DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1356, 3 December 1872, Page 2

DUNED IN.

(from our own correspondent.) November 23. Political matters have cropped, up a little farther from the surface during the past few days. It was expected by a good many that the city representatives would have met their constituents and giver, the usual account of their stewardship, seeing that both the gentlemen were in town for some days. However, they seem to have been either afraid to hold a meeting so soon after the session, while things were still fresh in everyone's memory, or they really could not spare the necessary time, seeing that they have both left for the north per the Nebraska. The dismissal of the Reid Executive and the formation of a new one under the leadership of. Mr- Tolmie has also been a fruitful subject of talk. ■There is a good deal of dissatisfaction about the last appointment, and it is thought that His Honor has not acted with his usual sagacity in the matter. Mr Tolmie is a very good member of the Council, but he cannot, in any sense, bo called a leader in the House, nor has he anything like a majority of the members as a following. On the other hand, Mr Reid has had great experience, and can command a majority of the councillors on nearly every public question. The constitution of the new; Waste Land Board is said to be the reason -why for a good deal of this shuffling' of the cards. Whichever party is in power at the beginning of the year, when the Waste Lands Act, 1873, comes into operation, will of course have the appointing of the Commissioners, and if the squatting party then get the ascendant, and put in a Lands Board after their way of thinking, the very thing will happen that the, farming party have striven so long and so hard to prevent, namely, the picking out of the eyes of the country by the runholders and other wealthy men, in large blocks, to the utter exclusion of the small farmer or cockatoo class. This sort of thing will not chime in with the colonising policy of the General Government, which requires large quantities of lard for the settlement of the people. At the close of the last session of the Provincial Council it was generally understood that a session would be held immediately after the che of the Assembly, and in order to discuss the above and some other matters, it is pretty generally thought that a session should be held now, or at least soon." A sort of circular, a round robin, has been going the rounds among the members of Council, asking the Superintendent to convene a meeting of Council, for which they state six different reasons— the new Land Act, the new Executive, deferred payments for land, the new Highway Boards Act, an alteration of the usuaj time for Council meetings, and the distri. :

bution>f the sum voted by, the' Assembly fDr the Road Boards; which, sum was not expended at the last meeting of the Provincial Council, so that if, they are called together, there will W.sdme rather^hot work to get through. One of the principal objections to Bishop Jenner being accepted as the spiritual overseer of thatparticular section of the church here styled Episcopal, was his being; what is called High Church. The ceremonies on Sunday last in S.t. Paul's Church, in reception; of .Bish'dp. Nevill, according to all Ihear, were about as "high" as*" they could possibly be— ; flowers, processions, decorations, &c.,: , with music of all sorts. Query, have the Episcopal body gained anything by the change? : • . A very successful meeting of the Otago Institute took place on Tuesday evening. Admiral Stokeß, who as Captain Stokes had charge 6i the "marine survey of this part of the colony, was nominated as an honorary member of the New Zealand Institute. . Dr Deck read a valuable and interesting paper on " The Influence of Temperature on Infant Mortality," illustrated by diagrams. Mr H. Skey then read a paper descriptive of a new form of astronomical telescope, the principle of which is that the reflector is a fluid contained in a suitable vessel, and made to. revolve horizontally, when the surface assumes the parabolic form which is best suited to collect all light rays falling on it. This paper was illustrated, by a working model, driven by a small electro-magnetic machine. Mr J. S. Webb read a paper .on the Zodiacal Light, treating, of the physical nature of that curious attendant on the sun, and giving a number of discoveries lately made ;by means of tho spectroscope^ . On Wednesday, at 35 minnte3 past noon, we experienced a pretty smart shock of earthquake. It appeared to come frpni a westerly or northwesterly direction, and lasted four or five seconds.- ' The motion was of a tremulous or vibratory nature, and; was accompanied by. a low rumbling sound. The quake was heard more or less distinctly all over the Province. A large number of Chinamen are to be employed on the railway works between here and Clutha next week. It is expected that the Port line will be ready for the formal opening by the time the Go-^ vernor arrives Kere, about the middle* of next month. ' X ". ; The weather has been very fine all the week through ; not a drop of rain. ;