The Evening Star. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1874.

Evening Star, Issue 3530, 16 June 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1874.

Our Provincial Councillors are not only representatives of constituencies, but representative men, uttering sentiments entertained by large classes of the community, and expressing current opinions on the various topics of the day. To study those opinions is, therefore, to study the present phases of public thought: to understand them is to comprehend the errors into ■which crude and ill-formed notions lead men. So odd at times is the logic with which they defend the positions taken up ; so imperfect are the principles enunciated; so shallow the knowledge of facts j so extraordinary the conclusions from the plainest and simplest propositions, that no one should feel surprised on finding our progress to be rather a result of a balance of errors, than of sound, welldevised, and energetically executed measures. Those who doubt our statements may haply convince themselves of their truth by considering well the arguments urged against Mr Reid’s railway propositions. First in the order of the attack was Mr M‘Lean, the gist of whose objections was “ there were only two modes ot constructing railways ” : one by the State, without guarantees ; the other by companies, on their own responsibility. Mr M‘Lean no doubt has formed his ideas from things as they have been, but has not reached the conclusion that he offers no valid reason why funds for constructing railroads—the best kind of roads--should not be raised on the same principle as for macadamised roads—-the second best kind. Because Great Britain blundered, and America followed suit in giving monopolies of internal communication to large carrying companies, is that a good reason why Otago should do likewise? Or because on the Continent of Europe the governments of different kingdoms construct railways and regulate the traffic, is that a sufficient reason why districts in Otago needing railway accommodation should not contribute toward their cost, excepting through the public revenue? In both cases injustice is done to the communities, as a whole, by such plans, although it is better that they should have the advantage of railways, even on those terms, than be without them. If the State is to make all the railways, many remote districts have to contribute towards the cost of works, from which, even indirectly, they derive no benefit j while if companies are to construct the lines, privileges will have to be conceded that will unduly enrich individuals at the expense of the State.

Mr M'Kenzie objected on new giounds : his idea of political economy was that because a landowner, as a taxpayer, paid his share towards the construction of a main line, leading more or less directly up to his property, he should only pay his share as a taxpayer for the branch line connecting it immediately with that main Ime. Perhaps Mr M'Kenzie never asked himself whether such a connecting link

might not be necessary to double, treble, or add still more to the value of the estate; nor why the people, as a whole, should be called upon to contribute towards such an enrichment of the individual. As to whether landowners, or rather the land, should not, in all fairness, bear the whole cost of railway construction, is not just now the question. Very good reasons could be given in favor of such an arrangement, but as landowners are our rulers, they will never tax themselves if they can help it.

Mr Sumpter came out with a flourish of trumpets in three divisions. The first was certainly a fearful denunciation : it was that injustice would be done to those who made their own railways, because there were others who had railways made for them. Just this style of reasoning, or rather confusion of ideas, led the laborers in the vineyard, two thousand years ago, to complain of injustice when each received every man a penny for his work. Mr Sumpter seems never to have apprehended the clear logic of the answer of the vigneron. We trust he knows the story. “Friend, I do thee no •wrong; did I not agree with thee for a penny 1” If injustice be done, it is not toward those who are called upon to pay for that which will benefit themselves largely and immediately. It is only just and right that they should pay for it. The injustice is to the community who have paid for what has added enormously to the value of property, the owners of which, in most instances, not only contributed nothing, but in many cases were absolutely compensated for the land necessary to make the lines. His next reason was a sufficient one, valid or invalid, and left him open to vote for or against the resolutions with perfect safety. He said to carry them out was “ impracticable; ” which, if true, rendered acquiescence harmless and opposition useless. As for the third, “ that the construction of branch lines would deter that of main lines,” it may be very clear to the reasoning faculty of Mr Sumpter, but vre should think few would coincide with the opinion. We suppose that was something like giving the thumb in, in weighing a pound of cheese—just a shove to give the beam a kick. As for the resolutions themselves, they veiy much resemble those proposed by Mr Yogel in the General Assembly some time ago, which, if they had been carried, would have rendered local discussion unnecessary. We forget how Mr Reid voted on that occasion, nor do we know that it is material. W© are glad to see that his present views are in accordance with those we have constantly advocated, and that he recognises the principle that landed proprietors whose estates are to be benefited by the construction of a class of roads superior to those implied in the original contract for purchase, should contribute towards the cost of what, it is fair to conclude, will prove of vast pecuniary advantage to them. He should go one step farther and support any plan by which railways or sections of railways can be constructed on security of unsold laud through which they pass, such land to he leased but not sold, if at all, until the traffic on the line is so developed as to give to the property on each side its full probable value, and then disposed of only by public auction. Owners of private estates would act on that principle, and we hold that the public estate should be managed as if it were private property, otherwise injustice is done to all classes j for they have no right to be taxed for public works that from their nature are merely investments for improving the value of the public property.

Thursday next, being the Presbyterian half-yearly fast day, will be observed as a general holiday. In Waitahuna, a goat may frequently be seen in full harness drawing a small fourwheeled cart. It is thoroughly quiet, and is driven by a little boy. The new forest regulations have been the means of increasing the price ol timber and firewood at Queenstown, A similar result has taken place at Lawrence. An important meeting of the Clutba Presbytery will be held to-morrow, when a rather warm dispute between the Rev. Mr Bannerman and Mr Robert Gillies will form the subject of discussion. Operations for the extension of the telegraph line from Naseby to Alexandra, via St. Bathans and Blacks, have been commenced, and the erection of the poles will be proceeded with immediately. The Revision Court for the West Taieri District will sit on Thursday; for Balclutha on Friday, and for Tokomairiro on Saturday. The Hoslyn and Caveraham rolls were completed last evening. vxncial Executive to increase the pay of the police by the economical amount of fid per da J- The men work seven days in the week, and for that they are now to receive 45s fid. We (‘Bruce Herald’) understand that a gentleman who has recently visited the wreck of the Surat (and has some experience in these matters) is confident that she °~ H k® raised, and intends to make an effort in that direction if possible. The accident which, a few days ago, befel the boy Grey, while feeding a flax scutching machiap at Glenomaru, proved too severe to yield to the skilful treatment adopted with a view to saving the limb. On Saturday, Drs Smith and Manning performed the operation of amputation; the arm being severed between the shoulder and the elbow. Larrikiem appears to thrive at such an out of the way place as Akatore. Home young hopefuls, not content with besmearing the school doer with clay, have lately taken to throwing stones through the windows of the schoolmaster’s residence. The schoolmaster thinks things are going rather too far ; aud police protection is not vouchsafed to Akatore. A person, far refusing to deliver up his kcket when requested to do so by an official on the Auckland and Onehunga line, has recently been fined 10s and costs at the

Police Court. The same defendant was also fined 20s and coats, or in default to be imprisoned for seven days, for using offensive language towards the officer who applied for his ticket. These, says the ‘ Herald,’ are the first cases that have been brought under the railway regulations. The annual election of officers for the Horticultural Society took place last night at the Athenaeum as follows :—President, Mr Sievwrlght; Vice-president, Mr W. D. M orison ; Treasurer, Mr Ogilvie ; Secretary, Mr A. Hay. The Committeemen are:— Gardeners; G. Matthews, C. Lawrence, A. M'Kinlay, A. Begg, and W. Arrol. Amateurs ; A. Grant, R. M‘Kay, A. H. Shury, J. B. Bradshaw, and H. Wise. This concluded the business of the evening. The following appears in to-day’s * Bruce Herald’: —“Our attention has been drawn to what professes to be a report of the proceedings at the banquet to Mr Mollison, at Waihola, on Friday last, in a Dunedin paper. The report is, from beginning so end, a specimen of imaginative writing, but we would notice one gross error. Mr Mollison is made to say that he did his best for his constituents by always voting with, the majority. Mr Mollison said£nothing of the kind.” “ Glin Gath,” the new drama produced at the Princess’s last night and announced for repetition this evening, is extremely sensational. The aim of its author appears to have been to demonstrate the great number of persons it was possible to murder in order to work out a hazy plot; and, judging by the first act, in which alone there are some four or five killings, he has succeeded tolerably well. The principal characters are the dual ones sustained by Messrs Steele and Keogh, who at one time are Spanish desperadoes, and at another Englishmen of wealth. Each of them plays remarkably well, and receives valuable assistance from Messrs Musgravo and Hesford, Mrs Hill, and Misses Willis and Ashton.

The following tenders were received for the Kakanui and Island Creek bridges : Messrs Brogden and Sons, Wellington, L 6,636 (accepted), and the following declined S. M. Baird, Dunedin, L 8.558 jA. M. Campbell, Dunedin, L 10.482; W. 15. Morrison, Dunedin, L 7.100 • Allan and Stumblea, Timaru, L 6,487. We (‘ N.Z. Times’) may add that Messrs Brogden and Sons having the contract for the line of railway on which these bridges are situated, the advantage of having one contractor for the whole work occasioned the acceptance of their tender in preference to that of Messrs Allen and Stumbles, although the latter was slightly under that of Messrs Brogden and Sons. One at least of the journals of New York was most strongly opposed te the Inflation of the Currency Bill, as it was called-or, in other words, a Bill to sanction the issue of a large quantity of incontrovertible paper currency. The American Houses of Parlia-ment-Congress and Senate—did sanction the measure, but it was vetoed by the President. The ‘ New York Herald*’ publishes, under the title of “The Roll of Dishonor,” and surrounded by a mourning border, the names of the supporters of the measure in the Senate, with the following introductory remarks The following senators have placed themselves on the record as supporters of a measure which the fathers of the country regarded as ‘ the bane of nations, the ruin of commerce, and the robber of the poor.’ ” We have been requested to correct a slight error in our report of the gas explosion at .vir Edmond’s house yesterday. We said Mr 3dmond entered the room in which the explosion took place with a lighted candle ; the fact being that on Mrs Edmond’s complaining at the breakfast table of the smell occasioned by the escape, he having first turned the gas off at the meter, lit a match, and applied it to the whole lepgth of the pipe which extended from the meter to the burner in the middle of the room, but did not succeed in detecting any escape. He next applied the lighted match to the burner, and when the flame was about half an inch in height the explosion occurred. Mr Edmond is insured for LBOO, which sum will not cover hia loss. It will take over L6OO to place the house in ths position it stood before the explosion, and some valuable pictures have been materially damaged. The proposed Heriot Hundred covers a considerable portion of the Tapanui plain, and the ridge and the spurs between the Heriot and Spy law burns for two or three miles on each side of the Dunrobin Accommodation House. This Hundred admins the Crookaton Hundred, and is the natural extension of it. The plain will be from 600 to 700 feet above the sea, and the highest point of the ridge is 1,500 feet above the same level. The ‘ Tuapeka Times’ states that a fine field of oats was grown at Dunrobin this season at an elevation of 1,250 feet. The surrounding country comprises in the Hundred some equally fertile land. The roads from Tapanui to Teviot, and from Lawrence to Switzers run through the Hundred for several miles. There is no available bush on the land, but the bush on Wooded Hill and along the Tapanui range are accessible at distances of four to five miles. The saw mills of Tapanui are distant about ten miles.

The testimonial which the City Council and the insurance companies have combined to give to Mr Job Wain, in recognition of his services in connection with the Fire Brigade, is to be presented to that gentleman in a few days. It comprises a handsome gold watch and massive chain, and a tea and coffee service of four pieces. The watch is a keyless three-quarter plate, with compensation balance, and jewelled in twelve holes. The chain is of Colonial gold, with square liuks of a new pattern. The tea and coffee service is very handsome, and of chaste design. Each piece and the watch bear the following inscription Presented to Job Wain, jun Esq., by the Council of the City of Dunedin’ and by the agents of the various fire insurance companies, in recognition of his long and valuable public services as captain of the Dunedin Volunteer Fire Brigade. Dunedin, June, 1874.” The articles have been supplied by Mr George Young, Princes street, in whose shop window they are now on view. The Colling wood correspondent of the Nelson ‘Colonist’ furnishes the following particulars regarding the promising reefs at Anatori;—“ That we have as rich and as extensive a goldfield close to us as has ever been opened in New Zealand, X am convinced. Of course I allude to the reefing district of West Wanganui, which may be said to be only on the eve of being opened. You heard, of course, of the result which a crushing of one ton of quartz from the prospectors’ claim gave, 4fioz. Another small crushing of 55Ibs of specimens from the next claim yielded the extraordinary quantity of lOjyzs of retorted gold, or at the rate of about 4400zs to tbe ton ! Admitting that this was obtained from picked stone, it is still very great, and a sure indication of the immense richness of the quartz. This small quantity was brought over by the proprietors to obtain the necessary funds>to prosecute these works, and they-are satisfied they can continue getting funds in this manner, viz., by crushing a few pounds occasionally as they require mo%. They are about to put in a tunnel at a low level, and are sanguine of striking the reef by driving a little more than 100 ft.” A. new recipe for meat preserving, by the entire carcase, is thps described in a letter by Air Dolmage to the ‘ Southern Cross’; “As a great deal of attention is at present turn*

ing towards the new Colonial industry, meat preserving, I send you a recipe given to me by a gentleman in England last year j at the same time he told me that he would give a bonus of L3OO if one whole carcase was sent Home prepared by his recipe, Should any of your readers wish to correspond with him his address is Mr E. C. Monokton, Messrs Coutts and Co., Strand, London. The recipe is as follows :—‘Clean the carcase well, prepare the chamber and make it airtight by caulking; generate carbonic acid gas by means of a sodawater gas generator, with chalk and acid ; the gas being heavier than the air sinks to the bottom when the chamber is full of it. It will extinguish a candle lighted. Then throw in the meat till full, and close the chamber. Every second and third day inject more gas by pipes below. As long as the gas lasts the meat will be fresh.' From what Mr Monckton said the intention was to have special compartments on board vessels, and the carcases to be put in whole. Hoping it may give a hint to those in that business.—l am, kc., J. 0. Dolmage."

Resolutions of rather, a novel character, on the subject of education, have been moved in the Auckland Provincial Council by Mr Swan. The are:—l. “That a respectful address be presented to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to ask from the General Government a sufficient sum, as an advance, to cover the grant to and expenses of the Education Board, until the Legislature has time to pass a General Colonial Taxation for educational purposes; as also to advance a sufficient sum to cover the payments heretofore made by the Provincial Government to the Education Board.” 2, “That the General Government be asked, through his Honor, to hying before the Legislature a Bill providing that there shall be raised a sum sufficient to meet the educational requirements of the Colony, upon the basis of population, by a tax on property and income, or otherwise.” 3. “That each Province shall be allowed to carry on its own system of education, so that the Legislature shall not be required to deliver any opinion on the different systems n qw in force by virtue of Provincial Acts,” ' 4. ‘‘That the money raised for educational purposes by the Colonial Legislature shall be distributed to the several Provinces of the Colony in a capitation on the basis of population.” EraiUe J. Laysom, an American lady, who writes from Geneva to the Sisterhood in America, on the “'Women’s Crusade against Rum,” gives some sensible advice to her country-women, while she approves of their efforts to put down the consumption of spirituous liqueurs. She says that prayers should be followed by works, and reminds them that the evil of drunkenness does not altogether lie with the tavern-keeper. She says :—“ Search out the cause of your sorrow, which is not alone with the seller of intoxicating drinks, bub with the appetite that demands it. The great American malady is the malady of the stomach. Conscientious people become dyspeptics j non-consoientioas people become drinkers. Bear in mind this fact, that the appetite for drink is not necessarily made by drinking, but in nine cases out of ten it is created and cultivated at your tables—in your children—by the use of coffee, tea, pepper, pickles, mustard, spices, too much salt, hot bread and pastry, raw meat and grease, and, above all, by the use of tobacco. The cry of a depraved appetite, an inflamed stomach, is always for something stronger. The use of soup, milk, and salad prepared with good oil, should be cultivated. In short, reform your tables if you would reform your drunkards and save your sons. Cure the cause and the effect will be but natural. Stop the demand by correcting appetite,” Very sensible advice, and not less good is the suggestion that follows :—“ Instead of rye for whisky, raise grapes, that pure native wine may be used when needed.” The Good Templar is more pronounced, however, than Mrs or Miss Laysom. The wine that maketh glad is as obnoxious to him as the beverage that intoxicates. We would remind our readers that Dr Oarr gives his opening entertainment at the Masonic Hall this evening. The officers of the Grand Lodge, 1.0. G.T., will meet at the offices, Princes street, tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, at 7.30, to visit the Lodge Pride of Dunedin. We have received the ‘ New Zsaland Church News ’ for June. It has been issued this month later than usual, with the view of inserting a full report of the proceedings of the General Synod. The Home intelligence is interesting, the leading columns polemical, apd the ‘ Banner of the Cross ’ milk £pr babes. The woollen goods damaged by the late fire, the manufacture of the Mosgiel Factory, are to be offered for sale to-morrow, and are arranged in lots to suit small buyers. On inspection of them we were glad to' see far less damage done than could be anticipated, most of the pieces being only burnt at the ends of the rolls.