The Evening Star FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2629, 21 July 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1871.

The first session of the new Provincial Council came to an end yesterday, after a duratiom of fifty-seven days, and at a cost to the Province of upwards of three thousand pounds. How much more than that amount we cannot tell, for it must be remembered that the honorarium with the wages and travelling expenses of up-country members — form but a small part of the cost. The Clerk of the Council read a long catalogue of work done. The figures form a • formidable array, and to look at them, without asking what they mean, would lead to the' conclusion that our Provincial legislators had been very hard' at work. The real labor, however, fills commonly upon a few ; many .of the members are mere ciphers, voting as caprice oi: some com ; trolling spirit dictates ; others are objstructive, some tiresomely. obtrusiyej and a few—a very\f(nv— Looking' more closely'at ' the nature of the work done, we find that out of those fifty-seven . days foF which the- honorarium has to be paid, only thirtyseven were working days, so that the cost of the Council has been, including all expenses; very nearly riihety r pob nds per working day. 1 ’ 1 The • Ordinan'ceß passed, exclusive of' the Apptfopriatibn Ordinance, were twenty-four,' and as most of these pßsse'd thirbugli all' tlieir stages in one or two thenintroduction, a very short time would have -sufficed to have! disposed of. them. As the passing of ithese and’ the apprb:priation of revenue "constitutes the real -result of th'e session, 'it. follows - that' ’the twenty-five Bills,■ for we must now include the Appropriation Ordinance, cost 'on an average one hundred and twenty: pounds worthy Of consideration' each. We are putting out of the question the purely specula-: tive debates—such as the public works land, Native war, and immigration questions ; on none of which was such acumen displayed as to lead Tis to anticipate practical results from them. Indeed no one can arrive at any other conclusion than that on those subjects, our differences of opinion are likely to be settled for us elsewhere. As for the notices of motion and question, we may cay of tlieni that Jfjiay uro' very convenient modes of conveying to constituents the information that their representatives are wide awake or at their posts. Most of them were of the most trivial description, the only effect being to throw a good deal of labor upon the -permanent staff of the service, and upon the Executive who were required to throw light upon them. Perhaps the most laborious work of a session is done by select committees, if they intelligently and thoroughly investigate the subjects remitted to them. But even these, which form part of the filling-np of the time of members, are frequently shirked by all, save those who really feel the responsibility that attaches to the duty they are appointed to fulfil.. Taking it for granted, then, that along with enormonsidawdling there has been a fair share of hard work, we cannot avoid comparing the costliness of the machinery with the advantage derived from it. In physics the great end aimed at is to obtain the greatest possible amount of work at the least possible expenditure of power. There is every reason why precisely the same law should he applied in legislation. It would be manifestly a waste of power to apply a thirty horso engine to do work that could easily he accomplished by one of two horse power; yet this is precisely what we do, in.Zcw Zealand. Had the Provincial Council of Otago represented the whole of the Middle Island, the work would have occupied about the same time as has been spent in Otago> If any one will take the pains to look over the records of the Councils of Canterbury, Nelson, and Westland, and compare them with ours, they will find a remarkable similarity in the resolutions respecting publicwofks and immigration, and there will be an equal proportion of meaningless motions and answerless questions. i Manifestly, from the nature of the .case, where principles are universally applicable, there will be uniformity of action in regard to them ; so that we have at once an instance of waste of legislative power in three deliberative assemblies aiming at the same results, where one would suffice. There can be no doubt that the whole of the legislation of the Middle Island might be conducted at about the same expence required now to dispose of about £BO,OOO of available revenue in Otago. It must be manifest that five per cent, on available income is rather too much to pay for arranging how it is to be disposed of when something like ten per cent, more lias to bo added for seeing that it is put to the uses prescribed. One Government for the Middle Island is a subject that should bp f.eriously entertained, for it is plain, as Dr puts it, “we are “ paying too (tear for our whistle.”

/ -'A '• ■; *■ rMayor’s;- Cojtr,t,—At this Court today, Charles; Hodges was fined os, and Mary Ann Hall, of Bristol House notoriety, 40s, or a week’s Mprisonmeixt, for drunkenness.

What Dbfes it Mean I —An advertisement in’ - 'the Wellington Advertiser is worded in the following manner : ted.—A respectable young lady as barmaid —no JS r elsonite need apply ! Apply to Mr H, Hall, Duke of Edinburgh Hotel. Is Nelson the Nazareth of New Zealand ? Scientific.—At a late meeting of the Canterbury, Philosophical Institute, the President, Dr Julius Haast, mentioned that he had recently received advices from Berlin that a scientific expedition would shortly leave Germany on a tour of exploration to the Southern Seas, and that it was intended that the fleet should call at Lyttoltton. Dr. Carr.—This celebrated mesmerist and lecturer has returned to Dunedin after a most successful tour in the northern part of the province. The reception awarded him in Oamaru was of the most flattering kind. We are informed that the doctor has not relinquished his scheme for- the establishment of baths in Dunedin. He proceeds to Southland for his wife and family, and having completed 'his present tour, purposes returning tot Duhedih 'and takifig Up a permanent residence in the City. ( .:. TH&lMibusfßiAt SjcHOOii,—The fre;quent nOticeß of tbelprcss of this.lnstitution have.-Tnot been without beneficial results. People from Duiiedin, and even other Provinces, have made repeated calls at the reformatory lately ; and the visitors’ books' shows: that- not only is the institution. (imiich appreciated, but that the management is greatly praised, .Yesterday the children • had at gala day, a treat being, provided for them.by several of the merchants of Dunedin; and the master '(Mr Brctton) desires us to convey his thanks to Messrs G. F. I>eid, J. T. Mackerras, Pat-rson and M'Lcod, Hudson, Murray, Mercer; Hogg and Hutton, W. and J. - .Secular,,ll. Wilson,' Stavely and ■Go,, and Miss Dunning for their liberal,donations of fruit Afc, ■

V , ’V\THB.;;G°yEnirbtfs Residence, A, ' Wellington gontemporary of a recent date giyes> long .ancVglowing -description of the. glories 'of the new Udvern or’s resldence.The furnishing, we find, was under the direction, of Mr Fuhrmann, of Christchurch. Remarking on the hall furniture, the Wellington i■ paper says The . hall .in its extreme length is 96 feet, and is famished with all i.thfe appropriate’ appointments,, viz., three . halt: tables, eight chairs,, hat and umbrella stand,’ very handsomely, designed and manufactured from New Zealand wood, by Mr Fuhrmtmn, Of Christchurch,: to whom ja entrusted the completion of the arrangements for furnishing the building throughout. These are all made from wood of a beautiful grtain, which takes an exquisite polish, and are ernameuted with coronet and crest.

Princess: Theatre.— The great poli-tico-social problem presented to men’s minds last evening was that of finally selecting from the Birch-1‘ ish-Thoneman trio the best man to discharge the important functions of Mayor for the forthcoming year. As a consequence the Princess company, though decidedly deserving, did net receive a very large share of public support. But now that the momentous prob'em has been so satisfactorily solved, and the citizens have selected the best man, we hope that allegiance to the comic drama will be once more acknowledged. The pieces presented last evening were “Used Up” and “ Lalla Rookh,” pieces which, though not certainly new to Dunedin audiences, are always fresh and attractive. Mr Wolfe rendered in a respectable manner the important part of Sir Charles Coldstream ; and Lady Clutterbuok was happily personated by Miss Gassy Matthews. The burlesque of “ Lai lah Rookh ” was, of course, the great feature of the evening, and, being excellently rendered, was enthusiastically received. Miss AunaForde, as Feramoz, theTroubador, gave us some charming songs in her usually charming manner, and was favored during the evening with more than one recall. The part of Princess Lallah Rookh was represented by Miss Nye, and, while her dress dazzled, her pleasing manner and excellent dancing delighted the audience. We notice that the same pieces will be repeated tliisevening, and we can most Cordially recommend a visit.

A Kara Avis,— A correspondent of a Nelson contemporary writes as follows ; “Persons living in inland places baye no doubt often on stormy nights heard strange noises made by some swift-flying bird. Though I have often inquired, I never could hear of one having been seen till a few days ago, when two of my mates were coming home from work, near the Horse Shoe Creek, on the Karamea track, just after dark, when something black ran out from under a log and showed fight: One of the men threw an axe, and knocked it over, and caught it. It proved to be a bird a little larger than a ted, black in color, wehfooted, rather long in the legs, very sharp claws, short broad tail, wings from tip to tip 4fb. 4in., and 4in. wide, bill hooked down 2sin. long, and nostrils raised on the top of the bill. When killed oil ran out of its mouth, which, when set fire to, burnt very brilliantly ; when opened it was very fat; it had a long gullet like a shag, which contained a quantity of bright green animal matter, so much digested that I could not tell what it was. The bird was evidently nocturnal.” In a foot-note to the above communication, the Editor says :—We heard of another remarkable bird having been shot last week at Motueka, having the head and neck of the Paradise duck, and the hind part being that of a shag. Maori Prisoners.—We understand that his Honor the Superintendent received information this day r from the General Government to inform Mr Caldwell, governor of the gaol, that another batch of rebel Maori prisoners, sentenced to penal servitude for life, may be expected to arrive in a few days from Wellington. The Harbor Steam Packet Company announce a special trip of the Maori to Bluff Harbor on Monday next. We refer our readers to the advertisement.