THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 677, 21 May 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1870.

It is instructive to take a glance occasionally at those most valuable returns of the trade of the various ports in the Colony, which appear in the General Government Gazette, in order to ascertain whether we are on the forward or retrograde movement. At the present time we would not have given the following comparative statement such a prominent place, had it not been that the West Coast Times of yesterday, unintentionally, we have no doubt^mis-stated the figures, and did not fully quote the facts, which were copied, without enquiry, into another paper. The returns of the Customs revenue collected at the various ports during the quarter ended 31st March last, show that Greymouth overtopped. Hokitika, producing £10,856, again3t Hokitika's £10,603. In order to find out where the revenue of the County is now really coming from, we have to compare these figures with those of the corresponding quarter of last year. Then we find that Hokitika produced which, in one year, has fallen off to .£10,603 : while Greymouth then produced ,£9378, which has steadily increased, month by month, until it is now ill 0,856. While we regret sincerely the very serious falling .off which has taken place in the revenue of the sister port, we cannot refrain from pointing with satisfaction to the steady increase which has taken place in the revenue of Greymouth, until it is now the first .port in Westland. Were it not for the present obnoxious system of dividing our revenue with Nelson, we would now have some right to claim that Greymouth should be the seat of Government ; but not so long as the fact remains that every pound collected in Hokitika is worth two raised in Greymouth. To obviate this difficulty, by the removal of the present bouudary line, the whole political energy of the people should now be directed. Need any better argument for this than the figures quoted above be advanced ? The results, so far as the exports are I concerned, cannot be definitely ascertained, because the full compiled returns are not yet published, still we find in a brief return furnished that, during the same quarter, Greymouth exported more gold than Hokitika— namely, Greymouth, .28,4630z ; Hokitika, 25,8080z. The total amounts exported from the different ports cannot be clearly ascertained, as they are summarised under the heads of the various Provinces, thus :— Otago exported, up to the 31st March last, 2,568, 4470z j Westland, 1,355,2180z; Nelson, 925,4420z; Auckland, 243,4970z ; Marlborongh, 34,8780z ; and Southland, 27,8130z— total, 5,155,2950z, of a value of £20,024,218. These figures are of value, especially at the present time when there is so much agitation on various political questions, both on the Nelson and Westland sides of the river.

There have been strange doings in the Nelson Provincial Council since it opened, and, as most of these matters are directly connected with theGreydistrict, we will give a brief resume of them. As our telegrams, recently published, must have prepared ' our readers, the first important motion of the session was moved by Mr Luckie, as a want of confidence in the present Executive. It was upon this question that our newly-elected representative, Mr Frankly», so greatly distinguished himself as the champion of the Curtis Government, and not only the open and unblushing betrayer of the best interests of the district he was chosen to repre? sent, but also : the means of bringing disgrace upon his constituents and upon the West Coast generally. Poor Franklyn, he little anticipated, when he made his memorable attack upon the whole of his colleagues from the West Coast, the exposure of his secret conduct that was about to follow, and the bitter pill he would have to swallow, in having his seat declared vacant, in being literally turned out of the Council he had so Boon disgraced, and sent back to face the constiluency whose best feelings he had outraged. We could not have believed that

after what had occurred, Mr Franklyn would have had the audacity again to ask the people of the Grey District to return him to the Council, were we not assured of it by himself, by telegraph from Nelson. Under these circumstances, it is necessary that his past conduct should be fully understood, as the electors will be asked to give an opinion upon it. When Mr Luckie moved the vote of no confidence in the Executive, he gave reasons, showing the gross mismanagement of the Government, and that they had been the meana of bringing about the present stagnation in the Province by their miscalculations of revenue ; their refusal to expend the votes of the Council; and their unconstitutional conduct in paying amounts which had been refused by the Council—one of these being a sum of ,£62 10s to Mr Dent, the overseer of the Brumier mine, which had been struck off his salary by a direct vote of the Council. The seconder of the motion was Mr-Baigent, who said "he felt the painful position in which he was placed, but when such great mismanagement showed itself on the part of the Executive, it was time for the members to speak out. The Superintendent was neglecting one of his principal duties, for instead of going about and making himself acquainted with the people and their wants, he sat at home and left the work to others to do. The present stagnation was entirely due to the carelessness and inexperience of the Superintendent and his Executive. Mr Baigent then dwelt at. length upon the Wangapeka question, arguing that the Government had totally ignored the interests of the miners." Of course, the members of the Government defended their conduct, and that of their chief, but they were strongly attacked by the West Coast, and even by some of the Nelson members. Mr O'Conor, of Westport, considered the present motion one of the greatest importance, and a just consequence uuon the neglect, weakness, \ and mismanagement of the present administration. He then made a powerful attack upon the Executive for their administration of West Coast affairs, especially with reference to the Wardens appointed by them, and the manner in which the money was expended. Mr Donne, of Charleston, supported the motion because he believed that, if carried, it would lead to the future wellbeing and future unanimity of the province. In the Wangapeka aftair he considered the Government had acted most rashly, and were nearly kindling a flame that, once lighted, would have spread through the whole of the gold fields in the colony ; he trusted the Council would hold them responsible for their actions in this matter. With referenco to Mr Kynnersley, he considered that if his suggestions were carried out, not a single member from the West Coast would attend the Council, as their doing so would be a mere farce. On the question of Mr Dent's salary he considered that the only satisfactory remedy for the action taken by the Executive was to deprive them of their seats on the Government bench. Mr Franklyn now rose, and was, of course, from his speeches delivered to his blindlyconfident constituents, expected to support the motion, but to the astonishment of the whole of the Council, and the disgust of his West Coast colleagues, he said (as reported in a Nelson paper) that he had failed to discover anything in what Mr Luckie had said, except that he wished to shut his eyes and ears to all reason. If the constituents whom he represented had any enmity towards the present Executive,- he was sure they would have far greater objections to those who would succeed them. So long as Mr Kynnersley's name was on the Executive, it would possess the confidence of the people of the West Coast. As for the Wangapeka, he believed that Mr Luckie was the origin of the difficulty, that he had disturbed and complicated affairs to such an extent that people stood aghast at his mendacious audacity. The Speaker here called Mr Frankly p to order stating that his language was highly disorderly. Mr Franklyn proceededto say that the opposition to the present Government was a wilfully blind one. What they had in view was not their country's, but their own good. Here the Speaker again interfered, saying that such language was disgraceful to the Council, and that he must call upon members to support him in putting a stop to it. Mr Franklyn concluded by saying that manj' of the charges brought against the Government were groundless, and tha*. he should be carrying out the wishes of his constituents in voting against the motion. Mr MacMahon then moved the previous question, which had the effect of stopping the debate, and the voting being equal, the casting vote of the Speaker was the means of shelving the original question ; but had the motion been put, it is believed it would have been carried by two votes, notwithstanding Mr Franklyn's apostacy. The best proof of this is that the Government has been defeated on the question of Mr Dent's salary, and so confident were the Opposition of success, that they were again to propose a want of confidence motion last night, the result of which has net yet reached us. But to continue the narrative of events. The West Coast' members were so disgusted with Mr Franklyn's conduct that they refused to recognise him either publicly or privately. In addition to this they carried a motion which compelled the Government to lay on the table a telegram, showing the private negotiations which had been carried on between Mr Franklyn and the Superintendent, which give the true key to our member's strange conduct, and also to the proceedings during his election, when the whole influence of the Government officials, and particularly the police in the district, was brought to bear to secure his return. He was to be a warming-pan for Mr Kyunersley, and, accordingly, when that gentleman arrived, MrFranklyn telegraphed his resignation in his favor. This, it appears, he afterwards withdrew, and the question was raised whether he had the J power to do so; and whether he had not forfeited his seat by his act. The question was referred to the Attor-ney-General, who decided that Mr Franklyn, having resigned, could not afterwards withdraw it, and his seat was vacant. A new writ was ordered to issue for the Grey District, and a vote of censure was passed upon the Superintendent for his participation in such a disgraceful proceeding. When the election takes place will only be known when the writ arrives ; but, as we have already Baid, Mr Franklyn intends again to offer himself for re-election, and may be expected in the district in a few days. We have given this narrative of events

simply from a sense of public duty, but with strangely mixed feelings. We did expect to itind in Mr Franklyn, when he lefo the Police Force, a U3ef a\ and able representative ; it is our regret and that of the district that we are mistaken, because he has chosen so early to utterly destroy his usefulness, that to return him again would be sheer madness, and his abilities have all been directed to deceive those who placed such confidence in him. Publicly and privately, during his electioneering campaign he vehemently denounced the Government of which Mr Curtis is the head, for its systematic neglect of the Grey District, and its utter indifference to our wants ; and the people of the district thoroughly believed in him But what is the result 1 On the very first availablo occasion, he behaves himself, and uses language in the House, which he is told by the Speaker is disgraceful ; and shows himself in his true colors as the unscrupulous and uncompromising supporter of the Government, which has done so much to retard the progress of the Grey District, and which is held in such contempt by the majority of the residents. He proved himself a political traitor to the Grey Valley when j he uttered the words "that it was the wish of his constituents that he should vote against the motion." We enter our protest against such a statment, and leave it to the electors to say whether MrFranklyn spoke the truth, or whether he was simply looking after his own interests, and, in the most audacious manner, betraying those who had placed such unlimited confidence in him;