DUNEDIN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 2611, 7 August 1876, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

{From the Own Correspondent of (he Lgttelton Timeß.)

Tuesday, August 1. Concerning politios thoro is not muoh to mention. Tho Financial Statement has been duly dieouseod, and from the number of 'editorials it has boon the theme of, must have been a porfoot God-send to tho leader writers. ThcMinister for Publio Works' Statement has also duly roooivod attention, though, from its faoty and detailed nature, it did not give the same soope for indulging in generalities as the Premier's grand opening. The hypothecation of debentures that oan find no purohasor, and tho proposed intensification of tho evils of Provincialism by the formation of thirty nine Provinces, for tho Counties are rogardod as nothing but such, complete the chief topics of political disoußßion. . There is, however, a point to which attention may bo drawn, namely, the manner in whioh tho aotion of the Canterbury members is re* garded in Otago.' People hero generally do pot know, or rather aronotin a position to divine the reasons or motives whioh have induced the Canterbury members to take their present Gourde fa , regard to tho question of Separation. ThO Times has boon pitohing<in vigorously in tho '.following directions, namely, that tho Canterbury members are too aristocratic 5 : that thoj' oonsider themselves too good for tho Otago men (and from some of tho Bpooimons wo havo sent to tho Legislature, they are not to be beamed) j that they have a profound detestation of Mr Maoandrcw $ and last, tho most serious aoousation, that they oare not what may become of the country, but are wanting to sell thoir politioal powers in order to get new leasos or their runs. Whether these are or are not tho motives whioh have actuated the Canterbury membors in thoir present course, there oan be no doubt, in view of the statement being pertinaciously dinned into the oars of tho Otago publio, without contradiction, tho mombers of your Provinoo will bo looked npon as exceedingly aristooratio and utterly unscrupulous. Libel oases are tho order of tho day—- the air is filled with rumours. Wo have lately had the committal for trial of Mr George 8011, of tho Star, for an alleged libel upon the Catholic Priests and Nuns of Dunedin. Now two othor oases are on the tapis. One Hooper, a rabid toetotallor, who publishes a weekly sheet culled the .AW Zealand Liberator, one oi tho numerous shoal of small fry called newspaper* not particularly oredi table to Dunedin, has been sued for libel, damages £500. Mr Biroh, tho person who oonsiders himself aggrieved, holds a commission of the peace, and oonsiders tho remarks made in the Liberator as damaging to his oharaotor as a J.P. The othor caflo is for £1000 damages, for alleged unfounded and injurious state* monts made during the late hotly contested Mayoral olootion. Besides those, two or threo of tho newspapers are known to have threats suspended over thoir heads, but they, howoyor, are not likely to come to anything praotioal in the shape of law prooeodings. The .Tuapeka Times whioh started the story of the prieab and kho nun, has eafcon humblo pie ; of tho very < humblest dosoriptipn— -its leading article making tho fullest retraotion looks uncommonly liko as if it had been written in tho office of Bishop Moran's solioitor. Whatovor maybe the outoorao of tho prose* oution against the Evening Star, thoro oan be no harm in saying that the aotion of Bishop Moran will have a very salut-wy offoofc upon several of the up-country and one or two of tho Dunodin newspapers, whioh have not unfrequently been in tke habit of intruding within tho sacred oirolo of private oharaotor. Again we are in tho throes of a Munioipal election. It' is very wearisome to. hoar the same stale trash spouted over and orer again, but it is one of those evils whioh have to bo ondurod. Tho Mayoral olootion, after a keen canvass and much vigorous speaking, rosultod in a tie, Messrs' Beeves and Woodlands polling 842 each. Mr Walter, tho retiring Mayor, who wantad to have another year, polled eo few votes as to mark significantly tho oitiiens' opinion of him for endeavouring to come in tho way of good men waiting their turn. He' has retired, i 4 no vote could be given, the campaign has oeqjy^gun anew— this time between Messrs Beeves and Woodlands. The Mayoral contest has had the effoot of disolosing the great

power that the Friendly Societies and the Trado Sooietioß have become in Dunedin.

Two features of what may be termed the religious life of Dunodin are the Sunday evening services in the Theatre and the addresses of Professor Salmond. This gentleman, who is the Presbyterian Professor of Theology, leotures weekly in defence of the views of his ohuroh to orowded audiences. The Sunday evening servioes in the Theatre have been going on for months, and are always erowded. They commonco at half-past seven o'clook or a quarter to eight, just as the other servioes are coming out. Addresses, prayer, and singing carry the proceedings on till about ten o'clock. They are largely attended by the " slaveys," that is to eay, the domestios who cannot get away to, or who do not care about attending, the regular services at the ohurohes. It is pretty gonorally thought that these servioes do not do an unmixed good, however. That Committee that got up the grand carnival or fete in aid of the Benevolent Institution some time baok, waited on the council of that institution the other day, and madoa presentation of £1500, being the net result of tho/^e. With a subsidy of £ for £ from the Government, this will mean to the institution the handsome sum of £3000. As under present oiroumstances it is feared the subsidy will not be forthcoming in money, it has been suggested that it should be taken in land, and a spirited merchant has intimated his intention of giving the institution £1500 in oash for whatever piece of land the Government may set aside in lieu of oash subsidy. A political item. Tho Political League at the Dunstan has resolved that in it* opinion tho only way the Middle Island of New Zealand can prosper in aooordanoe with its vast rosouroes, is by financial separation from the Northern Island. This is one of the two loagues founded by Mr Pyke [a few months ago to ad vise him as to what oourse he should pursue in Parliament, and it has proved a thorn in his side. Instead of making a puppet to ro-eoho his own ideas and laud him to the skies, he formed an organisation whioh has a mind of its own, and by means of telegraphing its resolutions to the various newspapers, takos care to let the faot be known. Bow painful it must be to 'that ardent whipper-in of tho Government to have a rebellious constituency. > The Provincial Exeoutive has thoroughly roused the ire of the Southlandere by its notion in re the Southland Waste Lands Board. In removing the old Board and appointing a now one, they exoluded the men who attended the meetings as well as those who did not — hence fcbe uproar. The Bxeoativeaotodin the matter with great veoillation, first refusing to ohange the Board, and then changing it in suoh a manner as, it is alleged, to gratify some political spleen. The Rev E. L. Stanford, of AW Saints Ohuroh, Duaedin, has reoeived a requisition from the leading lay and olerionl members of thodicaose of Waiapu, asking him to allow himself to be plaoed in nomination as Bishop of that diooese. Mr Stanford is the most energotio of the Otago Episcopalian ministers, and his departure from Dunedin would be a loss not only to those of his own denomination, but, from the part he takes in publio movements, the community generally. The Law Students' Sooiety, which has long been in a comatose state, has, siuoe its late re-organisation, been proceeding most vigorously. Papers are now read at the various meetings, and disouf sions, in whioh a great deal of interest is manifested by the rising legal luminaries, take plaoo. At tho mooting of the Colonial Bank, the othor day, the shareholders did not say muoh, but many of thorn think a good deal. The general opinion is that the Bank is overoflloertd, and that the officers are oversalaried. Something was said about keeping faith with the officers who were got from othor Banks by high inducements, but the general opinion is that present salaries are too beautiful to last, and that the application of the pruning knife is only a f question of time., Shareholders will say, with' three per cent' profits, that the Bank was made for the oflloers, and not the offioers for tbe Bank.

Shares show ft rising tendenoy during the past few days. New Zealand Shipping Company's have gone up from £3 16s to £4 2s. It will interest you to know that the main line of railway between Moeraki and Oamaru will be open in tho oouee of afewweekf. Ohriatohuroh people will, in a few months hence, be able to get by rail to within forty or fifty miles of Dunedin, but when we Dunedinites will have it made through the few miles of hills on our side, Heaven only knows, we don't. It will take at least a couple of years yet, and in that time many, changes may take place in the course of trade.