THE EVENTS OF THE WEEK.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1763, 6 September 1862, Page 2

THE EVENTS OF THE WEEK.

With the single exception that the Native Lands Bill has passed through the ordeal of a Committee, and been rend a third lime, the political eveuts of the week h \ve been devoid of much general interest, and tnay be characterised as " fliit, stale, and unprofitable." In tie latter part of the previous week, as our readers will have gleaned from the Parlia mentary Reports of this Journal, a very important portion of the estimates, viz., that referring to the salaries of Ministers themselves, was duly passed, and the present possessors of office, are thus, now in the full use and enjoyment of all the pleasures and advantages, which accrue from a material increase to their emolument, an increase amounting at least to a bonus of twenty per cent on their previous salaries. The Native Lands Bill to which we have already referred, passed its third reading yesterday, without a division and many important changes were made in it, while under the consideration of a Committee of the whole House. Some of the clauses underwent material alteration, and a few others entirely new, have been gsafted on the original measure. The i effect of those modifications will be of material importance to this Province, should the Bill pass the Upper House, receive the assent of the Home Government, and ultimately become the law of the Land. Clause nineteenth provides " that upon the signing and sealing of every certificate by the Governor, or the issue of every Crown Grant in exchange for a certificate, under the provisions of this Act, there shall be paid 10 Her Majesty the sum of two shillings and sixpence sterling, for every acre of land described in such certificate or grant, and that such sum shall be deemed to be part of the Land Revenue of the Province. Another clause provides for the exemption ol all blocks of land from the operation of the Bill which may have been the subjects of negociaation between Government and the Natives but no such arrangements will be recognised unless some definite evidence of their existence can be shown either in the shape of a writter agreement, or a receipt for a payment made ot account of the same. The large tract of territory constituting tb< Manawatu block, will thus be exempted am possibly the blocks in the Wairarapa and Wai totara may have the same saving clause applied to them. There was also sonx little discussion took place yesterday, after it third reading, as to the title which the Bil should bear, on being transmitted to tbi Upper House for its concurrence. .Amendment upon amendments were proposed, until thi matter became so confused that ultimately the; were all withdrawn and proceedings commence* denovo. Further argument then ensued au< ultimately Mr. Fox while contending that thi title proposed by the Native Minister wa not sufficiently explicit to prepare the Nativi mind for the boon about to be accorded to them moved as an amendment, that the words for the removal of restrictions, on thi sale of lands by natives imposed by tbe Treat; of Wilangi be inserted." This amendmeni however, was lost, anu tlie title previousl; proposed by Mr. Bell was agreed to. Ii view of alterations which may yet be madi in this measure in the Legislative Council, wi refrain from making; any comment on its merits but meantime we cannot help thinking that, afte the manner in which it has been hacked hewed, and otherwise maltreated in Commit tee, the Hon. Mr. Dillon Bell, as holding the honour of its paternity, will hardly knov his own child. It is a time-worn and lu»ckneyed adage that " all work and no play makes Jack a dul boy," and Ministers seem recently to have recognised its truth. Verily, no one can dt without holidays, (he grandest discovery o modern science, and acting on that principlt our legislators, on Tuesday evening voted busi' ness a bore, and adjourned the House till Thursday at 3 p.m., so that in the interva they mijiht have an opportunity of attending a grand Ball given by the whole of the members to the good citizens of Wellington, as some slight acknowledgment of the uniform courtesy aud unvarying kindness with which they have been treated. Adjourned the House accordingly was, and on Wednesday night the Halls of the Legislative Assembly and the Council Chambers were for the nonce, turned iuto a place of nrirth and feasting. Those walls which erst had echoed with tbe plaudits of parliamentary eloquence, were on Wednesday night gaily "decorated with flags trophies, and evergreens; those tables which had been covered with blue buoksj statistics, and alt that omnium gatherum of those instruments of mental torture, yclept "papers of tbe House," were now loaded with the good things of this life in the shape of alt tbe luxuries of a champagne supper ; Mr. Speaker's chair wa 8 viicant, hon. gentlemen no longer put their hands behind their coat tails, and poured forth their periods of oratory, the cries of hear, hear, were superseded by the popping of champagne, and the buza and murmer of a Committee were exchanged for the whispered soft nothings of enamoured swains, and the pleasant silvery lough of girls, "Take it for all in all," the Ball was a great success. The votaries of Terpsychore begun to trip it on the " light fantastic toe" about 10 o'clock, in the hall of the House of Representatives, and continued their exertions without intermission, until the welcome announcement was made that supper awaited them in the adjoining Chamber of the Upper House, to which all and sundry accordingly adjourned, without even a motion to that effect being' made, and at once attacked the dainty spread' so temptingly provided by the exertions of Mr. Laing. The soeae at tbe supper table was of

the most animated description. The tables were arranged with great taste, and a due regard to effect, am; seated around turni might be seen stately dames and blushing Debutantes assiduously attended by squires in the persons of Ministers of the Crown, Honorable MemUeis of the Council, and a host of the rank and file of the Representatives of her Majesty's Colouy of New Zealand. Mirth and fun became the order of the day, even Mr. Speaker | relaxed bis official dignity for the time, and in ocular style and phrase, proposed the usual loyal toasts. A worthy Judge, too, casting aside the trammels of the Bench, gave himself up heatily to the enjoyment of the occasion, and eveu a Native Minister, forgetting for the moment that terrible bugbear, the Maori difficulty, was so far elevated above such common place considerations, as to deliver his sentiments on things in general from the sacred precincts of the Speakers chair. The festivities were kept up till an early hour in the morning, when troops of legislators might have been observed pursuing their devious course. homewards, there to seek -in horizontal refie.sb.ment some slight preparation for the coming drudging labours of the afternoon. The House did meet at three o'clock on Thurs. day, but after the despatch of some formal business, and going into Committee on the Native Latds Bill it adjourned in sufficient time to allow its hon. members to attend a private concert of »he Wellington Choral Society given in their honour. The Concert in question was held in the Odd Fellows Hall, which was, long before the hour of admission, besieged by a crowd of people, eager for admission. The Hall was tastefully decorated with a splendid stand of trophies and flags, immediately above the platform, while all along the walls, the branches of lights weie gaily set off with wreaths of flowers and evergreens. The audience, which in a very few minutes filled the body of the building, was composed of the elite of the city while reserved, seats were graced with the presence of His Excellency Sir George Grey and suite, quite a host of Officers belonging to the detachment of the 2nd Battalion 14th Regiment at present quartered here and nearly the wholeof the members of both houses Upper and Lower. Theentertafnmentwas certaiuiy of a very high stamp and equal, nay we think superior to anything of the same kind we have witnessed in Wellington, The members of the Choral Society mustered in considerable force on the platform, the front of which was occupied by a body of damsels, iv wreaths and muslin, who looked both innocent and interesting as is their wont -, grouped be hind were the gentlemen amateurs, amongs whom might be observed several well* known faces in every variety of beard, moustache, and close shorn countenances. The proceedings were opened with a " Slow movement,"on the organ from Beethoven, which was executed by Mr. Jones with bis usual artistic skill. Theremainder of this part of the programme consisted entirely of sacred music, being selections from the works of the most celebrated composers. The chorus " I will call upon the Lord," from tke 12th Mass of Mozart, was rendered with great power and effect, while the solo "Jerusalem," by Miss Widdop, was executed with a taste and sweetness that at its close elicited the most enthusiastic plaudits. " Hail Judea," from Handel's oratorio, of " Judas Maccabeus," was effectively rendered, and the national Hymn " O preserve and bless the Queen" happily concluded the first part of the programme. In the second part, a'Duett on the flute and piano was rapturously encored, the solo of •' Must I my Acis," was listened to with breathless attention, while the Market Chorus, from Aubers opera of Massaniello, was gieeted with repeated plaudits. The corcert was brought to a close in the usual loyal manner, by the singing of the time honored National Anthem, in which the whole choir joined. The solos were sung by the " primn sound" to whom we have before alluded and one of the best tenors of the Society. The lady with her rich soprano voice did effective execution to her part, while the gentleman threw such spirit into the rendering of his that, we have seldom felt so inspired with delight at such an admirable joint display of vocal power. The chorus as sung by the whole choir was very effective, and sent the distinguished audience home delighted. Last night's performance, at the Lyceum Theatre, was toleiably successful and secured a full house. The Golden Farmer, a thrilling melo drama of the sensation school, was the first piece, the two chief characters being ably impersonated by Mr. V. Webster and Mrs. Foley. The farce of Mary White, the laundress, followed and was greeted with a running accompaniment cf laughter tl'routfhout. The entertainment was for the benefit of Mr. V. Webster, and it give us great pleasure that it should have been so successful. Recent news from Otago, which have been received to the 30th August, bring no further confirmation of the previous intelligence. That of itself, however appears to have infected all our Southern fellow colonists, with the goldfever, and consequently a mad headlong rush has set in for the "Waikouaiti, ' good paying claims on every hand are deserted, diggings so recently the scene of the busy hum of industry are now forsaken and silent, and enterprising storekeepers, lately doing a rattling trade are preparing to follow their customers. The disease has hardly yet fairly broken out here, although the symptoms are beginning to devel* ope, one of which is that a vessel is announced to sail to-day for the New El Dorado, with we understand a full complement of passengers. We wish to warn our fellow colonists in this province not to join too hastily in this exodus, no new gold field ofany extent has yet been -discovered, and nothing will be lost by deferring a start for a little time. There is gold at Waikouaiti, we don't doubt it, but there are pitfalls too.