THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1870.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 34, 6 July 1870, Page 4

THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1870.

Ma Vogel’a Budget speech claim* ©arn« |Lj attention from the gold-tielda oonununitj 3« Statesmen and politicians hare gja that the beat that can bo expected of tli jsjfc gold-fields community is to review it a cording to their light The Budget i ■? fraught with interest. It does not fear t 1 tread upon dangerous ground. The autho q of it anticipated that rocks were ahead, 1 | 1 a witness hia closing peroration in languag worthy of a statesman guiding thocolouj t* carry out the various proposals this seaak '■ -—if it approved of the importance of tl * measures and their necessity for the pn W gresa of the colony. But if the Horn IT* preferred to go contrary to the propoaali he hoped bon. members, would not alien T any feelings they entertained to interfer ■ with the consideration- off his proposal) r , which he believed were calculated to ran tojr! the colony from its present depressed stat * to one of prosperity, and enable the pop« lation of the colony to do justice to it “ large resources.” We pay justice to tbi T portion of the speech, and also, as will b seen below; to other portions of it. Bu in doing so we do not for one moment ai f ; « negate the position taken by ua—that th- <t<p members for the gold-fields should bo rea dents of the Province, and acquainted will the requirements of the mining comm unit; This has been our contention with M I Yogel. We say that he is more deeply is terested in the Auckland gold-fields thai 81 in onr own, which, except in the case 0 j, Tuapeka, he has never visited. Yet, fa W all this, the gold-fields may fio proud 0 rrT the hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Th , larger portion of his Budget has been m , lt , dorsed by the loading men of the daj Tho “ wretched pest” of Native affairs hj» . ; ? l>een pro tern, cast aside, but tho “ wretche £ i Provincial difficulties” are to take shot*. * place. War is transferred from one plat „. a ’ form to another. It is unnecessary to deal it,; fall detail with tho speech* but we u#»j •*. briefly examine it, and cursorily deal witla it. Passing over those ‘■'watched details’ 81 connected with the expenditure upon thi •*’ Maori war, and the conflicting balance i, connected with the expenditure thereon leaving the colony in debt, by excess * expenditure over votes passed, to tho tnnw. b of £270,000, wo may congratulate the co k lony on the fact that the balance shea P shows something like a surplus. it y i very small as estimated by the Treasure *> —only £SOOO or £6OOO. It may tun tl out nil, and it may exceed, by a thouaan' > k or two, his estimates, when 1 the account'*- T are properly investigated or# apportioned 1 That j>ortiou of the affair is therefore cer * « rect, and shows that the colony is sound « despite its Native difficulties, and prerloui t alarming rumours ef its ruinous position . hj Next we arrive at the colonisation schanu, - a with its sop—in the shape of lines of rail a way through all parts of the colony— n thrown to every district, our own among* the number. This portion of the Budget t< has been vigorously attacked in the A> b sembly, but we have not yet learned th*- -'© result; The question is : How and under „ what control the money, when available, shall be expended. The railway system is 'A the bait; but many of the outlying dri v tricts require something more than rail- f ways passing through their midst Tb’ j absence of reference to the extension of f, roads and local government is a decided mistake. The immigration scheme has , our approval ; but we only endorse th# enlightened views of our best men whq \ have studied the subject, and must follow j, in the footsteps of those colonies which have grown more powerful, if not richer in one sense, by the influx of population. But this solution of the value of immigra- l # tion can only be taken as a set-off to the public works provided. Immigration a out the proposed public works, anefcioam to gold-fields, would be a curse. At on» time we might have secured a stream .ofC immigration, or retained those who made their fortunes in the colony, by a liberal jC land law, but that is almost a thing of th>«& past. No one would believe, after .tk*j|C many cruel deceptions we have experienced, j in an Otago or New Zealand land law/® One good thing is that increased immigration will tend to open up the lands, or ’I otherwise a difficulty worse than Ireland 1 # pf may ensue. On higher grounds, however, J' immigration cum public works and fnM V land selection is highly desirable. In the 0 matter of the revision of tho tariff, a .paafr .jW ter hand has displayed liis knowledge, md”*** this reft don has met with almost univenil approval. It is what the gold-fields hsf* asked for; it is what the agriculture and native industries require ; it is, Su fact, what the colony has boon more or loss demanding. Auckland is furious be> oatise of th* tour tax. and Wetlhu»fc« it

jbilf*plea»ed and half-regretful; but what <rf that, while the, other portions of the colony approve pf it , , Before oar next issue, the Budget will hflv* been amended in the colonisation Bchcmo, public works, and other brtmchea But, if the Cabinet,is defeated, the imposed duties will remain in force. The result of defeat will bo an appeal to the country—probably upon new electoral districts ; but the ministerial Budget will comtnand attention; and probably they may throw in the local taxation and local expenditure feature ; in other words, bniro Councils supplemented by gnuits-in-aid,

i Owing to tha late arrival of the DunI edla mail at Clyde, we are compelled to hold I «er 3k. correspondent's letter, a comI from Arcanum, mining news from Bendigo and Bannockburn, and a number of locals. Tha anniversary of American Independence was partially observed as a holiday in Cromwell There waa a shooting-match in tne afternoon, at which our townstoan Mr Burres—- « natiVo of the United States -carried off the principal honours. In the evening a numerous hood of juvenile minstrels, headed .by a young violinist of considerable talent, paraded the town and treated the inhabitants to a selection of vocal and instrumental music. The contributions collected by the treasurer of the troupe wore apparently devoted chiefly to the purchase •f fireworks, for there Was a continual fusillade of squib* and crackers in the street until a late tour in the evening. A fancy-dress negro ball In front of tha Golden Age Hotel created much amusement, and the blazing of a tar-barrel on tha apposite side of tha street enabled the sable Tersichareana to display their abilities to the best advantage. The Escort took down from Cromwell an Saturday about 800 ozs. of gold : the exact quantity we did not ascertain. Late in the evening of Thursday last, a man named Woodhouse was brought into Cromwell from the Wanaka Station, and waa handed ever to the oare of Senior-Constable Smith, It eppaaw that Woodhouse arrived at Messrs Loughnan’s Station, Mount Pisa, about ton days ago, nod conducted himself in such a manner as to warrant the belief that ho was non compos rmUk Leaving the station,, ho proceeded iu the direction of Albertown, and en Sunday nigh; •fayed at the Albion Hotel Luxate, where he was kindly accommodated, free of ciiargo, by Mr Maidman. Daring the night Mr Maidman was aroused by hearing a noise inside the hn se, mid on gulag Into the dining-room ha saw Woodhouse coming out of hia bedroom in a state <A dcoluiUlk, with a lighted candle In his hand. On bring questioned by Mr Maidi ar as to this Strange behaviour, ha stated that he had heard s-nua-parsous iu an adjoining room conspiring to kill him, and was looking for a knife to “settle tkeir hash.” Mr Maidmau then took the caudl i not of his hand, led him back to his room, and lacked him iu. Thera was no more trouble with him that night, and uext morning he breakfasted peaceably and went on his way. He reached Mr H. Campbell’s Station, near Albert Town, «u Monday, and told some of the poo ; la there that Mr Campbell (who was absent at the time) hid kept him wandering about the hills for seven : years, and that he meant to have satisfaction. He appeared to be folly aware of his own insanity, and said he would “ rip Mr Campbell i *P>” end the , law could do nothing to him. i When Mr Campbell arrived at the station, Wood- | house met him and demanded the sum of £SO, i saying that if he did not get it he would have j satisfaction. The man was then secured, and I was kept that night at the station. On the fob j lowing day Mr Campbell despatched a messenger ! to Cardrona for the constable stationed there, bat for some unexplained reason the constable - could not go to Albert Town. Meantime, the i man was taken to Mr Norman’s hotel, where he | was kept in charge for two days. While there, ■ Mr Campbell put some questions to Woodhouse, j who stated in the presence of several persons ; that unless he was paid the £SO ho would shoot Mr Campbell, and that ho could not be punished favtho deed. We are informed that some three i years ago, ha was employed on Wanaka Station, 1 whence he was dismissed by Mr Campbell, and 1 this appears to have been the cause of his malice I toVards that gentleman. His threats of vioi lenoe, however, were not confined to Mr Campi hell, for various other persons came in for a . share of them. Seeing no other course open, on Thursday morning Mr Campbell had the lunatic conveyed to Cromwell In charge of Mr Francis Bolton, of Albert Town, and another man whose name wqrjaro unable to ascertain. They started ■With a horse and dray, and he himself followed •n horseback and arrived here the same night. Mr Campbell desires us to publicly thank the inhabitants of Albert Town for the assistance they rendered him, not only in keeping Woodp.house under restraint while in that place, but also in-helping to bring him down to Cromwell. -The man was brought up at the Court, before 0. W. Goodger, Esq., J.P., on Friday, charged with being of unsound mind. The Magistrate remanded him to Clyde for medical examination. The road to Wanaka and Cardrona is in very bad condition, owing to the fact that little W no provision exists for carrying off the surface water. At Dead-horse Creek, near Maidraan's, traveller has to flounder through a wide and Sleep mud lagoon, which has been cieatod by tho |term water of tho oroek being allowed to flow L |kmg th# rood for several hnndred yards. The L ippmebee to crossing-places on tho Cardrona te'Veek have been out away by the recent floods, inja \ tie ro&l ;fl ibire'hy rendered l.’ctooe imptfs-

A preliminary meeting for the formation of a Lodge of Oddfellows (Manchester Unity,) waa held on Saturday evening last, at the Cromwell Hotel Twanky-Qve names of persons willing to join were placed on the list, and it was decided to start “ The Loyal Cromwell Lodge.” Application for a dispensation to be made through the Wakatip Lodge. A meeting of the members of the Cromwell Jockey Club is announced to be hold in the Town-hall on Saturday evening next, with thd' view of electing a committee for the ensuing year. There was no meeting of the Municipal Council on Monday evening. Councillor* Whettor and Kelly ware in attendance up till eight o’clock, but as there seemed no probability of a quorum being formed, they than left the Chamber, and the meeting lapsed. Considering the importance of the business to be transacted, the absence of the other members on Monday evening calls for severe censure ; and in view of the approaching elections, we would strongly advise the ratepayers to exact a pledge from all candidates for municipal honours, that, if elected, they will undertake to attend punctually and regularly every meeting of the Council. Unless this is done, there can be no security that the Interests of the town will nut be utterly neglected ; and surely there has been enough of apathy and indifference displayed In municipal a fairs during the past twelve months, without risking the repetition of a similar line of conduct on the part of those who may be elected to represent the ratepayers in the coming year. We understand that Mr D. L. Simpaon, the District Road Engineer, has resigned his appointment, having accepted the post of Engineer for the Port Chalmers Railway. Tiie horse-track along the east aide of the Hawea Lake sustained considerable damage during the late storms. Heavy snow-drifts, combined with the force of the swollen streams coming down from the hills, had the effect of detaching huge masses of rock from the precipitous mountain side, and the consequence has been that the track is rendered impassable. Th* lake rose about six feet above its ordinary level