TARANAKI.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 660, 5 March 1859, Page 5

TARANAKI.

Our papers from .this,pro virice are to the 12th ujt. ;

The Provincial Council'met for a short session on thei7th February. The address of his Honor the Superintendent on the occasion is thus commented "6n by the 'Herald.:— ■ : : : The address of the Superintendent to the Provincial Council explains his Honor's motive for calling it together at a time which must be inconvenient to most of- the- members,, and: announces his intentionof proroguing it.:fo.r ; ,a, sjiprt period, after it: has two resolutions' giving effect to those of the 'last; session: relating to ..the.- lease of the sea beach and; land contiguous thereto .to .Captain Morshead, and; tlie1 Appropriation Bill for the year 1850. ' The-wajiti ofa new. Court house and- gaol'is* admitted, but th<3 outlay* necessary for their ereection is stated to' be beyond the means of the proyince.,<; iThe , Waiwakaiho^ bridge,, is : said ;to be progressing .fay ourably,. althpugh. the ,expense of, its construction proves a serious' drain' on the Provincial resources/. We .do, not. understand this.. The Loan Ordinance,, 1857, .authorises: the raising of--. £1,500 on' debenture's, in '< aid of-the cost of the, bridge (£2i3oo);'; It appears; that £915 hasalready been paid'to the ■ contractor out of the provincial' chest without raising; any money on ,:loan, consequently; the;, issue.. of the authorised amount; of debentures will provide ample .funds for the cpm- ;- pletion of the worlc The same Ordinancei also empowers the Provincial Government to raise £500 in aid.of, the cost,of erection of a Court house and gaol, which amount,,in addition to the, sum which might be realised by the sale of the site of the present buiidirigs.'.shpuld suißce to defray the cost of a hew Court house-and "gaol. The Government evidently contemplates'paying for the bridge without issuing debentures, as it has made no provision in the estimates for the payment of interest thereon. So far from any drain on the provincial resources being felt; the salaries of the Provincial Treasurer and his clerk have been increased; an.additional premium for, .the propagation ; of the Scotch thistle offered; ■and'the'bonus for a.direct trade to Sydney continued; a sseryice which/the Manager of the New Zealand* Eoy.il Mail Steam Company would undertake' to -perform- in la more; satisfactory manner without any bonus from thejPrpyince., The General; , Government;' will probably. allege the continuance of this pay'nient as a reason for excluding Taranaki frpm[ the Government intercolonial steam route. '■We trust Jthat:his;Honor's expectation; that the iarid [recently purchased in the ; Mangpyaka district will shortly be placed at.thp disposal of the Pfp.vin-: ■cial G6vprrinle!rit'may be realised, and that,his belief ■in thb early:pureliase;of :landin! other quarters may . not prove: unfounded. ! The information that..thtf Land Purchase Cpmmjss.ipiiet;is. .ins.truct^cUq-esr;; ; plore1 the country'betweenJihe.Mtarafand.Mpkaii, - nvers,-' withvtiib yi'eHv of discovering, a.practicable ' roadFbeiweeff TilbkauCand :-SS^ Plymouth,, would lead lus to; conclude'.that-no immediate'^urchas^ot ' land I im.-tbis provinep, pit {i e ; ypn.;negptta.t.ipn. .ioj| ;tne, purchase" is contemplated by the General Government. We believe that the employment of the Land

.Commissioner will not bo attended with success. We lmve full faith in his energy and ability, but we fear that the natives will suspect'that the object of his exploration of the intervening country .is the purchase of the bind, and will, therefore, impede rather than assist him. ■ .

Jt 18 gratifying to learn that the Customs revenue; exhibits .a steady increase, that, the.expenditure of 1858. lias not only been kept within the amount voted by the Council, but left, after advancing £950 from the Provincial. Treasury for.the Waiwakaiho bridge arid immigration, and providing for all contingent liabilities, as shown in the financial statement published in another column, a balance of £142 17s. sd. remaining in the Treasurer's chest on the 21st December last; and, above all, that the •province is slowly but steadily progressing in wealth and prosperity. Upon the whole we freely admit that his Honor's address is not unsatisfactory.

■ ■ A SANATORIUM. The following letter had been received:— Colonial Secretary's Office, ; ;,. Auckland, 22nd January, 1859. ; Sir,—Colonel Wynyard, C.8., lately commanding the troops in this colony, having learnt that it was in tlie contemplation of, the Imperial^ Government to 'establish somewhere, in the Australasian Colonies a SahatPrhim for invalids'of the Indian armj% drew the attention of this Government to the importanceof ; its establishment in New Zealand, which is in many respects, so suitable for the purpose. '..■'. : The Government, fully appreciating that' import- ; ance,,and anxioustb securetathe colony the advan- ; tages that would,obviously, accrue from such' an j institution within its territory, has: taken the necessary steps for, representing the mattpr, for the.favourable consideration of the Imperial Government. As-it is understood, however,: that the.Government of Tasmania, with a view to 'the'establishment of the Sanatorium in1 that colony, lias made liberal , o;ffersj both of land and buildihgs ? .contingent on that .condition, I have to'request that-ypur Honor will be .good enoligli to inform me whether, in the event of „the locality of: the Sanatorium being fixed in. the .province of Tarariaki, tlie Provincial Government is willing to furnish a suitable piece of land as a site; and, further, if it would: provide,.and if so to what amount, any, portion ,of the expense of erecting the necessary buildings thereon. „ I have the honor to be, sir, ; ;; . : ■ Your most obedient ser van tv .:,,... ; i •■.••;' " E.W.Stafford. . His Honor the Superintendent, New Plymouth. THE DEAL BOATMEN. - The ' Herald' has the following.remarks:—■ , By the ' Times 'of Oct. 8, we learn that the distressed state of the Deal boatmen had been the subject of a public meeting held a£ the Town Ball, Deal,/on the 6th of that month. Mr. FitzGerald, the Canterbury emigration agent. • addressed the meetings explained „to the. boatmen present the advantage of emigrating .to. New Zealand,: and offered a free passage to married; men.willing to proceed to Canterbury and establish a fishery there. Mr. R. Green, the eminent ship owner, Mr. Kingseotej and Mr.. A. Sandemari, severally,'.offered, to provide at, their sole cost, one boat each, fully equipped, with"a crew of six.men, and, liberal donations towards-a fund to assist the boatmen to emigrate had been contributed by Lord Dundonald and other individuals. ... : ; ; „:_:-- --•; It occurs to us that the services of these trained men, accustomed to;board vessels, in the. roughest weather, would be of great value to, this province in landing mails from ;the,,steamers, in ; weather that. the presentxjrews.wouldVnot venture to launch in. Admirably as: tlie harbour department is at present managed it frequently absorbs labour which might be . more.. profitably . employed in .agriculture. Should the present steam service be continued, our boating establishment will require augmentation. In.fact, should there be a market for this season's produce, it:will necessitate the perma- ; nent employment of a third, and occasional services of a fourth boat's crew;.. The system which has obtained, we know not upon what grounds, of allows ing the mail contract steamers the precedence in landing and shipping/ cargo :over sailing vessels previously anchored, in the roadstead, will render this "increased staff indispensable, or an advanced rate of freight will be demanded to compensate for the delay. Any siicli. additional charge must fall on .the grower, as the purchaser will take.* it into . account in reckoning the price he can offer him for his produce. ■-..,'..,■'' :■.... It must now be patent to all .that the payment of a; bonus of £600. per .annum to. a Sydney; Trader is a waste of the .Provincial Funds. ,The experience of the past year has clearly, proved that when produce will pay a freight, besides cost and charges, there will be no lack of shipping to carry it, and we; need not remind, our readers that .when it iwill hot bear these .expenses, its ship-' -nieht' by them may . benefit, the vessel but must entail a heavy a loss upon them. Presuhvingitherefore;that that this most unprofitable bonus will be. discontinued,-\ve may fairly suppose that a sum of mpney could.be placed oh the estimates;to defray the. passages of 10 married boatmen, the selection of whom the relatives, of some of our most ■esteemed settlers would probably undertake.. . ; . • :.•■ We have heard it argued that sailors can be obtained from Sydney, at a much cheaper rate,.but we submit that these are mostly men totally unaccustomed to boating in the surf, naturally fond of change, and who before they become efficient boat- , men get tired of the service and leavethe province.. The Deal boatman are accustomed to the surf from boyhood and would feel quite at home on our beach; if therefore, married men could be landed here with the assurance of fair wages and permanent employment adapted to' their former habits, we might." fairly conclude that they would settle down for life. Our roadstead teems with fish arid • would fenish remunerative employment to them during their leisure hours. To conclude, we feel convinced that the introduction of these men would eventually prove a great . gairi to the province, inasmuch as it would establish a less expensive system of landing and shipping cargo by means of sailing boats. ' :