The Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1872.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 162, 17 December 1872, Page 5

The Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1872.

In reply to the requisition of the tventyseven Provincial Councillors, Mr Macandrew has intimated that he has no intention of calling the Council together before the usual time of session. As the Daily Times has shewn, the requisitionists carefully begged the real question at issue ; and the Superintendent also. As regards the former, perhaps their reason lay in the fact that had the requisition decidedly stated no-contidence in the Tolmie-Turn-bull Executive as the ground of its presentation, fewer signatures would have been obtained. As it was, preferring the re quest upon a series of grounds so trivial, few could find occasion to refuse to sign it. Whether the speedy prospect of a pound a day had anything to do with the willing signatures of some, is a suggestion that had better be passed over as too undignified in connection with the subject. Leaving on one side the question of the desirability or otherwise of a session at present, His Honor has certainly acted boldly, if not saucily, in refusing the request. He seems lately to have been expeiimenting in autocracy and despotism ; and to have become infected with all the occult Vogel’s contempt for precedent. Dismissals, appointments, and refusals have been made and suggested according to his likes and dislikes. To those who remember his axtograph letters to the voters at the last decdon campaign, the wonder may be that, the dismissal of the Reid Executive once accomplished, Mr Macandrew ever availed himself of the services of another. “ No more business in connection with the entire management of Provincial affairs, than is transacted in many a London merchant’s office,” —said the letter ; “ and I am convinced that one man,” — James Macancrevv, of course, —“ might easily oversee and conduct it, without the aid of either a Council or an Executive, and with ro more expensive machinery than a fev clerks.” Such was, in effect, the tend* of part of the letter referred to. Heie 'vas an opportunity of carrying out ths hold idea, —another of the many pet schemes which have had their emanaticn >n His Honor’s fertile brain; and at me time it was doubtful whether be would n»t he driven to this extreme. However, iVr Macandrew has progressed this far towaias absolute sovereignty, that he will be aivised only by those who suit him. Essa« on the “ position” such as those by “ Spectator” in the Times can avail nothing : iideed, have availed nothing. The constitutional aspect of the question has no terror, ~-or charms, if the word suits better, —fc Mr Macandrew. Otago is to have a history of constitutional procedure of her owl Mr Macandrew’s late actions have corclusively proved that however much c “cant” may have apart in the composi

tion of his character, “ can’t” lias no place in his vocabulary. Looking to the easy unconcern with which the public as a whole have viewed and accepted his vagaries as part of the powers of his office, it becomes a question how far his I (onor might have gone,—if, indeed, he might not have gone the length of taking the supreme and sole direction of affairs into his own hands. It may have been Mr Macandrew’s design to show the utter uselessness of the Provincial Council; and, if we are to accept what he has done as warrantable by virtue of his powers as Superintendent, his design has succeeded well. If the body of men delegated by the Council to advise the Superintendent,—the Executive, in short, —may be dismissed by His Honor at will, their appointment by the Council is a mere farce. And if the Superintendent may appoint an Executive of his own, without asking the sanction or even the opinion of the Council, —whose agents the Executive are, or ought to be, —the question as to the use of the Council but receives a new restriction as regards an answer to it. Ouu attention has been drawn to the fact that the nominal area about to be withdrawn from the Mount Pisa Run as a district commonage is greatly in excess of the actual area. It appears that the 600 acres comprised within the boundaries of the township have never been withdrawn from the run, nor from the gold-fields ; consequently, the township is included in the proposed commonage. The aggregate acreage of the various farms in the neighbourhood of the township is probably about 500, and this also has to be deducted from the commonage. The extent of fenced ground on the Lower Flat is estimated at 400 acres; whilst mining-claims, residenceareas, water-races, tfec., we believe, will represent at least 300 or 400 acres more, — making altogether something near 2000 acres unavailable for pasturage. The Government tell us they are endeavouring to arrange for the conversion into commonage of similar blocks on the other adjacent runs ; but, as they well know, it is on the west bank of the Clutha River that the largest area is required, and a miserable dole of 5000 acres is not half sufficient for our requirements. Until the whole of the block applied for, —viz., from the Five-mile Creek across the range to the Roaring Meg,—is granted, the wants of the district will never be adequately supplied in this matter of commonage ; and we counsel the Commonage Association to continue pressing the Government till their object is attained.

Mr James Crorabie, the Cromwell District Delegate to the Miners’ Conference, returned from Lawrence on Friday last. Mr Crombie expresses himself highly gratified at the cordial treatment met with by the Delegates I during their stay at Tuapeka. On Wednesday | evening the members of the Conference were entertained at a public dinner by the citizens at Lawrence. The affair is reported to have been very successful. Holders of mining property are reminded that the holiday protection provided for by law extends from the 20th of December to the 16th of January. For three days and three nights the I town has been without water, and the want of it is so severely felt that even the very Councillors are complaining loudly. The Mayor, however, still appears to rest contented. Probably his water-butts are not yet empty. Relative to the hint thrown out in our last issue regarding an increase in the price of gold, we are now in a position to state that since this day week the Banks have been paying the additional sixpence per ounce for all gold purchased by them. An unfortunate accident happened at Carrickton, ou Saturday evening, to Mr George Taylor, formerly of Cromwell. It appears that whilst engaged in a friendly bout of wrestling | with Mr James Smith, of Bannockburn, Mr Taylor’s left foot was raised off the ground by his antagonist, and in trying to maintain his equilibrium and avoid being thrown, his right leg was twisted to such a degree as to cause a fracture extending upwards from the ankle t> the knee. Luckily, tire accident occurred within afew yards of Mr Taylor’s house, and no time was lost, in summoning surgical aid. Dr Lake reached Carrickton shortly after midnight, and at once attended to the injured limb. We are glad to hear that the sufferer is now doing well, though it will be many weeks before he can resume work. A great portion of the Lower Flat has been submerged for the last eight or ten days through the rising of the Clutha Liver. At the south end of the flat, ab mt half the area occupied by Mr Goodger has been under water, and the result is that several acres of potato crop have ' been completely destroyed. The rise in the : river is due to the rapid melting of the wintei snow on the mountains.

Mr Simpson, R.M. ami Warden, has initiated the very commendable practice of open-1 ing the Court punctually at II a.m. The innovation is decidedly advantageous to all concerned. An adjourned meeting of Committee of the Cromwell District Commonage Association was held in the Town-hall on Saturday evening, 14th inst. The members present were his Worship the Mayor (chairman), Messrs Colclough, Todd, Taylor, Scott, Gorman, and Marsh (hon. secretary). Copies of letters sent to his Honor the Superintendent, and to Messrs Bastings, Shepherd, and Reid, M. P.C. ’s, were read and approved. Much dissatisfaction was expressed regarding the smallness of the area (7000 acres) | which the Government have arranged to withdraw from the Mount Pisa Run for commonage purposes ; and a resolution, proposed by Mr Colclough and seconded by Mr Scott, to the effect that a letter be written to the Government for a description of the proposed boundaries, and at the same time pointing out the inadequacy of the area, was carried unanimously, j It was also resolved that the Town Council! should be asked to pay the amount incurred by j the Mayor for transmission of telegrams. The! meeting closed with the customary compliment | to the Chairman.—The following reply from Mr! Bastings was received by Mr Marsh yesterday “Gold-fields Office, Dunedin, “Dec. 13, 1872. “ Dear Sir, —Yours of the 7th inst. came duly to hand. The Government have closed for the I 7000 acres for commonage, and 1500 for agricul-1 tural purposes, on the run of Mr Loughnan. We i are in treaty for some more land from Mr M ‘Lean, and the Company’s station at Bannockburn. The result of our negotiation shall be j made known to you. His Honor and myself will be in Cromwell next mouth, and I trust by! that time we shall have come to arrangements | with the parties I have mentioned. — I am, dear j sir, yours faithfully, “Horu’e Bastings, “ Secretary for Gold-fields.” j Another waggon-load of water-pipes for the Corporation arrived from Dunedin on Saturday. The Corporation, by advertisement in another column, call for tenders for laying them. We are requested by Mr James Crornbie, District Delegate, to state that in fulfilment of a promise made by him on the occasion of the recent meeting at Bannockburn, he intends ; —immediately after receiving a printed copy ! of the resolutions and report adopted by the Conference, —to call a meeting to form a .... ° miners association in that locality. Mills, Dick, and Co.’s Book Almanac for 1873 has reached us. The fact of its early publication will doubtless tend to ensure its ready and extensive sale. A number of handy tables, and a summary of the Stamp Duties and the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, are included amongst a mass of other information, interesting and useful. The advertisements are numerous, and seem well-arranged ; whilst the letter-press work is far above the average to be met with in publications of this class. The price is reasonable,—ls. fid. ; and on the whole the production is a considerable improvement on any of its predecessors in former years. Late telegrams from Sydney say : During a quarrel about a beehive, at Mu trainhurrah, a farmer named Percival struck his opponent, Delahoy, dead with an axe.- William M‘Crew, a lodger with a butcher, named John | Ward, at Wooloomooloo, cut Mrs Ward’s throat, and then cut his own. Mrs Ward died, an i M'Crew is recovering. Jealousy was the ma n cause of the deed.— A cake of gold weighing 5300 ounces, the produce of 18 days’ work, has been obtained at the Monkland Reef, Gympie.— The Tambaroora mines are yielding as richly aever. Referring to the Green Harp conspirators, the Auckland Star says:—“We understand that there is no concealment as to their identity at Levuka ; the men boldly declared they were picked up outside the harbour on the Sunday morning, and had a fine run of seven days to Fiji. It is reported here that they have left a sum of £250 each for the benefit of their less fortunate conspirator, Siieehy, who is now scoria-reeling at Mount Eden, and is likely to be so occupied for two or three years to come.” A correspondent of the South Australian He;/if ter, writing on November 18, says : “ The locusts have taken possession not only of the crops, but of our stores of water. One man got a wheelbarrow full from the top of his tank, j and found afterwards they were three feetthiek iu i the bottom. Other settlers have had to abandon i their water tanks altogether. Yesterday I took i two bucke fuls oil’ my tank, which is 20 feet iu | diameter, and to-day it needs skimming again, j Howmiuy there are at the bottom I cannot say, ' hut they have been hopping into it during ail I last week. As regards the wheat, L shall only speak for my own, and can state as a fact that ! there is not a square yard of ground ou which the crop grew but is strewn with heads of corn. Yesterday 1 counted (not on a selected spot) 21 heads of wheat ou two square yards. This is not all the mighty army are doing. The heads of wheat that they leave standing they eat the chaff of, and the new grain is exposed to the sun that scorches it. For years we have, in other parts of the colony, been gradually brought tc 1 poverty through red rust, takeall, and fifty other | plagues, and now that this season we are free ol I them, this curse has come upon us. Surely there 1 are Pharaohs in South Australia.”

The monster circus has arrived in Auckland from San Francisco, They evidently intend to astonish the natives of Auckland, for they have erected a hippodrome capable of containing 2500 persons. The sentence of death passed on the convict Caroline Witting has been commuted to that of penal servitude for life. ' The,intelligence was conveyed on Wednesday evening, the 4th inst., to the prisoner, who received it without displaying any emotion. Lady Doughty, so well known in connection with the Tichborne case, is seriously ill, according to the latest telegraphic news. Her depositions for the new trial have been taken. Mr Sheehan has carried a resolution in the Auckland Provincial Council ieconimeuding the General Government to construct a railway from Grahamstown to Waikato via Ohinemuri. The Canterbury Provincial Government purpose next year to spend £6.300 on the Provincial Lunatic Asylum ; £SOO on a Drunkards’ Asylum ; and £1,200 on the Orphans’ Asylum.