Country Intelligence.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1009, 19 August 1881, Page 2

Country Intelligence.

opn i k .

(From our own- Cor-Hr.wnKTr.) What with public meetings and p.ivato dissertation*) on the re-distritmlion <,{ gents question; mootings in connection llio further development of the deep lead at Blacks No. 3 ; iho Farmers’ Clnh ploughing match; auction sales ; and, last but not least, attending to our own private afTai s, wo have been no end of busy lately, and some amongst us seem as if imbued with a new term of life ; and some, by their consequential strut and tiie air of importance they assume, on 0 would think, had dropped into a quiet little fortune by the lamented decease of their oid grandmother’s cat ; or that the deep lead was turning on tils thousand of ounces weekly ; or, belter still,that their exertions on behalf of the people had made so favorable an impre sion npon tho ■ Government, that they hail V-ca rewarded with a seat in the Upper House, and the honor conferred npon them of attaching “J.P.” to their names. Well, there is no doubt about it : wo have been busy, and if tho deeply laid schemes for our advance* ment do but bear a tithe of tho fruit that is anticipated of them, all hands to a man will have cause for congratulation, and tho long-looked-for bettor days can bo safely said to have arrived. Ido not look for tho millenium, and [impress upon myf ienda not to do so until the Central Otago railway is in onr midst, and tho shrill piping of tho steam whistle is heard across onr rich plains and resounding and echoing in onr mountain gorges. Bnt then--ah 1 then, we shall see what wo Shall see I

With regard to the railway, are not tho people a trifle too easy ? Anil, again, what are tho Land Leaguers doing? Jt is all very well to leave those matters—both of which are of such vital importance to tho district, and consequently to every man individually—in the hands of their member, and easy will it bo to growl at him if ho should not succed to the uttermost limit of the people’s expectations. I would mosb decidedly suggest, if tho people are really in earnest and want the railway brought into their midst, tho runs cut np, and tho Dunstan electoral district m detained, to keep on agitating for one and all. If silence is kept, tho only conclusion Government can arrive at is that wo are indifferent, ami they will act accordingly. The motto should ho, “Agitato, agitate, agitato 1“ until one and all are gained. On the ro-diatribntion of seats question I have really very little to say, except it is that, to a man, everybody hero is against the proposal to dismember the Dunstan ; and, further, that the Matakanni people were under a misapprehension when they declared themselves in favor of the Government alternative proposal. Tho simple and plain unvarnished fact is—the majority of the meeting were under the impression that the question before them was whether they as county ratepayers would not prefer to ho severed from Vincent County and united to Maniototo ; and ns they were chafing under tho refusal of Vincent Comity Council to grant them a sum of money to in parfilofray the expenses of putting in repair tho Tinkers Gully sludge channel, they vnt. d for tho severance. Mind you, this is a fact; let those who were aware of tho deception say to tho contrary. Tho provisional Board of Directors of tho Ida Valley Deep Lead Co. had another meeting on Saturday night last, at Gavan’s Hotel, hut, beyond appointing an interim Secretary, and inst- acting him to write to tho leading representative men in tho various centres of population and to some few of tho leading men in Dun-din, asking their b ipport,nothi igmuch was done, and the meeting was adjourned till tho 27th instant.

The ploughing match in connection wilb the Blacks District Farmers’ Club, held o i I'riday last, on Mr Chappie’s farm, Tiger Hill, was a most unqualified success, in so far ns competitors and visitors were concerned ; but T scarcely think the work done was up to first class. It had one good effect, however: it brought together a largo number of farmers from alt parts of tho district, and benefit to some is sine to follow tho interchange of ideas.

Of auction sales wo had two during tho week—cattle and other things at Ida Valley on Wednesday ; and land and produce at Spottis Hundred on Saturday. The cattle,

I »m sorry to report, did. not fetch 1 ig figmcs, but when, considering the vcy largo number there arc in the district and the evident<lesva toolearoff’iueoisequrn. o of tlm lenses of tbo runs so soon fallbig jn, <mhl I’io p :at uncertainly as to wont may Leib ie. wit \ I'.mmh, tho’e is • m’Vho g em a-.ii hI nrnt. V/lton lincnlio r big pi' 1 . '-, 1 u must not by nuy manner o : means To .1 s - v.o o given away, 1 ccitr-c f, r nn V" ' 111, or> f A'ert a fairj.rTe wasgivi-u, 'I -n imil on Sjiob.is Hundred, riid whi- i b ("us in Ml.di.vd Bi iyl, diil nut a'h mu) iiur:ve put O" it, tVrstoin it was I • ulin. '•'lie prndiice. I n'.vevor, v.'s v V "1' v eM, nils in e'.vH rcaVsi.'ig 1“ 3.1, a>. ' \ ,f -..a 1 atom. 2- ic’ lwsl*el.