THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1868.

Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 450, 1 December 1868, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1868.

Mr. G. S. Sale, county secretary, Las announced himself as a candidate for the representation of Hokitifca in the County Council. In answer to a numerously - signed requisition, that gentleman states that his present office under the Government will cease on the 31st December, and he will, therefore* come before the electors as a private individual, free from the trammels of office. Our Hokitika contemporary, which formerly, on all occasions, cocdeumed Mr. Sale's actions and policy, now warmly supports his candidature, because they have suddenly discovered that, "as the executive officer of the Government, Mr. Sale has had many duties to discharge which belonged of necessity to his office. But in no instance has the discharge of these duties been attended by circumstances creating public discontent or private resentment. The impression is universal that the County Secretary has acted through the whole course of his career amongst us as a high-minded official — a conscientious servant of his Government — but at the same time a faithful advocate of the rights and interests of the people." "What wonderful changes time brings about ! Only lately Mr. Sale was denounced by our contemporary as being unfit to hold almost any office under the Government ; now the same journal puts forward his claims thus strongly, for the avowed purpose of endeavoring to elevate him to the chairmanship of the county. We have on many occasions borne our testimony to the able manner in which Mr. Sale has, since the first rush to the coast, filled the offices under the Government held by him, and we now express the belief that in losing Mr. Sale the Government service will suffer a great and almost irreparable loss. No doubt his experience of the practical working of the form of Government under which we live would admirably fit him for the highest seat in the county ; but still we

cannot see why this attempt should be , made to usurp the privilege of the new ,j Council to elect its own chairman, fhe ' injustice of the argument used by our ' contemporary is too apparent, and will no doubt defeat Jtself. We haye no wish to interfere in the elections for the representation of Hokitika, but we must protest against the wholesale usurpation .of the privilege of the Council which has b.een attempted by putting Mr. Sale forward as the future county chairman. We hope he will be elected, and should the Council's choice of a chairman fall upon him, we will congratulate the members upon their selection ; but in the meantime this matter ought to be allowed to remain in abeyance. Mr. Sale's own view of the question, as stated by him at a recent public meeting held in Hokitika, is much more preferable to that put forth by our contemporary. He is in favor of taking from the Council the right of electing its own chairman, and placing it in the hands of the general body of the electors of the county, and he argued, from the example of Canterbury, that the majority of the people generally elected the best men. Iv settled provinces or towns, this rule may very frequently be found correct ; but it is not equally applicable to unsettled mining communities, where a very large proportion of the voting power lies in the hands of the miners. We believe the present arrangement for the election of the county chairman to be the best that can be satisfactorilyprovided under the peculiar circumstances of the settlement of the district. Besides, there is au objection to a continual tinkering at the Constitution under which we live ; and it is to be hoped the members who may be elected to wield the large powers of local selfgovernment conferred upon them by the new County of Westland Act will not be led away by those harpings after change which so frequently adorn the columns of the "West Coast Times. 5 ' For a time — at least until it has had a fair trial — the Council should be content to work out the true meaning of the Act, to take advantage of their extended powers to confer every possible benefit upon the district, without giving any of their time and attention to the consideration of fanciful proposals for carrying on the business of ohe county, which can result in no positive good, and are only brought forward for the self-glorifi-cation of individuals.

The nomination of candidates for the representation of the borough in the County Council takes place to-morrow. In addition to the candidates who have already been announced, viz., Messrs Lahman, Wiokes, and Comiskey, Mr W. H. Harrison has again come forward, in answer toa very uunierouslysigned requisition which was presented to him yesterday. It is probable that another candidate will be brought forward to-morrow. — For the Paroa electoral district, three candidates were nominated yesterday— Messrs E. B. Fox, W. Dale, and Don F. delas Carreras. It was the intention of Mr Keary to have contested this seat, as a requisition signed by over 200 miners bad been presented to him ; but by some mistake he arrived after the proceedings had terminated. The nomination of candidates foi the Paroa Road Board took place yesterday. Eight candidates were nominated, and the poll will take place on the 10th inst. MrW. H. Harrison announces his intention of addressing the electors of Greymouth tomorrow evening, at the Institute, Gresson street. A terrestial paradise for teetotallers is said to exist in the Mount Gambier District, in South Australia, where there is not a single licensed public-house to be found. It is not stated, however, how many unlicensed houses there are. We direct particular attention to a letter in another column from the Rev. Messrs Beaumont and Shaw emphatically denying the statement mentioned by "Inquirer" in a recent issue as having been, made to him by Mr Sampson, undertaker, to the effect that one of the ministers refused to read the burial service at the grave of the late William Chesterman without being paid £1. We are glad this denial has been made, in order to put these gentlemen right with the public, and to lay the blame at the proper door. In one booth at the late National Show at Ballarat, there were no fewer thau 7540 nobblers served in one day over the bar. There will be no performance at the Union Theatre this evening, but to-morrow evening the Gourlay Family will appear for the last time. On that occasion Mr Gourlay will give some of his finest impersonations, including that of "Bailie Nicol Jarvie," in a piece entitled "Pickings from Waverley.'' Other attractions are announced, and it is anticipated that the last entertainment given in town by this clever family will be a great success. Mr W. C. Shepherd, the Dunedin pedestrian, has entered for the grand handicap sweepstakes, to l»e run in Melbourne this month. There are sixteen entries. Dunedin is the only part of New Zealand represented, the other fifteen being from Victoria and New South Wales. The Auckland Evening News of the 16th November says :— An elderly man named Dodd was walking along Queen street wharf this afternoon, near the Custom-house Quay, when he was seen to fall into the water. The third officer of the Lord Ashley, Mr Furlong,

observing the accident, and that the man | sank, pulled his coat and boots off, and with great courage jumped into the water after him. Captain Williams-, who was also near at hand, pitched a-life-bnoy over, and by their united efforts, and the assistance of a rope, one of the 'falls of the Custom-house boat waßle<fc down 1 , and 4his Dodd was able to lay hold o£*> ljue was brought on to the whcirf, nothing the worse for his ducking. Dodd, we understand, is a pettier at Mahurangi, and is subject to these somewhat inconvenient fits of somnambulism. This is the second drowning person that Mr Furlong has assisted in saving since he has been in harbor, and it speaks well for his courage and humanity." The local journal at Westport states that the scarcity of provisions is being much felt by the few men who are working on the Wanganui beach, north of the Mohikinui. A party of four came down with the intention of chartering a craft to take up a supply which they think will last for twelvemonths. Fifteen miles inland from the Karamea, at Fenian Gully, some coarse gold has been obtained, but not in large quantities. A preliminary meeting of those interested in gettiug up Christmas sports was held last evening at Shannon's Star Hotel, Mr J. Johnston in the,, chair. A committee consisting of Messrs Ashton, Paul, Fitzgerald, Quiulan, Johnston, Middleton, Coutauche, and Flauery were appointed to canvass the town for subscriptions, and to report to a public meeting to be held at the same place on Thursday evening. The list was opened, and £60 subscribed in the room. Mr J. Middleton was appointed hon. treasurer, and Mr C. Ilolder hon. sec, pro tern. It is stated that a luxuriant crop of grass is growing in the streets of Mohikinui, which only twelve months since presented a lively appearance, aud contained, although it did not support, a few hundred people. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Saturday, before W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M., Williaii' Anderson, for having been drunk and disorderly, was fined ss. Andrew Agnew was charged, on remand, with cruelty to a horse; but thecse was dismissed. — Donald Maclean, charged with disobeying a summons, was discharged wUh a caution . — Alexander Chase and Alexander Beaton were charged with larceny from a ship, and were remanded until to-morrow.— Yesterday, James M'Grath was cnarged with the larceny of certain articles of wearing apparel of the value of £3 The police stated that the prosecutor in this case was the steward of the John Perm, an I the vessel had left. A remand was asked for and granted for eight days. A sitting of the District Court will be held to-day at the Resident Magistrate's Courthouse, at 11 o'clock. The following business appears on the list: — Powell and party v. Madden and party, Maori Gully, an appeal against the decision of Mr Warden Keogh. — Iv the bankruptcy cases of Stephen Egan, Thomas Brown, boat-builder, Greymouth ; and John Tucker; chemist, Greymouth, the bankrupts are to surrender, and days named for tinal meetings of creditors. In the case of Card Brothers, storekeepers, New River, an application for certificate of complete execution of deed will be made. What we have failed in accomplishing in Greymouth has been attained in Westport — the establishment of an athenasum. The Westport Times tells us that the institutions andthearchitectureofWestporthavereceived an addition by the erection of an athenaeum. This new building occupies a sufficiently central and convenient, though comparatively secluded, situation in Kennedy street, immediately behind the Police-camp.