Proverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1896. SEIZURE OF SINKING FUNDS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7539, 21 January 1896, Page 2

Proverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1896. SEIZURE OF SINKING FUNDS.

It will be remembored that last session thoGovernmenc wero charged with illegally seizing L 85,000, tho amount of sinking fund accrued from partial repayment of loans by local bodies, and of using it in the same manner as revenue. The Treasurer admitted that the sinking fund had been annexed, but contended that the proceeding was quite legal. As our readers are aware, the Government grant loans to local bodies, upon the security of the annual rates, tho usual interest charged being 5 per cent., which allows 1 per cent, sinking fund. As the money is lent for a term of years —generally twenty-six—the borrowing body, at every recurring half-yearly payflaent of interest, reduces tho principal, aud at the end of the term the debt is extinguished. It is the money so set apart as a sinking fund that the Government has taken and treated as if it were ordinary revenue. Mr G. Hutchison, the member for Patea, addressed his constituents at Hawera on the Bth inst, prior to leaving on a holiday trip to Europe, and in the course of luu speech (as reported in tho Hawera Star) gave the following lucid exposition of the action of the Government. He said : — " It might be of interest to some country settlers to know a little about the sinking fund connected with local bodies' loans. In 1884 the Consolidated Stock Act was passed by Sir Julius VugeL Ifc authorised ' tho Colonial Treasurer of the day to borrow wherever he could, bufc chiefly and in tho first instance fi:om trust funde, the amount of money which each year is payable on certain loans as sinking funds',, the efl'ect being that the colony every year borrows exactly as muck as it has to pay in the shape of sinking funds, so that the sinking fund, instead of becoming a charge upon the revenues for tho year, is practically borrows d each year. That was what was authorised to bo done by Sir Julius "Vogel's jAxt in 18S4, and it applied to certain ge noral loans. In 1880 an Act was passed authorising the Colonial Treasurer to lend money to local bodies on the condition tb at they paid 5 per cent. — that was to say,, 4 per cent, interest and 1 per cent, winkr o<r0 <r fund, which payment at tho end of 20 yours was not only to p;iy interest but, nlsc , cxihiL'uisli tho debt. Thar. Act hud been „f gvunt assistance to local bodies. In 1' j!)l another Act waR passed allowing thoF 0 various loans to be converted into i ,ther loans, so as to take advantage of ' tho falling rate of interest in the money markot from time to lime. Technically he believed that the effect of that Act ' ivas to place tho local bodies' loans im tho same category as general loans in-, regard to their sinking funds. Ho that, if (ho Administration chose to hike tb.e matter literally and technically, they c oul« d, on convulsion of these loans, seize the sinking funds attached to them. But, as be had indicated, nothing was done , iit the ticne or for some years after? war- is, until, in fact, tho present year, in t he way of touching or tampering with sin' king funds . constituted with regard to the lee local boy lies' loans. Although the

>cal bodies, from the time they had the loney, started to pay the 1 per cent, inking fund, it was not applied specially. t went into the general revenue. It was i 1892 that the sinking fund was really ommenoed, and while 1 per cent, went nto general revenue, 1-j per cent, was aken out of the Consolidated Fund and nother -i- per cont. from the Assurance fund under the Land Transfer Act, and ly that means a sinking fund was really et up which would repay the loan in 26 'ears. That was in Mr BaHanee's time, ,nd year by year he set aside money for he purpose of forming this sinking fund it the rate of L 20,000 a year, which being 'einvestcd, augmented, and in the early )art of the present financial year had iccumulated to the amount of L 85,000. was discovered by the Treasurer, and he Government were advised by their aw officers that; they could take this noney, and they did. But they would i lot state to the House that they had :aken it until they were forced to do so, md he thought their reluctance seemed m indication of discredit attachable to r,he transaction. It might be necesvny to explain that the particular L 85,000 which was supposed to be in Lhe public chest, or rather in one of the public trust funds, had not been taken From that fund, but debentures had been issued against it, and the money obtained from trust funds on those debentures was used, and the wholo amount had thus been drawn igainst and in effect taken, although it might be offered in explanation or quibble that the actual money itself had not been used. This money had not been taken, but bonds had been issued against it. There was one thing on which the electors needed to be warned. The Public Accounts Committee had passed a resolution setting forth : " It has been proved to t,ho satisfaction of the Committee that owing to a new system inaugurated last year by the Treasurer of drawing bonds there has been at least LlBO.OOO less available during the year for the use of the Government." The meaning of that was a wish to convey to the public an impression that the Government might have borrowed LlBO,OOO more than they did. Well, those who had followed the actions of the present Government in respect of borrowing would not readily believe that they abstained from borrowing a single shilling that they were able to borrow. The fact of the matter was not clearly expressed by this paragraph. There had been a little change of system, doing away with tho circumlocution of drawing bonds, by which less money was required to be available, and therefore less money had to be borrowed. The Treasurer required LlBO.OOO less, and therefore ho could only borrow so much less by LlBO.OOO. That was all it meant, and that was what the Committee or a majority of the Committee had to express satisfaction about." The Fire Brigade meet for steam practice | to-morrow evening. Another shock of earthquake— very slight — was experienced shortly before 8 o'clock lust evening. | The Wellington Eaoing Club's summer meetiug commences to-morrow, when the Wellington Cup comes up for decision. The Greymouth Argus states that at Barrytown it is believed Davis and party are making about £40 a week. So that all the gold has not yet been taken out of the ground. New Zealand is indebted to the trouble it the Transvaal for another visit from th« Pollard Opera Company. A South African tour was contemplated, but has had to ht abandoned for the present. The Christchurch Cycling Club is to hold a two days' carnival on February 6th and Bth. Amongst the competitors will bo W. Marten (America), 0. Porta (Italy), A. W. Harris (England), and H. J. Pither (Vic^ toria). Messrs Williams and Kettle hold their next sale of live stock ab the Matawherc yards on Friday next. They have already received entries of a line of very prime beef, and some three and four year bullocks that only require a little finishing, as well as c number of first class mutton. The following crews were picked for the Poverty Bay Rowing Club's trial fours to bf rowed in two weeks time :— -Jones (stroke), Scott (3), Webb (2), Hill (bow) ; J. Tyson (stroke), T. Tyson (3), Davis (2), Smith (bow) ; Taylor (stroke), Kirk (3), Georgesor (2), Fraser (bow) ; Walters (stroke), Lowndes (3),;Kellet (2), Rosie (bow). The Library Committee are endeavoring to keep their stock of books up to date, and have just received a consignment of new books, which will be greatly appreciated bj their patrons. Some 63 new volumes have been added to the library, comprising the ,vovks of Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Lytlon, Baring Gould, E. Zangwill, R.idyard Kipling, Conan Doyle, A. Hope, G. B- Crockett, Rider Haggard, Charles Kings-ley, Clark Russell, aud a number oi other popular authors. It has been arranged that the doctors from Australia visiting the medical congress at Dunodin may take part in a number oi trips to different patts of interest in the colony — Milford Souud, Diamond Lake, Queeustown and other picturesque spots in tbe same locality, Central Otago, Mount CSok, Otira Gorge, Tarawera. Rotorua, etc. an( l already a large number of the coming viHitofs have notified their intention of taking advantage of one or other of these excursions. The Christchurch Picas states that ou Sunday afternoon Mr W. H. Teape shot a strange fish which was stranded in shallow water at Governor's Bay. The fish, which resembled a whale, measured 7ft long, and its girth at the thickest part was 4ft. It had a long nose resembling the bill of a cluck, and in its moulh wero counted 174 teeth. It had a blow hold on f.he top of its head resembling a whale. Although hundreds of people examined the fish, none of them could tell what it was. Iv this connection it may be stated that Captain Hutton has pronounced the strange fish recently captured at Oamaru to be a bonito. This fish is common in the tropics, but has never been recorded so far south as New Zealaud before. The general manager of the railways, Mr Ronayne, has just roturned here (says the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttolton Times) with his mind in a state of eostacy about the crops in the South Island. The country from (Jhristchurch to the Bluff he describes in glowing terms. The harvest for every sort of crop, he says, has not looked so well for many years. The Railway Department, he says, realising what is before them, are preparing for a heavy grain traffic. To give some, idea of the work being done, Mr Ronayno says he did not see a single train between Christchurch and the Bluff that was not carrying reapers and binders. The owners of somo of the largo mining claims iv Otago in which tho Bunk of Now Zealand is financially interested have received instructions to havo their overdrafts extinguished, iv default of which they must be prepared to submit to the conditions whi ch tho Bank has decided to impose in futui-e in all such cases. Iv the case of one largo claim the Bank has announced its intention "f retaining one-fourth of l!ie gold pi-oiUu.-td unul shuli time as the debt has ln'i'.n Jic|ui'lateil. In another instnnco a man huii linen pluueil i" charge by the B nk, who™ business it will bo to suporiulond the wink «f w.isljitig up and take possession of the gold produced. The woman's franchise movement at B.illarat is in danger of collapse. A 6 a i lute meeting one of the joint secretaries — a married lady — explained that owing to tho stein opposition encountered at home alie liad been compelled to resign her office. There wore sympathetic murmurs from the matrons present and such exclamations as " Just like a. man," "The brute," " Shear tyranny," and "if you will marry what else can you expect ." from tho spinsters. When the storm had tlighfcly subsided the other honorary secretary — this time a gentleman, and also married — rose and explained that owing to domestic opposition he also w»s compelled to resign office, whereupon the meeting could but gasp and feebly murmur " Well, I never !"

At Danevirke last week a woman named rinkwater gave birth to twin girls, ;\king fourteen, all alive and well. About 3000 camels are stated to be jployed in the traffic to the mines in estern Australia. A six days' cycling race is spoken of in elbourne, the prizes for the racing to be 500, L 250, and LlOO. A wooden track spoken of. j An enormous flight of carrier pigeons was - : ceutly held in Paris. Sixty thousand birda 3re set loose in one morning from the ighborhood of the Eiffel Tower, 5,000 of em starting at one signal. Telephonic connection between Port nderwood and Wellington is about to be ade and when completed should be found great convenience — especially as so many issels put in at Port Underwood for lelter. The rise of the tide at Pahautanui, Welugton, a. few days ago wa3 higher than it id been since 1853. The water entered iveral houses on the beach. An unusual sight is to be witnessed at 3orching Bay, between Point Gordon and ie Pilot Station, Wellington, the beach sing strewn with sea eggs, brought up from ie bottom of the harbor by the heavy eather of last week. Active stepi are being taken at Onmaru to asure that the Easter meeting of the New ealand Rifle Association shallbe held there, t committee ofbusinesa men has been apointed to raise the £150 guarantee reuired by the Association. The little economies that have made Japan 0 rich may be noticed everywhere. The ust of charcoal is gathered up and mixed 'Ith the chaff of wheat, barley, and other rains, and with chopped straw. It is then loistened into paste, rolled into balls about s big as a billiard ball, and makes excellent uel. The tonnage of vessels visiting Wellington ast year was ], 044,046, as against 14,500,000 or London with its population of over 1,000,000. Over 230,000 tons of goods, 'alued at over £3,000,000, were landed on he wharf. The facilities of the port were :econd to none in the colony. The aceomnodalion, although just sufficient at present, vill be inadequate ere long, and in a year or iwo further works will be necessary. — Mr 3ale, chairman of the Harbor Board, at the annual meeting. In a late English paper, the Whitehaven News, we notice a letter from a Cumbrian niner to his friends in Cumberland describing the position of labor at Johannesburg. Se states that he has travelled hundreds of miles in search of work without success, and has met with hundreds of men in a similar plight, footsore, and weary. Although out :>f work, he says, the men never want for food or a bed to sleep on. He strongly advise 9 Cumberland lads to keep away from South Africa, There is great excitement at Croydon (Queensland), owing to the discovery of sensationally rich stone in the Waratah mine. The reef uncovered is four feet thick, the stone being literally covered with gold. Twelve inches of the hanging wall carries the precious metal in wonderful quantities, there being as much gold showing as stone. The Waratah mine, whieli is owned by an English company, is on the Queen line of reef, which has not been prospected foi many years. The development is likely to affect the whole line of reef, and it ie impossible to estimate the value of the discovery. A very sad figure is that of John William Mackay, the silver king. 11l luck hae followed him ever since he became a great millionaire. He has quarrelled with almosi all his early partners ; the claims of hit business oblige him to stay in San Francisco: in 1893 he was shot at by an old man ruineo by gambling on the stocks, and he suffered much ; he ia in delicate health, and afraid oi everything he eats ; then his wife queens il in London on his money, but he has no parl in her diversions ; his step-daughter, whotr ho dowered royally, has mado a miserable marriage, and he has been entangled ir countless lawsuits ; and now he has lost hi; elder and favorite eon. "Nemo" in the Dunedin Star writes:— 1 don'b think I was ever in as painful a position as was the Hon W. P. Reeves on c recent occasion in Wellington, according tc a story — a perfectly true one — which reaches me from that city. Mr Reeves was asked tc a big dinner at the Wellington Club given it honor of someone — a member of Parliament, I think— who was about to leave for Europe, The Minister of Labor accepted, but by somt inadvertence marched up to the club in fnl fig on the wrong night. Unhappily it was a night on which the Earl of Glasgow was giving a select dinner to the captain of c man-of-war then in the harbor. ■ Mr Reeves was surprised to see so few people about but he did recognise the Governor's aide' de-camp, and greeted him with a " Hulloa, major, I'm glad you've turned up at all events !" to which greeting Major Elliot returned a rather astonished stare, and passed into the dining room. The unsuspecting MiuiBter followed. He found the Governor sitting at one end of the table, with a very dignified naval officer on his right hand, and concluding they were both guests like himself, he passed round the table looking for his chair. There was none vacant. I bolieve the Governor was quite equal to the occasion : he turned with wellsimulated anger to the waiter and asked why he had forgotten to get Mr Reeves a chair. But the uuhappy Minister now saw the true bearings of hia position. " Your Excellency," ho stammered, "I fear— that — that — it is most unfortunate — that — I am afraid — I " And ho backed out of the room. No ; I never was in Buoh a fix as that. An oxciting fire occurred in Cuba street, Wellington, on Wednesday night. Mr Smart, grocer, before going to bed was looking through his premises with a lighted candle to see that all was safe. An explosion of gas took place, and in a few seconds the shop was in a mass of flames. Mr Smart aroused his sleeping children, and then ran to telephone for the fire brigade. By the time the children were properly awake and capable of realising their position, escape by the ordinary meaus downstairs was impossible. Although much frightened, the elder girls appeared to liavo kept their presence of mind admirably. They got their little brothers and sisters together, and with considerable difficulty assisted them out of a back window on to a shed some five feet below, an undertaking of considerable difficulty, their efforts beiug impeded by blinding clouds of smoke. The flames were breaking through into the upper sissy of the house before thoy had accomplisheSrNJtheir task, and then to their horror the girls discovered that one of their number was missing — the baby had been left in the burning houso. The Fire Brigade had at this time arrived on the scene, but before the firemen could be apprised of the state of affairs the eldest Miss Smart scrambled in through the window agaiu, and, although half suffocated, by smoke, got her little sister safely on to the roof of the shed. Even yet, however, the children's troubles were not over. The roof of the shed was about 9ft from the ground — a clear drop — and the volumes of flame and smoke sweeping around them from the burning house rendered their position dangerous One of the elder girls, although unaware of the height of the shed from the ground, lowered herself over as far as possible, and then dropped, receiving a severe shaking, but landing otherwise uninjured. Her sister then lowered the little ones down to her, afterwards dropping down herself, and all escaped into the street. A horse kicked H. S. Shafer, of the Freemyer House, Middleburg, N.Y., on the knee, which laid him up in bed, and caused the knee joint to become stiff. A friend recommended him to use Cliamberlaiu'a Pain Balm, which he did, and in two days was able to be around. Mr Shafer has recommended it to many others, and aays it is excellent for any kind of a bruise or sprain. This same Remedy is also famous for ita cures of rheumatism. For sale by E. D. Smith; wholesale and retail agent, — Advfc.