The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3310, 29 September 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1873

It is perhaps too much to say that the session of Parliament now drawing to

a close has been profitless. Much time has been spent in devising and perfecting measures which, with very little ceremony, have been disposed of by the Upper Chamber. On them the speeches pro. and con., the support or opposition of members of the House of Representatives, have availed nothing : they are among the things of the past, and it is difficult to foresee the consequences. Rut while these adverse movements have been going on, there have been Committees sitting, whose work is but little noticed in comparison with those party conflicts of which the House of Representatives may be said to represent one organisation, and the Legislative Council the other. On this most undesirable form of opposition we may have something to say on another occasion. Our present purpose is to point to a report before us of one of those unobtrusive, but useful Committees to whose labors the country may hereafter become indebted for future progress. On the 23rd of this month the Report of the Colonial Industries Committee was brought up, and a copy is before us. It is very short: too short to satisfy us that it will prove valuable, unless the evidence, when printed, contains matter that may induce attention to the various industries mentioned. The first subject which appears to have been examined is the production of coal. It is disposed of, like all the rest, in a very few linos. We do not know that more was necessary, for reports in former sessions dealt fully with the subject, and the present Committee appears to have been engaged in taking stock of what has been done and totting up the result, which is thus summed up : Your Committee is gratified to find that the importance of this great source of national wealth is now being recognised, and that in Otago and Canterbury, by the construction of railways, the vast deposits of coal suitable for domestic and mechanical purposes will be rendered cheaply available ; whilst in the Province of Auckland it is to be hoped that by the early completion of the Kawa Kawa or other railway it will be also cheaply supplied, for on this much of the prosperity of the Thames goldfields depends. Next are two sentences respecting our fisheries, to which are added sugar and paper manufactures. They merely intimate that the Committee has nothing to suggest in addition to what has already been done, and that the bulky papers connected with the introduction of salmon and trout cannot be so thoroughly considered this session as to justify them in reporting upon them.

Two very important suggestions are made which should receive every attention throughout the Colony. In nothing has absence of foresight on the part of the Colonist, been so strongly manifested as in the careless destruction of forest trees, without making suitable provision for supplying their places. If in the first instance reserves had been set apart in which every man who had a bush license, either personally or by proxy, was compelled to plant two or three trees under supervision for each tree he cut down, there would have been

an inexpensive and rational provision made for consumption and reproduction. A slight addition by the Province at scarcely any appreciable expense would have provided a future supply of trees equal to the probable needs of increasing population : no hardship would be inflicted upon proprietors of saw-mills or wood-cutters and splitters ; for the contribution of plants at the proper season, or an equivalent to a fund devoted to the purpose, would have been a very infinitesimal percentage off the profit derived from the privilege enjoyed ; and a healthy moral influence would have been exerted that would have induced

forethought and led the present generation to feel that although they are not prohibited from utilising the indigenous products of the soil, their houndeu duty is to leave tho land in which they have

j lived and haply become wealthy, \ richer, where possible, than before. ■I Timber, in this respect, is superior to gold : take that away, and it cannot he again restored. "While, therefore, future generations will have to bo content without the minerals obtained and used by their fathers, the least we should do is to transmit to them »

country planted and beautified by forests that toll of thrift an 1 forethought fov their imitation. Wa trust the following recommendations will meet intelligent consideration

y ()lu . /Committee recommend that the Government should invite the various Provincial Governments to consider how best to prevent the wasteful destruction of the forests of the Colony, and U> supply statistics and recommendations for the consideration of I arlia 111 Yum- Committed recommend that the Government should continue to procure, consideribhlc quantities of the nw>st approved tun' Ht'ddfl, and should sell them at cost price, to associations, nurserymen, and individuals ; and should also, hy way of experiment, procure seeds ol the olive, hickory, ami cork trees, for the growth of which a large part »)[ the Colony seems well suited.

The further recoin mendatioiM of the Committee relate to kerosene, iron, and Portland cement, and wo are glad to see bonuses are recommended to he offered for certain quantities of the two first. Wo know there is a class of economists in the Colony who object to bonuses, on the ground that they ■consider them in the light of part of a

protective system; but there are essential differences between protective duties and bonuses, that justify a country i$ aiding development by a gift, while the imposition of a perpetual tax should not be entertained for a moment. On this point, however, we have not room at present to dilate, and shall simply content ourselves by presenting to our readers the Committee’s recommendations ; ON KEROSENE. Your Committee recommend that a bonus on kerosene produced within the Colony be offered, to the extent of sixpence per gallon up to fifty thousand gallons, payable on quantities of ten thousand gallons at a time, to be sold at a fair average price, the quality being approved by the Government. ON IRON. It is gratifying to your Committee to be able to report that, besides the deposits of ironsand at Taranaki, vast quantities of the best iron ore exist in many parts of the Colony, and in places convenient to excellent coal fields and places of shipment; and your Committee, taking into consideration the value and importance of iron manufactures, recommend that, subject to existing engagements entered into by the Government on the recommendation of the Committee of last year, a bonus be offered for the erecting of a suitable blast furnace for the manufacture of pig-iron in an approved locality ; such bonus not to exceed twenty-five per cent, on the cost of erection, and not to be paid till the works are iu full operation ; bonus not to exceed five thousand pounds sterling. And your Committee also recommend that a bonus be offered for the erection of suitable machinery for the manufacture of bar and rod iron, and rails in an approved locality ; such bonus not to exceed twenty-five per cent, on the cost of erection, and not to be paid until the works are in full operation; total amount of bonus not to exceed fire thousand pounds sterling, and to bo available for three years. Your Committee further recommend that these bonuses should be in addition to any bonus or land grant given by any Provincial Government, and that the Agents of the Colony in Europe should be instructed to encourage cooperative associations to come to New Zealand to establish these and other industries, by grants of free passages. Your Committee would call attention to Mr Mills's report (appended) as to the quality of New Zealand coal and iron, PORTLAND CEMENT, Your Committee suggest for the consideration of Government the advisability of the Public Works Department endeavouring to utilize the materials for the manufacture of Portland cement, which exist in the Colony. His Honor the Superintendent is a passenger by the Alhambra, which is due here on Wednesday. There was no sitting in bankruptcy this morning. His Honor will sit in banco after chambers to-morrow, and hear arguments in M‘Kcllarv. White. Information)was brought to town this afternoon that the Northern coach, driven by Mr Devine, had broken down near Blueskiu, the mishap having been caused by the unusually heavy mail matter in the coach. No damage resulted, and Mr Chaplin took out a coach to bring in the passengers. From the Edinburgh Courant of July 28, received by the Suez mail, we observe that Mr James Harvey, Invercargill, has won a painting by J. B. Abercrombie, value L 6 10s, and Mr John L. Gillies, Milton, a painting by John Chalmers, value L4O, at the annual drawing of the Scottish Art Union. A Napier paper records the first Customs seizure under the new tariff as having been made there of a portion of the Amherst’s cargo, from Sydney, to the value of L3OO The seizure was made in consequence of the ag. Nt for the importer making a declaration of value founded on .false invoices. No other particulars are given, A somewhat similar seizure has beeen made at Wanganui. The unsettled weather which has prevailed for some time past has delayed operations on the Mataura railway. The rails are now, however, laid to within a mile and a half ©f Woodlands, and as wo (Southland Times) believe the greater portion of the rolling stock has been shipped by the Kokeby Hall, which left Liverpool on the 30 th June, and may now be expected daily, there is every probability of the line being finished so far before the carriages, &c,, can be prepared for traffic. At a meeting of ratepayers in the West Harbor district, held on Saturday, to consider by what means the district road could be continued from Logan’s Point to the Port, and those portions of it taken for the railway lino remade. Mr Cairns, the Government Inspector of Works, stated that the Government proposed to spend LROIiO in forming the road and macadamising it with inch metal, which would give a good carriage road, and that the work would be completed in three mouths. It was resolved to make the road from Logan’s Point to Mr Banbury’s property at Arden Bay, and a deputation was appointed to wait on the Road Board and request that body to take immediate action to extend the road line through to the Port. An attempt lias been made in the Legislative Council to induce the Government to take into consideration the state of the deaf, dumb, and blind residents of the Colony, and a suggestion was thrown out that a central establishment for their keep and care should be provided, in which they could be instructed in various suitable trades, by this moans making the institution self-support-ing. The Colonial Secretary’s reply was that as the Provincial authorities had heretofore taken cognizance and charge of such eases brought under their notice, the Government would not be justified in asking Parliament for a sum for the purpose. The number of Hindi sufferers iu the Colony is scarcely large enough yet to warrant notion in the direction pointed out. According to the latest census returns, there were iu New Zealand, 21 majo and 12 female blind reaideiits, and 28 male ami 10 female deaf and dumb, apportioned among the Provinces as follows ; —Auckland: (> blind, 8 deaf and dumb, Taranaki ; I blind, I deaf and dumb. Wellington: 11 blind, 7 deaf and dumb. Hawke’s Bay ; 1 blind, I deaf and dumb. Nelson ; ! blind, Marlborough : 1 blind, 1 deaf ami dumb. Canterbury; it blind, 12 deaf and dumb. Westland ; 1 blind. Otago (including Southland): 8 blind, and 8 deaf and dumb. A total for all the Provinces of 71 blind, deaf, and dumb.

A niseting of the Standard Property Invest m<U)L Society will be belli mi Wednesday even ing next, from (> to M o'clock.

Tbe usual meeting of the Doyal Orange Dodge, No. It, Star of Otago will be. belli on Wednesday evening, at ft o’clock. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Commercial Building and Mutual Divestment Society will be held at the Society’s oilier, Princes street, this (Monday) evening, from six to eight o’clock. AVe observe that (lie, drawing for the monster Derby sweep on (lie Melbourne cup will take place on Wednesday next at the Kmpire Hotel; and that, in eonssipienee of its tilling up so soon, another sweep will be started, to consist of r»()() members, at HI each. “ Kairplay ” writes to us : “As a subscriber, and in the name of fairplay, I protest against the drawing taking place at such an hour (li p.m.), seeing that the great majority of subscribers cannot attend. Tlio Committee will, 1 trust, seethe propriety of altering the hour to six or seven iu the evening, which would suit all concerned..