THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1875.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2027, 5 February 1875, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1875.

It may be regarded as certain that the Provincial Executive will submit to the Council during the session which -commences to-day a measure for placing the Road Boards of the Province upon a more satisfactory footing, if it cannot provide additional revenues for those bodies. As the necessity for legislation of this character has been for a long time evident, it is to be hoped that the Bill will have received that careful attention which its importance deserves, and that a good and useful measure will be passed. We have no knowledge of the proposals of the Provincial Government, but we may indicate what appear to be essential requisites. First of all : the existing system of the election of Road Board members should be altered so as to confine the franchise to those who pay rates. It is absurd that, as has been the case — notably in the Paroa district, and also in a less aggravated form in other districts — the elections should be swamped by the votes of those who pay none of the local taxation, but who have succeded in controlling the composition of the Boards. It should be a sine q%ta non that both candidates and voters should be upon the rate-roll of the districi. This would be the most effectual means of preventing the abuses which have . from time to time occurred in the administration of Road Board affairs, because the power of regulating the expenditure would thus be in the hands of those who provide the money to be expended. A larger sense of responsibility would arise, and it is fair to assume that this would exercise a wholesome effect and improve the status and usefulness of bodies which have hitherto fallen into sad disrepute. Next, some provision should be made for guarding against one single place in any district by sheer force of numerical strength shutting out less populous communities from a proper share in the administration of local affairs. This could be done by dividing the road districts into wards, and no great difficulty can exist in tbe way of making such a partition as would secure a fair representation. The power of the Boards to levy tolls should be clearly defined,— at present the law is infirm in this particular, and advantage has quite recently, in the

Paroa district, been taken of the absence of this authority, although the iutention of the County of Westland Act in this respect is clearenough. We are not quite sure whether the Provincial Council could not, in setting this question at rjjifc, make the Ordinance a retrospective one. If such can be done, it ought to bo done, as it ia manifestly unfair that persons who have used the roads and paid tolls in as good faith as that in which they were levied, should, by a technical quibble, have succeeded in obtaining a decision in a court of law, ordering those tolls to be refunded. Another thing that ought to be insisted upon in relation to Road Boards is a better system of accounts and of audit. The slovenliness possible under the present loose system, ha 3 been made glaringly manifest in the case of the Paroa Road Board. Sufficient publicity is not given to the assessments, and steps should be taken to cause the assessment rolls to be published at least once in some paper circulating in the district, as is the case in most, if not all, of the other Provinces. What is to be done in the way of amending the Education Ordinance we do not know, but no doubt the recommendations of the Central Board will have received due attention. It is certain that some improvement is necessary in the present Ordinance, and we hope the ..amending Bill will effect what is necessary. There is some talk about an attempt to alter the system of taxation, the household tax being regarded in some districts as unequal and oppressive. But what is to take its place 1 Some say a poll tax, but that presents even greater inequalities than those under the existing plan. Under a poll tax, rich and poor alike would be placed upon the same footing, and that is not fair ; and, besides, any poll tax, applying as it would do to adult males' alone, would not produce as much as the household tax. At the outside there are not more than say, say 6000 male adults in the Province, and these at 10s per head — and it would be difficult to impose more — would only contribute, say L 2500 net, after allowing for defaults and costs of collection. We confess our inability to suggest anything better than the household tax, but if any more efficacious and equal plan of taxation should present itself, the Council will no doubt deal with it in a fair and liberal spirit. We are anxions to see the financial statement, and it is to be desired that when it is presented the Council will accept it as the basis of their appropriations and not, as has been the pernicious practice, overload the Estimates with additional expenditure, for which there is no apparent means of providing. And we trust that xhe Provincial Treasurer will not be too sanguine in his estimates of incomer The- experience of the past year should enable him to form a tolerably accurate idea of the probable revenue of the Province for the current year, and he should submitappropriations in accordance with it. Another thing we hope will be done — and that is, that the accounts will be placed, before the Council in a more intelligible and classified form. For instance, there has hitherto been no separate account published of the capitation allowance and special funds u the. -A q a a^fetase"'i? I"ca1 "can I nse*' seen Thow far the ordinary revenue of the Province meets its ordinary expenditure.

It is rather singular that the first information regarding Mr Vogel's mission to England should reach us from the source and at the time that it does ; and it is not even yet clear that tbe Premier has arrived in London. It is possible that the financial arrangements he is reported to have made had been prepared, if not concluded either by correspondence or telegram in advance of his arrival in London. The substitution of of the great financial firm of Rothchilds for the Crown agents for the Colonies, as the medium of floating the new loan, has no doubt been decided upon after due deliberation and with sufficient reason. We hope that the Premier's selection in this instance will prove advantageous to the Colony. We are certain that he thinks that it will, or he would never have made it. Should Mr Yogel be able to secure the successful floating of the loan — amounting altogether with the unraised portion of the previous loan to nearly five millions — he will have added another wreath to his brow.

An inquest was held yesterday before W. H. Harrison, Esq., at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, on the body of a female infant six weeks old, the daughter of Edward and Honoca Lodge. The child was found dead in its mother's arms early yesterday morning. The evidence went to show that the child was in its usual health when it went to bed with its mother the previous night, and the mother on waking found it dead in her arms. The result of the post mortem made by Dr Morice showed that the child had died from suffocation, and the jury returned a verdict to that effect. There was no evidence as to how this had been caused, although the probability is that the child had been overlain. There was nothing to show tha*; the mother was otherwise than'sober when Bhe retired to rest. A meeting of the Greymouth Ranger Volunteers took place at the Volunteer Hall last night, Mr Simmons in the chair. There was a good muster, and W. H. Revell, Esq, was elected Captain, subject to the approval of the Government, as that gentleman stated that on account of his position as Resident Magistiate some difficulty might arise preventing his holding a commission as Captain of Volunteers. C. W. S. Chamberlain, Esq, was elected Lieutenant, and J. H. A. Lyeh, Esq, Sub-Lieutenant. After some discussion as to the financial position of the Company, the meeting was adjourned, with a vote of thanks to the chair, till Thursday evening next, being the Monthly Parade for the inspection of arms and accoutrements. A complimentary benefit is to be given this evening at the Volunteer Hall to Mr Chapman, who will give one of his able entertainments _in legerdemain and second sight, in which he will be assisted by Miss Bonifon. These entertainments are remarkably clever, and it is to be hoped that on this occasion Mr Chapman's benefit will prove a substantial one. To-morrow afternoon an entertainment will be given at 3 i p.m., on which occasion the price of admission to all parts of the hall will be reduced to one shilling. A meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Greymouth Hospital was held at Marsden on Wednesday, when it was decided to hold the annual ball for the benefit of the hospital on Friday, Febmary 26. A public meeting was held at Mr P. Purcell's Hotel, Maori Gully, on Saturday, 30fch ult, when the following gentlemen were eleoted members of the Local Committee of

tbe Grey River Hospital for the ensuing twelve months :— For Italian and Kiley's Gullies : Messrs Thomas Stephens and J. Neander. For Stillwater and Waimea Creeks : Messrs Dennis Duffy and William Faraherkrugh. For Riverton Gully : Messrs _ Jn_Capi*>«-and Jn. Hogan. For Maori Gully : Messrs M. Phcllips and Peter Purcell. Mr Purcell was also elected secretary and treasurer. Tbe desirability of getting up a concert and ball at an early date was discussed, so as to keep up the contributions from the district to those of former years. The meeting terminated by passing a vote of thanks to the out-going committee. We learn by telegram from Nelson that the Rev Charles Clark was enthusiastically received there on the evening of the 4th, and proposes visiting the West Coast towns in a few days. The cargo of ironbark timber brought by the Samuel Merritt from Newcastle for Messrs Butler and Co's wharf contract was selected from the Maitland, Swan Bay, and Macquarie Lake districts. It consists of 119 piles, varying in length from 35ft to 57 ft, 200 pieces of squared timber, and 7 planks. All the timber required for the wharf contract according to the plans has now arrived, and some to spare in case of emergencies. The representative rifle volunteers appear to have received scant courtesy from their brothers in arms. A telegram to a southern paper says : — "The representative shots were most shabbily treated on landing here. About five of the Auckland officers turned out, and not one full private put in an appearance. The representatives warmly expressed disgust." The Auckland " Star " mentions as illustrative of the state of things on the banks of Waikato, that on Dr Corbet, the coroner, entering the room for the purpose of holding an inquest on the remains of the late unfortunate young lady, drowned at the Mercer, the const ible ordered him to take off his hat, and on the coroner hesitating, the con- | stable knocked it off with his hand. It is proposed to deuble the Borough rate in Wellington — that is to say to put it as high as it is in Greymouth. The citizens are sorely exercised thereat. The Taranaki "Budget" thinks that the youngest inhabitant of New Plymouth will be grey-headed before the Waitora and New Plymouth railway is finished. Out of a thousand ratepayers in Taranaki town not half have paid the Education Tax, and the others are all summoned before the Resident Magistrate. Active preparations are being made at Deborah Bay, Port Chalmers, for the erection of a fish-curing establishment on a large scale. The "Daily News" remarks that the ivory-hilted sword worn by Sir Garnet on the occasion of the presentation of the freedom of the City of London afforded a curious illustration of the irony of history. On one face of its blade is the inscription — " From ter Majesty Queen Victoria to the King of Ashantee." When the British force occupied O'oomassie, it was found on the bed from which Koffee Calcalli had hurried in flight. Put up for sale at the auction held of the Coomassie "loot," it was purchased by the officers of Sir Garnet's staff, and presented to him as a souvenir. The sword sent to the barbarian monarch by our Queen as a token of amity now hangs on the thigh of him who, holding the commission of that august lady, burst the capital of the treacherous potentate, and made him a fugitive. On the reverse side of the blade fiom the inscription just quoted is the other "Joseph" 1 Woliel^y^Gfe'iiOrrr fi from l *The officers of his staff. Coomassie. February 4, 1874. y '

Hotel accommodation in Wellington is becoming very scarce. On one day last week not a spare bed was to be had in any of the better hotels. Only a few days ago the Attorney-General, Mr Prendergast, said in Court that he had pleaded his last case -evidently referring to his elevation to the Bench. Meantime Sir George Arney declines to resign the poet of Chief Justicj. There has been a grand Masonic pilgrimage from London to Stratford on Avon to visit the tomb of Shakespeare, who, it seems, was a Freemason. There are now advertised for sale in the Province of Otago, two sheep runs the propert v of one firm. These are — Benmore, 26*1,560 acre 3 and 87,000 sheep ; and Galloway, 186,000 acres and 105,000 sheep. The two runs are equal in size to the counties of Berkshire, in England, which, at the last census, had a population of 196,475 souls. The news which arrived by the last mail that an Austrian lieutenant had attracted great attention on the Continent by riding from Vienna to Paris, a distance of 680 mites, in 15 days on one horse has suggested another race against time to a Melbourne amateur sculler, who offers to back himself for L2OO to row 750 miles in 15 days, or 1000 miles in 21 days. A nugget, weighing 41b avoirdupois, and containing 430z of pure gold, was unearthed near the Post Office, Jones's Creek, writes the "Tarnagulla Courier" of the 9th inst, "by Captain Bragg »and T. Robinson, both very old residents on the creek. Jones's Creek is celebrated for large nuggets, but it is sometime since such a handsome piece has been found." Archbishop Manning has announced that in the December number of the "Contemporary Review," he proposes to once and for ever demolish Freemasonry. Although the shaft of the Poverty Bay Oil Springs Company has not yet been sunk, it appears the prospects of the company are so good, from the ozzing of the oil into the shaft, that kerosene is now being sold in Gisborne at 9d per gallon.

Under the heading of "Another Lake Cure," the " Bay of Plenty Times " vouches for the accuracy of the following interesting particulars: — "Our attention has been directed to another remarkable cure effected by the wonderful properties of our sulphur springs. The particulars are briefly as follows :— A Mr Mosman, of Queensland, a gentleman of large means, had been suffering for the past three years from severe spinal rheumatism, brought on by a horse falling on him, and injuring the spinal region. After trying, to quote his own words, ' everything ever heard or thought of,' such as Turkish baths, Russian baths (steam baths), packing, wet blankets, homoeopathy, allopathy, &c, he still felt no better, and, as a dernier ressort, was induced to come cer to New Zealand to try the effects of the waters of the Rotorua district. Mr Mosman, attended by a servant, built and lived in a whare for two months, bathing three times a day in the waters of Tikitere and Whakarewarewa, for which privilege he paid the natives the sum of five shillings a week. Tikitere is a splendid waterfall of about 15f b, the water of which \ is a whitish yellow, causing the skin after a little time to become quite dark. He states that he daily and perceptibly grew stronger, and that instead of, as hitherto, feeling disinclined for society and 'mopish,' he rather courted it after two or three weeks' bathing. At the end of two months Mr Mosman left the springs perfectly restored, and again, to quite his own language, 'as strong and hearty as ever.' Mr Mosman and servant left on Friday last per Southern Cross for Auckland, en route for Sydney and Queenslaud. This cure speaks for itself, and Mr Mosman is a living testimony to the healing properties of the Tauranga sulphur springs." '

The monument about to be erected in the Church of England Cemetery, to the memory of iVI v Branigan, will be about 30ft high, the base being of granite or other hard stone ; the rest will be. composed of freestone. The spire is of the usual kind, and the general outlines similar to those of the Oargill monument and others of that class. The panels will bear inscriptions indicative of the career and profession of Mr Branigan. The cost of the erection of the monument will be formed by subscriptions raised by the Otago and Armed Constabulary forces. There is an instance at Poverty Bay of the' longevity of horses in New Zealand, where 1 there is a mare 35 years of age. This fine'; o'd mare has a foal at foot at the pres«nt| time, and shows few sign 3of breaking up. She was originally imported fr»m Sydney by. Captain Reed, of Gisborne, who traded her; away 10 the natives of Poverty Bay. After many years the mare again became the property of the Captain, who regards her with no little interest. ; Oamaru is going in for a Gas Company,' being incited thereto by the example of< Titnaru. This means more consumption of Greymouth coal. . They have immortalised Mr "Yogel in; Napier by naming a street after him. Sir Donald M'Lean has been similarly honored. Carbonate of ammonia dissolved in warm water at the rate of half an ounce to the wine bottle full, is stated to be an almost perfect antidote in cases of cattle poisoning from tutu. The quantity administered may vary from a half -pint to a quart. It is suggested at Auckland that direct; steam . communication should be opened' up at once between that port ana Port Chalmers. George Thompson, the well-known antislavery orator, is reported by the Home; journals as being much in need of pecuniary; assistance. He is upwards of seventy years of ago, is in feeble health, and in very straitened circumstances. It is over forty years since he commenced his anti-slavery campaign in Edinburgh. For five years he was in Parliament, from 1847 to 1852, aa M.Jf. for the Tower Hamlets; but in 1852 he lost his election, the orator being beaten by a Mr Butler.

The "Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser" has be»n excluded from the readingroom of the Dunedin Athensum on religious grounds. Mr Evans, the editor and proprietor, publishes a long letter in the Otago " Guardian " The reasons for the exclusion may be gathered from the following extract from Mr Evans's letter:— "1 venture to think you cannot have read the papers animadverted upon. What have they stated ? That, in the words of Christ, this is 'an adulterous generation,' for the very obvious reason that, outside of the savage races, there are no human beings joined together by God. Will the Rev. Mr Stanford, who seems to have taken a prominent part in the proceedings of the Athenaeum Committee, point out any Church or any human being who is divinely commissioned to join people together in • holy matrimony,' as it is profanely called; and, if so.willhe be good enough to explaiin when, where, by whom, and how the authority was conferred ? . But what then ? Has it been proposed in the columns of the ' Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser ' that the civil compact and legal restraints of marriage should be relaxed or abolished ? Quite the reverse. It has been shown that this human institution is a barrier against far greater evils, and that, as in the days of Noah, so it will be now— all those rying and giving in marriage ' until the Son of Man appears ; but all those who will have part in the First Resurrection (and they are all here — the ' generation ' spoken to by Christ has not passed away, and cannot pass away until every jot and tittle of his Father's words have been fulfilled) 'neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven ;" that is, entirely separate from and averse to carnal intercourse."

An Edinburgh paper, of a recent date, ! contains the following extraordinary shooting :— Mr Edward Ross and Captain Fenton shot recently to decide a tie for the National 1 Rifle Association Cup. The match took 1 place at Wiston Park, Leicestershire, the residence of Sir Henry Holford. The agreement was to fire 100 shots— so at 200, and 50 at 600 yards. The following is the remarkable score of the second day :— 200 Yarbs. E. Ross 4111144111111111111111344 ; Captain Fenton 4444444443344444344444433 600 Sards. F. Ross ... 44443444444044444434444444 Capt. Penton 3343343444444434444444334 At the 600 yards Mr Ross fired once without a bullet, which will account for the cypher in the Bcore, aud for the extra shot. The match resulted in a victory for Ross.