The Evening Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 1868.

Wanganui Herald, Volume II, Issue 388, 29 August 1868, Page 2

The Evening Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 1868.

If Mr Fox hod waited for a few days before introducing; his resolution censuring- the Government for not proclaiming a policy, he would have found not on] v a policy but opportunity for attacking' Ministers with greater chances of success than he found when he assailed the vapoury shadow of no-policy. It is much more difficult to esfablish a charge against a man for t eglecting to do something he ought to have done, than doing something positively wrong. Tins'very difficulty was discovered by Mr Fox before he had said many words, and he proceeded in the most, illogical manner to bring home to the Government a course of action—a policy—which he believed to be ruinous to the interests of the Colony. He now finds that the policy of the Government is to weaken the opposition and annihilate the provincial party. Mr Stafford has introduced a Disqualification Till which goes to exclude Provincial Secretaries, Treasurers Solicitors, and all that fry, from holding seats in the legislature under heavy'penalties The introduction- of the bill cnlls forth those virtuous men who hold office or expect it in Provincial Governments Mr Borlase would not have it come to a second reading ■■far the Government had declared their intention of throwing out any executive officer of the Provincial Government receiving- emolumenr. This interested gentleman was candid enough to confess where the shoe pinched him—he was late Provincial Solicitor, with £400 a-year and " pickings," and is no doubt, in hopes of a return to office One of the reasons for. excluding these leeches is that'they have an interest in voting their'own salaries; and this is a good and sufficient reason. ,Mr Fox called these men the intelligence^the country. Although nor. prepared to admit the fact, does their intelligence preclude them from holding office for the sake of its emoluments, and then, in the

Assembly, combining- to conserve the institution, whether it he g-ood or bad, by which the office is protected. M r Fox tried to " burke" the measure, by getting- one of his train to move the adjournment of ihe debate for a fortnight. The morion was negatived, and the bill rassed the second read-

in g\ Mi* Stafford said the Government would stand by the principles of the bill in committee, and the House passed the second readingon that understanding*. Here we have a measure that will disqualify fully one half of the opposition, and, if the cordon of financial pressure were not being- drawn closer every | day, it alone would g-ive the Government a majority to work the destruction of provincialism. Not only the present provincial officers, with seats in the House, will have to resign, but the expectants, such as Mr Borlase, might perhaps reason that £'400 or £500 a-year is better than honor without reward. It is true they might hold on to their seats until the immediate prospect of office presented itself, but then it would not look well; and those of them, .who have any regard'for appearances will resign as soon as the bill becomes law, if certain of getting- into office. The Wellington Provincial Solicitor in ease will have to resign; and the Solicitor in posse will resig-n, and hold himself "in patient expectation." This is a rocket and no mistake thrown into the enemy's camp. The last semblance of vitality is gone, and we have Mr Fox's prophecy fulfilled—the provinces have become a corpus mortuwm.. We do not anticipate any unpleasant consequences from this revolutionary bill. On the contrary, we believe parliament will become more independent, when purged of corrupt, influences, and that, legislation will not be impeded by men whose votes are pledged beforehand, with their salaries as hostages for the pro-er fulfilment of their obligations. This is the second defeat, Mr Fox and the opposition have sustained. 'I he next battle will be upon finance, and we hardly think the provincialists need hope for a triumph on that question

Militia Appointments. — Captain Reginald Newton Bjggs has been promoted to a majority, and Edward M'Donnelf appointed to an Ensigncy in the New Zealand Militia.

Escape of the Chatham Island Prisonkrs.—The papers laid on the table of the House of Representatives relative to the escape from the Chathams, contains some curious facts. The plans were laid with such skill that Captain Thomas, according to the report, 'could hardly have offered anything like effectual resistance. Instead of thirty-one stand of arms, there were forty-nine stand of arms taken away, and £500 in cash, and as much flour, sugar, and tobacco as they chose to remove from the schooner Rifleman. Besides these, we learn that they robbed all the houses on the beach with the exception of that of one lady who hid a bag of sovereigns (£300) in a tea kettle, while boiliag over the fire. The number of prisoners escaped were 163 men, 64 women, and 71 children, being 298 souls. The quantity of ammunition taken was 4584 rounds. Three pounds of powder was taken from private stores. The following enclosures are printed in Maori and English :—To the upholders of the law. To the, council of the big house. My friends, seek for deliverance for us. I have seen that you have been right since we began our Karakia. My friends, be strong in seeking out the hidden thing that is to save us (alluding to a riddle that he had given them). Enough. For it is on account of weakness that we have been forsaken (i.e., because you have not taken up the new religion with zeal) But now has come forth the direction (revelation) of the Bon and of His Father. Oh people, be strong! Soon shall appear a vessel for us. If the St Kilda is not given to us by God, there will be some other vessel. That is it, the vessel, then will be my time. Oh people, be strong! Ist. If a word (revealed) comes forth hereafter, let it be implicitly obeyed. 2nd. To be cautious about the work on board the steamer. If any one turns aside (from obeying the prophet's order), it is death for him. If he adheres to God (obeys), his safety is there.— lndependent,

j Improvements.—Mr Braithwaite has : just refitted, at a considerable expense, the stables at the Rutland Hotel.

This s.s. Go-Ahead.— This little steamer will leave Wellington in a few days for Auckland to run between there and the Thames. The command has been given to Captain Mundle, late of the X" Z.S.N. Company.

Indisposition of the Hon. Mr. llall. —The -Independent says that in consequence of the indisposition of the acting Colonial Treasurer, Mr Hal], it is pro° bable the financial statement will not be made this week.

Spouting Tntet.i.tgetv-cf:.—The trotting match, advertised in our columns of Thursday last, came off yesterday at the hour stated, and resulted in an easy victory for Cranky Dick. The distance, about 6 miles, was clone in twenty-five minutes.

Philo-Maori-ism — The Wellington correspondent of ths Grey River Argus has the following concerning Mr Graham :—» A Mr Black has written a letter, in which it is stated that when Mr Graham and some other gentlemen were in Tauranga, Mr G. went out among the natives, abusing the Government "for having made war upon them, and said other things of the same import,' in order to ingratiate himself with the natives. All the time this philo-Maorist and his

companions were arranging amongst themselves not to give above a certain price— 4s an acre, I think—for certain large blocks of land these gentry coveted. The upshot of the affair, however, was that Mr Black put the natives on their guard, and they would not sell a single acre."

Loss op the s.s. Taranaxi : Letter to Capt. Prakcis.—The following letter, signed by Bishop Selwyn, Lord Burgliley, and forty-nine passengers of the s.s. Taranaki, is a wel'-merited tribute to the self-possession and coolness displayed by Captain Francis at the time of the sad disaster occurring to the vessel tinder his command by striking on a rock in Tory Channel :—" 20th Auaust 18HS. To Captain TT. B. Francis. N.Z.S.N. Co. Dear Sir,—We the undersigned, late passengers in the N.Z.S.N. Co.'s s s. Taranaki, deem it to be onr duty, before separating, to acknowledge to you our appreciation of your zealous endeavors to ensure our safety and comfort, after the unfortunate accident to that vessel, which resulted in her wreck. While deeply deploring the trying circumstances under which you are placed, we sincerely beg to state that you have our best wishes for your future welfare. We are, dear Sir, yours sincerely, &c, &c.

County Pi titiox.—Mr Hall presented the Wanganui petition on Tuesday niiiht. The extent of parchment rather scared the more timid portion of the members. We may shortly expect a bill to be introduced, effecting changes asked for in the petition. The financial statement will indicate what kind of measures will be given to outlying districts, as the whole question of local self-government hinges on financial considerations. It is, in our opinion, too late in the session to effect any changes in the principal sources of revenue in the colony ; consequently, for one year at least, districts obtaining their independence of the Provincial Government, would receive the same proportion of the consolidated revenues as have been received by the provinces. We should certainly like to have our proportion until such time as all the sold land shall be surveyed, trunk roads made through the county, opening up important districts, such as Patea and Taupo, and the harbor improved. When these operations are completed, the district might raise sufficient taxes to carry on its public works without receiving any portion of the revenue raised by the Government. But it always is to be understood, that when the counties have to support themselves, the general taxation shall be reduced by the amount formerly

given to the provinces or counties. As we have said, we prefer receiving the surplus revenue until the new county is consolidated, although agreeing with the principle, that the General Government should only raise as much revenue as might he required for the government of he colony.

Caucuses.—The following representatives have agreed to. follow Reynard if he should turn and turn again, in fact, whithersoever he may lead: Messrs Burns, Heaphy, Borlase, Collins, Wood, Tancred, Brandon, Harrison, (Wanganui) Studholme, W. Taylor, Reynolds," Graham, Baigent, McFarlane. Travers, Williamson, Car/nil, Bolleston, Stevens, Macandrew, Vogel. Macfarlane, Maine, Fox and Bell. When Mr Harrison -returns to W ranganui we shall ask him if he conscientiously gave his vote on each occasion, or gave it as a partizan. Here the great majority of the people sign a petition for local government, and they find that their representative will not present it because, in a child-like way, he does not like to go against " old friends;" and if he did present it, would be unable to do anything more. Truly Wanganui you are in a helpless, pitiable condition at present, but there are brighter days in store.