West Coast Times. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 102, 15 January 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1866.

The Secretary for Public Works, the mouthpiece of the Government in tlie Provincial Council, has given a challenge to Westland. Ho inrjtes the district to go in for Separation j declares that it is a part of the provinco that has perfectly distinct interests from those of the Eastern side, and that it cannot expect to be governed well from Ohristchurch unless it consents cheerfully to the expenditure ( necessary for the construction of a road across the range, as a means of rapid communication with that capital. If \V estland does not want to be governed from Ohristchurch, and if it can show its possession of the necessary materials for constructing a Government of its own, Mr. Hall says — let it lay its case before tho General Assombly, and he for one, will say amen ! to its petition. This is remarkable language for {,ho foremost member v of tho Government, and tho leader of the Provincial Council, to use in a debate upon Wesltlnnd grievances. But Mr. Hall has evidently the idea tjiat a provinco should bo '• self contained," and that this cannot be the case with Canterbury, so long, as it has tacked on to it a people a hundred and fifty miles away— beyond the dividing Alps— following pursuits entirely alien to those of Kastlantl itself. In tho Southorn district whore the cry of Separation had also been raisocl, ho, held that there was no jntsification for it, and naid ho would oppose tho nv>vow§»t should, it he \wm\<s |», Tto

Southern .district was " geographi 'ally and materially a part of Canterbury, with common interests." Mr. Hall was himself tho fi st to direct the attention of tho House to the very exceptional position of Wettlmd. Ho said — and we quote his ip.sissima vcrba, for they are pregnant with significance — it was by its " geographical position, industrial pui i suits, and commercial connections, virtually a separate community." Mr Hall made a still more significant declaration, as coining from the mouth of a member of the Provincial Government. lie expressed his conviction that "no Government; in Christchurch would over bo ablo to give satisfaction to Westland. " These expressions of sentiment wore not provoked by any revolutionary or violent specoh from Mr Prosser, •to whom he was addressing himself in reply. We must givo Mr Prosser the credit of having made nn extremely mild and temperate protest against the grievances of which his constituents havo just ground of complaint. Ho made anything but a searching speech. Running rapidly over the complaints urged from time to timo, on the subjects of the harbor improvement", tho signal staffs, the failuro to form district roads, and to build bridges and punts, tlio neglect of town improvements, tho withholdmcnt of lands from sule, the escort service, etc., Mr Prosser failed to elicit, and refrained from ask ing for, any information on tho mystc. rious West Coast Balance Sheet, which has made the wholo population of this district completely aghast. Ho had, we presume, tho Westand Estimates in detail in his hand. Wo have not that advantage, and to us the £50,000 a-ycar for Goldfields Administration is as much a hidden mystery as ever. Of Mr Prosser's speech it may bo said generally, thnt it was almost apologetic in tone It poked no awkwavk questions at the Government, and made no severe attacks upon them. It hold out no fioroe menace of Separation. To this extreme measure for redress of grievances, Mr Prosser, indeed, avowed his ownstrongrepugnance. But he said it might come to that, suggesting it as an alternative whioh tho Christchurch peoplo might be desirous of avoiding by adopting the other alternative of doing justice, and so stifling the voice of complaint. Mr Hall, expressing tho opinions of tho Government of' the Province, views Separation, not as an alternative, but as a desideratum. It is not very easy to reconcile his speech with tho language recently put into tlio mouth of his Honor by his responsible advisers, in which Mr Boaloy congratulated the Council on the fact that the repeal of tho New Provinces Act had deprived the outlying districts of tho power of obtaining Separation by simple petition. Probably in framing his Honor's address, Ministers had chiefly in view the pretensions of tho Southorn district, which Mr Hall describes as geographically belonging to Canterbury. v The debate itself, which wo report fully elsewhere, is a striking demonstration of tho impracticability of governing Westland from Chris (.church. The administration of the local affairs of this district is a thing of detail, and Mr Hall's reply to Mr Prosser shews conclusively how little* these details aro understood' by the present governing power. It would be a fruitless task to follow the Secretary for Public Works through the several items with which he superficially deals. On some points ho candidly confesses ignorance, and on almost all others he unwittingly displays it. lie is clearly not well posted up in our affairs. How, indeed, should he be, ' his only source of information being an occasional and irregular correspondence with Mr;Sulo ? The important fact, however, that stands elbarly revealed by the Minister's acknowledgment is, lh.it the Christchurch Executive do not take kindly and sympathetically to the government of Westland. They do not caro about retaining the district. They tell it to be gone, and take charge of itself as soon as it can. It is separate from the East by great geographical barriers; it has its own distinct interests, its own commercial relations, which are alien to those of Christchurch. It is a place distinct and apart. The hint is plainly given. How will it bo taken here ? Ono thing at least is clear. Henceforth wo must look for a stepmothor, not a natural parent, in ChrUt church. So long as we consent that it shall govern us, it will govern us for Eastland interests. The Minister of Works has warned us in language singularly significant, as coming from a quarter in which a delicate reticence might have been looked for, that we aro not wanted, and that if we require a sympathetic administration wo must take the necessary steps to provide it' for ourselves. Whatever views may hitherto have prevailed in this district, oil 1 tho abstract question of Separation, it can hardly be doubted after this plainspoken intimation that in that step now alone remains tho hope of a just uni efficient government.

Two changed of Ministry havo taken place in Dunedin in the course of little more than a week. The Moss Government resigned because a Select Committee on Education had recommended tho incorporation of the High School nnd tho House had adopted its report, refusing 'to remit the subject to tho Executive for its consideration. A Government was xthen formed under the auspices of Mr. Brodie, of which that gontloman was Treasurer,' Mr. John Cargill taking tho portfolio of Secretary and Premier. A motion, which this Ministry determined to treat as ono ot no confidence, having boon carried, it also resigned, and the task of forming a new Administration was undertaken by Mr. Adam, tho member for Tokomairiyo. This last new Government, is composed as follows : — Treasurer and leader of the House, Mr. F. J. Moss; Secretary, Mr. H. J, Miller; Provincial Solibi or, Mr, B, C. Haggitt ;^ non.official memhern, Mem», Jquw Attorn, c, H,

Street, "and J. Hughes. A ve.y ludicrous incident occurred in tho Council in connection with this latest Ministerial change. A Mr. Lloyd, who was a non-official member of tho interim Ministry, was not consulted by his colleagues in the act of resignation, ond ho persisted in claimiug for himself the character of " tho .Government" and the " only advisor of his Honor." lie formally " advised" his Honor to gazette him to all the vacant posts in the Executive ; and the House listened to his elaborate self-assertion in a speech which was evidence only of the incapacity and unfitness of tho men whom constant political changes occurring in small communities playing at tho game of .ministerial government, so often pitchfork into power. Within a compass of a fow days we have seen in Otago three several ministries in office, each comprising, five or six members of tho Provincial Council! . 1% is absurd to suppose that in a House of such limited dimensions, so largo a proportion should consist of gentlemen qualified to fill the position of governing men. In the formation of administrations in tho home country tho distinction of being members of the Cabinet is rigidly confined to the chiefs and notabilities of parties. No man is held to possess a title to Cabinet office who has not either served a long apprenticeship to political life or given proof of raro talents. Under the Provincial system in New Zealand every man who has succeeded in obtaining a 'majority of votes at a contested election is deemed eligible fora seat in tho Cabinet. The evil is aggravated by the unconstitutional practice of swelling tho dimensions of governments by tho inclusion in them of a large number of non -official members. Thus in' the Ministry last formed in Otago mo find three gentlemen holding sonts without departmental office. Tho result is to givo to any ministry in power the command of a largo number of votes belonging to men who have no direct administrative responsibility, because no individual act of administration can bo brought homo to them. In England there aro occasionally members of tho Cabinet without office, but they aro .exceptions to a prevailing rule ; nnd tho exception is never mado but in the cases of men of tho highest standing, and the 1 most indisputable claims to have a voice in the councils of their party. Such men were the Duke of Wellington and Lord Lansdowne. It is an utter abuse of this precedent to constitute cabinets containing three men holding portfolios as heads of departments, and ' an equal number of men without them. Ie is to bo regretted that this practico has so far gained ground in N^w Zealand as to bo now accepted as a matter of course. When tho attempt to establish it in the other colonies was mode Romo years ago, it was denounced as wholly unconstitutional: jjnd in New South Wales, even Mr James Macarthur, one of the most veteran of the publio men of that colony, and ono of the most respected, had to retire before the strong protest of public opinion against tho anomalous position ho held. ,We profess to copy the precedent of England and to imitate her institutions nnd her " unwritten law "of political, life ; but wo practiso and sanction such vagaries in. our expeviments in constitutional government, that it is hard to say to what extravagancies wo may ultimately be carried. In the establishment of any new province, and the adoption by it of a " provincial government ordinance " it will bo well to define by law tho number of members of which a Cabinet shall consist — to bear always a fixed proportion to tl.e numbers of the legislature — and tho departments for whoso administration they shall be responsible to the House.

As our readern will spo by a return published in another column, there aro no less than forty prisoners to be tried at the sessions which commence to-day. As a whole, though this lot seems a largo one, the Hokitika publio may congralulato themsolves on tho calendar being so light. It must bo remembered that it is a half year's accumulation of crime, for the first committal bo.\rs dato August 17th, and runs from that day down to last Saturday. Forty prisoners as the sum total of crimo committed during six months, out of a population of some 20,000 or 25,000 people, speaks anything but ill of fflo community. Amongst the number enumerated, there is but ono capital charge, viz: that against Stewart for tho alleged murder of his wife. Tho oiroumstancos of this caso aro familiar to our re*dors through tho recent report of the coroner's inquest on tho body of the unfortuna'o woman. Tltoro is a oase of 'manslaughter in which Abraham Brock, a milkman, is charged with killing his partner, but a conviction is scarcely probable. The next most serions ofibnecs are three ohargos of robbing from tho person with violence, ono stabbing, six burglary, an indecent assault, and sombcases of horso and cattlo stealing. Tho remainder of tho calondnr comprises compar.v. tivoly potty offences, such as larceny, &o. As wo have stated above, some of these piisoneiM have been long confined in tho noisome dons denominated the Hokitika Gaol, without trial and if they are proved guilty it is only right that some mitigation of sentence should be mado. Wo do not for a momont presume to point out to his Honor what no doubt ho is already fully acquainted with, but niako-tho romark so that in case of apparently light sentences being passed, the publio may bo ablo to appreciuto tho reason. Tho court will open tl«i& morning at ten o'clock, at which hour jurors aro requested to bo in at tendance.

The intelligence brought to ,hand per Bruco from Okarita is so far satisfnetpry, as it tends to strengthen our formor opinion that a prosperous future is in storo for it ; and although we have no "now nnd startling discoveries" to ohroniolo, tho advices wo have received are confirmatory of tho Bloody progiession of tho district. In our last report wo stated onrush. had sot into the intorior, but whether it proved a ,suocoss or not wo have not heard, very fow minors having visited the township during iho stay of tho steamor. Some of thosp who did, admitted the existence of ground that would pay £1 por day per' man, but that tho timo and trouble of carrying provi'ious was no great as to render such ground next to worthless. A vory, largo amount of gold, is in tho hands of the diggers, who oh. stinatcly refuse to part with it at the present low prices, no advance upon 725. Cd. having yet been made. Wo trust, however, justice in this respect will be accorded to themjand as there are to be two bank agoncios established there, ono from tho New Zealand, and tho other from tho Bank of N. S. Wales, there seems a probability that tho intrinsic valuo of> tho metal' will, bo ascertained and a fair price paid for it. However, tboio is absolutely more gold offering than theie is money to buy it with ; this of course will he lQiiKulicd by the advent ot' tI»J lacks', Q.io gontlomnn who went tlown Uhvo fir tho j)»nyo<o vt goltl^'buyljijrfxilvfil iv dfoldud $tt.ttl)

from a party of three miueiy, for on his assuring them lie had plenty of money to buy their little stock of " dust," was asked how much' he could really purchase wore it offered him ? 600 ounces was the prompt reply, which was received with a disdainful smile, and tho rejoinder, '" Then you won't buy our motal, mate, for between throe of 113 them is 900 ozs." Tho astounded would-be, put chaser turned meekly nwny to seek an investment that would come within the limits of his capital.. A rush Imd set in towards (ho Wanganui, but tho lasf accounts received from return diggers were not very satisfactory. Every preparation ha.l been mado by the Dank of New Zpaland for tho orectjon of its branch ; material for the building, scalos, safes, and all other banking par tphcrnalia having boon sont down in tho Bruce. Tho township hits increased considerably — a sure sign of the estimation the localiy is held in Pricosof building allotments had considerably advanced. ' Mv Justico Grosson ycslorday attended tho Church of England sorvico at tho Court. A collection was mado at tho conclusion of each servico in aid of tho ohuroh-building fund. Surely tho first duty of tho mombors of tho Church of England in Ilokitika is lo secure tho orootion of a suitnblo structuvo for divino worship, and tho Borviccs of a elorgyman, boforo collodions nro mado, as was dono on Sun1 day last, for tho funds of tho " Molanosian Mission." .It is strange tliat in tho Canterbury ! Province tho Wosloyan Methodists and tho Catholics lmvo boon ullowcd to got so good a start in this rospoot. J3oth thoso bodies havo already commodious places of worship orcctod, winch reflect tho highost credit on thorn. Tho opening ball at Ilansen's new Post Onice Ho 1 el, takes placo this evening. This is ono of the'finest hotql Btruotures in.town, and we believe, that the ball will bo of a thoroughly select character. We have to holdover our Northern and Dun* edin news in ordw to give /» extemo tho speeches of Mr. Prosser and .Mr. Hall in tho Provincial Council on tho affairs of Westland. AVo learn that tho nccounts of tho Sports Oommitteo nro, on tho wholo, satisfactory, tho expenditure being mot within a very fow shillings. Had all tho subscribers paid thei sul seriptions in . accordance) with their pronrisos, thcro would have boon a surplus which might havo been handed over to tho hospital. As it is, Mr Koscow, tho honorary secretary who 1 has bpon most indofaligablo in bis oxortions, roports himsolf and tho committee as just clear of liability. , Wo avo glad to see Mr Dalfour, whoso name is well known in connection witti marine engineor« fug, is now on a visit to Hokitika, wo understand professionally, to report upon our river and its encroachments. With a view to ascertain what changes have taken placo. already, both tho Survey and Publio.Works Departments havo been engaged under tho direotion of that gentleman, in making surveys and sections in various parts. Mr Ualfour, accompanied by tho District Engineer, has also proceeded to Okariia by the Bruce, for tho purposo of oxamining that port, and wo understand that all tho 1 Ivors generally will bo reported upon. Thid is a step in the right direction, and we hopo that the Government will appoint some gentloman of skill and experience as a4?onsorvator of rivora in West-;, land, ns, in a country like this itwmld ho a measure of economyas well ns necessit. if a careful supervision were maintained to protcot the public from loss as far as can bo done, by watching tho various and suddon changes thnt occur, especially after high freshes, and suggesting such steps ns would be likely to lomedy tho evil occasioned. The recent damage dono, by the River Waimakariri, in Eistland, and tho alarming inroads of our own and • the Toramakau, strongly suggest tho advisability of tho appointment of an Inspector of rivers in Wetland.

We havo heard nothing further of tho new rush that was expoo'cd to take place near town, of which we made mention in Friday's issue, except that the prospectors lof use to make known the cxftol locality, and lmvo further decided not to apply for an extended oliuin, but to work as much ground as they cvn, quietly, trusting that thosamo fortune which guided thoin to tho treasur. will screen them from discovery. The probability, however, is, if tho discovory is, a bon a fido ono they will not bo ablo to proservo tho secret for many days.

Lor the future Iho overland mail to Chvistoburch will close nt 8 p m. every Monday, instead of 9 a.m. us heretofore A long-standing complaint of the prematuro closing of tlio mail will thus be removed. Tlio mail service to iho Old Tot arn digging* haa been abandoned, and tiii alteration in tho route direct to llos* instead, is determined on., We aye very glad such is the case, and \vb wonder it was not done before, iimoh inoonvenience having resulted to tho mining community thoro assembled through such incompleto communication

During tho Kefra's stay nt Chalky Tnlot, Captain Turnbull and two or tlirco other gontlomon mado up a shooting party and slnrlod into tho bush in pursuit of tho gamo, which is 89 abundant thoro. /I'hoy had nor, howovor, propcodetl far boforo tlioy fell across several articles of woaring apparel, which had by thoir appcuranco ovidontly boon abanclonod a long lime. Tho nrtiolos in question consisfod of an oil-skin coat, a man-o'-wn\ % , jumper, a pair of boots nnd trousers, and a black Bilk neck tio. Inside tho boots was found part of an Ilavannah nowspaper bearing dato 27th January, 18(31. A rather unoxpectod find in such a looality, and ono likely to givo riso lo atrango surmises as to hoir tlioy could havo boon deposited thoro, as no 'human romains woro near them. Possibly they weft) loft'by somo of tho earlier West Coast oxplorors, who, in running tho coast down in opon boats or cutters, mayjuvo gono in to Chalky Inlot for sholtor.