Hawke's Bay Times. Nuliius addictus jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1872.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1426, 12 September 1872, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nuliius addict us jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1872.

Among the parliamentary Papers last to hand we pole the Report on Public Works by the Assistant Engi-peer-in-Chief, which contains thirty-two •valuable sketch-maps, showing the existing and contemplated lines of road in rations parts of the conptr}', as well as proposed lines of rail way- The plans reflect great credit on the draughtsmen —A. |£pch and T. Perhaip—the foi iper of whop? was for a number of yeais draughtsman in tbesurvey office, Napier. Another important paper relates to the development of the coal-mines of the (Jolony. The plans attached, moat of which bear the signature of Dr Hector, ar§ drawn and lithographed ip a style highly creditable to all concerned |n their production. A great number pf papers, also illustrated with sketchpaaps, relate to the water supply on Various gold-fields, but these, though of great importance in prining districts, do not possess the general interest which attaches to tfie others. No pewspaper ip this Colony sp repeatedly calls its contemporaries to order as the WelliPgfon Independent—its hands are ever raised in horror at sppio breach of decorum on the pail of thofse journals whe wk* a difeepc side

in politics ; yet few transgress the limits of fair criticism more than that paper itself. In a late issue, in an editorial, it says :—" Sir Geoffrey Hudson —we beg his pardon, his Honor Mr Curtis." " Sir Geoffrey lliidson" is the title of a hideous and imbecile dwarf in Sir Walter Scott's romance of " Peveril of the Peak." This opprobrious title is applied to Mr Curtis because he is a man somewhat kelow the average height, and—ran opponent of the late Ministry. The Independent's precepts are widely at variance from its example. The Wellington city members, says the Evening Poat, have not impressed the Colony with any high sense of their ability during this session. Mr Hunter, however, by speaking against time, on the 3rd inst, staved off the division, and secured the. Ministry another 24 hours of office. This, the Post remarks, is the most brilliant episode ot his political it cost the Colony about £300..

The Thames Advertiser predicts that if the Colony goes on "progressing" for the next seven years at the same rate as during the last, it will find itself in the Insolvency Court. Though the debt- of the Colony has been largely augmented, a great increase has taken place in the population, and new taxes have been imposed, the ordinary revenue of the Colony, as shown by the figures below, has remained almost stationary. Shillings and pence nve omitted. The figures speak for themselves : £ 1865-66 908,634 1866-67 ..1,028,006 1867-68 980,707 1868-69 1,005,933 1869-70 1,034,470 1870-71 935,364 1871-72 1,007,000 We take the following from the Evening Post, September 5 :—Every Ministry that comes into power in New Zealand promises us "efficient and economic administration," but we are still as far off as ever from obtaining either the one or the other. In fact, the economic portion of the promise recedes daily farther from our view, and the administration yearly becomes a heavier burden. The Estimates show an increase in some departments out of all proportion, during the last few years, to the requirements of the country. An army of civil seivants has been created, whose only occupation must be to help each other to do nothing. The department which shows the most marked increase of late years is the Native and Defence Office, the expenses of which are now more than fou r times as great as they were three years ago. Jn 1868-9 a large force was employed in the field, but the whole of the clerical work of the Defence Office was carried on by an Under-Secretary and a few clerks, at an expense of a little over ,£1,700 a-year. But in 1872, with no force actively employed, the total clerical expenses of the department have mounted up to no less than .£7,462. The Native and Defence Office, what with its Accountant, Chief Clerk, Record Clerk, and the Colonel, with travelling allowances, who is secretary to the Defence Minister, costs about £1,825. The Militia and Volunteer Office is estimated at £1,160, the Store Department at £1,045, not to mention an item of .£1,592 for stoi'ejjeepers. The constabulaiy expenditure including the Commissioner, who is after all little more than a head clerk, amounts, including another *' storekeeper "to £1,850. Thus we find that the expenditure of the department, amounts to seven thousand and odd pounds, not including the host of militia adjutants, commanding officers, arm cleaners, and others who, under some übiquitous title or another, draw colonial pay. But the most glaring item in the bill is the wholly unnecessary storekeeper's department, £2,627. There is great room for reduction here, and when the estimates come on for discussion, we shall tope to see, if not a plean sweep made of the department altogether, at any rate spme copsiderable alterations made.

In driving a tunnel at Reef ton, a seam of coal 16 feet thiefc, and containing a good deyl pf tpsip, was bored through,