PROROGATION OF THE ASSEMBLY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 818, 28 October 1872, Page 2

PROROGATION OF THE ASSEMBLY.

Wellington, Friday Evening. The following is the speech of Hia Excellency the Governor at the proroga- • tion of Parliament to-day : — . honokablb legislative couwoilloes and gentlemen of the house of Representatives. In bringing to a close this session of Parliament, I have to thank you for the care and attention you have devoted to public business, and am glad you have been able to pass so many large and important measures calculated to promote the social welfare, the commerce, and the good government of this colony. By the Public Health Act you have greatly strengthened the hands of the Government by enabling it to take, needful precautions to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious diseases, while you ■ have iv the Municipal Corporations Waterworks Act passed a measure calculated beneficially to promote the health and comfort of the inhabitants of large towns. The Drawbacks Act -wili afford considerable relief to the mercantile community, and remove an obstacle to the increase of that commerce with the islands of the south Pacific which this colony from its geographical position ought to be able to command. I congratulate you on having passed the Public Trustees Act; which although somewhat novel m its features, will supply a great public requirement, and will, I trust, pro ye of advantage to the colony. Its initiation will, during the recess, engage the careful attention .of the Ministry. The Public Works Amendment Act m which you make further provision for carrying of a beneficent

policy of colonization, shews you are determined to promote to the utmost of your ability the progress of the colony. , The provision you have made for the benefit of the West Coast of the Middle Island, is proof that you fully recognise the wants of that important district. Tho Railways Act makes provision for carrying out the works previously determined upon by Parliament, and although the additional cost now sanctioned appears considerable, it is explained by including th'e expense of engineering and departmental •work not before included, and the purchase of land, together with the extra cost of iron, and the estimated additions arising from the increased price of labor. It is especially gratifying to notice that -when all these amounts are added together the average cost of railways will be only about £5090 per mile, £90 more than was originally estimated when the Public Works and Immigration proposals were first submitted to Parliament. The 764 miles of railway which you have authorised at this rate, must largely develop the resources of the country. Tt will now be the duty, as it will, 1 believe, be the aim of our Ministers, to construct these works with all the speed that the state of the labour market and other considerations will probably permit. The Tramways Act is an important supplementary measure to your railway legislation, and will, while opening up the country, at the same time provide the railways with a network of feeders to their traffic. I regret that the measure introduced by Government with a view of providing greater security to life assurance has not passed into law. I hope, however, that eventually this or some similar measure may receive the sanction of Parliament. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives. I thank you for the supplies you have granted for the public service, which shall be administered with all due care and economy. lam pleased to notice the increased attention wliich is being devoted to administrative and financial questions. By the Public Revenues Act you have provided a much more efficient system of control over public moneys than previously existed, and I have Jittle doubt that the measure will prove extremely beneficial. During the recess, it is the intention of the Ministry to investigate the condition of the Civil Service, m order to decide to what extent administrative economical reforms are practicable. Honorable Legislative Councillors and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives. The abundance of employment which exists, and the readiness with which the recently introduced immigrants have been absorbed by the labor market prove the wisdom of Parliament m recommending active measures of colonization. It will be the earnest endeavour of my Government to contimie to carry out a conciliatory policy towards the Natives, which has been so successful during the last few years. I have felt great pleasure m summoning m her Majesty's name to the Legislative Council two Maori Chiefs— Mokena Kohere of the East Coast, and Wiremu Tako Ngatata of the West Coast. In bidding you farewell I desire to congratulate you on the general and growing prosperity of the colony. The official statistics recently published by the Imperial Government, Bhow that the New Zealar.d although only thirty-two years have elapsed since the beginning of colonization here i 3 already fourth m rank and importance ou the long list of the British colonies. In its public revenue, m its trade (including imports and exports), and m other elements of material progress it is now surpassed only by the Dominion of Canada, by Victoria, and by New South Wales. In may confidently be expected that through the blessing of Providence on the energy and industry of its population m developing the vast and varied mineral resources of this country, New Zealand will soon rise to still higher place among the provinces of the Empire. Auckland, Saturday Evening. The Glenhuntly, barque, from London, has arrived, after a passage of 130 days. Mr Brogden's navvies who struck have nearly all accepted work at five shillings per day. Jones' men offer to resume work at six shillings per day of eight hours. Dunedin, Friday Evening. Good wheat is very scarce ; 5s 2d to 5s 3d is easily obtained. Milling oats are wanted at 2s to 2s 3d ; feeding 2s Id. There is no barley m the market. Flour is m good trade sale at £13 ; bran, 4s, firm. Saturday Evening. In the case of Nutter v. Pritchard, the Jury found for. the plaintiff on all the issues save one negativing that Pritchard was aware of Hodden's liability. The Star comes out as a morning paper next month. Wellington, Friday Evening. Human remains were found yesterday close to the old flagstaff. No person is known to be missng. H.M.S. Dido is getting up steam to go South. . , The ship Bebington has arrived from London with immigrants. All well. They comprise 100 adults and 100 children. 16 children died on the voyage from colds and diarrhotaa. The ship is clean, and all aro m good spirits. Saturday Afternoon. Mr Reynolds has joined the Government as Commissioner of Customs. The Government has consented to reduce the press telegrams to 6d for each twenty-five words. It is said that Mr Bathgate will be Commissioner of Stamps, and Minister of Justice. Nelson, Friday Evening. Tho body of a man m an advanced state of decomposition was found last evening m a paddock adjoining the suburban cemetry by a cow-boy, thirty yards off the public road. It is supposed to bo the bodyof DeCampo, a West Coast butcher, last 3een m Nelson on September 4. The head was severed from the body. The watch was m the pocket, but no money.' The inquest is adjourned. Hokitika, Friday Evening. Wheat is scarce at 5s 6d. Flour, Adelaide, £20 ; provincial, £14 10s to £16 ; potatoes, £8 10s to £0 ; oats, 3s 2d to 3s 3d; bran is overstocked, 2s 3d; butter, lOd to Is ; kerosine, 2s lOd to 3s. Auckland, Friday Evening. A Tauranga letter states that the natives demanded £1,200 as black mail from the driver of a herd of cattle for permission to pass along the Taupo-road from Napier to Tauranga. They ultijnately let them pasa f or » smaller sum. 1

At a meeting of the Freight Compan}', the motion suspending operations was rescinded, and it was resolved to proceed with business vigorously, m opposition to Messrs Shaw, Saville and Co. Cagli has written stating that he hopes to reach Auckland by November 12, and will bring an English as well as an Italian Opera Company. Several workmen on strike offered to resume work at the old rates. Mr Brogden's manager refused to engage any except at 5s a day. A meeting of masters and workmen will be held at Fort Britomart to-morrow. Napier, Friday Evening. Wheat is quoted at 4s 6d to 5s ; oats, 3s 3d. Flour, Adelaide, £19 ; Canterbury, £16 10s. Potatoes, £6 to £7. Kauri timber, 14s.

Fire Bkigade. — A meeting of the brigade will I nkc! |il;ii!f this evening,, when a new Cii]>lrtin will be elected oice Mi* Cliff resigned. Tk.muka Raci.3 — We observe that, a public meeting is culled for to-morrow evening to iimke arrangements (or the annual race meeting. Tub Phovincial Council. — Wo are requested to notify tlnit. hid Honor the Superintendent, liits. by proclamation m the Government Gazette, summoned the Council to meet on Friday November 22. Weslkyan Sunday School. — The annual tea-meeting m connection with (hid 6chool will take pliico to-umrrovr evening. Alter ten, iiddivssi'.t aud music will be given by various friend*. The Stamp Dutt. — The Stump Act Amendment Act, reducing tlio duty pnyable on cheques ami receipts from twopence, to one penny, comes m force on the Ist of December next. J-'heLate Snow. — We have been requested to correct v slifjbt error m our report of the Inle show m regard Mr O. Freeman's horse, Stormy Petrel, the nnino of whose great on tlm mother's side should have been Dolo — not Polo. Mr Short at Oa.ma.ro-, — Mr R. Short has been lecturing m Oamaru for the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and, we hear, has received, within a few days, proposals for insurance to an aggregate amount <if £20,000. Pigron Match. — Recently, Colonel Packe ii nd the Iwo Messrs Maxwell challenged any three gentlemen m (he. district to shoot a pigeon mutch. The challenge was taken up by the Messrs A. and C. Perry and Bristol, nnd the mutch came off on Thursday lust, nine birds each, three traps, iweiity-fiTe yurds rise. The match wiis won by the representatives c( the district by three birds. TIIK DISTKICT L'otTUT. — Ifc will bu remembered Unit two or three months ugo a petition was forwarded from Tiiuuru to the (government, praying that the District Court at Tiniuru nnd Oamuru might) be extended m nirions wuys, and that Mr Stafford's Government, when m power, promised to accede to the wishes of tlie petitioners. The present Government bus, however, declined to take action m the matter, aud so the jurisdiction of the Court remains unaltered. Resident Magistrate's Couht, Timaito. At. this Court on Saturdiiy hist, before H Belfieltl, and T \V Hall, Esq.'a, J.P.s, John Wilson, on the information of C Pounlly, was charged with indecent exposure of his person. The offence was proved by- the son aud daughter of prose?ulor, and prisoner wns sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard Inbor. Muerat'sCircds atTkmcka.— This circus compiiny performed »t Teniuka on Friduy evening (o a crowded bonce, and gare (he ureutest satisfaction to all who were present, I he acrobatic feats of the Jullien troupe being especially admired. On Saturday evening the performarees were repeated, but owing to the evening being wet, the attendance was limited. On (he second evening a most cowardly net was perpe'raled by some scoun- j drel, who cut the canvas of the tent through m several places. Mr Murray detected the fellow m the act, but the night being durk he. was enabled to get away*, and escape the punishment he richly merited. Sad Accident is the Waitangi— We regret to have to record a sad accident m the Wnitangi on Thursday last, by which a settler named Neilson lost his life, Neilson, whose family have resided on the banks of the river for some years past, and who follow farming pursuits, started. on Thursday morning with a dray and a team of three horses to go over to the Waimate for timber. The man, it appears, did not follow the line of the ford, hut. attempted a short cut, and getting into a deep hole was washed off ;he dray and drowned j the three horses were also drowned. The dray has since been recovered ; but, atlhniiL'li search has been made the body of poor Neilson was not found up to Saturday. Shocking Dkatii. — The Southern Cross of a recent date snys : — " A very awful death occurred to n farmer named John Cowan, who resided at Pukekohe. The deceased had gone into the bush for the purpose of felling timber. I He had cut nearly through a tree which fell m a direction contrary to that which he had reckoned on. He stepped hastily on one side but. a large brunch caught by the branches of the falling tree ntruek him, and he was knocked with fearful force to the ground. On ll>e spot on which he fell were several stumps of sharp-pointed saplings, every one of which pieiced the man's bowels, and any of which would have caused death. Cowan was discovered dying, bul just sufficiently sensible to tell his unhappy fate to a man named William Himiil). who immediately gave information to the police. " Discretion the Rkttkr Part," &c. — Mr Reynolds roused the ire of MrTaiaroa m .the House of Representatives recently, by raising a point of order which threatened to prevent, or at all events to hinder, the pasMiig of the Maori Representation Bill. Taiaroa said that " he hoped the honorable member for Umifdiu would not proceed further m thfi course he had taken ; if the honorable member did so. he would give him very much annoyance. The honorable member would see the result of it m any divisions that might take place. If the honorable | gentleman voted against the Bill, he (Mr [ Taiaroa) would always be found m the opposite lobby to him." Mr Reynolds did not vote against the Bill. A Parable.— Mr Gillies summed Mr Yogel up m a picturesque aud artistic manner a. few dayß ago when replying to Julius's speech ou his Want of Confidence motion. Mr Gillies said : — The Him Mr Yogel had alluded to his (Mr Gillies') connection with A ucklaml as that of a man having married his grandmother. The idea was not happy, and he could not find fault if, m return, he gave him another; — A beautiful young heiress was wooed by a gambling spendthrift. In spite of the warnings of her guardians and friends she listenpd to his voice until at length." by vows and prott stations, by bribery and /mud, lie induced her to elope with him. Her guardians aud friends followed the couple, and sought to save the heiress, but the gambler, by professions, of love, induced her to tnrn a deaf ear to their arguments aud warnings. For some time all went well. As long as the heiress 1 fortune lasted matters were pleasant enough ; but at length, having dissipated her money, the tjarabler left her to ruin and disgrace, while h« flew away to " fresh woods and pastures new." I Ihat heiress waa New Zealand."/- (Cheers.)

Newspapers m: .New Zealand. — In Victoria, with a population of three quarters of a million, there are one hundred and ■ twenty public journals. In New Zealand, with a population of 300,000, there are about . fifty-live journals, Wanted, Pkivate Lodgings. — The following touching appeal to the possessors of ht-arls and homes, appears m the Greii Elver Argus :— " Wanted — very much wanted by a person of twelve years' experience of board, lodging, and vexation of spirit m colonial hotels, the honor and pleasure of living with sv private family, to whom he will give no trouhle beyond tbe preparation of his bed and his breakfast. The applicant believes himself to be moral, and (comparatively) temperate m his habits, and any person v, bo will take him will confer a benefit upon him individually and upon society at large. .Such an opportunity of doing good, aud being sufficiently paid for it, rarely offers. Personal inspection of the applicant invited. Address 0.X., offiue of this paper." Jluman Depravity, —John Peerybmgle m the Melbourne Tiws sa\s: — You don't believe m born murderers, and criminals, do yon ? It is too dreadful to think of, that anybody should be brought into the world so heavily handicapped with wickedness that crime comes natural ; but then it happens to be so. Every day you meet with men, who wear good clothes too, aud yet who haven't any belief m right, or any dislike to wrong. Ou tihe contrary they prefer wrong to right for choice, acd do d rty actions for the pleasure they get out of scoundreliam. They were born so. The taint of villainy is m their blood ; and they escape the hulks, aud the chain-gang by sheer good luck. Itead that Knglish story by the la-t mail— "a terrible] story of child-pasion and its results." Some children (at Coalport Bridge), m Shropshire j quarrelled while at play. One of them, lour years old, threw a knife at another, aud killed him. The elder brother seven years old, then set to work to kill the baby murderer by " striking him on the head with suuh violence that the life of the little sufferer is despared of," as the papers sny. There's an amiable family for you. The only pity seems to bo that, there wasn't a bigger brother about, to kill the young gentleman seven years old; and that the entire dumestic circle, including father and mother, didn't murder one another, without, standing on ceremony, so as to save the hangman the trouble. My friends, if you've got any sympathies, don't waste the same on criminals and unconvicted scoundrels, as long a? there's any honest poverty about. Earthquakes m New Zealand.— By the meteorological tables lately issued by Dr Bennett, the Registrar-General, and laid before Parliament, we learn that during the year 1871 there were twenty-nine earthquakes recorded m the colony, and of these unwelcome disturbances Wellington ia credited with no fewer than eleven — nearly one-half of the whole. The other places named m this return are : — Taranaki, 1; Napier, 3; Nelson, 3 j Christchurch, 2 j Bealey (m the Province of Canterbury), 2 ; Hokitiku, 3 ; Dunedin, 2; Southland, 2. 'ihe em.n instance of Wellington being so particularly shaky compared with the rest of the colony may be accounted for by the fact, well known 'm nautical nnd scientific circles, that the town of Wellington is situated upon tbe lip of a large volcanic crater at present covered by the waters of Cook Straits. The soundings show a large circular basin considerably deeper than the surrounding parts of the Straits, and it is gpnerally believed thnt <t is from this unseen centre that the disturbances proceed. If so, it shows that volcanic action there, though comparatively quiescent for some years past, has not ceased, and the fearful thought cannot be kept from making itself felt at times, that a more than usually energetic upheaval may take place, as has frequently been experienced m other earthquake regions, and that the " Kin pi re City" may become suddenly blotted out from the geography of New Zealand. The yearly meteorological returns show that the undereround powers by which it is supported are certainly of a very turbulent character. Thk Osage Orange. — It is generally admitted, we believe, that the Osage orange makes a better live fence than any other plant. An American writer gives the following directions for planting: — " Lap one furrcw over another, then throw up two more, and harrow this ridge till it is fine and soft as an onion bed. Get the Osage off a careful nurseryman, who will not sell damaged plant?. They can be bought for 2 -SUdds. a thousand. You will need 6000 for a mile. That will enable you to set them about nine inches apart. Open a furrow, and, laying the root m, push the earth back on it, nnd stamp firm. Examino carefully and frequently when they commence to sprout, and if some are feeble- looking, pull them out and put vigorous shoots m their place. Keep the grasp, and cattle and weeds away from them for two years. Then, m a strong soil, the stalks will be one and a-half inches through. Take a log fifteen feet long aud six inches m diameter, attach a horse to each end, and put a boy ou each horse. Draw that log right across the Osage plants, one horse on one side, aud one on the other. j Its weight will bend the plants over nearly jto the ground. When thi-y arfl thus strained strike them just back of the log with a hatchet, so as to cut a little more than half through. The result will be that the stump will send up a fine growth of suckers, aud the top will not die, but the small sprouts from it will thicken the bottom of the hedge and give you a perfect barrier. Nothing need be done after this but to cut away if it gets too rank. After the third summer such a hedge will keep out any kind of live stock, and m five years it will be so high and thick that it will to protect the surface for twenty rods or more from cold winds, affording excellent shelter to cattle." Auckland G-hown aud Makufacttirkd Tobacco. — The Soulltern Cross of October 8. says :-" We bare from time to time drawn attention m the columns of this journal to the efforts made by Mr E W Gotch to grow the tobacco plant m this province fit. for manufacturing purpose?, and of a quality which would cause a demand for it m our colonial market.' Mr Gotch had formerly been a successful cultivator of the tobacco plant m another colony. Coming to this province, the enterprising gsnllenmn felt convinced that our soil and climate were eminently fitted for growing the tobacco of commerce, when communicating his views to Mr Hays, farmer, of Papakura, that gentleman at once planed five acres of land at the disposal of Mr Gotch, who at once set about preparing the land for the seed. The first experiment, owing to a most inclement season, was a failure. But m no way daunted, Mr Gotch said, " Better luck next time," and better luck came. The seed grew to healthy plants, and these being set out at proper distances, carefully looked to and tended, grew to a hralthy maturity, when Mr Gotch next directed his attention to the drying and preparing the leaves, which m due course were ready for manufacture. The re- i suit has answered Mr Goteh'i most sanguine expectations. Yesterday we received a packet ! of cigars of the grower's own manufacture. These we placed for trial m the hands of connoisseurs of the fragrant weed, requesting m return to be favored with an opinion as to their quality. The verdict pronounced is t hut the tobacco is excellent; the flavor of the cigar is mild, being neither hot to the mouth, nor ncrid to the taste, as inferior tobaccos generally are. They are superior to any cigars made from tobacco of Victorian or New Bouth Wales growth.