WEEKLY EPITOME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 30, 22 November 1873, Page 6

WEEKLY EPITOME.

The ' Hawke'a Bay Herald ' gires expression to the opinion that " greater competition for the office of Minister is unquestionably one of the necessities of the hour."

Fbom Ist April, 1857, to 30th September, 1873, the total quantity of gold exported from New Zealand was 7,116,155 ozs., valued at 427,629,336.

In an elaborate article on the political misfortunes of this " hypergoverned couutry," the • Nelson Examiner ' descants, among other subjects, on the dilatoriness of the Colonial Government in utilising the priceless coalfields existing on tbe West Coast of the Middle Island. 1.1. i. ii journal says:— "lf there is any truth in the report that Dr Featheraton has resigned his Agent-Generalship, Mr Vogel will be again nonplussed. It is said by the Opposition that the office has been promised to no less than ten memhers of the Legislature for their independent support to the Govprnment last session, possibly not one of whom is fitted to fulfil such a high position. At any rate, there will be disappointed office seekers, who will be prepared to denounce Mr Vogel and his Government. It is said that the directors of the new Wellington Government newspaper talk of importing an editor direct from London, " one of the • Times ' we." TH ™- people of Wellington ar e making preparations to give Messrs Fitzherbert and Bunny a public banquet as a testimony of the high admiration entertained for their abilities by all classes and shades of opinion. In a return by the Agent-Geneial, the following is given as the number and nationality of emigrants despatched by the Agent. General for New Zealand, from the 18th of No\ ember, 1872, to the 30th of August, 1872: -English, 3449; Scotch, 1282; Trish, 1039 • Welsh,] 03; Germans, 65; Danes, 300; Swedes, 15; Norwegians, 259 ; other countries, 95. Total number of adults, 5433fc. It would be interesting to know how many of these 1039 Insh immigrants were nominated by their friends here, and how many were procured by the well paid exertions of Dr Featherston and his subordinates. At a conference of the Highway Board with the Chairman of the Colonists' Protection League, Auckland, resolutions were adopted affirming the necessity oi Government giving encouragement to manufactures. Blenheim, which was one of the earliest towns in the colony to avail itself of the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, is now being held forth as an example of good and economic town government. Watson, the diver, has succeeded in digging underneath a large snag in the Hokitika river, and making fast round it a chain cable. The difficulty now is to obtain lifting ;power, preparatory to the snag being towed away. At Christcburch a man named Gilliat has been made to pay £50 damages for stating (contrary to fact; that one John Judge " had got six months in Dunedin for robbing a man." Slanderers take warning. It may be mentioned, as a circumstance illustrative of the risks of life and the risks of neglecting the payment of life assurance premiums, that Henry Enwright, who was lately drowned in the Grey, insured his life for £500 with the Mutual Assurance Company, but unfortunately omitted to pay mote than his first premium. Messes Allan and Stumbles are said to be making good progress with the Oamaru- Waitaki line. They are carrying out tbe work in a very systematic fashion, and are using all labor-saving appliances — as, for instance, a scoop drawn by horses, which does the work of ten or twelve men. A pabao-BAPh appeared lately in the shipping column of the 'Daily Times,' making what appear to be valuable suggestions in regard to the extension of wharf accommodation at Tort Chalmers, and pointing oat it was not only necessary the work should be done, but also that it be done speedily. The want of sufficient accommodation is felt at Port Chalmers, and, it would appear, even more pressingly at Lyttelton. A letter is published in one of the Christchurch papers, signed by five shipmasters, complaining of the delay their vessels are subjected to through, want of railway plant, wharf accommodation, and bad management at Lyttelton. The 'Herald' states that the fires which have occurred in Auckland during the last twelve months have destroyed property valued at £150,000. The insurance companies have had to pay about £70,000, and a large number of business people have suffered severely through the stoppage of their business in consequence of these fires. By the special invitation of his Worship the Mayor (M. J. Malaghan, Esq.), his Lordship Bishop Moran availed himself of the opportunity of viewing the scenery of the Lake, afforded by tbe trip of the Jane Williams on Monday, Nov. 12, Prince of Wales' Birthday. His Lordship, we (' Wakatip Mail ') understand, was much impressed with the grandeur of the Alpine beauties at the Head, and was fortunate in having a clear view of Mount Barnslaw and the other towering snowcapped mountains towards the West Coast. Fathers Mackay and Carden accompanied the party. The Governor's yacht Blanche has arrived from England at Wellington, after a passage of 135 days. She is 101 tons register, and belongs to the fl,oyal Yacht Club, England, the Governor being a member. It is an incontrovertible fact that the Thames would be less subject to long periods of depression if it had the benefit of a back country for settlement j und it now appears that the Government can acquire a large amount of land from tae natives. The Thames • Star ' urges that the opportunity be seized. The Canterbury railway returns for the year ending September 30th show an excess of receipts over expenditure amounting to nearly £20,000. J Mayors do not always appear to be blessed with bright ideas of the fitness of things. A late number of the • Tuapeba Times ' remarks :—": — " We were somewhat surprised to observe the Mayor sitting on the Bencb, when the appeal cases against the Lawrence Corporation assessment were being heard. The position he ocenpied was rather an anomalous one, being that of judge of his own acts, as he, in common with the Council, had approved of the assessment." " Knox," in one of the Thames papers, commenting on the action of Presbyterians in that district who advocate secular education, feeling that he is called on to speak the truth, speaks it as follows :— •• I'm afraid if John Kuox, or any of the early Covenanters, were to

visit the Thames, and get introduced to the Presbyterian Church, they would write over the gateway, " lohabod." Fob endeavoring to get Dargaville to retire in favor of Lusk at the Auckland election for the Superiatendeney, some half-a-dozen chaplains of the Orange body at the Thames are told that they are insulting' their respective congregations, and that it is no business of theirs to interfere in politics. That is all the thanks they get. Woollen factories are being viewed with favor as colonial industries. Steps are being taken for starting some in the other colonies. One is about to be established in Auckland ; the Nelson factory is being enlarged ; one is to be erected at the Wakatip j and lately the Mosgiel factory has been successfully floated ac a company concern, with a heavy capital, a step which will no doubt be but one, prior to an extensive enlargement of the factory. Now another woollen factory is about to be erected in the neighbourhood of Dunedin. Tha Kaikorai Valley is the locality chosen for the factory, and the proprietors are Messrs Williamson, Ure, and Booth. The shearers about Tapanui have been out on strike for some days — their demand of £1 per hundred not being acceded to by the runholders, who wish the men to start work at last year's rate, namely, 153. The matter has since been compromised, the men accepting 1 7s. and all the sheds about Tapanui that were ready for shearing have been filled at that rate. The ' Cromwell Argus " hears it has been affirmed, but it cannot vouch for the fact, that it is the intention of shearers in the Cromwell district to stand out for payment of £1 per hundred, as agreed to at a meeting of shearers in Oamaru. Ail the Hauhaus are mad for rum, and will make any sacrifice for it. Mb Q-isbobnb is " eating Ms heart out in idleness." OoMMEROiAii travellers " swarm " at Lake Wakatip. The Nelson Gas Co. now charges 16s per 1000 feet for gai. Snow fell at Naseby on the night of the 10th instant. The farmers at Flint's Bush, Southland, are crying out for rain. Wool has bagun to arrive at the Bluff for shipment. A 00-opeative society has been formed at Okarito, "Westland. The Colonial prize firing will take place at Napier. A street in Grahamstown has thirteen smells. Tenders have been called for the erection of the ne<v Government offices at Wellington. The Poverty Bay Journal is a new paper to be published at Gisborne. The Wellington painters demand higher- wages. The masters „ are considering the matter. * -" Spabkling- Champagne lias been produced in Auckland from' grapes locally grown. Te Kooti is mentally as acute as ever, but physically he is quite gone through drink. Wateb was laid on in the Empire City «n the 12th, for the first time. A. veby severe hail storm, accompanied with thunder and lightning, swept across Napier and the surrounding country, lately. Captain Johnston and Mr Blackett are fixing upon a site for a new light-house at Cape Foulwind. Two and a half acres of land, at Wellington, will be reclaimed forthwith as & site for the new Government Offices. The price is £3200. Mb R. D. Manet has leased a block of land of about 100,000 acres in extent from the natives at Wairoa, Hawke's Bay. The Countess of Kintore has cleared from Auckland, for London, with a large general cargo. Colonel Harington, late Inspector of Volunteers, is a passenger by her. Mb Bbadshaw, M. H. It., has established a land agency and general office at Temple Chambers, Dunedin. Whooping cough is very prevalent among the children in Waikiwi and New River districts, Southland. The Commissioner of Police is making Ms annual visit to Southbad. Lately, at Lawrence, Mr Armstrong spoke of Mr Pyke'as^is " venerable friend." The piles for the southern extension of Kattray street jetty, Dunedin, have been driven to about two-thirds of the "way across the harbour to the other jetty. Two stacks of wheat owned by Mr James Wallace, of Fapatoitoi, Auckland, were destroyed by fire. It is supposed that it was the work of an incendiary. The loss is estimated at £100 ; the stacks were insured in the Norwich Union fire Office. A deaf and dumb Maori of Ooromandel was murderously assaulted by a Europoan, who knocked him down with a bottle, and then stabbed his head with the jagged edges. The police are pursuing. Wb have received a copy of a highly flattering address from the Catholics of Taranaki to the Rev. Father Lampilla on the occasion of his having completed his new Church, almost entirely at his own expense. It came too late for publication this week.