WELLINGTON,

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 2427, 8 May 1874, Page 2

WELLINGTON,

(From our own correspondent.) sth May, 1874. The Provincial Council was opened on Thursday last, when the Superintendent delivered the usual opening speech. On this occasion Mr Fitxherbert's addrecswas much shorter than usu*l, and entirely free from that tendency, to diffuseness which has sometimes tended to mar his best efforts. In one respect it was somewhat of a surprise. He stated that the main feature of his policy would be to rely as far as possible npon Ordinary and Territorial revenue, and to execute certain Public Worka outside of these means by means of a sum of £66,000, to be raised by agreement with the General Government, on the security of four blocks of land of-20.000 acres each. This scheme, it will be observed, does not include any proposal to renew the application for the £175,000 loan in the Assembly, nevertheless 1 have excellent reason* to believe that, during the personal interview between the Superintendent and Mr Yogel, the loan question vas raised, and at one time the amount of £200,000 was spoken of. In fact, the impression gained ground, and not without reason, that the Ministry showsd indications of giving way and agreeing to 'supports -^OO.OOO Loan Bill. ""'T think it well to explain thi3, because in my last letter I gave currency to the phase of the question which had been existing. It is very gratifying to note that the revenue for the last financial year, has so far. exceeded the estimated amount. Some,' weeks ago, I pointed out that this would be the case, and that the Public Works would, therefore, still be carried on, partly out of revenue and partly out of such other aid as might be obtainable. , You will notice that the Superintendent estimates the Territorial revenue for the current financial year at £75,000. This is a large sum but sfcill I think it will be realised. A large amount of land will be brought into the market during the year, and as the blocks on the West Coast, between Waikanae and the left bank of the Wanganui river, have nearly all passed through the Native Lands Court, the Government will, ere long, be enabled to effect their purchase, and thus secure a splendid field for fresh settlement. There is, however, a danger in the shape of speculators, who are trying to "spot" those blocks, but it is to be hoped in the' interests of the. Province that this scheme will be frustrated. For the last. two or three days the Council has been quietly despatchiog business, but nevertheless though all appears quiet on the surface, there are plots being hatched, and mischief afloat. Caucus after caucus of Opposition members has been held, there has been counting of numbers, and strenuous efforts used to make converts to that political creed whereof Parson Andrew, Hutchison, and the two Pharazyns are the high priests. I say the two Pharazyns, because your Mayor, Mr Robert Pharazyn, has been ** converted " by Mr Hutchison, and gone over to that gentlaman's party. What maybe the secret relative strength of partiee in the Council at present, I cannot say, but the numbers ate "cry close, . and J am told that " the Opposition " members mean to try their strength by moving a reply to His Honor's address of such a nature and penned in such terms as to make it, in effect, a motion of "no confidence." I was down at the Council this afternoon expecting that notice of the motion would have been given, but the event did not' come off. ' Before closing my letter to-mor-row, I shall, probably be able to state something more definite on this subject. The Opposition, I believe, will try to make political capital out of tl c Auditor inir broglio, but as the present correspondence on the subject had not Deen distributed thu afternoon, they were waiting to have it before them before unmasking batteries and opening the attack. I regard this Opposition movement as being simply an eff<»rt,tp obtain office, with which the great majority pf the people of the Province do not sympathise. The energy, business aptitu'le, and devotion to the interests I of the Province which the Superintendent and his present Executive have displayed, are fully appreciated by the .ejectors, and if an appeal were made, to^ithe country, I have no doubt what the answer would be. I believe if the present Government were 4©j feated that the Superintendent would endeavour to obtain a dissolution of the ' Council and a general election. ' j I Tarjring to other matters, the subject which, pext to Provincial politics, most " exercises " the minds of our citizens, is the utter incapacity of the Mayor, and the combined rowdyism and inefficiency of the Borough Council. Mr Borlasej our Mayor, is eimply useless. He never keeps appoint-

- merits, seldom attends important' meetings) and with scrupulous consistency invariably neglects to perform all public duties connected with the business of his office. Hence, at the usual fortnightly meeting of the Municipal Council, it is discovered as the different pieces of business are brought up, that the Mayor has done nothing whatever in the interim, and that things are consequently at a standstill. ' Hence arise j bitter attacks by the Councillors upon the " unhappy " Mayor, who is regularly baited. He in turn shows fight, and the language and scenes which ensue are disgraceful. I remember in the days of the , old Wellington Town Board seeing "Johnny Martin," one of the members, first knock down the Chairman — chair and all— as be was presiding at a meeting— that act being only the prelude to a " rough and tumble " ! fight between the two civic notabilities, and j in truth, 1 dont think the City Councillors of the present day have much improved on ' Martin's model. Indeed 1 fully expect j when tired of slanging each other, the City Councillors will settle their differences <^ et armis. Seriously speaking, it is a grave I niisfortnne for the city that the management ' of its affairs should be in such hands. '• Nothing, is being done for drainage ; no j proper system of sewerage has been adopted, while people who have paid rates for yeara cannot even get aid to have a street made to their houses. ' You have Municipal squabbles in Wanganui certainly, but nothing of the utter mismanagement and incapacity which rules here. 1 notice that the erection,ofa monument to the late Captain Taylor has caused some discussion here.' The 'Tribune ' published from a Wanganui correspondent a sort of : account and criticism of the proceedings, in ( which some very offensive things were said ! of Mr Watt's action, and a good deal of 1 ill-timed ridicule made use of with reference ■ 'to the monument and its inscription. It I was, in fact, a very nasty letter, and^con- { sidering the subject dealt with — by no ! means creditable to its author. I mention the circumstance as tiiis letter called forth a rejoinder in the ' Post ' from " A Friend of the late Captain Taylor," in which the Wanganui correspondent is, in turn, assailed, it may be added that a good many people who knew Captain Taylor, very strongly condemn the publication of the letter in the ' Tribune.' ; Mr Alex. McDonald's latest performance in shooting one of the "leaders" in the Napier mail coach, has created quite a sensation here. Public feeling is strongly declared against him, and it is certain he has got into a very serious predicament by . his tiairbrained act. I cannot myself under* st~nd what his grievance cau be. The Native Crown Grants, about which he complained before, have been issued weeks ago, and everything done that can be done to satisfy the Natives who are- Mr McDonald's clients. ; 6th May. Since writing the foregoing, the Opposition have thrown down their gage, and challenged the other side to combat. Yesterday afternoon Mr Andrew gave notice of the following resolution, as a reply to His Honor's speech : — The Council cordially agrees with the policy of your Honor in foiwarding the practical work of colonisation, by the settlement of newly arrived people on the soil. To this end, and for the purpose of opening up and rendering habitable the country, by. roads, bridges, and public works, the Council is now, as ever, ready to support your Honor in obtaining loans on the security of special blocks of land. We observe with pleasure that your Honor proposes to apply to the General Assembly in its next session for power to raise a loan on this principle to the moderate amountof £66,000. The Council regret that they do not concur in the view expressed by your.Honor on the disallowance of the Bridges and Roads. Actof last session, and reluctantly find them selves unable to approve of the action in the matter of your Honor and Executive, as shown by the correspondence with the General Government, and as explained by your Honor. The Council have to thank your Honor for the valuable papers and statistics laid before them, which they will examine with care. Their zeal for the welfare of the Province (of which your Honor is the elected head) will be best shewn by their attention to the various bills and measures which will form the business of the session. The discussion on this comes on to-night, and is looked forward to with no little interest and anxiety. Nobody at present can predict the result, though the friends of the Government are tolerably confident oi defeating the motion, by a bare majority. The motion reads innocent enough, and I heard the opinion expressed that the Government need not go out even if it were carried. Ido not, however, take this view. Undoubtedly the motion for all its sugar plums of compliment, is yet clearly one of | condemnation with reference to the Superintendent and his Executive, and as such, if carried, would amount to a vote of 4 4 no confidence." I believe the Government, will regard it in this light, and meet the assault with a firm front. If they do this and are beaten — which I think they will not be— they will have the consolation that they have gone down gallantly, sti uggling to the last, and staunchly -defending their line of action in the past, as' being what they honestly believed right in itself and must conducive to the best interests of the Province. On the other hand, the result will likely be different. Parties are very closely balanced, and victory for the Government is "on the cards." There are 24 members present and of these 11 have pledged, themselves to vote for the' Government. Then two members declare that they will not vote at all, which leaves 11 for the Opposition. In that case the result would be " a tie,' 1 but the casting vote of the Speaker would be given to the Government, and thus assure them a victory. Apart from" this it haa to be said of the two members who declare that they, will not vote at all, that if they do vote it will be with the Government. In the event of this happening the Government would have a direct majority of two. Then there have been some rumors of splits in the camp of the Opposition. Some of them wanted to word the hostile motion in very strong terms, but Mr Brandon and his followers declared that they would not have this. They were, willing enough to support a resolution containing more or less of condemnation, but they would not do so in the case of a strong one, The Brandon faction it seems, do not want the present Executive to go out of office, and thus "draw" their opposition "mild." The Hutchison party do want to oust the Executive, and hence are prepared to press any motion of censure however strong. Thus it has arisen that the motion was , toned down so as to unite the two factions of the Opposition, and get they to vote for it. I believe that in the event of success, ' the Opposition contemplated that the new

; Executive should be composed of Mr Hut* chisou, Mr Chas Pharazyn, and McLuJ-. Jam ; Mr Hutqhison being Provincial Secretary and the other two holding office " without portfolios." There is a vulgar Jbut expressive proverb about "not counting *one's chickens before they are hatched," which I think it probable the Opposition leaders will have brought practically home to their consideration before they are much older. The value however, of my opinion must be estimated ty the result, of which the telegraph will inform you befoxe I again write. By the way, that, working /nan's friend, Mr Carter, who was returned for the City at the last election, has served his constituents a very shabby trick. Some time ago he removed to Canterbury, stating that he would cc»me to Wellington and attend this session, after which he would resign. This pledge he has not redeemed, inasmuch as he now telegraphs that he can't or won't come up. I always was rather doubtful as to the political honesty of Mr Carter. lam not in the least doubtful now. | There was a small sensation here the i other day, owing to a report getting about i that the crew and male passengers of the i Golden Sea,' who are quarantined at bomes Island, had mutineered and overpowered the Captain and officers. The story was reported with unnecessary exaggeration, and at length a party of the Armed Constabulary were sent off in the ' Luna ' to the Island, to quiet the supposed rebellion. The affair however, resolved itself the fact that some eleven of the crew had broken into the cargo, but were deterred from their purpose by the Captain, who fiied a revolver over their heads and thus cowed them into submission. The men were brought ashore in custody. Their case has since been brought up in Court but . remanded. As I mentioned in. a previous letter, the sale of Crown Lands realised considerably more than was shown at the close of the auction. The amount aealised that day was £746, but during the remainder of the week applications to purchase the unsold sections powered in at the Land Office, and : up to Saturday the total sales, including those by auction, reached the sum of £11,751 17s 6d. A portion of this is represented by Volunteer Scrip, but even . allowing for that the week's land revenue has been very satisfactory. It may interest •you. to know that 4 rections in the Waikupa Reserve have been bought by Wanganui settlers at the upset price of £3 an acre. There has been some grumbling, not altogether without reason, on the part of. the Waitotara settlers at the lengthened period which has elapsed since the purchase of their lands, without the Crown Grants in, some icstarices having yet been issued. From enquiries which have been made since the opening of ' the Session, it has transpired that the bulk of the Grants still unissued have been completed and for-" warded for the Governor'-s signature, and' that in a very short time the whole of them, will be issued. The ' Cyphrenes ' with the San Francisco mail arrived in harbour this morning at 9 o'clock, after a rough passage of 25 houis from JSapier, and anchored in the stream,, The ' Cyphrenes * is much smaller and less powerful than the * Mongol,' being only 1,279 tons register and 250 horse-power, while the latter is 1,464 tonsaiid 400 horsepower. The steamer thus christened is of the favorite modern, class— long and narrowy. with straight stem and without bowsprit. Her eugiues were constructed by John Elder and Co., of Glasgow, on the compound principle, and of 250 horse- power. She can steam from 11 to 12 knots under favourable circumstances, but during the present trip the bad quality of the cual supplied has prevented her achieving more than 9to 9J. Her dimensions are — length, 310 feet; beam, 35 feet; registered tonnage, 1279. An action for libel against the * Tribune * has been given notice of by Messrs Steele and Keogh, managers, of the theatrical company at present performing, for a certain hostile critique, appearing yesterday in that journal. The ' Tribune ' .has got out a big poster, and is making capital out of its lirst bit of notoriety. Wednesday, 5 p.m. I have learned that Mr George Hunter will move the following amendment to the hostile paragraph in Mr Andrew's motion, viz. — That paragraph Tso. 2 of the Address in reply to his Honor's speech be omitted and the following inserted in lieu thereof :— " The Council regrets that the disallowance of the Roads and.Jßiidges Act. of last Session should have interrupted the friendly relations hitherto existing between the General and Provincial Governments, and is glad to hear that a better feeling now exists betveen the two Governments ; but as the whole question as regards the legality or illegality of the action of the Provincial Government in connection with the matter is now before the Court of Appeal, the Council does not feel called upon to express any opinion thereon."