THE Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1878.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4435, 6 May 1876, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1878.

We pointed out nob long ago, in a series of articles, that it was absurd to sbeak about a united New Zealand as if there were no two opinions about the desirability of being united. Nobody, of cburse, wants anything approaching to tlie state of feeling that—among people like j,the Germans and the French— l6ads to war, yet, at tlw Hame time there are obvious reasons for not wishing that all tho present Provincial jealousies should be wiped out. What harm have they done ? What wrong to the community have these so-called petty Provincial rivalries committed that they are to be treated like vermin almost, and that every man's hand should ba at least supposed to be against them 1 It cannot be denied that we have grown strong under an amount of government that we all like to laugh at. If there had been any possibility of forgetting either of these two facts, Sir Julius Vooel reminds us often enough of the laughing part of the business, aiid Mr Macandkew reminds us of the other half. But however we may deal with the facts the facts remain. Now, we do not hold that the truth of this statement is any good ground for saying that Provincial organisation ought to be retained intact, but we do hold that it is an excellent reason for not assuming as hardly needing proof lhat the system so long in use is radically bad. Let us for a moment compare the growth and relative prosperity of New Zealand with, that of any one other of her sister Colonies, and we shkll have good reason to say that there must have been something exceptional about her 'to* enable her to thrive so well. It would ba absurd to say that the extraordinary progress of this place is owing to Provincialism. For our part we think that the best we can ever hope to get from any Government is that it shall-not interfere so much with the progress of the country as to injure it. This will no doubt seem an almost blasphemous doctrine to certain Centralists; we believe, notwithstanding, that it is perfectly true. We may lawfully argue just this, and no more, that there cannot have been anything very seriously amiss with a form of rule that has not hindered the progress of the place. We conceive that the present condition of New Zealand is in itself an admirable answer to the arguments of those who treat the whole quest idn of the reorganization of the Constitution as a matter that requires the immediate attention of thoughtful men. We do not regard it as any answer at all to the claims rather absurdly put forward sometimes by the more ardent advocates for the retention of the old system. No one can be more anxious that the faults of that system should be immediately corrected ; but when that system is spoken of as a thing that ; requires tho most severe and stringent remedies, then we haye an excellent answer...to the objectors in the fact that we have far outstripped all the other Colonies, comparatively speaking, and that, in fact, the;burden of"proof lies on the other side, and that a better scheme must be at least set forwards before we consent to relinquish the one under which we have thriven and grown fat, Ab a matter of fact, we hold that the rivalries of the "various Provinces are gi'eat advantages; They do simply carry into the region of Government the principle of competition ; the one principle that has done more to send the world on than any other. When the advocates of central rule tell us of the immense gain of a united New Zealand we think that we are entitled to ask them what are the so great advantages that you see in enabling New Zealand to move as one man 1 Is it that you think settlement ought to proceed, for instance, from one centre? Thai it is a mistake to have settled the Shotover before settlement was completed all the way towards that valley 1 Do you think that settlement by a carefully arranged and progressive system would.be for the good of the place % If this be the idea, we can only say that the thing has been tried and has been found wanting. We believe that nothing is now more certain than that the .progress of a new country will be almost in exact proportion as the settlers are left to find their own place for settlement; or, to put the case of the harbours of the Colony, do you think that it would be better to have one really good harbour at Wellington or half-a-dozen moderately good ones in hal-a-dozen different places 1 The one effect would almost certainly be produced by having only one Government, the other, with equal certainty, by having different Governments. The; inevitable tendencies of the one form are in the one direction, the tendencies of the other in the opposite. But we shall be told that it is the aim of the Ministry to produce that very localisation that you demand—to pro duce it more perfectly, by a scheme of local rule, than we have as yet had. If this be admitted, then, of course, it becomes a mere matter of fair discussion if the new scheme is more likely to accomplish this object than the old. The object being the same, the discussion of the means fairly follows. But then our other argument comes in with its full force. We have thriven under one system thoroughly well; is it the part of wise men to root up what has served our turn so well, and launch ourselves on the ocean of the unknown chances of the future 1 Is it so easy to construct a Constitution 1 All experience tells ua that few things are much harder than to do this very thing that the Ministry are attempting with the reckless audacity of schoolboys. Only some very great pressure can justify such a proceeding, and it is simply notorious that no such great necessity at present exists. If we had suffered from a revolution, theft it might lawfully tax the best energies ot" our best men to devise a new Constitution. They are

more likely to cause a revolution than to cure one by tho present method. There is plenty to be done in the way of gentle and, perhaps, tedious improvement, but this sort of work is not well suited to the genius of oar rulers.

We have no doubt whatever that the gentry who mako themselves so busy ovtu-y day now in glorying that the people's heritage has boon presorvod to thorn, will find out before tho winter is past and gone that they have made a slight mistado in being in such a hurry to stop this large sale. It is amusing to notice the ■very different reasons given by different people for thoir objections. There are* some whoso objections really amount to this, and only to this, that they either consciously or uhconsciotisly desire that no lands should be sold at all. We believe indeed that the main part of the more honest oppositionists aro actuated by thia. underlying feeling more than by any other, and it is of courae a very groat pity that the land in such blocks should have to be sold to satisfy the needs of the hour. And yoi, after all, this is merely repeating in sonorous phr. se the trite old proverb, that you cannot eat your cake and have'it top. Wo aro not aware that the lands of a Colony differ, if we except the one point on which the land people take their stand, from any other private property. It seems a very great pity to sacrifice a section in George street at a price which we know will not represent one-eighth of its value twenty years hence, and yet. these most melancholy sacrifices have constantly to be made by every far-seeing businessman. Weallregret the necessity, but we all in turn have to succumb to it Nor have we over yet h^ard any good reason given why countries or colonies should escape, the com tnon lot. It is simply impossible to alWays. avoid a temporary sacrifice, and we are not aware that this land sale, which has caused so much fictitious excitement, can fairly be called anything more than a sacrifice, rendered necessary by the foolish conduct of the majority of last session in defacing the Statute Book with a halfbaked law. We notice that while the Helots of the Colbnial Government are iuipressing on thoir admirers tho fact that tho land should not have been sold at all, the people at Naseby are content toiacknowledge that it was quite necessary to sell some one else's land ; though they seemed to think that it was uncommonly hard that the land in their immediate vicinity should have been, the block selected. This is, perhaps, as aniusing an outcome of a popular, agitation as we have ever seen. Between the people who think that no land ought to be'sold at all, and the people who think that their land ought not to have been the lop selected, and those other good peoplej who do not care one.little bit what happens to the land.so long as they can manage to get a slant at the Provincial Executive, we prefer to take a middle coiirsejourselves, and say that we think that tne land, though not exposed for sale in thej most judicious way it ought to have been sold, it was necessary to sell it. We haye a shrewd idea, that others will come round to this way of thinking before th:e winter is* over.

We observe with much regret that one of the earliest results of the detachment of certain portions of the Flat from the Caversham Road District, and the creation of new governing bodies for the separated areas, is an open war between the Road Board and at least one of the recalcitrant districts. Had this been no mote than a war of words, we should have felt disinclined to drag it into greater publicity by taking special notice of it. The members of the Caversham Road Board were very much annoyed that any of ithe ratepayers whose funds they managed should fancy themselves able to look after their own affairs in a manner superior to that of the local rulers with whom they were already blest. In return, the ratepayers who wished to be incorporated grew somewhat splenetic when the "powers that were" made a 6ght to retain their power. The ill-will engendered during the agitation which brought about the present order of things could not be expected to die out all at once, but it was only reasonable to hope. that it would find sufficient vent in words and a gentral surliness of demeanour towards one another by official persons on either side. Unfortunately our suburban Councillors and members of Road .Boards have to do all their work in the; evening, after a dinner probably hurried, and therefore but ill digested. Hence any crabbedness in their nature seems to be exceptionally well developed by the hour at which tjheir meetings commence. Moreover, they are evidently in their best fighting condition and ready for anything when they do meet; Probably they have a habit of meeting at street corners on the way to the scene of their labours, and in the suburbs as in town, almost every street corner; invitte3 one to the social glass. Wo are not relating history—we neveij' accompanied Councillor or Road Board members to the dreary halls in which' they air their eloquence. Our ideas on the subject are, however, strictly logical inferences from the facts with which we and the public generally are acquainted. We know the circumstances under which they meet, and we know what they have done at their meetings. The end of.it all is that they have not' been content with wordy war or general surliness of demeanour: they are going to law. We do not'presume to offer an opinion on the merits of the case about which the Road Board and the South Dunedia Municipality have disagreed. A Mr Fabkbll, in accordance with a contract let to him by the Corporation, filled up a ditch. The Road Board, in accordance with its ideas of the fitness of things, opened the ditch again. Thia was, to begin with, the wrong way to go about things. If the Corporation had trespassed or made a mistake, a short conference between the Mayor and the Chairman of the Road Board would probably have led to an amicable settlement of the difficulty. But after thus starting in the wrong way, the Board has seen fit to go still further wrong and has begun to spend»the ratepayers' money in law proceedings against the unlucjky contractor. The last news on the subject is that the Corporation of South Dunedin has not been able to resist the influence of the bad example thus set to them. According to the report of their last meeting, which we published on Tuesday, they are taking "proceedings against the Caversham Road Board for the action it has taken in causing the drain to be opened, and thereby flooding the low lying ground." A very pretty quarrel as it stands, and quite likely to be a costly one too. And all because a few ineu have made up their miuds to be disagreeable to one another. It does not matter in the least wlio was wrong at the offset— both parties are seriously in the wrong now. These men were elected to their present positions in order that difficulties like that now .in question might be arranged, and set straight, for the benefit of all concerned in them. When they begin to fight over them, they are guilty of something worse than neglect, of duty.

As an instance of the great demand which at present exists for the lauds opened for settlement under the deferred payment system, we may mention that at a recent sale of such lands in the Waikaka district, prices ranged from 3-s to 14a per acre per annum. At the latter rate, therefore, the purchaser will have to pay no less than £7 per acre for the freehold. It may be been from this week's Gazette that the Government still continues tj put more laud into the market under tho deferred payment

system.

A special meeting of the Dunedin Cricket Club's Committee was hold in Wain's Hotel yesterday afternoon, to consider the action of a member or members of the Dunedin Football Club in forcibly entering the pavilion on the Southern Kecreation Gronud. It was resolved that the proceedings should bo kept private for the present. A general meeting will probably be called to discuss the matter

Among the recent additions to the collection in the Museum in Great King street may be mentioned a large number of various kinds of Indian birds which hive been forwarded by Mr Allan Hume, ornithologist, of Calcutta. They comprise pheasants from the Himalaya Mountains, also an Impoyan pheasant, whioh possesses a very brilliant plumage. A box containing birds and skins of animals has also been received from the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia. Among the most noticeable objects in this collection are a sloth and a Californiah albatroas.' Br Fiiisoh, of Germany, has also forwarded an interesting collection, which include a hooded seal from Greenland, several birds of paradise, and a ground pigeon from New Guinea. In the yard at the rear of the new Museum the skeleton of the whale which was caught soino time ago outside of Waikouaiti Harbour is being put together by Captain Hutton and his assistants.

Messrs James Wilson arid Co;; of the We'd Park Brewery, have recently made aomo substantial additions' to their premises at the Water of Leith. Tnese, for the most part, consist of a malthouse and a drying kiln. The floor of the former contains an area of 340 square yards. The new portion of the piemises will be three storeys in height when completed, and are bo designed as to be well suitable to the purposes for which they are intended.

The unsightly-looking iron fence which us d to disfigure tho Northern Recreation Ground has now been removed, and is being rapidly replaced by a light but substantial picket fence. The change is, indeed, a very beneficial one, as. the reserve now begins to assume something like the appearance which it should. r • ; . / ■ :

We are informed that the Mayor has granted permission to the representatives of the Dunedin Fire Brigade, who aro to attend the Ballarat demonstration, the authority to take thoir working uniforms with them. At a meeting of the Committee appointed by the Brigade to receive the Wellington detachment at Port Chalmers, it was resolved that a sub-committee should meet them at Port Chalmers on Sunday, and that a lun cheon take place afc noon on the following day. , The following are the Dunedin representatives :—Lieut. Falconer (captain), Foreman Murphy, Assistant-Foreman D. K. Rhodes, Branchman Galland, Firemen Grant, Bowers, and Webster. The Secretary wa3 instructed to telegraph to Lyttelton, to the Secretary of the Wellington team, that ar. rangementa have been made to receive them at Port Chalmers.

Elsewhere will be found tho prospectus of the' Milton Pottery Company. The Company is to have a first issue of 3000 shares of £1 each, of which, the prospectus states, 1200 have been already appliei for. The list of Provisional Directors contains the names of men of standing, who may be expected to do their best to make the concern a success. The prospectus deserves perusal.

The Union Football Club will play a Scotch v. English natch this afternoon on the Northern Recreation Ground, to commence at 2.30 sharp. The following are the names of the respective teams :—Scotch : Messrs W. Gibb, R. Cowie, A. Monteith, D. M. Stuart, W. M'Queen, A. Hunter, J. Campbell, It. Johnstone, A. Logan, G. M'Rae, D. Cowie, T. Farnie, T. Grant, G. Montgomery, R. M'Kay, T. Seed, and G. Hialop. English : Messrs H. Waddie, L. O. Beal, W. Burke, U A. Israel, F. Wells, W. Weston, Lewis, D. Jones, Belcher, It. Niven, T. Treseder,' Crawshaw, Read, Cargill,'J. Chapman, A< Little, F. Little, A. G. Barber, and-O. Lees. Mr-R. Cowie captains the Scotch and Mr T. Treseder the English.

There was a good attendance at the regular meeting of the St Paul's Young.Men's Association last evening, when Mr Wheeler pre sided. Several new members were duly elected.- It was a unanimously resolved that a miscellaneous free entertainment be given on Friday, the 19th insfc, in St Paul's school house. Mr J. Ashcroft's paper on "Culture" was both amusing and instructive. The essay was fully discussed, A very enjoyable evening closed with the customary eomgliinent to .the essayist.

We < understand that the new Princess Theatre will bo opened on Tuesday evening next by Mdlle. lima de Murska for a second series of concerts. We hope that she may give a few of her great operatic selections during this series.

i Things appear to have been pretty lively at Mosgiel on Thursday "evening, after the races, and besides free fights a serious mek e occurred. There was a ball at the Drill Shed, and some of those who attended became rather obstreperous, aided by superabundant glasses of stimulants. On word reaching town that a stabbing affray had taken place, Detective Neil was at once despatched to the district, and subsequently telegraphed to the Commissioner of Police respecting it as follows :—" Constable Clark arrested William Hay and Hugh M'Kay, for assaulting and wounding; Andrew Funston, labourer, at Mo3giel last, night. Funston was stabbed in the neck, left shoulder, and breast, but Dr Inglis does not consider any of his wounda to be dangerous." Ser-geant-Major Bevan also proceeded to mako enquiries. The assault, it is alleged, took place about half past eleven o'clock, opposite Webb's Hotel, and it is rendered inexplicable by the statement that prosecutor and prisoners were strangers to each other, and had not even quarrelled. Accused, who arrived here about six months ago in the ship Auckland, will be brought before the Police Court this morning.

On dit that a new flour ncill on the cooperative principle will shortly be established in the Tuapeka district. We (Tuapeka Time 3) are nob at liberty to publish the names of the promoters at present, but it is understood that they will endeavour to complete the necessary arrangements for the undertaking in two or three months. It is stated, says a Southland exchange, that the details of a gigantic scheme, Jiaving for its object the reclamation of the whole of the shallow portion of Bluff Harbour will shortly be made public. Its leading feature is the diversion of the railway from immediately beyond Greeuhills across to Colyer's Island and thence to Spencer's Island —the tract of some thousand acres between the new and old line to be reclaimed.

Thus wisely, yet pithily, discourseth the Wairarapa Standard:—" Money is tight in Wellington, and will yet be tighter. A sum of £5000 was lent the other day on good freehold security, at the high interest of ten per cent per annum. Smaller sums cannot now be borrowed at even that high rate of interest."

The Timaru Herald is very hard upon Lyttelton Harbour. It remarks :—" The wreck of the Beautiful Star on the wharf at Lyttelton, shows how careful mariners should be in navigating that dangerous locality. The account given by the Christchurch papers of the gale there last week is simply appalling, and should be a caution to all masters of vessels to avoid the place whenever there is any indication of bad weather. The Beautiful Star ought to have

run fcr shelter to Timaru, instead of tumbling about among the piers and wharves and jetties and breakwaters of Lyttelton, till her side was ripped up by a bolt-head. What a queer structure the Waterman's Pier must be if it has thing 3 sticking out under water to scuttle steamers lying alongside !" The suggestion to run for shelter to Timaru is extremely rich.

In the opinion of the Now Zealand Herald "the controversy between the Premier and the Superintendent of Otago has been con' ducted in a very different spirit from the angry correspondence between the Superintendent of Auckland and the Premier, and it discusses the question of Abolition from a very different point of view j but the result ia the same in ono respect—that the Premier cornea off from both contests decidedly worsted. It has been shown to the Colony that there are in it at leaat two men wno aire more than a match for Sir Juliu 8 VbgeL"

1 According to a correspondent of an Auckland paper, the influence of Chevalier Blondin continues to have its musical and melan choly effects upon the youth of Auckland. The Blondin March ia at the tongue's end of every whistling boy and girl (for Auckland girls whistle), whilst almost every other boy attempts Blondin on the rope, or on some available pole or elevation. A lad nearly broke his neck afc Ponsonby a week or two ago by an mb-Blondin fall. A young man of College road broke his arm at the North Shore in an unsuccessful attempt to do Blondin; and on Saturday last a lad named LtocHey was " trying it" along Some poles in Mechanics Bay, when he fell, and several other poles fell on the top of his body, and as the tide was hurrying in at the time, the imitativeboy would have been drowned had not several extricated him by removing the poles. Amongst the passengers to Hew Zealand by the San Francisco mail steamer was Miss Mary C. Lee, the daughter of the eel ebrated strategist, General Robert Lee, who so long and skilfully resisted the masses of M'Len- | nan and Grant in the memorable struggle between the Northern and Southern States. The lady comes to New Zealand to recruit her health.

Oamaru, in its municipal expenditure, is not without a parallel in this Colony. According to the Post, the members of the City Council have been going altogether too fast. They have sanctioned the expenditure of a sum not exceeding £1000 in the employment of a consulting engineer on city works, the taking the necessary levels for the preparation of a drainage scheme, and the preparation of the requisite plans, Ac., to carry out such scheme. Now, till the city levels have been taken, there is no necessity whatever for employing a consulting engineer.

At a recent meeting of the Linn man Society of London, Dr Prior exhibited specimens of the New Zealand shrub My i sine Urvilki, the native name of which is matapo. The seeds had been sent from Ne*r Zealand to England, and three seedlings were planted in the open ground at Halse House, near Taunton, in the autumn cf 1870. They have since then stood quite unprotected, and are now from 6to 7 feet high. This pretty shrub, owing to its hardiness in the climate of England, is likely to become a favourite with the landscape gardeners there.

. According to the Auckland papers, a report was current on Monday that His Excellency the Governor intended leaving posthaste by the Luna, for Wellington, for the purpose of attending a Cabinet meeting. The rumour was strengthened by the fact that the steamer Luna, having sufficient Bay ef Islands coal on board for ordinary purposes, was taken alongside one of the hulks, and shipped 90 tons of Newcastle coal, sufficient to keep both boilers going for the round trip, it being stated that His Excellency wished to be back in Auckland by Saturday. Instructions were, however, given late in the afternoon to the effect that a change had been made in the programme; the meeting of the Cabinet would be dispensed with, and His Excellency, instead of hastening to Wellington, would require the Luna to convey him, on a visit to the famed Waiwera hot springs, weather permitting.

The Lynch Family of Bellringers, instrumentalists, and vocalists, will perform next; week at Mosgiel, Tokomairiro, Kaitangata, Balclutha, and Mataura, «t route to Invercargill, where they are announced to open for a season of six nights on Monday, the 15th inst.

It is announced in the Gazette that the township of Dupoon will bo sold on the 29th of the present month. It is situated down the Harbour upon a point of the Peninsula at Broad Bay, and is a very charming spot. The grcund is easily accessible by means of either a boat or the Beach road, which forms one of its boundaries. It is said that there is likely to be considerable competition for the sections in this township, as they are well suitable for either market gardeners or villa residences. .

We understand, from Messrs Gibbs and Clayton, the New Zealand agents for Ghollah's Great Indian cures, thai: these medicines are becoming generally used in all parts of New Zealand, and are proving very successful in the cure of rheumatism.

The Rev J. Ward, the lately inducted minister of the Primitive Methodist Church of this city, is announced to preach to-mor-row, morning and evening, in the Temperance, Hall, at the usual hours. He will also preach in the Gaversham Hall in the afternoon. Mr VV. Puddieombe, a lay preacher, will hold service at Caversham in the evening. Besides the usual articles, notes, and reports npon social and political matters, farming, mining, sporting, science, literature, *tc. the Witness of this week contains No. 1 of the Rev Dr Copland's "Pilgrimage to Palestine," a summary for Europe, an important - article upon wool, new stories, the iast of the Royal Stuarts of Traqoair, an original poem and a Gaelic poem. The Chess and Riddler column are unusually good this week. The Rev T. H. Bates will preach to-mor-row evening in the Christian Chapel, Great King street. The Dunedin Choral Society's rehearsals will be resumed on Monday evening in St. Paul's schoolroom.