, found the Provincial Government unequal to the emergency. Confined, hitherto, to a small area, and accustomed only to dealing with limited resources, the large field opened out to them, and the immensity of the resources placed at their command, for a time, paralysed their fatuities, and, with

the best intentions to make proper use of the materials placed in their hands, they produced disorder and confusion. Money was expended with a lavish hand; everything was conceded, but the efforts were defeated by the want of that proper organisation which the experience of the last yeai must have shown to be so necessary. Who can deny that the results of the immense expenditure for the last twelve months are miserably inadequate ? Tne present time is no Jess pregnant with results to the future prosperity of the Province. Coming events have already cast their shadows before, and it behoves the Government to prepare itself for the proper andj efficient discharge of its duties. The most liberal supply of riches and of population will avail but little in the construction of a prosperous colony, if those materials are not properly handled. It is for the Government to fashion and consolidate them into a permanent structure. Nature has done her part and the ceaseless energy and enterprise of man have done more, it remains e»ly to conserve the influences which are capable of achieving auch magnificent results. The Government cannot plead surprise at this juncture; they have had an experience, let us hope, as valuable as the price that has been paid for it We hesitate not to say that, if they but do their duty, the Province of Otago may become one of the most prosperous colonies in the South Pacific. Every effort must be mede to retain the population that is pouring into the Province. In the management of the gold fields there most be a better appreciation of the requirements of the miners, and a more prompt supply of their wants. In the construction of roads, there must be stricter supervision, and more scientific principles | adopted, and less delay in their formation. I Means must be found to render the acquisition of land more easy. Those townships, whose increasing extension and importance are so cheering a sign of the times, must, by the granting of Municipal Institutions, be enabled to consolidate and improve their condition .Mere extravagant expenditure on the one hand, and parsimony on the other, arc neither liberality nor economy.^ In dealing with the public expenditure the Government must bring to bear discriminating judgment and firm sagacity. True economy.^ defined by Burke as being '• a distributive virtue, con- '• listing not in saving, but selection. Parsi- " mony requires no providence, no sagacity, " no power of combination, no comparison, no *' judgment. Mere instinct, and that not an 1 instinct of the noblest kind, may produce " this false economy in perfection." The greatest profusion of natural resource* will never supply the want of unity in design, but perseverance and unity in design will never want resources. There are among the members of the Provincial Council, men of keen perception, and in the management of their own affairs, not wanting ability. Ut them individually, in their future deliberation* bring to bear the ■same amount of sagacity and careful estimate uf existing requirements, that they would ex•rcise in the conduct of their own undertaki i£*, and they will be able to show very diff rent results at the end of the next year of tte province's history. Let it be borne in mmd that " when a public man omits to put * himself in a situation of doing his duty with * effect, it h an omission that frustrates the *' purpose* of his trust almost as much as if he " had formally destroyed it." The probable extension of the gold fields of the province, and the introduction of a further large increase to the population, will uupose new duties and larger responsibilities upon the Government. They haw hailalrcadv v.ifhcicnt experience of the requirements of the province, and of the many blunders already ormuitted. Let us hope that thin time they will prove themselves equal to the magnitude >f the interests involved.

We publish in another column a letter from Captain MLachlan, in reference to the late accident to the Aldinga. From the meagre accounts to hand, there secrm every reason to believe that the steamer will be repaired sufficiently to make the voyage to Melbourne where no difficulty would be found in completely remedying the damage. Still it i* not to be denied that the Aiding! ran great danger, that, in fact, very little more would have added another to the long list of noble vessels that have been engulphed in the waves that wash the New Zealand shores. She would have been another victim to the absence of lighthouses on the coast. Had there been a lighthouse on Dog Island the accident would not have happened. But without a lighthouse, the wonder is not that the accident occurred, but that it should have been so long delayed. Skill, judgment and experience are powerless before the daugers of a passage on a dark night through a narrow channel, fringed on each side with death and destruction,. To avoid the Suylla of the Toby Rock, vessels venture dangerously near the Charybdi-j of the Wapapapa, and s;> in the darkness of the night the Aldinga went a little too near—and even if all damage be effectually repaired, she will have run a narrow risk," and her useful services for a time be wanting when most needed.

So great are the known dangers of this spot, that only a few weeks ago, a numerously signed memorial was presented to the Deputy Superintendent, begging the local Government to undertake the construction of a lighthouse on Dog Island. But the Constitution Act specially hands over the construction of lighthouses to the General Government, so that all that the Superintendent could do was to forward the memorial to Wellington, with a letter strongly recommending that its prayer should be complied with. Indeed, we believe the letter went so far as to say that if the General Government would authorise it, the local authorities would undertake the work. No answer has yet been received, but in the interests of humanity it is to be hoped that there will not be an hour's unnecessary delay in properly lighting up the New Zealand coast.

Wo understand that the Provincial Government has commissioned Mr. Gabriel Ilead to visit the new Dunstan diggings, for the purpose of making a mining report upon them.

At the Princess Theatre last night was again presented the capital comedy " A Friend in Need" and the screaming farce of "State Secrets.' I In the former piece Sir. Charles Young as Squire Wannup, with his clever pronunciation of the Lancashire dialect, and his* never finished story anent the run with the hounds, was very amusing, and the other characters were well given. Miss Ada Hart merited the hearty encore she received for her skipping rope hornpipe, and Miss Ettie Lewis displayed her vocal powers to considerable advantage. The concluding farce went off with capital spirit, Mr Young's personation of the drinking philosophising tailor being irresistibly comic. We must mention that considerable annoyance was occasioned by the noise and dancing winch was carried on in the corridors of the theatre, which, originally intended for the convenience of the audience, bid fair to become a nuisance unless better order is preserved.

"Green Bushes" and Katharine and Petruchio*, ( were repeated at the Theatre Royal last evening when we were glad to see a good attendance in the ( dress circle and side boxes. Madame Marie Duret seems to bestow especial care upon her pourtraval of Miami, bat while attending to the t minutest detai s, she k>3e3 nothing of the broad : effect of which the character is capable. The applause throughout the piece was hearty and : well deserved. " Katharine and Pctru chio," as it i is usually-presented, is so very much compressed, that it can scarcely be said to remain one of ' Shitkspcre'g coraeJies," but it effects a succession of Ktron^ poi;it3, and generally, as last evening, is received with the heartiest laughter. Mr. Holt's Petruchio might, we fancy, have been less boisterous, without being less forcible. Mrs Holt played Katharine very capitally. We have to acknowledge the receipt of £1 from A. C, on behalf of the Hughes Fund. The excavating in Stuart-street is being proceeded with. A gang of prisoners are at present levelling the street from the Jetty towards George-street, and we trust to see eventual 1; an excellent road through, as the metal will be laid on a firm clay bottom, through which it can not j possibly sink, as it in so many instances has done through the soft surface soil. The gold fever appears to have had a rn< st | beneficial effect in Dunedin. The medical officer | at the Hospital informs us that there have been ! but few applications for admission during the i past week, and the patients are recovering very j fast. Our column oi police intelligence during j the past week lias been very bare, and we are in- j forinc:! that there have been fewer imprisonments ! lor debt during the week than for some time. \ We inuy safely say that things are " looking \ I "p-" i | The following is the weekly report of the j | Duncdiu Hospital :—Total number of patients in t | Hospital on Friday, 21»th instant, 101. Kight \ I patients were admitted,and twenty-six discharged j as convalescent during the week. One death ? look place during the week, the case being one of j cerebral disease. There have been no severe ; eascji brought under notice. A maa named Timothy llogers, admitted for an accident, liad : rfcccivtvl severe injuries in the shoulder and back I while vinpiovL-d on a steamer. O^ing to the number discharged, and the few admitted, the Hospital is by no inwans full at present. ! | The following was the state of ll.il. Gaol, j Dune-din, Friday, 29th August -.—Persons await- ' i ing trial before Supreme Court, 9 males and i i female ; and bef ire the Resident Magistrate's Court, I female ; under sentence with hard Labor, I U male* and C females, and 1 male and 3 females i | undergoing a short term of imprisonment, and I [ male imprisoned for default bail. Nine males | were imprisoned for debt, and 4 males confined as ■ j lunatics. Total number in Gaol on Friday even- '' ; ing 79, being 6H males and 11 females. Thera ; were received .luring the week 9 males and 4 'em:iles, and 13 males and 4 females were dh- \ charged during the same period. j | On Thursday night, the *kv was illuminated at J | interval*, by brilliant flashes of lightning, con. \ tinuing witli varying intermission through the 1 whole of the night. j We cannot too strongly deprecate the cruel and 1 senseless practices of some of the would-be sports- I men, (?) in the wanton massacre of the sea birds ! in the harbour. Not many days ago, we saw a ! number of persons in a boat, amusing themselves ' by firing at the- flocks of birds, which nut only { enliven the harbor but act to a certain extent as j its scavengers, and a gentleman informs us that in his walks along the beach, he not unfrequently comas across birds which have been badly wounded struggling along witli a broken leg or wing, as the c-usc may be. A singular mistake was lately made by the captain of a vessel. The Ge'elong Adeertimer says :—" The captain of the barque Mary Agnes, which arrived in Hobson's Bay a few days ago, from lUtavia, made the slight mistake of confounding Port Phillip with Port Jackson. He only found his error when, on inquiring the address of liis consignees, he found there were no such persons in Melbourne. On again referring to his charter-party, he found that Port Jackson, not Port Phillip, was to be the end of his voyage, and for that quarter he immediately sailed. * The finances of Tosmanian appear to be in a bad state. The following remarks upon the subject are from the Hobart Town Advertiser :— '■ That the Revenue has not realized the Estimates formed of it last year, affords therefore, no ground for astonishment, but that it should have fallen so far below the Estimate, might well create, not only astonishment, but well founded alarm. Provision having been made as was thocght for the anticipated deficit of the current year by the imposition of ad valorem duties on the great majority of our imports, the public were not prepared to learn that notwithstanding the creation of that fresh source of Revenue and the amount it had already yielded to the Exchequer, yet there was a difference between the expected Revenue and Expenditure of the current year of between £14,000 and £20,000. The depressing influence of this exposition of our financial affairs cannot bui have effects in every way inimical to the colony's advancement."

The scarcity of employment in Tasmania is assuming a serious aspect. At a recent meeting 02 the Hobart Town Municipal Council, the Mayo, said:—" It was a matter of serious moment how to find employment for the amount of labor within their reach. It was no use sending things horn* to the Great Exhibition to induce people to oonu out here, if they did not know how to employ tin labor they had. It was a matter which" concerned the wholo of tho.community, including the tradesmen as well af the laborers themselves and tho Government, who looked to trade for a revenue." Aldcrnmn Sevbrook thought it was * matter of such vital importance that evenAlderman ought to lend his assistance on the occasion. The-e were 2,000 children here who had arrived at the age'of fourteen, an.' there was no employment for them; therefore, for the -sake of the children, as well as the community generally, it was desirable that something should be established to prevent utter rnin.

We understand that a letter was yesterday received by a person in Dunedin from a friend who had gone up to the Dunstan Diggings. The writer had only just arrive! when he wrote, but his account was that there was a. large number of people on the.ground; that provisions were very scarce, and that persons arriving with stocks were compelled to part with them. The diggers were willing to pay any money for food, but have it they would We learn from another quarter that the diggers on the road have been sticking up persons travelling with packs of provisions and have compelled them to part with what they had, for money or otherwise. All sorts of reports are rife, and but little reliance can be placed on them. We give these for what they are worth-

We understand the Benevolent Asylum Committea are anxious to purchase a piece of land of about five acres, in the immediate vicinity of the towc. Applications are requested to be made to Mr. I lard castle, Honorary Secretary. For an eligible site a good price would be paid.

The Tasmanian Government has decided upon a wholesale redaction of. the salaries of Gorernment officers. The saving effected is about L7OOO per annum. The measure has occasioned a nearly universal outcry of disgust in the colony, as the officials affected by the change are the hard-working employes of the Government, the incomes ot the high-paid officials not being trenched upon. The Hobart Town Advertiser speaks of the measure as " an odioa3 injustice by which the whole burden of the increased taxation required to meet past and future estimated deficits is to be placed on the shoulders of a clasa who dare not give vent to their indignation under fear of the total loss of the stipends they now receive, and who more than any other class in tha community are incapacited by the very nature of their employments from adopting other means of obtaining a livelihood.''

His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania haa notified that in future every Justice of the Peace, or any other person holding any honorary appointment, who may hereafter become insolvent, or make any composition with Ids creditors, of which notice appears in the public papers, is thereupon required to tender the resignation of his commission or appointment, without waiting to be called on to do so.

The Geelong Advertiser, in an article complaining of the insecurity of property in tlii3 age of bushranging, says :— li Indeed, so strong is the general feeling of insecurity, that it has in several instances been pioposed to place a certain sum in a convenient pigeon-hole, the same to be taken away by the expected guests, they leaving a guarantee that there will be no second call during the quarter. Gardiner, as we all know, is a man of his word, disdains to take loose silver, and would scorn to rob a poor man. So, his imitators in a small way of business, are probably actuated by the same chivalrous motives, and will take the t) ibute, duly appraising the means of those who give, aud go on their way rejoicing."

As an instance of mining under difficulties, a person writing from the Lachiaa, to the Baliartt Star, mentions the following : —" A novelty in mining has taken place here this week, on" the Victoria Lead. In sinking through the drift in ont- of the claims, a man goes down in a diving suit in the water and sends up the drift sand, and the boxes foliow downward*. In the shaft he has been down there is about fifteen feet of water. I have seen him at work. He has got a water-tight suit and a helmet on his head, attached to which is a tube from an air-pump on the surface. He can stop down any length of time, and cones up qnite dry. The whole suit and pump cost, I hear, in Sydney, £290, and are the property of one* individual.