Local and General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 621, 19 May 1870, Page 2

Local and General.

Christy Minstbels.— We are informed by the manager, Mr McCarthy, that this troupe will return from Dunedin on Tuesday next, and give' an entertainment in the Town Hall the same evening. Mount Cook Election. — The Timaru paper of May 18 states that Mr A. K. Matson was elected, without opposition, as a member of the Provincial Council for this district. Political —By our Auckland files we learn that Mr Reader Wood has been returned as a member for the House of Representatives for Parnell, without opposition. Mr Wood declared himself a supporter of the Fox Government, and a staunch Proviricialist. His presence in the House will, therefore, tend to strengthen the hands of the Ministers; Theatbe Rotal.— The heavy rain militated very considerably against the attendance at the Theatre last night, but the pieces submitted on the previous evening were repeated with fair effect. On Friday evening, Mr Wolfe is announced to take a benefit. He has invariably proved a very painstaking actor, frequently a very effective one, and has had a prominent Bhare in making the season a successful' one. Flaxton.— Mr Beswick addressed the electors of the district at the schoolroom, on May 17. In the course of his address he expressed an opinion that a system of light tramways, onwards from Kaiapoi to the North and West would be very beneficial, and would have his support, in the event of there not being sufficient funds to carry the railway into those districts. Votes of thanks, to Mr Beswick for his address, and to the chairman Mr Threlkeld, closed the proceed ings.

Kaiapoi Popular Ehteetainmknt. — The third entertainment of the series took place at the Institute, on Tuesday evening hist, and was most successful. The attendance was not so large as on previous occasions, but those present appeared highly pleased 7*th the programme submitted. fc^ Thb Late Assault Case.— We learn that Mrs Bennett, the woman so savagely assaulted by her husband on Saturday last is, so far as medical opinion can pronounce, out of danger, and will in all probability be able to attend at the adjourned hearing of the case on Monday next. All that is deemed in any way likely to interfere with this, is erysipelas, which in the ordinary course is not expected to set in. From her statement, it would appear that her husband knocked her down with the broom handle found broken by the police. One of the main arteries at the back of the head was severed, and the great danger existing from the first, was the excessive loss of blood. She was bleeding a very considerable time before her condition became known to the neighbours, and after this a long period elapsed before the police arrived to convey her to the hospital. The San Fbancisco Mail Route. — At a special meeting of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce to hear Mr Collie's proposals, the 'following resolution was agreed to : — " That, in the opinion of this Chamber, every effort should b« made. by the Government of New Zealand to secure the calling at a port in New Zealand of the line of steamships proposed to be established between San Francisco and the Australian colonies, such port not being further south than Wellington." Mr Collie is reported to have made the following remarks : — He could enlarge upon the advantages that would accrue to the Australian colonies by being connected with such a great country as the United States, but would not do so, as they must be patent. A carrying trade of 50,000 tons of cargo might he calculated upon. At first, no doubt, the exchange of" commodities would be trifling, but it would increase as the service went on. There was plenty of room for butter and cheese and so forth, in the Calif ornian market. There was ah immense quantity of both those articles consumed in California, and although there were very large dairy farms in the States, over 1,000,000 pounds of butter came every year from the Eastern States to San Francisco. The retail price in that city is 2s 6d to 3s ; and the wholesale price would be about 20 cents. The duty, on butter was only 4 cents, or 2d a pound, and as here the price was very low, say 7d or Bd, a very good profit would remain. San Francisco would also afford a good market for flax. It possessed rope factories, and there was a good demand for the raw material. Gum was also much required, and the. San Francisco , papers also urged their Australian friends to send them a supply of tallow with as little delay as possible, as it was much needed. There would also be a market for the steel sand, which can be procured on the West Coast — or rather steel in the rough, state, as shown to him by Dr Hector. Preserved meats were also much required. Mr Rhodes had informed him that he could, supply preserved meat at 4£d per pound. The Chairman had asked his' opinion as to whether the United States were likely to remove the duty from wool. The people of the United States were very desirous indeed to foster and cherish their own manufactures, and were at the same time extremely anxious : io raise a revenue for the purpose of wiping off the national debt incurred during the last war. He feared, therefore, the United States would not remit the duty on wools. If he were mistaken so much the better, as his firm might have a chance of conveying the wool." By late advices from San Francisco, we find that the business men of that city are f ally alire to the importance of the speedy establishment of the Australian line of steamers. At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce to consider the sub* ject, the following resolutions were adopted : —"Resolved, That Che Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco regards with the deepest interest the proposition for the establishment of a steam service between Australia and the South Pacific Islands, and the port of San Francisco, Resolved, That subject to the conditions above named, the Chamber earnestly recommends that a liberal subsidy be granted by Congress towards the establishment and maintenance of such a service as is herein alluded to, believing that the resulting advantages to the national treasury and the nations commerce will vastly more than repay any such outlay. Resolved, That the President of this Chamber be, and he is hereby requested to cause copies of these resolutions to be forwarded to our representatives in Congress, with the - request that the same be laid before the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States." "Resolved, that such a service, greatly quickening the intercourse between the points named, and bringing us into close relations with a population of two and a half millions, already rich in resources, and representing an annual foreign commerce of over three hundred and seventy-five million dollars, cannot fail to add largely to American commerce, and open new and important markets for American manufactures." " Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Chamber that nothing less than a first class steam line will meet the requirements of this service, if satisfactory results are sought to be attained, as only such a line can successfully compete with the service already existing between the points named and European ports." The Hawaiian Gazette ot April 26 says r — " Ws are glad to learn by the Idaho that a bill has passed the American Senate, to subsidise a line of steamers of not less than 2000 ton 3 burthen between San Francisco and Sydney, and that the bill was pending before the House at the latest advices." The Unemploted in New South Walks. — The Australasian of April 30 has the folI lowing :— The " unemployed" in Sydney

; hare been representing their grievances to the Gorernment ; and after doing that, they waited upon the leader of the Opposition, and told him they hoped the Cowper Ministry would be soon turned but, and Sir James Martin invited to resume office. Having greeted him with three cheers, and given as many groans for his opponents, the unemployed separated in excellent spirits. The whole aSair looks very like a political dodge, and its suspicious aspect is not lessened by the fact that the deputation told a downright falsehood with respect to the number of masons out of work, and declined the obliging offer of the Government to institute inquiries into the nature and extent of the destitution alleged to exist. These inquiries, however, the Government instituted on its own responsibility. About 70 of the principal employers of labour, skilled and unskilled, were applied to, and these are fair samples of the answers . received :— Mr , stevedore. " There is plenty of work' for labourers who are not afraid of work. .Last week I knew of men, who were receiving 7s per day, striking for Bs." Mr .cooper : " During the paBC five months I have declined orders to the amount of £1,000, through want of hands, and I intend sen 'ing to London for coopers." Mr , builder: "I believe every carpenter can find employment." Mr , publican : ■« I do not know of a single man out of employment." Mr , bootmaker : " I believe that every bootmaker in Sydney can find employment if willing to work." Mr — — , bricklayer and plasterer : "There are no persons in my line out of employment.',' Labourers themselves state that they have no reason to complain. There is more employment now than there has been for some* time past." Mr Cowper and his colleagues are to be congratulated upon having thus taken the bull by the horns, and disproved the accuracy of statements calculated to injure the colony of New South Wales, both at home and abroad. Netherlands India. — The fallowing is from the Australasian of April 30: — Our neighbours in Netherlands India are very anxious to do business with us,— using the word*' us "in its Australasiatic sense ; and we wish them all possible success in the fulfilment of their operations ; for commerce implies a benefit to be conferred upon both parties who are engaged in the act of barter. If the Dutch Javanese want to send us sugar and coffee, they also want to take something from vi in exchange which we produce in excess of our local needs, — be it gold, flour, or wine ; and the more transactions of this kind are multiplied, the greater will be the number of subsidiary employments created. Holland herself owes almost everything to her foreign commerce. With a population to the square mile 25 per cent, greater than that of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Government which costs more per bead than that of any Government in Europe, and with a national debt which is second only— in proportion to its inhabitants— to that of our own mother country, Holland is nevertheless one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, while it also possesses a comparatively larger town population than any other European state. Commerce is the foundation of its power and prosperity; and it is only natural, therefore, that the Dutch merchants and planters in Java should memorialise the Governor-General of Netherlands India to abolish the differential duties on the export of produce, and to w empower the Netherlands Consul- General in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, to inform the Governments of New South Wales and Queensland, that the Netherlands India Governments has observed with interest and pleasure the efforts made by the colonial Governments to bring about steam communication with Singapore, by way of Torres Straits, and that the Government of Netherlands India is disposed to bear a fair share of the costs of a regular subsidy for the steamers, if they, on their voyages to and fro, touch at one of the principal ports of Java." The progress of the Australian colonies during the last 10 years excites the admiration of the members of the Java Chamber of Commerce, and prompts the desire for the establishment of closer relations between the two countries. . Thb New Yobk Custom House. — A correspondent of the Daily News gives a doleful account of his troubles on recently landing at New York from one of the Canard steamers : — We were ushered into a long barn ; our luggage was carried into it, and after some delay each passenger gathered his impedimenta about him. Slowly, one by one, we passed before the open window of an office, where we were given printed forms to fill up, specifying the number of our packages and their content!. The forms were collected by a clerk, who sent us each back to our luggage in company with a . subordinate. My keeper was a young man of demure appearance, who might have been taken for a village schoolmaster. In obedience to his orders I opened all my boxes. The first thing which he lit upon were some cigarettes. I pointed out that I had entered them in the printed form, and they were laid aside. Beneath the cigarettes were some gloves. The schoolmaster shook his head. <( Do you not know that the gloves are dutiable ?" he said. I replied that I had not been aware that a traveller would be charged for a few pairs. They were placed with the cigarettes. Then ensued a search which I thought would never end. Everything was turned out. The schoolmaster pried into my boots, and poked bis fingers into my bear's grease, because, as he observed, " watches or jewels may be concealed anywhere." As lam not in the habit of carrying these costly articles either in my boots or my pomatum pot, none were forthcoming, and we went back to the office with the gloves and the cigarettes. On the latter I paid 2 dols. 50 cents per lb, besides an ad valorem duty of 25 per cent, but the former I contended were wearing apparel, which it was absurd to tax. To come to a just conclusion upon tbe subject, one of my cigarette boxes was opened, and each clerk lit a cigarette. The schoolmaster obserred that

he wu not a smoker himself, bat that he had a cousin who was, and he thought perhaps this relative would like a box of cigarettes. I begged him not to baulk his family affections, and a box was put aside for the cousin. By this time the conclave, worked by the fumes of my excellent Latakia, had decided that the United States Treasury were to derive no profit from my gloves, and they and my cigarettes were carried back to my trunks.---"I got you off 50c. a pair on these gloves," observed the schoolmaster, . and ' I think that they would just fit me." My number, is 7| : the schoolmaster had a hand IJke a. . leg of mutton, but, overlooking this physical: difficulty, I gave him a ;pair, which heat, once absorbed into his pocket. My goads - and chattels were puo back, and my trunks - were locked up. I thought that my friend's - extortions had come to an end ; not at all. "If it had not been for me," he said, "you would have paid ten dollars duty on those gloves ; now don't you think—" and he gave - me a cunning, greedy look, I responded" with some dollars, for, as a matter off cariosity, I; was determined to test to the v full the. capacity for robbing possessed by . this guardian of the public purse ; and I saw ... no more of the schoolmaster. My schoolmaster was, I imagine,' neither better nor worse than bis colleagues. On the day after my arrival I met a fellow-passenger, who, I ' observed, had only been subjected to a J nominal examination, and I asked him why • he had been specially favoured. He told me that he had given his card, with his address,; to the officer in whose hands he fell, and begged him to call upon him. That morning he bad received a visit from him, land handed him ten dollors. This, he assured me, is the , plan adopted by those who are experienced ' in the ways of United States Custom-house ' officers. The whole thing is a beautiful comment upon high protective duties. If, in the port of New York, goods may be smuggled ; ad libitum by feeling those whose duty it is to , prevent it, the amount of smuggling along the seaboard and Canadian frontier of the~ vast country must be enormous. Indeed, I am told, upon good authority, that many respectable houses purchase their goods in ■ Canada to be delivered duty-free in New - York. Smuggling has, in fact, become a - recognised and almost legitimate line of > business.