THE Otago Daily Times. MONDAY, JAN. 30, 1871.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2802, 30 January 1871, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. MONDAY, JAN. 30, 1871.

Somewhat more than a third of the total number of members required to : constitute the Lower House of the General Assembly has been returned j and the result so far, together with the indications afforded ot the remaining elections, is satisfactory, inasmuch as it shows that a House is likely: to be chosen with a majority of members opposed to the Financial Scheme being carried into effect without modification. Here and there a candidate is found to give an unqualified adherence to the scheme,-but the far greater number, advocate such a revision as will bring it within, the resources of the colony, and provide for the better administration ofthe funds that :may be raised. This result was anticipated by those who are conversant with the state of public feeling throughout the colony. The outcry raised against the Ministerial scheme was Hot because it proposed means for colonising the country. It had for some time previously been the current opinion among politicians that the hour was come when such a policy might be initiated propriety j but while all concurred in the end to be attained, the prudent did not admit that, under the specious "i name of opening up and settling the country, it would be either wise or honest to , incur a debt which would crush the colony to the earth, and per- | haps compel it to declare its insolvency. ! Hence, Mr Vogel's project, when laid [ before the Assembly, met with general | condemnation j but, at the same time, lit was perceived that it might be i moulded into a measure that would [ bear good fruit ; and the House patriol tically set about the work. The task, j however, was too difficult, to be I accomplished in one session. The | original scheme was a crude production ; and even after some of its roughest features had beea polished into shape, until it could scarcely

be recognised, it remained so radically unfair and unworkable that the public, more especially of the Middle Island, loudly condemned it, and insisted upon : still further alterations, if it were brought into operation at all. - ;..... p?hree of the Ministers have been elected—Messrs Pox, G-isborne, and M'Lean. Mr Gisborne is now the representative of a Taranaki constituency ; and it is certainly a little remarkable that the Taranaki people always provide at least one seat for the . Cabinet,no matter whether Mr Stafford •or Mr Fox be in office. Mr Gis;borne's return also. deserves notice as being an example of the vicious practice ;by which membersof the Legislative ' Council resign tlieir seats for the purpose of getting elected to the Lower House. Mr Pox has been again returned for Rangitikei, upon which constituency, indeed, he has great claims. :Mr Vogel is seeking the suffrages of i Auckland East, and is not threatened with dangerous opposition. The nciniJ nation takes place to-day. Among the ft candidates who have presented themselves to the various constituencies, jnone came more unexpectedly than Sir : David Monro, the late Speaker of the : House of Representatives, who, at the \ close of last session, definitely announced .his retirement from public life, but;has ;now, urged by a requisition, consented ;to stand for Motueka. Itis somewhat 'awkward for a man who has received the testimonials usually given to public characters upon their retirement into Iprivate life, to come forward a few ! months afterwards A. as a. candidate 'for a seat in the Legislature y nevertheless, Sir David's long Parliamentary and: general attainments, • would make Mm a valuable acquisition to: the new House, whether he j filled the; Speaker's chair^ or occupied ja seat oh the-private benches. He is, jwe believe,,,decidedly opposed:to the J Ministerial scheme" in its present shape. ;A hot contest is going,ori;-for the re- \ presentation of the city of Nelson. : Messrs Curtis, Shephard, Sclanders, ;and Lightband are in the field. The 1 first-named gehtlesman: is the: Only one jof the four who is known out of Nelson; and he has been so long before 'the public as Superintendent of that ! province, and member of the Assembly, jthat his principles and capacity are I j thoroughly understood; For the Nelson { | Suburbs Messrs Kellingandßichard- I ' son are candidates. Theformer gentleman |is very much respected in the district, and was some years ago a member of the Assembly, since -whfen hehas.busied himseli with local polities, ii He advocates a reduction of the sum proposed to be bprrowejd for jpiiblic works and : immigration to two millions. That : distinguished patriot, Mr Barff, has ; been rejected by the Hokitika people for Mr John White, who has served both as a Borough ahd County Councillor. The defeated hero is trying his luck jat the Totara, with a crowd of Mr W. H. Harrison has been re-elected forthe XJrey. He did not in the last Parliament succeed in gaining a very high place among his fellow-members, but his return cannot be regretted when we find that the choice lay between him and Mr P. A. Buckley, a Wellington lawyer of indifferent ability, whose sole qualification as a representative consisted in his being an Irishman. 7.7: '-7.,-. Mr Header Wood's vigorous and somewhat '-. rash denunciation of the colonising scheme, - immediately upon its being propounded, might be supposed, by certain persons, to have ishaken the confidence, of his Parnell constituents, but it has evidently not ; done so, foictKfey have piaceid him at the head of the poll. - His return is significant of public feeling, since if the 'present scheme be at all beneficial, it will advantage the North Island, and an Auckland constituency would hardly return an uncompromising opponent of \ their own interests j while Mr Reader Wood also lies under the discredit of having been instrumental in removing the seat oi Government to Wellington, MrCREiGHTON, the latememberforNewton, isaca&didateforthe district of Eden; his former seat being filled;'by Mr W. jSwanson, a member of the Auckland Provincial Council. A number of other ;old members—Messrs C. O'Neill, T. ! Henderson, J. Williamson, H. W. .Farnall, and H. KERR~are likewise in the field.: Mr John Williamson's lieutenant—Mr Q'Rorke, who generally acts as Chairman of Committees when Mr Carleton is out of the wayhas again found a. seat, together with Mr Clark. The' latter and Mr Buckland, a new face, will represent j the mercantile interest. Conspicuous among the names of candidates we find that of Mr J. C. Richmond. Unmindful of his long services, the Taranaki people have chosen to replace him by an amiable but silly old ■ gentleman;, named. Carrington, whose garrulous narratives about his own exploits made him the laughing-stock of the House last session. Mr Richmond has consequently been forced to cast about for a seat, and has pitched upon the city of Wellington, where he will be supported by a party which desires to break up the fossilized clique that has so long ruled the * capital of the colony/ He made a speech un the 17fch, which, despite of bad reporting, is evidently the ablest that has been delivered duiing the present elections, and ought to be read by every one who desires to become thoroughly acquainted with the political questions of the day. Mr Richmond drew pointed attention to the prominence which the land question is assuming. Speaking of the Ministerial scheme, he said, ' The real, the great difficulty that \ would be shirked, but which would ; have to be encountered—the land question, the little cloud that was ho bigger i than a man's hand—that was what would have to be faced. .... He knew that the pastoral interest was once the most important interest in the colony ; they were the pioneers of the country ; but he would ask them— Who aow are the pastoral interest?

They could not point to one in five of the old original squatters whose property had not passed into other hands. No, the real pastoral interest ef the country consisted of a few large houses at home, and a number of merchant firms in the colony. Besides, he could tell them what he had been told by Sir Charles Clifford. He told him that he had been told by those large merchants at home that Mr Vogel's scheme suited them exactly, as they intended' to realise j but he thought Mr Vogel's wind-bag was too badly pierced to ever admit of such an issue as that. . . . But he would remind them that the people of England were not in the habit of countenancing such recklessness in business as that scheme; they would see that we paid our just debts. We should never enter upon such dishonest and diabolical speculation. It was better that land should be opened on convenient- terms to immigrants than that any such, scheme should be entered, into.' These are the words of a deep thinker and eminently practical man. Owing to an unfortunate habit, when addressing the House, of looking a great deal at the sentimental side of things, Mr Richmond has acquired the reputation of being a visionary dreamer; but those who have studied his career know him to be one of most practical, as well as one of the ablest, politicians in the country. His colleague in the .present contest is Mr Travers; their ■opponents, Messrs Hunter and Pearce. ;One would imagine that the electors could not hesitate in their choice for a moment' • but the mere fact of a man haying resided for a long time in one place, seems to be an immense virtue in the eyes of some communities. The nomination of candidates for the representation of the Taieri district in the General Assembly takes place at the Court ;House, West Taieri, at noon to-day. In additioh to the two candidates—Mr Donald Reid and Mr Henry Smythies—already in ■the field, we understand that Mr r. A. Tolmie, in compliance with a requisition signed by a number of the electors, has conseated, to offer himself for election. Th 6 poll for the Roslyn and Clutha elections takeis place to-day. By the ship City of Dunedin, the Acclimatisation Society has received six red and one axis deer. Two of, the former died on the voyage, eighthead having been shipped. Great 'care appears to have been bestowed 'upon them by Captain Curry, who had charge of them during: the passage. They ■will remain at Mr Scott's stables for a few days,r the Society^ having not yet decided where they should beliberated.: ; The foUowing prisoners were received into H.M. Gaol, Dunedin, on Saturday night :— Norman M'Donald, labourer, sentenced at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Oamaru, by Mr Barker, 8.M., on the 21st instant, to seven days' and one calendar month's hard labour, cumulative, for resisting and assaulting the police in the execution of their duty at Oamaru; Henry Rich, an old offender; sentenced at the same place, on the 23rd inBtant, by Mr Parker, to four months' imprisonment, with hard labour, for stealing a silver watch from the person of Mr Ritchie Young, at Oamaru. There are at present six i Chinese prisoners confined ya Danedin Gaol for varioua offences. Mr Gow, the newly-appointed writing and Commercial master to the High School, and Mr Paterson, who has been selected to fill Mr Abram's place during his leave of absence, have arrived, the former from Sydney, and the latter from Hokitika, and will ehter upon their duties at the school this morning. We have seen specimens of Mr Gow's handwriting, and think we may safely say that if he succeeds in making his new pupils write half as well as himself, the parents will have little cause to complain. An accident which might have been attended with more serious results occurred oh Friday last, on the Anderson's Bay road. It appears that as Mr Garside's 'bus was proceeding to Portobello he succeeded in overhauling another 'bus, which, it is stated, was on the wrong side of the road, and in endeavouring to pass it the 'bus was upset, and its occupants thrown into a ditch. One of the passengers, Mrs Popham, received a severe shock, and remained in.an unconscious state until Saturday morning; but she is now progressing favourably. John M'Keegan, aged 31 years, by occupation a sailor, died in the Lunatic Asylum on the 27th inst. from disease of the brain causing general paralysis. The deceased was brought from the Southland Asylum on the 6th July, 1869. He was a native of Cushen^ daal, Co. Antrim, Ireland. We regret to state that another case of scarlet fever has occurred in Dunedin, besides two on the Quarantine Island. In the former case the sufferer is a child belonging to the same fa?nily as thafc in which another child was lately mentioned as having been attacked by tbis disease. It has been removed to the Hospital, where both children are now doing well. On the Quarantine Island the disease has attacked two of th& children of Mr Dugald, the keeper of the island. Such being the case, it would be advisable that the island should be kept strictly in quarantine, and that no visitors should be allowed to land on it. A man named William Joseph Jackson has lately been brought to the Hospital from Blueskin,.in which quarter, whilst he was chopping' wood, the tomahawk glanced off the piece which he was striking, and severely wounded him in the left knee-cap. A general, meeting of the Degree of Rebekah, A.1.0.0.F., took place on Friday evening, at the Old Masonic Hall, for the purpose of conferring this degree on candidates. The opportunity was taken advantage of by several wives ef members of the Order. At 8 p.m, a fair sprinkling of ladies who have already received this degree, as well as several officers of the Grand Lodge, and a very large concourse of the officers and brethren of the various lodges, were present. The R.W.G. Sec. Bro. James , Michie, assisted by R.W.G. Warden Bro. Loudon, P.G. Master Bro. M'Gaw, Paßt Grands Bros. Brown, Soares, Neale, and Miuifie, and J.P.G. Bro. Braithwaite, pro- -, ceeded to open the degree. Bro. Bishop : kindly presided as organist in an able and : effective manner. The opening' ceremony being concluded, the M.W.G. Master Bro. B. C. Haggitt, was then announced, and re- - ceived with the usual honours: after which i he proceeded, in a very impressive manner, to confer the Degree of Rebekah on the (. ladies assembled for the purpose. All the I necessary business being finished, the Degree !.

was closed with the usual prayer by W.G. Chaplain Bro. James M'Gaw. The members and their wives were then invited to a social re-union for the purpose of cultivating • the usual interchange of tjivilities, an invitation which was unanimously responded.to. A first class band was provided, and dancing was kept up most spiritedly. The evening's amusement was enlivened by one of the ladies obliging with one or two songs, which were rendered in a very sweet and expressive manner, her example being afterwards followed by several of the brethren. J. P. G. Bro. Braithwaite kindly undertook the onerous duties of M.C. The evening's entertainment wound up at an early hour in the morning. Our Blueskin correspondent writes:—'' The . annual social * meeting of the friends and members connected with the Presbyterian ; Church here, was held on Wednesday even- ; ing last, in the church itself. The ladies of the congregation, with their usual liberality, supplied the tea and necessary adjuncts. As the attendance of visitors was large, some three or four relays of tables had to be resorted to ; however, there was no stint of anything in the shape of liquids or solids, and, what was better, not the slightest sign of chaste or disorder. The ladies deserve great credit for, the admirable arrangements made, and for the neat and tasteful way in which the interior of the building was deco rated with evergreens and flowers. After the tea things had been removed, the Rev. Mr Johnston, of Port Chalmers, took the chair; the proceedings were then opened with a Psalm. The rev. gentleman next congratulated the meeting on the numerous attendance, and further stated that the proceeds of the soiree would be devoted to the painting of the church and the adornment of the grounds, and that there would be a large sum in the hands of the deacons for that purpose. No statement of accounts was produced, but-1 was told the gratifying fact of the Church being out of debt. Mr Morris, of Sawyer's Bay, and Mr Gray, delivered suitable addresses. The Rev. Mr Riley, of Waikouaiti, congratulated the district on the energy displayed in having a church, and stated that he had often mentioned it in other small places as a laudable example to be followed up. The Rev. Messrs Kirkland from the Clu:ha,- and Bull from Port Chalmers, also delivered addresses. At intervals the choir favoured,the meeting with musical selections.' I may. here, remark however, upon, an impression prevailing that there was room for improvement in'the singing. Another matter that should be mentioned is, that as the evening was fortunately ; calm and fine, a great many of those present, finding there was not room in the building stood outside, and as the windows were thrown open,. they had as good a chance of speeches as those inside, besides having the benefit of the open: air!; When the selections were being sung, some of the pebp'e insido could ; not refrain from beating time with their boots oh the floor. Of course, the music was drowned to those outside. As such unseemly in? terruptions have occurred; before, I mentioh the circumstance now, and trust it will not occur again. The meeting was brought to a close by votes of thanks-to the ladies; the choir, the speakers, and 'the chairman, after which the doxplogy; was "sung by all; standing, and the benediction then pronounced by Mr Kirkland. All thea departed well pleased with the proceedings. I would sug- • gest to the gentlemen managing, that in future it would be well to have such meetings held on an evening when the moon is towards the full. It would add much to the convenience of those living at a distance, and I am certain the proceeds would be considerably increased. This remark will apply to other meetings as well." We take the following agricultural items from the Bruce Standard of Saturday:— " The weather has been dry and hot during the past week, and has ripened the crops, far too fast. Harvest is now pretty general; and, although the crops are generally light, it is expected that the price of grain will rule very high, and so make up fpr the deficiency of yield. We are sorry to know that the late frost has seriously injured much of the wheit crop in low-lying localities. Potatoes are to be a poor crop.— Harvesting operations in the Waikouaiti district are in full fling, and in a few days the settlers will be unusually busy. The crops are far from discouraging, and we believe will be up to the average in yield. Wheat looks remarkably well, but the'generality-of. the oats are deficient in straw." A Committee was appointed by the Provincial Council of Auckland lately to report upon the fisheries of the province, and the amount Of encouragement to be afforded them. The Herald, in a leading article summarises some of the evidence taken before the Committee. We make the following extracts from the article in question :—From the evidence taken, and coming from persons engaged heretofore in the American fisheries, such evidence carries the weight of authority with it, we learn that the fisheries on the coast of New Zealand, and notably of the northern portion of this province, are superior both to those of America and Newfoundland, and this statement was unhesitatingly made by a gentleman who for seventeen years was engaged on the North American fisheries, and who for -some few years past has had practical acquaintance with qux own. Not only are fish more abundant here, but the quality is superior. Another person of similar experience, and a master mariner, giving evidenc3, stated that on a voyage to the Mauritius he took for the ship's use both cod and sohnapper cured as cod, and that he found the latter : more profitable for use, as while the codfish became broken before it could be used, the schnapper " kept remarkably well, and was firm when cooked." The climate, too, of this province, it was stated, is far more suitable for the curing of ft fish than is that of America ; and Mr M'Leod stated that even in January last—the most unsuitable month of the whole year for fish- '■ curing—ef nineteen hundred schnapper, taken' ! iv one haul in a seine net by himself, at ' Waiapu, he did not lose a single fish in the process. . . In Batavia, where the demand < would, perhaps, be larger than anywhere j else, a couple of cwt. of New Zealand cured i fish, taken as a trial sale, were greedily < bought np; and, as we privately learn, the } master of the vessel was continually teased ( to part with the portion reserved by him for £ the ship's use. In the North American j fisheries it was stated by Mr M 'Leod that 12s 6d per cwt. was the price paid for the cored codfish to the fishermen, and that he saw no reason why the same price ' should not prove remunerative here. With } such evidence as they had to go upon, we ' are not surprised to find that the Committee < have reported most favourably on the advi- 1 liability of encouraging thia very important .

local industry, and that they have recomJ mended that L4OO be voted for the current year to provide a bounty of 4s per cwt. oa cured fish exported from this province. Ifc has also, we see, recommended that all boats engaged in the fishing trade should be relieved from aJI pilot, harbour, wharf, and light dues, and, if possible, from the duty oa cordage and the usual appliances for taking: and curing fish. The sensational drama of "Under the Gaslight" was produced at the Princess Theatre on Saturday evening. There was a good attendance. The French play of " Thot .Loan Chateau," is to be produced this evening. Our monthly Summary for Europe will be published to-morrow morning. , , The annual general meeting of the members of the Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute will be held in the lower hall: of the building this evening at 7 30. The meeting of the Abstainers' Union is, in consequence, postponed until to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock. . No. 1 Company City Guards will musterfor Commanding Officer's Parade, in the Octagon, this evening at 7.30. A special general meeting of Mr Reid's Central Committee will be held in the rooma above the Savings Bank this evening at 8 o'clock. "