The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1880.

Dunstan Times, Issue 931, 20 February 1880, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1880.

Beneath the rule of men extirelv jcst</( PEK is MIGHTIER than thd WORD.

'1 he Honourable Jlr Rolleston is an extraordinary man. Hence we notice him. He holds several offices in the Government of the hour, the duties of all of which he performs in I a more or le-s perfunctory manner. He is Minister of Lands, als > of Immigration, likewise of Education, ditto of Justice, and in this qnadri lateral capacity he lately visited this and the other interior districts of Otago But the Honourable William Rolleston (we feel intense pleasure when writing the title iu its full and glorious entirety) is somewlut too much of a genius for ns—the miserable Government-forgotten people who. living in the very heart of the Middle Island, have endeavoured to make the solitary places glad, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as a rose. So also it would seem is the Honourable Richard Oliver, who in addition to the duties of Minister of Public Works, presumes to occupy the position of Minister of Mines Mr ('liver and Mr Rolleston had plenty of time to spare for the caret'll inspection of the private railways, for the purchase of which they hope to buy or beguile the people’s representaiivos into voting for next session. But they could not spare time for making themselves acquainted with the interior-its requirements or its people Anything more in suiting than the action of these gentlemen has never yet occurred under any Government—Provincial or Gen oral, Mr Oliver having satisfied himself as to the paying capabilities of the Waimea Plains Railway, in which he and bis connections are so 1 largely interested, became suddenly sick, and fearing that the pure air of 1 the Lake District should disagree with him, returned to Dunedin for solace and repose. Thus, as Minister i of Mines, he has taken the best pos- i sible way of making himself ac- \ quainted ith his duties bv not visit- i ing the localities over which his bene- ( ficent reign is popularly supposed to < extend. I We learn from our con tom pot a-rif-s that on arriving at. Kingston the lion. Air Oliver returned to the -

coast. Mi-Rolleston being supported by the Surveyor General, had the courage t" penetrate into the wilderness in which we dwell, but sadly marred his gallant efforts by the cyclonic rapidity of his march. On Tuesday he arrived at Queenstown, and what became of him there we have no intimation. “ The oracles are dumb. No voice or hideous hum Comes from the local ‘ Mail,’ Lis deeds revealing.” Thence he proceeded to the Arrow at such an early hour of the morn a« to astonish all the Burgesses of Queenstown by his unexpected disappearance, and to still more astonish the peaceful inhabitants of Arrowtown by his appearance before they bad well recovered from their midnight slumbers. Thence be hurried over the Crown Terrace, and by way of Pembroke proceeded to Cromwell next day, and arriving at the future capital of the. interior shortly after sundown. The honor aMe gentleman there inspected the < lout t house through the windows, the Atheiiffium Mall by the aid of a vesta match ; the Gaol, Police Buildings, and the School-house not at all. Then lie received some deputations on public business, and carefully lefraiued from giving any promise on any subject whatsoever, evidently believing in the philosophic maxim that discretion is the better part of valour Here for the present we stop, i, o r for lack of matter but for want of space. In our next issue we will continue this “abstract and brief chronicle” of the erratic proceedings of the political comet who has lately flushed through this part of Creation