The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, NOV. 2, 1877.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 173, 2 November 1877, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA : FRIDAY, NOV. 2, 1877.

It will be seen from a telegram from Wellington that the no -confidence debate was unexpectedly adjourned yesterday afternoon till to-day. It is not expected the division will take place till Monday. What the result may then be it is quite impossible to say ; to all appearance the majority either way willnot exceed one or two votes. The burden of the speaking so far as gone, and the weight of argument, has been on the side of the Government. Should the motion be carried, there is every probability of an appeal being made to the constituents, and if SQ, we beliPVe the verdict will be against the hasty md unfair steps taken by tbe Opposition in turning out Sir George Grey and his colleagues before they had time to examine into the finance of the jountry or declare a policy. The present struggle on the part of Major Atkinson and his friends is simply one for power, not for principle, and sure we are it would not be difficult to find men :>f better character ahd principle than some of the members of the late Government to take the lead in public affairs. *

From all the information we hare been able to gather we have every reason to believe the annual show of the Clutha Agricultural and Pastoral Society, to be held on the 20th instant, is likely to prove very successful. It will be remembered that the exhibition of last year was a great improvement upon anything of the kind ever before seen in "the district, and it is expected that of the present year will prove a step t-till further in advance. The additional in- ' terest manifested in the show on the part of the settlers and otbers is testified to by the liberai donations that have been received, an increased membership, etc. Unfortunately the season, so far as gone, has not been favourable to the growth of grass, and, therefore, the stock are not in that forward condition they otherwise would have been. There is still, however, sometime for improvement in this respect, and with good weather the stock would be all right. We believe there will this year be a much larger: number of exhibits from a distance than on former occasions, and this partly hecause of the Dunedin show following so shortly after ours. We hear that with a good number of breeders the Clutha will be made a test show • all the good stock will be exhibited, and then the prize-takers will be forwarded to compete at 'the Dunedin show. Thus the entries may be expected to be more numerous by prize stock from different quarters being exhibited here on their •way to Dunedin. This prospect will induce a larger number of visitors on the occasion, and hence in every respect the exhibition is likely to prove an exceptionally successful one. Need we point out that this consideration should induce the settlers and others of the Clutha to take full advantage of the favourable circumstances, and do all that lies in their power to stamp the character of their show as a first-class and authoritative one. It only now requires that they put forth their united -enero-y and use all the influence they possess towards this end, and it will be accomplished. We know many have been endeavouring to improve the breed ol their flocks and herds ; let thera now use all endeavours to get them into good condition, and bring as many as possible to the show, and the result referred to will be very much secured. It is admitted on all hands that no better soil or climate exists in Otago than in the Clutha, and we therefore see no insuperable obstacle to the Clutha Annual Show taking a leading position amongst the exhibitions of the Colony. -© -

In another column will *be found a brief report of the proceedings at the puhlic meeting held here on Tuesday evening, to take steps for collectingsubscriptions towards the Indian Famine Relief Fund. The. Committee appointed at that meeting to take the

i mi n— Milan ■■iimi ■■mil iii'*»-ran-**N..f--^fi^~&*«*.*«^^ direction of affairs met the following afternoon, when the town was dividec into convenient, districts, and, according to the suggestion thrown out at th( public meeting, a number of ladies were appointed to make a house-to house canvass. The wisdom of this course will commend itself to all, anc we understand the ladies were found quite ready to enter heartily upon the work, and to do their best on behalf 01 the sufferers in India. We have tc bespeak for them a kindly reception i and co-operation in the arduous' and I sometimes unpleasant duties they have undertaken. It must be born, in mind it is purely a labour of love on their part, a labour approved by tha common feelings of humnnity, and uninfluenced by questions of class, sect, or creed. We have no doubt, therefore, that the inhabitants of Balclutha and district will join in the effort now being put forth throughout the civilised world to relieve the overwhelming- distress that has overtaken our fellow-subjects in India, and that they will contribute both liberally and cheerfully towards the relief" fund. We would call the attention of settlers and others in the country districts to the arrangement made, by which produce and goods will be received, and afterwards sold by auction on behalf of the fund. It is expected that a considerable sum will ba raised in this way. We may just mention that we have heard it suggested that before contributions can now reach the suffetersfrom this quarter the crops will have ripened and the famine will have been abated. A pity it is that such assertions are so ill founded. The latest intelligence Irom India says: — "We are again " suffering- from a want of rain, and " the whole place wears a dried- up ap- " pearance * and th*- worst of it is that " the crops that have just begun to ap- " pear above the ground have been com- " vletely dsst?~oyed for want of rain, and " the fa-mine is worse than ever. The " chief engineer of Mysore, wbo has " the whole of the rosQi-voivs under his " charge, has made a calculation that " if we do not get a hefivy fall of rain " before the sth of August at the out- " side, Mysore wil! become a desert, " and the whole of the population will "he wiped out. The ba^is he goes on " is that not only will there be no crops " this year, but the railway frcm Mad- " ras to Bangalore (if all passenger " traffic be stopped, and nothing* but " grain trains are run sharp one after " the other) can only bring 400,000 '• bags of rice per diem, and the con- " sumption will be 500,000 ; and this " calculation does not take into con- " sideration that the grain has to be " carried by bullock gharries into the " outlying districts, and under the most. " favourable circumstances 2,000,000 of " the inhabitants must perish. Sad, in- " deed, is the distress all round, and " our great hope is that England will " send help soon. Mr VV. E. A. " James, of the Mysore Revenue Suril vey Service, states, on July 22nd, at " Bangalore : ' Three millions and a (i half oi people in Mysore must starve, "as all the stores of grain in the " country are exhausted.' .Dead bodies " are lying in all directions. The. lower " castes are cooking and eating the " bodies. Ciolera is rampant all around. " ' Districts,' says'the Duke of Bucking- * ham, ' larger than the whole area ol " England are subjected to a crisis sucb "as has never before been known in " the worst times of distress,' - Pif- " teen millions of people,' says the " Times, ' are dependent exclusively on 11 foreign food supplies, unless some " millions of them die in the meantime " from sheer inability to find the " amount of food necessary to their " sustenance.' " 'J'bere certainly is as yet no abatement of the famine, which, although rain were now to fall, must last for four or live months to come, until the crops have had time to ripenIndeed it is evidently impossible as yet to say when foreign aid will be unnecessary. If we add to the famine the pestilence whicli always follows in its wake, the picture is sufficiently ghastly to awaken the sympathies ol the most hardened and to excite the liberality of the most miserly inhabitant of a land of plenty. It is anticipated, therefore, that every individual will contribute according to his or her means ; that while the i*ich will give of their abundance, the poor will also swell the amount by small but cheerful contributions from their scanty hoards.