DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 204, 4 May 1867, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

(FRO?.r OTJII OWN CORRESPONDENT. ) |j April 27. \\ In :u4 of the Sick and Accident Fund! the Fire Brigade have been in the habif of getting up a fete about this seasoalj! These have generally been held at Vauii ; hall, but on. this occasion the Noffih/ Recreation Ground was chosen,, andi a better selection could not possibly Ibe made for a thing of the sort. There is/tfp boating or jetty steps to bother the ladies : the cabs take them right to the gales.' Taking advantage of the presence in t6wn of the Circus Company, the Committee' made arrangements with them for/ the; production of a fete of rather a i oyel I character, called in the bills " A Gj-and Hippodrome," with sports and pasjlimcs " after the manner of the aiicientllontuis." The' day, though it throatciied a little in the morning, turned out one of the mildest of our second summer — fine brighj sunshine all over ; and the beauty aud fnfchkm of Dunedin turned out in force. Jjovta*, since the first time the Caledonian Society's Grand Stand was iised, wa| there such a crowd on it ; both floor* were literally crammed, there being considerably over 2000 persons seated. On the /jrouud there were about other 4000, so fiat the Fire Brigade have no reason to cbmplain this time. The proceedings began about noon, by a grand procession boinjiformed on the reclaimed land opposite ho Tin-; perial, which marched through Princes,; George, and Grent King street' to the grounds, which were by that ti-niJ pretty well thronged. The sports inclu/ed some pretty well contested foot-races ; but the j grand attractions of the day were ' iecidedly the rope-dancing and the chariot races. The chariots were constructed fo* the' purpose by Messrs Hoyt and C<j. of this town, aud were certainly f unify looking i things ; but with a pair of good horses in each and well driven, were madp to round; the ring at a pretty fast rate. The evident earnestness of each of the ladyj drivers in 1 the first race to be first was most exciting/ I and produced a hearty round of applause' I The hurdle race, by two ladies and foiu! gents, was also well contested', aud prcjduccd great fun ; towards the close one of j the horses fell and threw its rider, a lady,. i but she luckily escaped unhurt-. The j 'storrinc ascent" of Madame Tonrueay, on a rope about fifty feet above the ground to the top of the Grand Stand w;is a most exciting scene. The amusements j were brought to a close by anothej; chariot race, between two " ancient Romans," who guided tficir " fiery coursers" round and round with great skill. Soon afterwards the large concourse dispersed, evidently much ploasejd j with the day's sport. In the evening both j | the Theatre and Circus were well attended. I I There was also a fete at Vauxhall, which I closed for the 'season. _ i j The inquiry into the fire at Switzei's ! premises has been concluded. An open verdict— that the fire was wilfully causeid — was returned. Is T ext day, Switzer was | brought before the Magistrate on a charge i of anon, the Commissioner of Police prosecuting, " from information received." The case was adjourned, bail being I allowed. Willson's case has also been j put oil" for the . production pf further i evidence. , ! Building operations have been coni- { minced on the site of the late fire at, j several places. Brick aud stone, of couvsL have got to be used in every case, so that the appearance of the town in that quarter will bo 'considerably' improved. The old i Provincial Government ortices in Princes j i street are undergoing rapid demolition j and removal, so 'that in another day 1 or two there will be a large open spacj iiistead of the string ox shabby shanties tlfeit used to be there.' J T3ie Suez mail has again arrived without any letters or papers for this partjof ■ the Colony. As if to make some amends, the Panama mail lias arrived punctually, but, as if to spite us in this Province, fie. southern mails have been sent off in tliat, slow-going coach the St Kilda, so that 1 wo will not have them till far on to-day,' or perhaps to-morrow, thereby losing at least a couple of days : j. The miners up-country are still oom- j plaining of the drought, most of the races being nearly dry. The rivers being Very low, advantage is taken of the opportunity to work their banks, and some parties have been very successful. Last Escort, G,OQO odd ounces. ;. Arrived, the Tamana from London, Jail well, yesterday. i Business is brisk, with very little alter? ation in quotations. ', The political '-' situation " seems to; c;et more and more perplexing every day.; A strong feeling of antagonism to the Gone* "ral Government is spreading over the Province, both among the mining andvthe agricultural communities, and where it will end nobody knows. The recent action of the General Government in relation to the Gold Fields 7 Delegation has added fuel to the fire. The Provincial Executive took very prompt action in regard to the appointment of the Gold Fields Agent, refused him auy access to official documents, sent off word to tlie Wardens, &c.j to follow suit, and then a meeting of all; the members of the new Council that could be got together on so short a notice was held j on Wednesday, when 22 out of the 30 attended, and passed unanimous resolutions in support of the .course adopted byj the Execuiive. So that,- altogether, the relations between the two GovernmentsGeneral and Provincial— so far as regards this Province, were never in a more critical state. Revolution seems imminent', or civil war, or something very like it. ; An open-air meeting was held on Thursday afternoon, on the Octagon, at which resolutions bearing pretty stiffly on the same subject, were unanimously adopted. ' Meetings of a similar nature are being held in different parts of the Province. A regular shindy took place at Lawi;once oil Thursday between the General Government men and the Provincials. ■•! The former tried to get possession of the Gold Eields' Buildings, but were met with a stout resistance and defeated. Bradsliaw, with whom is Pyke, late Secretary, aud Croker, the Warden, insisted on their right to enter ; but the Provincial authorities, including some of the Executive, maintained possession. The miners are in favor of the Province ; open-air meetings are to be* held, and great excitement prevails^.. A strong force of police are presenfs to preserve order. The same feelings cs[ indignation are spreading to the othermntr"s of population oyfthe diggings. lufcjujijlJm: V^h'i>|£sr.S. ff sUjgnt something

panios: Altogether, things arc about in as pretty a, mess in Otago as they could well. be.' \ A -nice little squabble has broken nut this week-" in the City Council. At this meeting on Wednesday, some ilifforaiice of opinion esisted about the reception of j a series of motions veguriljng tlic rt'sciuili ing of ;i resoh'ition come to at :\ former meeting. The discussion was adjourned 1 to a special meeting, called for next day ; j but at the beginning of Iho business the j Mayor coolly told die Council that tlie tiling was irregular and could not be done, and inline liately left the •room. A scene { ensued. After some time, a majority of j the members detciMiined to advertise a ! meeting, in stiict accordance with the Corporation Act, for the next day (yesterday), which was accordingly done. At I the meeting, al ong discussion ensued on the resolutions, a good deal of personal feeling being . displayed, but they were carried — tlioeii'cub being that every possible source of outlay is to be minimised. Weather very fine. The .ivrival of our files of papex'3 enables us to furnish the following more detailed information : — On tlie 24th, . the following notice, signed by Mr Yogel as Provincial Treasurer, appeared in the Daily Times : — " Members of the Provincial Council, who can make it convenient to attend at so short a, notice, arc particularly requested to meet' at the Council Hall to-day, at noon, to take into consideration the action of the General (lO'vernnient in regard to the Gold Fields." On the 25th, the Times published the following authorised minute of the proceedings at the meeting. There were present 22 members 'out of the 39 forming the Council :— -" The Provincial Treasurer explained the action taken with regard to the appointment of Mr Bradshiiw,' and read minutes passed by the Executive Council. Mr Burns proposed and Mr Taylor seconded : 'That this meeting desires very strongly to express its disapproval of the course adopted by the General Government in withholding the management of the- gold fields from the Superintendent and the Provincial Council. 7 This was carried unanimously. Proposed by Mr Burns, and seconded by Mr Taylor :— ' That the members of the Provincial Council now present beg to thau'v the Provincial Government for the prompt action they have taken in reference to the appointment of Bradshiuv. and will be prepared j to assist the Government, by every means I in their power, to retain the control of the gold tiolds in the hands of the Superintendent and tlio Provincial Council.' Mr Tunibull proposed as an amendment that between the words ' every' and ' means' be inserted ' legal and constitutional.' The amendment was { subsequently withdrawn ; and-the original motion Avas carried unanimously. Mr Millar moved, and Mr M'lndoe seconded : — ' That this meeting approves of the minute of the Executive Council, dated the 23rd instant, in reference to guaranteeing twelve months salary to those officers on the gold fields, who elect to serve the 3?rovineial Government.' The motion was supported by all present, excepting Mr Dermid, and was carried. Mr Shepherd moved, and Mr Hughes seconded : — £ That immediate steps be taken by tlis Executive Council, to lay the present position of matters affecting the gold iialds before the 'residents thereou ; and that Xlmiv opinion be taken, as it is believed they will express an opinion against the action of the General Government.' Tliis was carried unanimously. Mr Burns moved', and Mr Hughes seconded : i — ' TJuifc this meeting will support a vote in the Council for sr.cli necessary exj^enditure us may bo required to .secure" the carrying out of die views of this mooting.' The motion was supported by allprcsent, except Mr Mitchell ; and it was carI ried." The Government received ;v telegram on the -24th from Mr Matthew Hay, M.P.O. for Wakatip'and Mr J. 0. Brown, M.P.O. for the Gold Fields, stating tlia.t they were totally opposed to the present course of action of the Stafford Ministry, and that great indignation was felt by the rei sidents on the Gold Fields at the atj tempted change of management. A telegram from Clyde, indicated that a similar feeling had been raised at that place and Alexandra. On the 25th, a meeting was held in the Octagon, to consider the action of the General Government with respect to the management of the Gold Fields. The meeting, remarks the Times of next morning, was very insufficiently announced ; and it was evident that there had been nothing like .arrangement as to who should preside or who speak. One announcement was that the meeting was to be held on Saturday afternoon, at four o'clock ; and in an advertisement pub- - lished on Wednesday evening, the Octagon and Thursday afternoon were mentioned, but no hour was stated. A few persons had assembled in the neighborhood of the Octagon by four o'clock,, but it was twenty minutes after four before there were auy signs of a commencement of proceedings. There were not 300 persons assembled at any time during the meeting. The meet-. I ing was presided over hy Mr J. A. J. Macgrogor-, and the principal speakers were Messrs. Kidston, Barr,. Dpds, Murray, Ross, and Jago. The latter dwelt particularly on the fact that he had been a very determined opponent of Mr Macandrew during the election for Superintendent. The following resolutions were passed by the meeting :— " That this meeting approves of the prompt action taken by the Provincial Government in reference to the appointment of Mr Bradshaw by the General Government, and will assist the Provincial Government by all means in its power to retain the management of the Gold Fields in the hands of the Superintendent and Provincial Coiincil." "That this meeting desires to express its disapproval of the action, taken by the General Government in withholding the management of the Gold Fields from the Superintendent and the Provincial Council, considering it to be 'a most unwarrantable act, and one that it feels bound to oppose by all means in its power." . A committee was formed consisting of Messrs Macgregor, Hay, Ware, Murray, Kennedy, Mills, Barr, Reeves, Jago, and Kidston, to aid in giving effect to the resolutions passed by the meeting. On the 27th the Otarjo Daily Times says : — " Wo have been favored with some information as to what has occurred at Lawrence (Tuapeka), in consequence ,uf the mission thither of Mr J. B. Bradshaw, the claims he lui^uiade as General Government Agenjf for thtf- gold liclds, and the

resistance to those claims which has been made by the Provincial authorities. There .ire many reasons why we should now Confine ourselves to a statement of what we believe to be the facts ; and foremost amongst those reasons.. is the certainty that we shall soon be in possession of more ; detailed information. "Mr Vincent Pyke, who was Gold j Fields Secretary, lias given in liis ad- | horenco to the General Government. Some i time ago, Mr Pyke was appointed to act with Mr J. C, Brown. M.P.C., on behalf of the Provincial Government, to consult ! with. publicly elected delegates from the j Tuapoka townships, with a view to report i to the Government respecting what lauds should and what should not be open under the agricultural lease system. Mr Pyke started for Lawrence a day or two ago, to r.jsumo this inquiry ; and we belurve that what passed on the matter led to his dibuiirssal. At Lawrence, Mr Brown refused to act with him : but — to what extent we do not know— Mr Pyke lias' been sitting as a Warden-,- to continue the inquiry, and Major Croker has been sitting with him. The delegates, we learn, have refused to meet Mr Pyke, who has been claiming to go on with the inquiry. as an officer of the General Government. The Provincial ' Executive have sent up. Mr A. Mollison, M.P.C., one of their number, and Mr John Hughes, M.P.C., to act with Mr Brown. Those gentlemen started on Thursday morning ; and if they did not proceed to business yesterday, they will do so today. " Mr Yogel, the Provincial Treasurer, also started for Lawrence on Thursday. It appears that Mr Bradshaw claims all official buildings on the gold fields as well as all documents, as the prsperty of the General Government. Major Croker, the Warden at Tuapeka, acts under Mr Bradshaw's instructions ; and so do some of the other officials. On Thursday night, however, the buildings were taken possession of on behalf of the province. Mr P3 r ko tried to obtain admission to them, and insisted on his right to do so as a Magistrate 1 ; bub there was a guard of police in attendance, to pi'eserve the peace, and they refused to allow Mr Pyko to make the attempt to force an entrance. A'j indicating, in its way, the temper of the people in Dunedin, the Daily Times publishes a string of conundrums sent, in to ihe manager of Cooke's Circus, on the 26th. By general acclamation the prize wis awarded to the following : — " Why is Superintendent Macaiulrew a greater man than Napoleon ? Because he cannot be conquered by Wellington." The author was stated to be a Mr. Murray. The following arc some of the others : — " Why docs the hon. J. B. Bradshaw resemble a dishonest music-seller I — Because he sells the Miners (minors) for the Major's scale." " Why is Mr Bradshaw like a digger who has bottomed a hole and found no gold f — Because he is in the wrong place and his claim is a duffer." " What is the difference between the Agent of this Circus Company and the appointed Agent of the General Government? — The one is able (Abel) and the other is'nt. " Why should Mr Stafford suffer from ill-health ?—Because he tries to stretch the Constitution." " What is the difference between the Taieri River aud the General Government? — The one runs through the best portion of our land, and the other through the best portion of our money." " Why. are. the diggers of Otago like a stubborn railway traveller ? Because they refuse to receive Bradshaw as a guide."