The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Tuesday, December 9, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 971, 9 December 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Tuesday, December 9, 1879.

Among .other items of political intelligence which has reached us is the construction of a new political organisation casing themselves " The Young New Zealand Party." It is not to include any Minister or exMinister/ and it specially excludes " : raW as also those who have been guilty of any political dishonesty. The following members have definitely joined the party : — Messrs. George, Hamlin, Harris, Lundon, McDonald, Speignt, Tole, Levin, Fisher, Reeves, Allwright, Andrews, Turnbull, Reid, Seddon, Brown, Finn, Hislop, Ireland, Shanks, and Shrimski. How long; such, a party will continue to exist remains to be seen.

A Bill is now before the Assembly to ; authorise .advances of public tadorieys for the purpose of promoting improvement of land by drainage works. Twfo Commissioners ai'e to be appointed, who shall not be dismissed unless by a resolution passed iii $ne ; House. These Commissioners fotay,, if they deem it necessary appoint assistant Commissioners. The Commissioners may make loans under the Act for the drainage of any lands by any means as shall be approved, or for improving drains, streams; or watercourses ; but no loans shall be made until the application has been sanctioned by the Commissioners of Audit. No advances shall be made without the writtenjassent of any mortgagee of such ' lanHs. Commissioners may enter upon lands, and any damage done thereby, if not previously agreed upon, shall be determined by two justices. A rent charge of £8 JlOs, .for every £100 advanced, payable Treasury for 22 years, is to be charged upon the lands improved ; ady«iiceß;npt to be less than£loo, and not to exceed .£SOOO ; no advance to be made on any land not registered , under the Land Transfer Act, 1870. Clauses 28 to 39 deal with lands requiring to be drained through land the property of other owners. The Colonial Treasurer may open subsidiary drainage advances and repayment accounts, from which advances may be made. This is a good measure, and we trust when the five million loan is floated, as it most . most like,ly will now, that some of be devoted to such a useful purpose.

Ag"r allowing the maudlin inconsistency of Sir George Grey we will mention only one matter out of a score we could bring under notice. On; a few nights ago the "working man's friend " voted " That the pre--sent life-aad-death struggle to save our credit as a Colony, and with the prospect of the heaviest taxation that a people ever submitted to, we should .place £100,0,00 on the Estimes to encourage gold-mining industries." He still seems to think nothing too wild

or extravagant to secure a vote, but it is daily more evident that he will never lead this House again.

The Government are making efforts to bring the present session to a close by Friday week next, the 12th inst. It has been rumored that Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Macandrew will be asked to form a coalition Ministry. Mr. Macandrew, it is possible, may be asked ; but Mr. Sheehan — no never, notwithstanding that Mr. Bryce's health renders his continued tenure of office very doubtful ; for the more Native affairs are investigated, as will be seen m another place m our columns, the worse he comes out of it. To those who take an interest m Native matters the report of the Native Expenditure Committee will be read with awe and astonishment.

Sir Herculfs Robinson has received ] a communication from the Secretary of the Colonies respecting Colonial titles which Sir George Grey has of late been fussing himself about. It reads as follows : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch, of September 15th last, enclosing letters from Sir George Grey, respecting the grant by the Queen for the retention of the title of honorable by retired Judges of the Supreme Court, and the bestowal of honours by Her Majesty on residents m New Zealand. In reply, I have to state that I have no desire to prolong a corespondence resulting from a misapprehension of Sir George Grey, which, unfortunately, appears to continue to exist, as to the functions and prerogatives of the Sovereign m regard to the grant of honorary distinction m a Colony, whether under responsible Government, or having any other fdrm of Constitution. The instance to which Sir George Grey especially refers appears to me rather to illustrate the advantage of continuing the practice under which the Secretary 6f State takes the responsibility ot advising the Crown with regard to the respective merits of rival political leaders m the Colony.