UPPER TAIERI NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1501, 21 August 1880, Page 13

UPPER TAIERI NOTES.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) August 16th.

The all engrossing topic of tho day since my last communication has been tho thicatcned stoppage or' suspension of the the Otago Central Railway works in course of construction, consequent upon the report ef the lloyal Commissioners. That august body have certainly revolutionised the present order of things. Their visit to this district will not soon bo forgotten. For OEce, I presume within the memory of living man, all parties are agreed, and have expressed their opinion to the effect that the salvation of the district (ia a progressive point of view) depends upon the construction of the Otago Central lino to the interior. As a result to be expected, tho lloyal Commissioners have been treated to the lion's Bhare of adverse criticism. The publication of their recommendations in your paper fell like a bombshell in the camp of landed proprietors iv the StrathTaieri division of the Upper Taieri district. Several capitalists have invested largely in land in that quarter, recently. Their object in doing so, no doubt, was mainly owing to their being under the impression that the "iron horse" would soon Bteam through the Strath-Taieri plain. The suspension or abandonment of this line I am persuaded would at the present moment create a financial panic in private circles of a magnitude hitherto unknown^ among the commercial community of this province. The mining element feel disposed to find fault, with the elements for not having robed the alpine regions during the current season in volumes of snow. are general in re-pect to an insufficient supply of water being available during the ensuing season for sluicing requirements. Many predict & " dry-bread season" for themselves and their families during the ensuing summer. The Lammerlaw, and Beaumont ranges have little or no enow ou them of any consequence at preßeut. Unless the current season prove a very wet one, it is manifest that mining enterprise will be brought to a standstill at an earlier period than usual during the ensuing season. I claim your indulgence for a little extra space, on the grounds of doing justioe to the claims of an old and much reapeoted gentleman, for many years x public official in this district. A short time ago, information was received in tho district of the manner in which the administrative authorities had treated Mr H. M'Neil Campbell, late sub inspector for this district, whose services extended over a period of several years. It would appear that Mr Campbell lef b the Dunstan district a short time Bince to take cbarge of the Poverty Bay district, in the North Island. He was induced to take this step, through the failing health of Mrs Campbell, a warmer climate being deemed essential to its mv provementor restoration. OahisavrivalatPoverty Bay ho appears to haye ifound things .pastoral in a deplorable condition in respect to that dire disease— scab. The entire district was found tobe infested with it. With a view to having it eradicated from the nooks, Mr Campbell at once set about hia work in a professional or {'practical manner. The several owners were notified that steps would be taken to enforce the provisions of the Scab Act, unleas they proceeded to muster in their flocks for the purpose of having them dipped fn accordance with the regulations. This order appears to have given great umbrage to several owners of infected sheep. At this stage " war was declared " and the "powers " invoked by the residents for the removal or discharge from the service of the officer referred to. This was ultimately accomplished, and Mr Campbell dismissed the service. The Standard newspaper of a recent date has the following in referenoejto the matter :— ■" To Bhow that there are persons amongat us who delight in a coward's alternative of stabbing in the dark, and of dealing blows beneath the belt of those who are off their guard, I need go no further than to instance the deposition of Mv Campbell, late sheep inspeotor of this district. It appears that Mr Campbell had occasion to differ with an_ individual in this district, and because said individual could not have his own way he reported this oificer to the Government, hence hia dismissal. . . . We take advantage of this opportunity of saying that, far and wide, neither this nor any other part of the world can produoe a man more, qualified to do bis duty than the late sheep inspector," Hundreds in this district and through*

out Otago will confirm the truth of this state, ment. In the earlier days of the provinoe, when scab had almost annihilated the flocks ia the Sfcralh-Taieri district, Mr Campbell appeared on the scene. The Government of tho day manifested a wise discretion in their selection of such an experienced officer, to have it stamped out of the flocks, which, after months of pationt labour on the part of the gentleman in question, was finally accomplished. It is monstrous to think or find after haying devoted almost -20 years of the flower of his life in tho. pastoral interests of tho Colony, that he Bhould be summarily dismissed from the service, and that in a strange district. Surely hia many friends in Otago will not see him exiled from his Otago home in a distant part of the colony.' I am sure that many in Ofcago " will rally round his standard" and duly recognise the service he haa rendered to the province in point of revenue, and to the community at large in reapect to prosperity. If this gentleman's grievances are not redressed, then the sooner wo have a new administration the better.