LATEST TELEGRAMS.

Kumara Times, Issue 1738, 26 April 1882, Page 2

LATEST TELEGRAMS.

*. . [new ZE.UiA.NI) PRESS ASSOCIATION.! Wellington, April 25. Tlie Hineraoa, with Te Whiti and Tohu on board, arrived here at 5 o’clock this afternoon. The steamer did not come alongside the wharf, l.nt a gangway was rim ont and members of the Government and several other influential citizens proceeded on board. The Press also were allowed to visit the vessel. The steamer had a very rough passage from Taranaki, and both Te Whiti and Polm (who are dressed in prison garb) appeared as if they had suffered from sea-sickness. They were, however, in good spirits. Wi Parata’ an influential chief who was at Parihaka when Te Whiti was taken, was given permission to interview the prisoners. Te Whiti informed Wi Parata that he did not understand the reason of his removal to Christchurch, and did not know whether it was life or death (meaning liberty or confinement). He also stated that he was anxious that the other chiefs imprisoned at New Plymouth should he sent to Christchurch with him, as it was through him that they had been arrested. The

Hinemoi failed for Lyttelton at six o’clock. Te Whiti and Tohu will be imprisoned at Addington Gaol, Canterbury.

A destructive fire broke out at 1.30 tin* morning in the premises situated in Panama street, and occupied by Messrs Smith and Overend, wine and spirit merchants. The fire spread rapidly, and in half an hour the building was completely gutted. Through exertions of the fire brigade the stores of J. H. Heaton, commission dgent, and George Thomas, auctioneer, were saved from destruction, although damaged,,to some extent by water and fire; The brigade and salvage corps forked splen : didly, and no doubt prevented what at one time looked as if it were going to be a disastrous conflagration. Nothing known as to the origin of the fire. One of the proprietors was in the store’ at midnight, and states that when he left everything was safe. The insurances are: Building—South British, £6OO National, £2OO. Stock —South British £1000; National, £300; London Liverpool and Globe, £500; Imperial, £IOOO. The Union and South British have two-thirds of their risks re-insured in the Scottish, Imperial, Trans-Atlan-tic, and Standard offices. The National is h df re-insured in the London and Lancashire. The South British have a line of £7OOO on Thomas’s store, which was partially destroyed. Ashburton, April 24. A maii rial riled Peter Kennedy was seen to stagger arid fall in the stieet on Saturday night, ami,- as he was wellknown to the police as a confirmed drunkard, was arrested. lie remained insensible till 2 o’clock the following day, when medical assistance was called in, and it was found he was suffering from apoplexy. A verdict in accordance with medical evidence was returned at the inquest, the jury adding a rider that the police in future sbould receive instructions to call in medical assistance where insensibility extends beyond a few hours. REPORT OF THE DEPUTATION re water (Question. The following is the report read by Mr Seddon, M.H.R., at the meeting at Dillinau’s Town, on Monday evening The Chairman Kumara Miners’ Committee. Sir, —Having previously furnished von with a report of the interviews that to -k place between the Hon; the Minister of Mines and liivself at Auckland, and the results thereof. I> have now the honor to furnish report No. 2. t left Auckland on Monday, April 3, and proceeded by steamer to Taranaki, therice overland to Wanganui, where I joined G. G. Fitz Gerald, Esq., M.H.R, and on 6th of April we proceeded by steamer to Wellington, arriving there on Good Friday afternoon. On the Saturday following interviewed Colonial Treasurer re Westland county matters and water and sludge channel dispute, and arranged that we would meet the Hon. the Minister of Mines on Easter Monday morning at 10 o’clock. In the interim we prepared certain proposals, copies herewith attached. Briefly explained the proposals were as follows :

1. Water supply an l charges therefor—As regards the charges at Stafford and Waimea we considered the present charges reasonable, and suggested no alterations. As regards the charges at Kumara. we considered that a reduction should he made in the price to be paid for water from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. and from midnight to 8 a.m.; by so doing it would induce miners to use water for the twenty-four hours, at present during ordinaiy wet weather, during the hours from 4 p.m. to Ba.m.’ water is running to wiste, whilst from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. there is not sufficient water to supply those requiring it. gain, nine pounds per week for one head of water for twenty-four hours we considered extorionate. At Stafford, Waimea, as will he seen by looking at schedule attached, the sliding scale is in force, whilst the charge for first water for twenty-four hours is only two pounds per week. 2. Payment in advance for water— On this subject we objected “in toto” to the principle, and submitted other proposals which would have been fair to both the miners and the colony, inasmuch as free water for two months we advised should be given to all claims opening out, then two months further time to be allowed before any demand should he made for water money, afterwards that payment should he made after each washing up. We also proposed that some definite plan should be adopted as regards determining the principle as to priority of water, and so recommended that where certificates were in existence, then in such case that the date of application for certificate

sbould be the basis!, and Mere there were no certificates tliat priority slionlci be determined by date at .which each party domraenc'ed to use water. In makirig this recommendation we, however, stipulated that a discretionary power should be.Jeft_in._the hands of the manager to determine what would bS a fair time to give each claim wate-} and commencingjwdth.prior rights each claim should have water in rotation. As regards-penalties we recominended that prdcaiitidn Should be used against miners defrauding Government which would in the end recoil upon the miners as a whole to their injury. Easter Monday morning attended at Government buildings* and interviewed the Hon: the Minister of Mines, tfie Colonial Treasurer being pVesent. The whole questions Were gone into fully, the correspondeiice bein» very ioldminous; The Minister asked for further time, and thdt we ; should leave Copied of orir proposals with him until next day. He also asked US on what basis We framed our objections to the payment in advance principle. This we did, our first grounds being that the old system of paying after each washing had proved satisfactory to the miners and to the colony, and that the losses sustained had been very small indeed as compared with the gross receipts—that we had good grounds for believing that less than four hundred pounds had been wrote off as bad debts. 2nd. That the introduction of an arbitrary system -of cash payments upon short notice was unfair, and would prove oppressive to many miners iri poor circumstances and would prevent ground being prospected, and would limit the miners to the claims already’ opened out. Such being the case our’ population would decrease, and the' colony would be directly and indirectly a heavy loser and the amounts expended on sludge-channel and Water supply rendered unproductive. &d. That payment in-advance' was opposed to sound commercial-principles’, and that in the case of grain shippers, Gbvefnment for’ the convenience of large firm’s orily collected the tail way tariffs monthly,- and that the miners being the producers of a large and valuable export, and beinW customers of the Government Who were’ in this case simply venders of Water/ slroulcf be treated in a' m’ore - liberal manner than those who shipped away a f.*w sacks of wheat, or hales of wobl.The miners having paid up in the past their credit sh mid have been improved 1 , instead of being altogether destroyed and taken away. We then left after an interview of two hours, the Ministerfixing twelve noon next day (Tuesday)' for ns to meet him again. Accordingly on Tuesday, at the hour appointed, we interviewed the Minister of Mines, who stated that from communications received that morning, he found that our estimate of losses sustained were correct, and that less than four hundred pounds has been wrote off. This, said he, is an agreeable surprise, and ' very much to the credit of the miners j from the tone of the correspondence with the face management it was understood to be a much’larger amount. Taking up a telegram he said, from this it appears as if the miners generally weffe satisfied with the exception of seven slniclnw claims at Kumara. This telegram was signed “John Go w.” Both Mr FitzGerald and, my self emphatically denied that any such inference confrf lie drawn, because the, miners at Wainrea and Stafford, though working and usim* water yet they had notified the manager that they did not, in taking the water, intend to accept Government terms, and that the parties using the sludge-chan-nel had only signed the terms temporarily and on the advice of Mr Seddon, the Minister himself having expressed an earnest wish for the men to go to work. The Minister then stated that generally the bashs of our proposals were sound, hut that seeing the payment in advance system, worked well at Nelson Creek; and that the manager of the race had be -n advocating this course for some time past; that the Audit Department had also complained of the credit system and not wishing to upset what had been done, seeing he was the head of the Mines Department and wishing to prove to the miners that he meant what he said when in his telegram he informed, them that a liberal supply of water would be given in introducing the system, the. > previous instruction having been to give one month’s free water, after which they would be required to pay in advance, that a certain day should hoaxed for ♦he free water to commence;, all accounts up to.that.date to be paid and then free water for two months allowed. This would allow the’present claimholders to earn enough to-pay for the two months’ water thereafter) and was making a loss to the colony of over four hundred pounds.

(To he concluded in our next.)