DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 324, 11 February 1868, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

(from our own correspondent.) February 1. The Census return for the Dunedin district, for the triennial period ending 19th December last, was published in the Daily Times yesterday. It was expected there would b§ a pretty serious falling off in the figures ; but it happens the difference is not so great, for all the drains upon our population from West Coast atid other causes. The total for the city proper is 12,468, showing a decrease of 2653 ; for the suburbs the total is 6914, being an increase of 725, the actual decrease therefore over the Dunedin district ia only 1931. The Rural Deanery Board of Otago and Southland met on Wednesday evening, when the appointment of Dr Jenner to the Bishopric of Dunedin, formed the subject of a long discussion. A number pi letters to the Rural Dean (Rev. Mr Edwards) from the Bishop-elect, the Bishop of Christchurch, Archbishop of Canterbury, £c, were read ,-md to lamented on. The well-known High-church vie .vs of Dr Jenner f«.rm the strong points of the opposition to his appointment ; and jn deference to this feeling ha has offered to resign if, at the end of three years, a majority of the communicants of the church still object to him, The actual number of communicants in the church ia, however, very small — those for St. Paul's here, out of a congregation of about 350, only numbering 40— and it is felt that they would not give a fair reflex of the feeling of the whole body. After a pretty warm discussion, whiohlastedaboufc four hours, a motion disapproving of the appointment of Dr Jenner to the Bishopric was proposed by the Rev R. L. Stanford, of Tokomairiro, but on a discussion it >vas negatived by a majority of 3. A special meeting of the City Council was held on Monday, at which the Finance Committee presented a long report dealing *vith the income and liabilities of the Cor* poration, and with the proposed distribution of the subsidy from the Provincial Government, &c. The report manages to make both ends, meet, which is something of itself in these times of impecuniosity, find has, besides, the hopeful feature of peeing a way out of the slough of debt jn which the Council has. so lons flonn* dered. The subsidy will not go far in the construction of new works, but it may do ji good deal in the completion of a number of half-finished jobs all over town, and with this object, the wards are to have an amount aUpcatgd proportioned to the rates- levied. At the same meeting the yates for the current year was fixed at Is 6d in the, pound. Mr James Turner, who has so long represested the South Ward both in the Council and in the Town Board, has resigned his seat, being abont to leave the town. A new member is to be elected on Friday next. The Rector of the. High School and his famous letter have been largely discussed jn the papers lately, in connection with the doings of the Synod thereanent. Abuse of the latter body is the prevailing text, and the changes have been rung on it in a vari§ty of ways. ; but the funniest one is a public meeting which took place ftt Lawrence, Tnapeka, where the speakers indulged hr just the very sort of thing of which they accused the. Syno..d-=-that of condemning people when absent. They certainly gave it hot to the Synod ; but it ip very questionable whether such exliibitions do not do more harm than good, The matter might now very well be allowed to pasj into oblivion. The Supreme Court sat in Banco yesterday, when, among other cases, that of Cameron v. The Otago Daily Times, and Witn:s.J Co, (Limited) wa,s hea,rd, and concluded. An explanatory affidavit on the part of the defendants was put in and p^ad ; and from the argument that ensued it appeared that before the case, was, heard in the Appeal Court at Wellington a nolle prosequi had been entered by the plaintiffs, so that actually there was no case pending at the time the remarks in the paper, from which the application to the Court arose, were made. So in consequence of this the case, ended. But the Judge, on the question of costs coming up, decided, in. accordance with the usual rule, that tho defendants would have to pay the, costs, which will not be a sma.ll sum. A special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday, to press on the notice of the General Government the desirability of d§spa,tching a steamer to aid in the search now being madeiat the Auckland and Campbell Isles for'shipwrecked persons. Our Government seems very slow to move in the matter, and the Southland Executive deserve all the credit for what they have done. The Chamber here appointed a cqmniittee to take steps for bringing the search again before the Government, tho Commodore on the. ptatior, an 4, if necessary, the Yjctorian Government. From the news brought by the Gothenburg, it seems likely that the Victorians will send an expedition to the island on their, own account, for the purpose of looking after the gold. By the E. P. Bouverie, from Glasgow, and the Warrior Queen, from L,on.dQp, we have this week received a considerable addition to the bone and sinew of the Province, as well as large cargoes of merchandise. For our Acclimatisation Society, the Warrior Queen has brought out a large qonsignine,nt of British birds. Out pf 1100 shipped, about the half have arrived safely and in good health. Bad weather and the other incidents of a long voyage having reduced the number. The birds have all been brought up to the Society's grounds and accommonated in the aviaries thgre,. Some, of them are to be liberated in the town, while others are to be given to parties who may apply for them ; and a few are to.be s.old to any. one who may wish to locate any particular bird in his neighborhood or on his property. The annual competitions of the Rifle Association commence to-day, Some splendid practice is expected. The ketch Redcliffe, lately brought hore for the purpose of trying, the deep-sea fishing, has been very successful, and trawling may now be recognised as established. Among the fish she has sent to market, soles are the most prominent, being of large size and good flavor. With the exception of Tuesday, 04 which there was about twelve hours, of heavy rain, we have had a week of beautiful weather. I hear that harvest has begun one or two fields of barley having been cut, but generally crops look very green yet. The fine weather may do a good deal to recover the potatoes, which have buffered moat from the wet season. The Escort brought down 40230z gold on Tuesday. The Superintendent is at present among the diggers, and was received with enthusiasm at Lawrence yesterday.