QUEENSTOWN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VI, Issue 298, 28 July 1875, Page 6

QUEENSTOWN.

[PEOM OUE OWN OOEEESPONDENT.] July 23, 1875. Our election for Mayor and Councillors is over, resulting in the return of Mr Betts as Mayor, against Mr.'Warren, by a majority of 15. The Councillors are Messrs Tully, Cash, and Clark. They had a walk-over. Mr Clark was proposed against Mr Warren as Councillor, but he {Mr Warren) declines any contest. The' election for Mayor created considerable excitement. The only new man is Mr Clark, of the firm of Clark and Talboys. Our Corporation has a good deal of work cut out for them. They owe about £I2OO, but considering that the income amounts to £720, it can scarcely be called a debt. Part of this, about £llOO, is owing to Mr Robertson, and must be met by a special rate of 3s 6d or 4s in the pound. This will be considered heavy, but it is really the best way of getting rid of the difficulty. We can then ask borrowing powers with a good grace by showing that we are not afraid of taxation. It was with considerable surprise that I saw a paragraph in your paper stating that a travelling reporter of the Daily Times denied some statements I made. I was present when he was trying to get signatures, and heard his statements refuted. He did not even attempt to defend them. As to the monetary transactions, they are well known to everyone in the district. But if he persist in his denial, I will request to be permitted to send you documentary evidence of the fact, in the travelling reporter's own handwriting. Of course it is possible that there may be more than one reporter for the Daily Times in the district. From some of the speeches made at the Mayoral election, I can see indications that Queenstown people are likely to look beyond the town, and endeavour to do something for the surrounding district. The necessity for a dray-road to Skippers seems to be agreed upon by all parties. The clamor raised by the Southland members, together with the overpowering influence of Dnnedin, is very likely to have a depressing effect on Government expenditure on the Goldfields. Our share of local revenue expended here last year was very small. Such votes as £4OO for road at the Head of Lake Wakatip, £SOO Martin's Bay track, £6OO courthouse, look well on paper.. But they become a dangerous delusion when kept there year by year. Because we got £233 for our Athenaeum last year, we a\"e to receive none at all this, although we intended raising £1 for £l. We are informed by the Government that the present year's ijrant is for localities that have received no subsidy. In other words, people are tempted to begin building, and then told they may finish as they like. We see, in contrast to this, the Dunedin Harbour Board subsidised by the possession of a foreshore of inestimable value, —Provincial property,—to enable them to ruin Port Chalmers, the natural harbour of Otago. Provincialism is an excellent form of government, and every student of the history of government will admit its power in conserving the liberties of the people, but we want our revenues localised, to check the overpowering rapacity of the large towns. Since I commenced writing, I am informed that our leading citizens have formed themselves into a newspaper company. Considerable indignation has been felt here lately at some correspondence, which was considered too personal, and that the political articles were written to favor not a party, but one person only. The Mail, in spite of this, is a paper of considerable standing, and the new project has a good deal of hard work cut out for it. Still, if the gentlemen mentioned as the new company take an interest in another paper, there is little doubt of its success. The mining interest at Arthur's Point is as lively as ever. One proprietor yesterday refused £loo_for permission to mine under four acres of his freehold. A party is leaving here to-morrow to trace the old course of the Shotover above the Arthur's Point gorge. If this can be done for any distance, a new life will be infused into alluvial mining. Unfortunately, if it runs into Miller's Flat, the land there is all lease or freehold. This agricultural leasing on the Goldfields seems to have been carried out without much consideration for the future of gold mining.