INTERPRoVINCIAL NEWS,

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 274, 15 October 1867, Page 3

INTERPRoVINCIAL NEWS.

Tho cost of Provincialism in New Zealand' is very clearly stated by a northern contemporary as follows : — Wo propose to ourselves to show that a large class of persons in the various Provinces! " are something like the activo vostry rc\6fl of the London parishes. They mako a. very handsome yearly subsistanoo by talking Provincialism to 1 the general p,\\Mk. Altogether there are somewhat Qvev 200,000 souls supposed to he in New Zealand. Taking tho usual ea&Mt§ o>\\t of this 200,000 there &m SQ,QQQ adttlte and taxpayers in the, general sense-. l\i govern those SQfyQOO prsotts \hsm are ton separate and iwkpe.ttde.ftt gavewxments. Fw ovw jw^eftt pwipae \vs must leave out the tenth w general gcveru--ment, and amuxe that it does iwt^fti So then we have mm Wpmfa awl independent government*-. *'hea£ gweviv-menta-are' in th©. northwfl inland fo\u\ employing 2?§ peA"%on%>, at a c**at of L4T,500 in vouxxd number In the southern island fiv^, ewmlayhxg 9§3 \>ws sons, at a cmi. of LTr^QO In vound numbers. Or, giving tiie gross totals of 454 porsQus, ~ dividing among them L12D,000 of the taxation of the. country. This, it will be remembered, ia not strictly tho cost of tho provincial government, for wo know that it costs aomowhero about double the amount, leaving out of tho question what it costs indirectly by tho withdrawal from their lesjitimato pursuits of somothing lilso 1000 persons for move official and legislative duties of no possible valuo to tho public: The Province of Tnranuki employs no less than 22 individuals, at "a cost of L 4722 annually to administer its affairs. The Province of Hawke's Bay employs 25 persons, at a total annual cost of Lsllß, while Wellington employs 76 persons, at a cost of L 15,017 9s annually. The Province of Southland, having a population numbering about 7000, requires abont L7OOO to keep its people in order. We need not multiply these instances of scandalous extravagance. To men who take the trouble of reflecting at all lipon the matter, it must be evident that these officers and offices are not required. But as we have now disposed of the petty malversators of the public money, we will proceed to take tho greater delinquents. Those who come nearest to each other are Auckland, Canterbury, and Otago. Auckhas one hundred and. fifty-three persons engaged in her Provincial Government, who divide among them L 22,602 14s 9d ; Canterbury has seventy-four, at L 21,833 ; Otago one hundred and twenty-three, at L 33,538. Thus Auckland pays her officials an average of Ll4l 2s 7d each yearly, Canterbury L 285 0s 9£d, and Otago no less than L 313 5s 10£ d. The average on the whole colony being L 223 2s s£d. If here is not a strong argument against Provincialism we should like to find one." We (Nelson Evening Mail) have seen a prospectus of the New Zealand Iron and Steel Company, capital LIOO,OOO, in 5000 shares of LlO each. The Company has been started for the purpose of working an invention for smelting the titaniferous ironsand of New Zealand, and it is proposed to commence operations by establishing works at Taranaki, where ironsand is said to exist in almost inexhaustible quantity, and of great purity. The company intend to use charcoal as fuel, tho cost of which, it is stated, will be comparatively small at Taranaki. The prospectus states that the superiority of New Zealand iron over any other for conversion into steel lias been fully established by practical tests, and gives analytical results in corroboration of this assertion. We can only express our hopes that the anticipations of the projectors of the new company may be fully realised. It is stated that the second best prize, in the Scotch -Art Unron fell to Irivercargill, New Zealand. Mr J. F. Jones, of the Southland Club, is the fortunate holder of the winning ticket. The subject of tho picture is " Cn the West Highlands," by Horatio Macnlloch, R.S.A., and was purchased by the Association for Ll5O. Since then the artist has died, and it is probable the painting will be nvach increased in value. - / : The Select Committee recently appointed by tho House of Representatives^ to enquire into the allegations made against Lieutenant - Colonel "M'Donnell, have completed their task. During the sittings of the Committee witnesses were examined and papers having reference to the fight at Pokaikai, in September, 1866, were searched, but no evidence was produced calculated in any way to show that the gallant Colonel was guilty of cruelty to the natives, or of an act of treachery as alleged by Mr Travers and Mr Macandrew in the House. To set the matter at rest, however, the Committee recommended that a Commissioner be appointed to proceed to the West Coast, and examine natives and militiamen who took part in the engagement. We understand that the Government have, therefore, appointed Mr Eblleston, Under Secretary in the Native Department, ' as Commissioner to inquire into the matter, and that gentleman will proceed to Patea immediately, armed with full power to sift the case thoroughly. — N. Z. Times. One of the most extraordinary escapes that ha 3 ever' come under our notice occurred at Parnell. Anyone passing up or down the Waitemata Harbor, or to and fro between the city and Parnell must have observed a lofty and prominent precipice at 1 the eastern extremity of Mechanics' Bay, near the residence of Dr Stratford, and behind the small native church of St. Barnabas. The cliff is. perpendicular and the rocks at its foot are submerged at high water to a depth of some feet. It appears that a son of Mr Lincolns on Friday last, was gathering ( food for rabbits on the brink of the cliff, which, is nearly 100 feet in height, when feeling the ground slipping from under him, he did what few boys at his age (ten years) would have had tho presence of mind and hardiness to do, made a bold spring outwards into the tide, and alighted on his feet in the water, the portion of earth on which he had been standing falling at the same moment on the rocks below. Wonderful to say, the only injury he sustained was a sprained ankle, for which lie was promptly attended by Dr Wright. This is undoubtedly a most extraordinary escape, and it was most fortunate that the tide was in at the time of the occurrence. We certainly are in-clined-to think that a mere boy often years of age, who could display such an amount of presence of mind, judgment, and courage, deserves the escape he has won.. — Weekly Herald* \