CROMWELL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 326, 24 July 1868, Page 2

CROMWELL.

(from our ows correspondent.) 13 th July. Flatulent boasting is at. times very pleasing to the feelings of a scribe, and especially, when to attain certain ends he is desirous ofmagnifyingmoles to the size of a mountain. Having no ends to serve demanding the application of the magnifying process, I must content myself this day with indulging in moderate and justifiable boast over the signs of moral, social, and commercial progress that are visible throughout the various districts surrounding Cromwell, although at the Omega of this correspondence, some few unpleasant remarks will be made bearing upon our Town Council, and i though such remarks must naturally I constitute this communication oxvmclic, they inns' nevertheless be made, : As to the signs of mora! progress, I ! need not state that we are to have a resident Minister of Keligion amongst j us at an early date, and further, funds : tor building a Church and a Manse have poured in to a most surprising I extent, and not with the noise of a ; turbulent cataract, but with the easy \ and soundless inundaiion of the Nile. i Men apparently of a reckless dispositiI on have, when apptaled to. proved | the most liberal in the district, and I the figures which stand opposite their names on the Subscription Lists I would create unwonted surprise in the mind of any grovelling minded money grubber, though he be a constant Church goer, and the wearer of a pharasaical face. At the KawarauGorge a branch Church Cotnmittee has been formed, and is constituted of at least a dozen of the most energetic men in that locality, and I leant from Mr. P. Greaves, the Treasurer, that the residents of Gorgetown have resolved to maintain a van position as liberal and willing contributors towards, not only the building of a Churchand manse, but also towards the maintenance of a Minister to his utmost gratification. The residents of the Bannockhurn district have also formed a branch Committee, and the Collector there hits met with success beyond the most extended limits of their expectations, and the Committee have a zealous and valuable Secretary in Mr. Joseph Berry, and the Church cause, on the whole in that locality bids well to flourish, and be of sterling and lasting benefit to the residents generally. The Cromwell inhabitants have opened their hearts widely in contributing towards the same funds, and the Collectors have received tangible proofs that the services of a Taster are earnestly desired by the majority of our residents, whether that Pastor be a Presbyterian or of any other denomination. The Church and Manse will be built at Cromwell, and Service will bo held there and atßannockburn and Gorgetown once on each Sabbath day. At Albertown, education for the rising generation there was none until within the last month or so, and the boys there were wasting their time in playful thoughtlessness from sunrise to sunset. Through peculiar circumstances, a young man, in rather delecate health, arrived there from Dunedin and as he is fully qualified to be a teacher, his services have been secured, and a Day School is now open and all the children of the district old o ough to be taught may now be seen cultivating their youthful mind with conside able assiduity. Mr. Pope the new teacher has also opened there a nicht school for adults, and several horny hands are to be seen wielding the pen forthenrsttimein their lives, j and as the tutor has been engaged in the same line in several places in this

Province and Victoria, he will doubtless prove of incalculable benefit, not only to the youth of that district, but also to those who have attained the years of manhood. The residents of Cardrona are also making a move towards having a day school, and every endeavor is to be made to make it worth while attends ingto by a teacher of moderate abilities and for moderate remuneration. Cromwell is at present behind Queenstowu and Alexandra, so far as having a Public Library and general News-Boom, and Clyde as yet has no grounds to boast much in that respect. However, a better state of things is about to be known here, and during the early part of next month ; -the " Cromwell Literary Institute " is to be opened for the public of the district, and unless the proprietor be a reckless "brag" more facility for obtainim; generalinformation isto be ofleredthau ' by a y other Insitute of the class outof Dunedin "We are promised that all the leading Irish, Scotch, English, and Swedish journals, by every mail; will be presented for perusal, and that the foremost journals of every\;eolony in the Southern Hemisphere will be at all times spread on the tables'aiiilall magazinesof any note will be constantly taken in. Brilliant lighls large tires will be provided duringthe winter months, and everything ii deed calculated to promote the comfort as .well as the mental improvement of *fhe readers. The monthly or quarterly subscription is to be in every sense reasonable but payable in advance. The charge for single admissions will be a mere bagatelle, so the public will soon have a much desired boon available, and the proprietor of the Institute will have no reason to regret opening it if he will only bestir himself and make the be.->t of the opportunities and facilities that lay in his possession to make it valued by every thinking member of the Cromwell community. With respect to our progress in a political point of viow, it is more theoretical than practical, and therefore with respect to the former the most is to bo said. Hitherto land-cul-ture has been neglected to a very eupable extent throughout the district, but nevertheless the eyes of a considerable number have been opened during the current year, to the inestimable value of being able to grow even sufficient vegetables for the use of themselves and families, and almost daily some person or other may be heard expressing a determination t» cultivate a par-eel of land whenever an opportnnite for settling down will be afforded the public of the district. The simple yet important fact of a flour-mill being about to be erected at some spot near Clyde has caused more men to wonder I at our paucity of cultivated farms than anything e se. I know men who have j lived contented with eating a purchased ■ loaf, and never spent a single thought | as to whence the flour came into the 1 possession of the baker, have looked I around them and felt astonished at the malignance of the capitalists of the country in not pressing on the Government the urgent desirability of having some land thrown open for sale between Cromwell and Albertown, so that the best of the resources of the locality may speedily be made: and it is most certain that, if our men of business would at onee bestir' themselves, and shake oil the disci edi.able and unmanly indifference which ha* by this time assumed "chronic" buhl in their minds, the sincere and other well-to-do-miners will'ti'p forward and follow the example of the resident miners of Black's; hold publicmceings and memorialise the Government to throw upen for settlement whatever land may bo found suitable foi agricultural purposes in the localiry. It has been suggested in my hearing that a tile kiln, in connexion with the projected mill, would be of immense service to the district of Cromwell in particular, and, by having such in view the building of a kiln within the walls if the mill would'save the considerable expense of erecting a separate building. The reason why a kiln would be of service to Cromwell especially is;— there is but a limited extent of ground here calculated to produce good wheat, but for oats and barley there is abundanceand ifhealthy barley canbegrown here, and also at Clyde, Alexandra and Black's, why not malt be produced, and healthy beer for the districts mentioned produced therefroml The erection of a mill at Clyde will prove a most potent incentive to agricultural pursuits throughout the valley of the Clu thaandthegovernment, atthenextsession of the Provincial Council, will be most assuredly called upon to mete equal justice to Cromwell with other localities that have land thrown open for the settlement of agriculturalists At the onset of this correspondence it was stated that some fewremarks of an unpleasant nature would have to be made touching the Town Council, and made they must be, whether such should prove palatable to its members or not. I do not know of any goldfield in the Province that hath not a commonage except Cromwell, and it is to the extraordinary generosity of the Messrs. Loughnan that the inhabitants have been privileged to run their stock on the Cromwhll flat. No squatters in this or any other Province have granted more sufferance to the public than they have, and it is very probable that their leniency has been, to a great extent, the cause of the incubus of lethargy which has been resting on the minds of our

leading men- , relative to the question of commqnajje. '..' I. ith not aware that the Government have'been at any time requested formally .to. grant- one and if a-hint on.'ihe point was ever thrown out in the Council it must have perished Within the last month or so the Messrs; Lotjghnan offered to the Council a pr'esentipf the table area of ground stretehfyg.fVpm the Lpwburn to the Kawarau, Gorge "lis" a common- >• age for the district; 1 without any compensation whatever, -. providing the Government' wouhl fence it in out of the Pain. The offer was' a liberal one, and the residents bf- Cromwell and suburbs havde Very reason to thank those gentlemen fpij it, but they have ", at the same time every reason to esti- f mate the members of the.. Gi until as no lung better ftiflfjj j'mdecilas, rend er- - ing but little legitimate service to i. their Constituent^,..aad,,the district - 'generally. '-U ' S^ : At a solemn conehurey. the Council- L lors have agreed to accept on behalf of 7 the Goldfield, the offer of the Messrs " ! Loughnan, and to recommend to the Government the proffered commonage for the price of fsWingi.. .Napoleon, the Great said,of the Eng'ish j" that they were a " Nation of Shopkeepers ' and to some extent the remark was '» justifiable at that period of oiir hiitory, but the English have proved possessed»of more expanded,ideas than those generally entertained by' counterjumpers and servers. The. -Councillors of Cromwell are all, sljop .and ho J tel keepers, and as. tradesmen, no . fault can be found with them that I know of, all of them are, estimable in their private character, but as guardians of the public vveal of "Cromwell, they are at best, but -deserving, uf unutterable contempt','-, when the residents reflect on the acceptance of the Cromwell flat as a sufficient ■ commonage for this extensive a Councillor, it appears .cares for .anymore commonage than will'-aliow a rutJdut for a " bobtail nag "of his own, and a secure feiice for " with limited pasture. It is natural to -suppose that our CouneiWors are ndvif-sfr -to extensive herding of cattlo'in'th'e iinn e liate Vcinity of the Town,,. lestj qheese and butter eating and milk drinking especially, should lessen the number of shilling nobblers at prtesent - . daily drank, and the number of onSi&Wlling per pound mutton chops.„H,n.d beefsteaks at present consulted. It is also natural to surmise that some of the Councillors maybe apprehensive that an increase of dairies would require an increase of an ,increaso of dairymaids 'woulit, naturally bring about in tiine.il.-(jecrease of fanciful barmaids. The latter ns' a general ruhvare mof.t- ,pyojitablci customers for the entire pavapl ern ilia neee ■ sary to: produce a •' Killing" appear ance in the ballroom,' and thereto, e. ir, may bedeemed politic t\> keepVnp, if j not increase the nuinber of such e!c- ---| sira'le nymphs in tlifV'fistrvct.. Whatever .the object of the Counei lor: may be in contenting themselves with ' the proffered ana' :-h\; ; -t!>e Messrs Lough an, it cannot be at any ' rate credital le to- ]mnr but mast 1 e most withering . to the cardinal in terests <o'f the Cromwell Goldfield. ... • Who can read without envy of'. they ' extensive!-! < ommocttsj-s at Queens- :' town, the Arrow aiitl''Tuadeka. the ■ immense, flocks of .shiMp l , and herds i of cattle that are reared thereon, with i out incurring butVi ! Qery trifling exI pense in their roaring? The question • may Safely be answered by stating I thatrthe Town Cqtnicjllprs of Crom- : weircai', l>ceause none of them are i desirous of taxing flieTr mind witli any further eare the, busi- • ness in which they ; a,y. present are scv- . cralbj- engaged. Had, the' Council pro posed to the Messes Loughnan to have ; all'to gullies at the base of the Pisa lbt'irges,- from .the- L.owburn to the. i Kawarau Gorge,..fenced in with the i flat for a moderate'commonage, they ' would have exercised some little co.m----s mom sense, although such a common- > age would scardely be too extensive . for a dozen costermongers to feed their > Jerusalem ponies thereon. Cromwell . must have a large area for public pas--1 toral purposes, in. order to secure its prosperity, Messrs Lou ghuan must therefore be cbhrpens ited before i such an area can'be fiad ; consequenti ly the Council should .stretch itsimagi- , nation further than the boundaries of . a pigmy paddock, and pray the Go- - vernment to enter into the urgent t want of the district for a liberal-allow 1 ance of the land now belonging to the i Mount Pisa Station. The chief fault - not only of the Councillors of Crom- ! well, but Councillors of other pla--3 ces is ; entering the Council Chambers • purposelessly, and having no business i to transact. Every Councillor shoultW i certainly at times enter a Council meeting with a well defined diagram - in his mind of some pan to execute 1 something for the behoof of the ratei payers and others in their Municipal , district, and unless Councillors will 3 put aside toying with their public • trust, sooner the better they throw up ; their cards; and allow others to play - the Municipal game in their stead. The establishment of Municipalii ties was intended to advance the in- - terest, and dignify variouu Towns, and - any Councillor that may pass the term i of his office, in merely pacing oceasi- '- onally to and from the Council Cham- , ber will only be a miserable trifler - with the good intentions of the Lecds--3 ture of the country, and an unpriucil pled representative of the confiding r rate-payers, who elected him.