WEEKLY EPITOME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 15, 9 August 1873, Page 6

WEEKLY EPITOME.

,_ ,, A t »™ po »?»ap of the Dunedin 'Evening Star' writes from Wellington that the form the onslaught on Dr Feaiherston will take in the House will be- » FeatliPrston failed here and everywhere : his personal influence is his only ment." It is a pity the Government did not. recognise a fact patent at least to people in Wellington before they sent him home. • The Finnimore-Hduglitcn correspondence, remarks the ' Wan<^a. nui Herald, is exceedingly damaging to the former gentleman. The offer to purchase the confiscated laud was founded in a simplicity which might have been expected from second childishness ; while the otter of half profits to a Government officer if he would further the ends of bis correspondent, has received its proper condemnation in its exposure. r ■ "^JaLBs" writes in the ' Australasian ' :—Purkes' Californian contract ia so far mere moonshine— the company is only on paper • the capital to build his mail steamers has not been subscribed and

perhaps never will be. It is probable that another Californian line will be arranged by New Zealand on the basis of Victorian cooperation. Thb ' New Zealand Herald ' does not believe in Mr Brogden's proposals for taking over the railways of New Zealand and ptacing them in the hands of an English company. It does not for a moment think that Messrs Brogden's proposals will be listened to First, be* cause the Government will not be likely to entertain anything so extravagant ; and seeond'y, because the now existing Government, or that which may come after it who favor the present public works policy, will not allow such an amount of patronage to slip through its hands into those of an English company of capitalists. To make use of a homely phrase, " the scheme will not wash." With the fail are of the immigration policy, writes " Observer " iv the • Daily Times,' must follow the corresponding failure of the public works scheme, and then the bubble will burst as surely as any " South Sea Bubble " ever did. Rifle Btolets poe Natives.— The 'Cross' of the I9 l h July says :— lt is reported that a system of manufacturing rifle bullets in Auckland for the use of rebel natives is in existence. If so, it is to be hoped that the Government will show themselves fully equal to the emergency, and that they -will soon succeed in sheeting home the offence to the guilty parties. It is stated in late English papers that the Astronomer Royal has selected Chnstchurch as the station in New Zealand for observing the transit of Venus in 1874. It is stated that a member of the firm of Messrs John Brodgen and Sons may be expected ia the Colony before long, and the principal object of his mission will be to further the proposal for handing" over the construction of management of railways in New Zealand to an English company. The 'No rh Otago Times ' extracts, with pleasure, the following opinion on " Man versus Sheep," from the * Dunedin ' Evening Star': — •" Men and women are better occupiers of the soil than sheep and cattle, and as there will be plenty of land to be had when the new. Hundreds ar«» proclaimed, we hope they will realise the expectations of their supporters, and provide happy homes for prosperous families." The Dune Jin High School buildings were valued at £20,000, or at six per cent., a rental of £1,200 a-year. The total cost of the school for the year, including the above interest on value of building, is about - £3000, or nearly £30 ahead per boy. The 'Mount Ida Chronicle' says :—": — " It becomes a question whether this school is of value sufficient to justify it being made a charge against the Province, and thinks that those who will not let ftieir boys mix among the common herd in the district s hool should pay a fair rate for the education of the:* precious toys." In the Legislative Council on the 29th ult., the Hou Captain Fraser presented a petition from the directors of the Dunedin Water Works Company, praying that before any action is taken by the Legislature in the matter of the petition for the repeal of the Dunedin Water Works Act, the petitioners may be heard in refutation of its allegations. The Auckland Education Board have asked the Superintendent to obtain the loan of £30,000, to enable them to build schools, teachers' residences, &c. It is also proposed to ask au additional £10,000. Of course, as usual, the Catholics will have to pay their share of the interest, and get none of the principal. Mb Babton, one of the candidates for Q.ueenstown in the General Assembly, on being asked at a meeting "if he would support any legitimate measure that might be brought forward providing for an equal distribution of rerenue for denominational education," replied "that he would support any 'legitimate measure,' but he would not support a denominational system." The querist : If each class pays the same, they should have an equal distribution. Mr Barton :.So. they have ; Catholics are not taxed as Catholics, but as colonists. AU sects and classes are tared alikp. Hereupon the querist (a Catholic), who might have said Catholics got no benefit in return, said, " We do not get the same benefit." Mr Barton : You get all .thai the country can afford to give you. Mr William Powell : Then lam to infer that Mr Barton is not in favour of denominational education ? I require a positive answer. Mr Barton replied that he would oppose it in the House if he had to choose between the two systems. Mr Powell : Then why did you support Mr Macussey ? Mr Barton : Because he was a personal friend of my own ; but I told him nt the time that, in my judgment, he was in error on that question, Mr Barton has evidently trimmed his sails on this question with, the^view of catching a majority. The Queensland Ministry which was lately saved from defeat by an opposition member suddenly ratting are said by a correspondent of a Sydney paper to be doing the most "to pet towns whose allegiai cc is doubtful. The Education Bill is likely to prove a fertile source of contention. Mr Palmer foresaw the row, and shrewdly threw it into the Assem bly as an 'infernal machine,' to distract the attention of the public from the veal game of his party. Like the Land Bill, he threws down the Education Bill ou the floor of the House for mcmv bers 'to worry.' Meetings of Eo..ian Catholics have been held in Brisbane and Ipswich, and resolutions condemnatory of the Bill, as contemplating an act ' of spoliation and persecution,' have been unanimously adopted. 1 ' Writiug on a subsequent date the Melbourne correspondent of the ' Daily Times ' iuforms us that " the highly liberal Education Bill of the Ministry has been rejected by a majority of one, and Parliament has been dissolved." We know the ' Daily Times ' correspondent's views of " liberality." Henare Matau, the ' Huwke's Bay Herald ' says, with his " cony mittee," has staited overland for Poverty Bay. He i 3 canvassing actively for a seat in the House, which he hopes soon to see vacated by Karaitiana. He will find Henare Polae, probably, his most formidable competitor. He has adopted a notiou which is a novelty, at least in New Zealand electioneering tactics. White rosettes, with the colours — the red, white, and blue — attached, are being sent about the country, to be worn as badges by his supporters. A telegram from*. \an undoubted authority at Wellington,'* informs the Bay of Plenty ' Times,' that immediately after presen^

session of Parliament, his Excellency Sir James Fergusson intends paying Auckland a visit, and he will then take the opportunity of visiting the Lake district. The credit balance of Canterbury on June 30, was £401,581 5s 4d. The Napier ' Telegraph ' referring to the introduction of Hauhauisra in Hawke's Bay says s— " In the north, it bereft the Maoris of every trace of former religious teaching, but";did not interfere with their desire to approach the level of civilisation attained by their European neighbours 5 in the south, the natives, on the contrary, idle, dissipated, and discontented, wrap themselves around with the cloak of Hauhauism, and pride themselves on being believers in the grossest superstition that has ever succeeded in usurping the place of the Christian religion." At the Dunedin Municipal elections, Mr Prosser was, elected councillor fjr Sjuth Ward by a majority of 57 over Mr Fish. "Mr Beck was elected for Bell Ward by a majority of 97 over Mr Patereon. Mr Buit was elected for High Ward by a majority of 21 over Mr Barron.— The greatest interest was centred in the contest between Messrs Prosser and Fish. — Messrs Evans and James were elected auditors. Mr Malaghan has been, by a large majority, re-elected mayor of Queejstown. At the shipping of the bulky material of the at. am crane for the Oamaru breakwater at the Rattrav street wharf Dunedin, the ponderous blocks of iron for the ballast, weighing 18cwt, were hoisted witb the greatest ease on a single rope of phormium fibre, of moderate thickness. In reference to Mr Waterhouse's charges of abuses in the administration of the Government, and gross extravagance, the Auckland ' Herald ' asks — Why did Mr Waterhouse allow so long a period to elapse before he gave his statement publicity ? If he was aware that a fraud was beiug perpetrated by the Government on the colony, he should have stepped in to prevent it. It was his bounden uuty in nil honesty to have done so. Lie was in high power at the time. If all that Mr Waterhouse states be true, he will have much to answer for, and must be called to account for ignoring his position and power in such a time of emergency. The public have a right to expect 1 full disclosure of those matters to which the ex-Premier has refened. The ' Evening Post' says that there now seems every probability that the Ministry will break up, even if its opponents take no active steps to precipitate that event. The Auckland ' Herald,' referring to the policy of the Government, which •• instead of curtailing Provincial powers, proposes enlarging them to an extent never drowned of by the most ultra of Provincialists," says : — The aim of Ministers, summed up, appears to be this : GKve the Provinces all the powers they ask ; let them constitute their own law courts ; allow ihein to borrow money to the full extent of their credit, and by so doing they will in no long timu 90 embroil and involve themselves, that in fighting their Provincial battles, the central Government will be able to pursue undisturbed and unquestioned its own policy. If ever there was a time we should cease to give undivided attention to subjects purely local or Provincial, and watch the course of action being taken at Wellington, that time is the present. In the 'Timaru Herald,' of July 30, it is stated that upwards of seventy applications for nominated immigrants have been received by the^lnimigration Officer at Timaru during the month. The system now adopted is very simple. The person having stated to the officer the name of the individual for whom he desires a free passage, the cash requi: ed by the Genoral Government regulations is transmitted direct to the Government by the Immigration Officer, means being supplied out of provincial funds — the result of the vote of the Council's last session. To all in Canterbury desirous of getting out their friends from the home countries free now the opportunity offers, an opportunity which possibly may not occur again. The following is a telegram sent by Mr Farnall to the Superintendent of Auckland announcing his (Mr Famuli's) dismissal by the Agent-General :— " London, July 5, 1873. — Superintendent of Auckland — Featherstone obstructs scheme. Restricts applications. Refuses then? assisted passages. Dismissed me iv consequence of O'Rorke's memorandum, bhall continue at post. Wire instructions." Referring to the dismissal of Mr Farnall by Dr Featherscon, the Auckland Evening Star ' says : — " The Bcheme with which Mr Farnall was identified was one for a special settlement of a community of friends and neighbours to be transferred from the Green Isle of the North to this sunny Southern land, and it had received the approval of Mr Vogel and Mr Gillies. But our London nabob taking action on a memorandum which was intended to snub himself, and feeling that blood must be drawn somewhere, hoped apparently to make a scapegoat of Mr Farnall and his Irish immigration scheme. The Press generally deeply regrets that the Hon. Mr Stafford is seriously indisposed. The Wellington correspondent of the Dunedin 'Evening Star' writes that there is no organised Opposition, but considerable dissatisfaction is expressed with some of the Ministerial propositions, particularly with the increased taxation under the new tariff. It is likely that an Opposition will be formed next week. Mr Fitzherbert states that his leadership is only assumed vice Stafford " De Featheeston," remarks the Auckland 'Herald' "has awakened to the importance of creating a favorable impression in his own favor at the opening of the Assembly. The colony, however, cannot hold itself indebted to any extra activity, or indeed any activity whatever, on the part of the Agent-General; the fact of the increase of conang immigrants is due to those who have preceeded them, who, writing home to friends and relatives, speaking of the colony and it«» prospects with high favor, have caused such an impression as to induce a spontaneous desire to emigiate to the shores of this colony. We believe that if Dr Featherston were never to move from his soft lounge at Westminister, and the whole oi his agents were ordered to return from wheuce they came, that two or three shipping agents and a clerk would keep the immigration machinery going that has been set in motion by other agencies than that of Dr Featherston." Can anything be stronger than this extract in favor of nominated immigration, a system which is more

largely availed of by the Irish people than by any 1 other nation ? And Dr Feat hers ton, notwithstanding, throws obstacles in the way of people who are the best supporters of that system coming to the colony. The voluminous Immigration correspondence between the Colonial Government and the Agent-General in London, just laid before Parliament, discloses the startling fact that the cost of the Agency in the United Kingdom at the present time in departmental appointments and travelling agents alone exceeds £7,800 per annum ; while to this has to be added the cost of 120 local agencies and their auxiliary charges, which, if estimated at the moderate sum of £130 each, or £12,000 per annum, brings the entire cost of the establishment up to something like £20,000 a year. Even this is probably below the actual expenditure, as it does not include the cost of advertising, rent of offices, and numerous other contingent expenses which are certain to arise in carrying out the duties of the department. But making all allowance for the exceptional circumstances, there is still left, says an exchange, a wide margin for dissatisfaction with the result of this large expenditure for immigration agency alone, which the correspondence does not explain away. The number of immigrants despatched to the Colony during the last 18 months — that is to say, since the several branch agencies thoroughout the Provinces of the United Kingdom have been in full operation — bears a most inadequate proportion to the costly establishment the Colony is now maintaining in Englaud for immigration purposes. We must say it is not to the' credit of the Government that more effective measures have not been adopted long since. In reference to the presumed intention of the Wellington and Auckland representatives to logroll for loan 3 for their several Provinces, it may be said that Mr Gillies has introduced into the House of Representatives a Bill to empower the Province of Auckland to borrow £1,000,000. With respect to this announcement w«i take the following from the Auckland 'Star' of the 28thulfc.^"A telegram received in town this afternoon from Government buildings signed by Mr John Williamson, says that the Auckland members are ■ unanimous in going in for a loan of one million pounds, for this Province." i , The ' Evening Post ' publishes a comparative statement showing the amount of the duties actually paid last year on the articles affected by the change iv the tariff, and the amount that would have been paid if the new tariff had been iv operation. The total result is as follows : — Under the old tariff, £33,577 8s ; under the new tariff,. £168,100 : increase under the latter, £81,422 12s, or upwards of 100' per cent. At the meeting of th© Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, Mr' Webb quoted figures to show what the actual difference between the old and the proposed duties would have been on the imports on which duty was paid on importation in 1871 (goods from warehouse are omitted) :— Total New Duties, £143,756 12s 3d, total Old Duties,. £73,655 18a lid ; total increase, £70,100 13s 4d ; increase, 95 per" cent. This table represented actual trausaulious, do that fclic figurcocould not be suspected as having been prejudiced by the feelings of' those that compiled them. There were also several articles on which the duties proposed to be levied were entirely new. The several Chambers of Commerce manifest a determined opposition to the new tariff. Anotheb murder is contemplated by the Maoris in the Waikato. So say& the correspondent of the ' Thames Advertiser.' Certain it i* that a party of men cutting a patrol line were warned by a nativewoman, and in consequence have desisted from working. The ' Goulburn Herald ' says that the hostile attitude assumed by New Zealand to Mr Samuel's "proposition is difficult to account for,considering the part New Zealand formerly took relative to a San Francisco service ; and it almost appears as if the influence of Victoria, upas-like is overshadowing the- less populous Colonies, making them mere appendages to herself. Gbeat confusion appears to have been caused by the successive contradictory lists of regulations for immigration issued by Dr Featherston. In March last, he was positively instructed by the Government which accused him of " starving immigration," to give free passages. On the 10th of the monlh he issued a set of regulations to that effect, and on the 17th of the same month he cancelled them. Dr Featherston ttates that he came to the conclusion that the step he had taken was an ill-advised one, because it would have the effect of compromising the Government, both Jn regard to past and existing emigration contracts. "Throughout" remarks the 'Daily Times,' " he seems to have hampered his own action by taking into consideration questions of policy as affecting the Colony, of which the Government should have been the only judges. In the above case, the Government instructed Dr Featherston to offer free passages, and in doing so they assumed the sole responsibility of the step."