Wellington Independent THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1871.

Wellington Independent, Issue 3137, 2 March 1871, Page 2

Wellington Independent THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1871.

The Superintendent will to-day open his Provincial Council for, we presume, the last time. It is always painful to witness the last performance of any favorite actor whose mimic personations may have thrilled, perhaps, our inmost souls, and roused in us feelings of pain or pleasure revealing to us depths of our own nature of which we were not before so much as conscious. How much more lively, then, ought emotions to be, when he who retires is no mere actor, but one who has played a part not only in a metaphorical sense, but whose actings have been a reality, and a reality often stirring the strongest passionsof those who witnessed them, and affecting themost practical and vital interests of those who "assisted" at the performance. The sympathies of many an old political ally will be touched when they hear Dr Featherston announce, as we presume he will, that today he lays aside those grave responsibilities and honorable cares with which on so many occasions the votes of the great majority of his fellow-settlers in this province have clothed him. He was our first Superintendent — we have during ihe twenty years in which our institutions have been in force known no other — and we may safely say that we are not likely to have a better. Dr Featherston's political career, however, did not commence with the advent of free institutions. To no man in New Zealand more than to him is it owing, that we have them at all. The old colonists remember his public i action in the days of Fitzroy — his energetic and successful advocacy of the claims of the land purchasers in their long contest with the New Zealand Company, and, ! finally, when as founder of, and the most prominent member of, the Constitutional

Association, he exposed the devices of Sir George Grey in 1 his attempts to debar the colony from free- institutions; gave the key note to all the other then existing settlements, and finally had the satisfaction of seeing the fruit of his labor in our new Constitution, which embodied the machinery of Provincial Governments, of which he had ever been the most strenuous supporter, and to which, whatever the centralists may say, the colony mainly owes its advancement so far. During all the period referred to Dr Featherstoa was engaged in the active practice of his profession, and deservedly stood at its head in this pro- ] vince; we might, without offence to others, say in the colony. It was the subjeot of deep regret to all who had availed themselves of his professional skill, both rich and poor, and more especially I the latter, his kindness and liberality to whom was beyond all limit, when his election as first Superintendent under the New Constitution compelled him to resign his profession, and devote himself exclusively to the performance of the public duties which then devolved upon him. No man ever did devote himself more entirely and earnestly to his work than he did. His whole heart was in the advancement of the province of Wellington ; and his principal fault as a public man has been that as the colony has grown and the prominent demarcations have become less distinguishable, he has not always been able to generalize his opinions or to look sufficiently far beyond the limits of his own " dominion." No man in Wellington, whether he agree or differ from Dr Featherston's political views, can assert that the province has not had the whole of him. If of late years its prosperity has not advanced so rapidly as it did under the first years of his administration it has been no fault of his. The blame lies at the door of the Native Lands Act, which at one fell swoop deprived all the Northern Island provinces of their land revenue ; and the wars of the " wretched past," which entirely stopped colonization north of Cook's Strait, and to which Dr Featherston was at all times consistently and steadily opposed. With rapidly decreasing means, and those often indirectly kept out of his chest by an adverse and irritating General Government, the last five years of his administration have been little more than an almost hopeless endeavor to make bricks without straw. Immigration, the soul of colonisation, was an impossibility without land for settlement; public works could not be effected without money ; and, in fact, his hands were tied. One great work for the province, however, he undertook and satisfactorily settled during this period, that was the purchase from the natives of the Manawatu block, which had been excepted from the Land Revenue Destroying Act, at his earnest pressure, in the Assembly in 1802. This task involved unwearied perseverance, great diplomatic skill in dealing with a race to whose language he was a stranger ; and a much larger amount of personal exertion and physical roughing than was good for one whose health had never been of the strongest. At last, when he thought he had completed his task, he was compelled to fight bis battle over again, and to submit his case to the investigation of the Land Court, whose proceedings were protracted over two whole years ; and when he had most completely vindicated his purchase, and had obtained two verdicts of the Court inhis favor on every point,he found the defeated obstructionists, encouraged by interested Europeans who had all along incited their opposition, now resorting to physical force to prevent the survey and occupation of the country. Before this occurred, however, he bad left for England as one of the joint Commissioners accredited by the Colonial Government ; and it must have been no doubt a satisfaction to him on his return to find that the General Government had in his absence succeeded in compromising, at a comparatively small sacrifice, the opposition which his ardent disposition would perhaps have rather seen extinguished in a more summary manner. This magnificent field of colonisation, however, will practically be his last legacy to the province, and grateful it should be to him for the boon. Our space will not enabb us to pass in review the career of Dr Featherston as a member of the General Assembly, in which he held a seat from the first year of its existence till the late dissolution. He was, while he sat there, ever the steady upholder of the Constitution, the consistent aud forward advocate of the rights of the provinces, and the friend of progress and social advancement. His abilities as a financier were acknowledged on all sides, and his parliamentary abilities in all respects were quite first-class. But his greatest honor, perhaps, was the courage with which he took up the defence of the natives when the miserable and wicked "Richmond and Atkinson Waitara war," which plunged the colony into hostilities, not yet put an end to, after, the lapse of ten weary years. Though no "native doctor," and actuated by no maudlin or affected sensibilties on the native question, he always showed himself the sincere friend of the native race; and, unlike many others, he never feared to tell them the plainest truths and beard them if necessary (as in the Wairarapa when they gnashed their teeth upon him), even at the risk of his life. His name is as generally and as favorably known among the natives in New Zealand as that of any public man we have ; and njany a sorrowing word will be spoken in reply, when the chiefs of Cook's Straits and Wanganui are told that " Petatone " has gone away. Tn his new sphere of labor for the colony we wish him every success. It is one in which we believe him eminently qualified to succeed, and his success will be ours. The selection by the Government of Dr Featherston as the first Agent-General of the colony has been j 1 recognised in every part of New Zealand,

by friends and foes, as the fittest that could have been made ; and, we believe,will be hailed as such by all who became acquainted with him in England during his late mission home. LOCAL AND GENERAL JSTJSWS. ♦ A Summaey Edition of the Independent, for transmission by the mail, will be published to-morrow morning. The Peovinciaii Council, we believe, will be opened to-day, at 3 p.m., by his Honor the Superintendent. Resi&nations. — We understand that Mr J. Dransfield and Mr E. Pearce hare resigned their seata in the Provincial Executive, though it has not been publicly announced previously. HoRTicuLTUEAii. — We remind the lovers of botanical beauties that the Horticultural Exhibition opens at the Odd Fellows' Hall about noon to-day. New Zealand Stud Book. — We have received volume 3 of this valuable publication from the compile!' and editor, Mr Charles Elliott, at Nelson, at whose office it is also printed. The book is remarkably well got up, and, it is no exaggeration to say, in a stylo equal to anything in the Australasian colonies. The frontispiece to tho volume is an excellent photograph of Manu&a. The Weather. — Aquarius and Boreas hare watered and wafted to their hearts' content during the last three days, much to the discomfiture of decayed gate posts, loose fences, badly shod pedestrians, &c, the rain haviug latterly subsided into a vertical downpour that would gladden tho heart of the most recent arrival from the land o'cakos. 9 iStrsPECTED Insanity. — Hema, the old Maori, taken out of his quarters in a hole in the rock on the Hutt road, on the assumption that he was insane, was brought up yostorday, and remanded till to-day. Tho old man scouted the idea that he was insane. He said he was on his road to Waikanae, of which place be is a native, and not liking the look of the weather, availed himself of the natural shelter. Ho will be made comfortable till the weather moderates. Addeess to Bishop Abraham. — We have had the pleasure of seeing to-day, at Mr Barraud's Arb Boom, an illuminated address which the Synod of this diocese agreed to present to Bishop Abraham on his resignation of the bishopric of Wellington, the substance of whioh was given in this paper at the time, The address, with the signatures of the Synodsmen, occupy the centre, in the form of a cross, enclosed in a cardboard frame, having right openings, those at tho head being filled with views of the interior of St. Paul's, Thorndon, and the Native Church at Otaki, those at the foot having exterior views of St. Peter's, Te Aro, and Karori Church. The four remaining openings show views of Cape Turnagain, Wanganui River, Upper Hutt, and the top of tho Rimutaka Road. These have been executed by Mr Barraud, the illumination of the address and other ornamental work • being done by his son, Mr Frank Barraud. The whole is mounted in a double Oxford frame of Rewarewa, the work of Mr Pagon, cabinet-maker. We understand it is to be forwarded to the Bishop by the Melita, and would recommend all who wish to see it to call at Mr Barraud's within the next week. Canine Cextsadb. — It appears that tho crusade against unregistered dogs by tho police has fairly set in. No less than sixteen cases are down for hearing to-day, and we believe as many more for to-morrow. Up to the present time, we learn, that tho revenue derived from dog licenses is about £52. No doubt this will soon be doubled under the pi'esenfc vigorous enforcement of tho dog regulations. Dog owners in Wellington have no reason to complain of exhorbitance in the licence fee of ss. In Canterbury the fee is £1, though a good collar is thrown in as an equivalent for the difference. In Wellingten they are only favored with a Bmall brass plate, to which is attached the means of fastening it to a collar. Dkowned at Nelson. — The " Examiner" of the 21ot ult. sayß: — James Hughes, engaged as night watchman on board the ship Wild Duck, was drowned some time between ten o'clock on Sunday evening and early on Monday morning. The deceased was ordered by the captain, on hiß going on board on Sunday evening, about the time of high water, to remove the gangway leading from the wharf to the ship. The captain then rotired to his cabin. In the morning the gangway was discovered suspended from the side of the vessel, and the watchman was missing. His cap was found washed up in the tideway between the two whurves. Tho body has since been found. Thb Motueka Election. — The " Colonist" j of the 21st ult. says : — Rumor has it that, although there is ample evidence of personation obtainable, the friends of Sir David Monro feel that hie Beat is secure, on the ground that Mr Parker will be unable to find the money or tho security necessary to contest the legality of the election. Sir David Monro'a friends may be right, but we take leave to doubt it ; and personatioa is not the only point on whioh Mr Parker can rest his petition. Death at Nelson. — An inquest was held at Nelson on the 24-th, on the body of Elizabeth Morton. The verdict was — "That deceased died from injuries to the head caused by an accidental fall down stairs." Auckland Chamber of' Commerce. — At the last meeting of the above body (whoso annual report we have received) the Secretary read a report from the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce on the subject of the cental system, and asking tho Auckland Chamber of Commerce to adopt the system. — The Chairman said that before coming to any decision on this matter the wishes of the community should be studied. — Mr L. A. Nathan moved the following resolution : — " Tho Chamber having considered the communication from the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce respecting the sale of grain per cental, resolve that circulars be sent to the principal grain merchants, requesting their opinion on the same, previous to giving a reply." — Mr Tinne eeoonded the motion. He thought it would be a great advantage if a decimal system were instituted, even in regard to a decimal coinage. — The Chairman said that in Sydney tho merohants had shown their desire to carry out this measure by every means in their power. They even quoted by dollars and cents. — The motion was agreed to. The Government Wateb Wobks Scheme. — In anticipation of the carrying out of the water works portion of the Immigration and Public Works Bill, the Westlaud County Council has passed the following resolution : — " That this Council recommends to his Excellency the Governor the lines of water-races known as tke Kanieri Lake and Ross and Mikonui Water-races ; and further, that detailed surveys be at once made for the necessary water-races for the districts of Arahura, Paroa, and Okarito, as works to be constructed under Part 111. of ' The Immigration and Public Work 9 Act, 1870.' " Wbstland County Council.— A very vexatious matter to that portion of the people of Westland who evince any interest in the hurley- burley of its politics is rery likely to be settled in a judicious and satisfactory way. Under the County of Weatland Act the Chairman of the County Council is elected by the members of that body from among themselves, and what renders the little operation an " interesting" one is the fact that to the position are attached allowances respectively of £600 a year as salary and £300 a year as travelling expenses. To a student of the " Biglow Papers" it will be unnecessary to observo that in a " new community" suoh as thatof Westland the attainment of the position is looked upon as a consummation devoutly not to be sneezed at, and many a time and oft have those delicious grapes been reaohed for by tho patriotic and ardent " carpet baggers" with which the country, abounds, many a wordy warfare, Bpattered with the choicest of expletives being the result. However, the chair is now in the possession of one of the

most useful members of the Counoil, and the phange to which we have alluded consists in the facjb that a Seleot Committee of the County Council has recommended that the County Act be amended, so as to make the Chairman eleofced, from amongst the members of the Council, by the registered electors and holders of miners' rights and business licenses. Nbw OaiiEDONIA. — We are in receipt of the " Moniteur de la Nouvello Caledonie "of the sth instant. There is no local news of any importance. The Belliqueuse, war steamer, had arrived. Another newspaper (apparently not an official one) was about to be published at Noumea. M. Sohn continued actively to exert himself in promoting the introduction of insectivorous birds for the destruction of the loousts. The report of Fraternelle Insurance Company had been published; society was making satisfactory progress. Mabbiage of a New Zealand MiiiiioNaibe. — St. George's Hanover Square, was, on Dec. 17, thronged with fair spectators, to witness the nuptials of Mr Duppa, who has amassed a colossal fortune in New Zealand, and Mies Miles, granddaughter of Sir William Miles, of Leigh Court, near Bristol. The bridegroom, said to be three-and-thirty years older tha,n his fair bride, arrived about halfpaafc eleven with his best man, Mr Bullar. The beautiful bride was dreßsed. in magnificent Spanish lace, over the richest; gros grain silk, a small spray of orange flowera and myrtle in her hair, and a long tulle veil. She wore splendid diamond ornaments, the gift of Mr Duppa, 'and carried a most imagniffoent scent-bottle. There were six bridesmaids, dressed in white muslin trimmed with Valencienne insertion over pink, white bonnets, with small bunches of pink roses, and long tulle veils ; they each wore a gold lockefc with a monogram of turquoise and pearls, presented to them by the bridegroom. After breakfast at 18 Boulton street, the happy couple left, for Eastbourne, where they will spend the honeymoon. Mrs Duppa's travelling dress was composed of groseille-colored Cashmere over a satin petticoat of the same color. The bride had numborlesß presents, and those in jewelry were of the most costly description. Amongst the company at breakfast, conapiouous for her graceful beauty and youthful appearance, was Mrs Miles, the mother of the bride, whose dress was of rose dv Barry silk, trimmed with Brussels lace looped with black velvet, and she wore a very pretty bonnet of white chip, with pink feathers. Mrs Baldock wore a dreaa of black velvet, trimmed with sable, and a beautiful hat. Mrs Durrant looked charming in a dress of brown silk trimmed with a darker shade of velvet, while Mrs Badderly's dress was a very striking one of dahlia-colored satin, nearly akin to Magenta.