THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1871.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 105, 17 February 1871, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1871.

It*creased \v;..ter supply for •fields'-is,"^^v'ithdut'duubt, one of the prin- . .cipaViiiVd'titf: time one of the most difficult questions of the day."' - Sut-h being- the case, and premising that t:.available -water exists, and J sLi fjfrieiit ilunds \v ill* be forthconii rig 1 0 Utilize it, letHil proceed to c onsider for a moment liov tlte' money could be Im-dst'.ojudkgoH*Jy expanded in further- . u ance of 'thatvmost., impontant object—'the jjositfon : df the miner ameliorated* Jiy of? 11 ; 1 1^ 80 indispensable to his at a very con side,-Hrably-ireduced rate, and an increased-•and-thriving population settled on our, LGoldlieids-—dealing, nevertheless,, in a; spirit of-justice and fairness with all [ ai-quired - and ,f We \vo,ukl ; l t6' 7 ;(i!ie JBstricfc ;pitly, I Qt,iie;r^to,' tie' exl;aivsioils ; ''of •tjlife' somewhat mi/le haye.^t^uckjis on [the sHibi bMii v W ,; in g Wfcbfcffr^s»e-! »>ybieb would .

meet the necessities of this GoldfielcL would, in" a greater or lessor decree, be applicable to all other .Goldfields of the Province. We have said that our ideas ;pp(?ii>the question are /somewhat yrude, .it. may"'be that 1 hey are perfectly unworkable at the same time th y are made in n » spirit of dogma, but rather with the hope of evoking discussion and inviting suggestions. We bold, and ever <l»ave held, that- rights, obtained from the pj;o.wn —w]ietlier,under Crown ! grant, watei\ license, . pastoral ' agricultuHl ; lease, mining extey- | ded claimji i residence,, certificate, y or c miher's right —when granted -by an ofjfrcer.duly; .appoin'ed by ! tVf# C'rowij in ' tliat behalf,*ar£ vested .rights to. all intjentsi^and. Jiujjjoses—rights which the. Crow%miist respect, and t which cannot be cancelled without either its being shown that /fehey. hgve been aco uired by mis re prSSent4tdoii their' canceL- r lation or modification has been rendered by circumstances of public.ipolu-y and. Expediency. .In the first place, having no sympathy with fraud; we- hold /-the? cancellatiou of rights acquirediby such .means to be not only-fair but just'; -but- while we ainiit'this ''iriu&K, must admit also that rights, of whatsoever k:nd, ly acquired;-must -he respected and compensated',' if their daueellation be imperatively' demanded '.for 'the sake of p,uhric, t expediency. can, we thinkj be no doußt that one of the great difficulties in-—increasing the water jsup[dy on this G'otdfield will be rhe 'fair 1 anT holiest dealing with the water rights at present in existence. What we mean., is, whether, after having granted cert a iiv rights to privates individuals, in order to induce them to expend capital)^the Government would !>e justified, >as custodians of the public funds, in .depreciating the value of the rightCgraiited by them byj -fringing in a further supply of water atit|(e public oxjk:rise, and compelling- thei. rights gran'el to 'private indiviauals 'to compete with it. We hold that granting of many of these and.without conditions to have been a mistake, but we think- it too late to get over the defect or remedy the error. -;If our premises, t\ien, be. correct, and that there exists not only water available to.'increase the supply, hut the money also to coivluct. it 10 and store it in this neighbonio.Ml, we confe tlien to the qlies'ion of dealing fairly with the rights a;ready 'in existence. - We will estimate-roughly these rights to be -worth from £ll KOi)lj lo £2 !• 000. Th's sum would have fo be paid before the Government could hen 'stly an.l fairly dispossess the present holders of their Acquired rights. . JS'ow, by the plan which has struck us, notiuily could a very L rge additional supply of water be brought in, but the existing rights at the same time virfu'illy bought out, by theimposition of a maximum charge. The plan wliich we proposers, that the Government should bring!,in, at the. public cost, as large., a supply of water as possible, either by-river or reserv :ir as the case may be; that, upon its bei- ing £*;> brought in it : s!iould be offered to the present-companies in quantities proportionate to their present rights ; ■that the companies shouldfjpay • o the Government a sum per hea*l sufficient to give interest at the rate" of, say-ten percent, upon the outlay, and form a sinking fund which at the expiration of a given number of years would cover the total cost;of construction.. For this the Government should demand that the price of should not exceed £1 per Hogh'urn hcyid, and that the water acquired under.the old rights should be sold at the same price—viz., a maximum of L per Hog burn head —the woi ks to be kept in repair by the companies.

We have been told that there is already sufficient water oil the 11 burn, Mild that if tliere were a larger supply tliere 1 t'O'uld he no further demand. This we hold to he entirely falWe incline to the opinion that were th,e, supply of double, n;;y,s more th'aii t .doubte |the present tjuantity,. and procurable at £ L per head per week, not. .only., wou d the miners I here iise a very s niueli larger quantity than . they are ,a't' present able to afford, but #.large population would s,oon be induced to.settle ui our midst, and ground hitherto to be too poor to work woukKbe* put to imme liate hud proH.table: account. That t!i .r,A ai;e diiß '|ti_t'iiAvay of the sc'-enre: we have we fully admit, at the same tiine Vvo. co.tntneiid the 'Subjevt''-to-'" l th'd rttreiul attention and consideration of all parties interested

in the hope that, imperfect- and crude as our ideas may be, so lead to discussion as at length touring fruit by the proposal of an undertaking which no|" cm4v jvorkable but, at the same to all and every person concerned. .

Since ti c Nomination of >'aturdTy last the t/>wn_ and ; -nc'i"ghborhood have been in a state of feverish electioneering excitement, each party appearing to be confident in his own man winning. It was soon understood/ bo\v£'yer,V that Mr. Joseph Bremner, from the fact of his being in receipt of emolument. from' the Government'as.pggtmaster at Hamilton, was disqualified to stand —in fai;t r anuaddress to the electors: from that gentleman to that eifect made its appearance- <on the following Monday. Mr. Bremner not, however, having made the prescribed statutory - declaration before a magistrate, his name could not be tala-'li' Yrotn the" list of candidates, it thus happens that in the list, which we subjoin that gentleman's nume appears with a round O. The same thing may be . said of Messrs. George and Hertslet', who "retired" at a in the : Contest—Mr. Hertslet,'whose address appears in another column, retiring o i the very inorping of the election. The contest then lay between Messrs. Mervyn, Macassey, and Pratt, and on the afternoon of yesterday, at about 4:30' p.m., the following notice was posted, on .'the door of the polling booth Mervyn ... ... ... 141 Maciissry ... ...' ... 69 Pratt. ... ... ... 0 From'"''the morning before the election almost to the "final close of the Poll/squ ; bs, lam'poors/'and caricatures abounded, exemnj: gn at merriment as hour after hour/they made the ir appearance. The greatest harmony prevailed, though the mirth was at-times somewhat uproarious, reminding one, on a very small scale, of similar events at llome. Each party put.iorth his full strength, and canvassing had been carried on by each, of the three aspirants to senatorial honors with great; vigor. The supporters of Mr. Macassey honestly admit; their disappointment at the defeat of their candidate, which they 'ascribe in a great measure to the withdrawal of Mr. Hertslet. to

whom they do not tail to nserii<e improper motives and ulterior views. These assertions Mr. HertsletCoin' ats in his address iii our present issue, and explains the motives by which he was actuated in withdrawing. -There can be no dou-ht' that Mr. HerMet's withdrawal materially lessened Mr. Macaw-, sey's chances of success. Since, however, Mr. Mervyn has been returned we say returned, for the outside districts cannot materially affect- thoimh t'>ey may add to his majority—we trust that he may prove true to his constituents. mindful of the trust reposed in him v and energetic in the discharge of the duty which, he has undertaken. The following are the official returns .which liave us yet come to hand • s s • S ' P S 2' ' © 8 • S _• % 53 £ t E a £ a (0 a £ § t cS is « i— l w- Zr c-i t- K; o 35 . M 'J R Brwner- 0 0 0 o*o 0 E T Gvorge - 0 0 1 0 0 1 If <J Hert>!et- 0 0 0 1 0 1 J Mncassey ■ f9 12 1 0 2 74 J> 11 Morryn- 141'. 47 22 7 0 217 •T S'Pratt'-* - 0 1 11 29 12 53 The reV'urr.a from the terpentine had npt arrived up to the hour of going to press.

The rSonrl.-iy Family have been playing in ' t.hisMown (luring the whole of 1 his week, and have obtained a fair amount, of patronage, but j pot; so much as their talents entitle them to j expect. This may to some extent be accounted I/ioi* by the nee ing exci'em.nl. \v:ndj has | pe vaded the town since t lie day of nomination, /sjuee which tine the indication a j pears to have been rather to discuss p lities, nnd the relative qualifications o the opposing candidates. thaii to Attend amusements, however nfc- [ tractive. The Family, we believe, intend to | play on Friday, Saturd/y, and Monday evenand we trust, that in spit-e'ef the draw-' I back to which we have rtjfe.red, their visit to Naseby will 11 t prove to have been altog.lher an uiiorolitable one. .

Wk are glad to be able to report t he perfect sncces- \v'iich at tended' the concept and dance in tfi'c IVlaisbniC Hall on Monday last, given in aid oT' the fuiids of the iSaseby Brass 1-Smni, whose gratuitous'Wrviccfe have so gl.jtldei.ed the social gatherings Jn this town, die hall was crowded to excess, an-l the entire ljriii talent of Niiseby wajs put into requit-ition The songs, duets, an I pieces by the baud were received with eclat by a wel; pleased audience. Weishouhl foil to do justice to our local talent were we to omit to make special mention of a solo on the piccolo played by Mr. J. M'Gillivrav, which elicited much and well merited

At the conclusion of the conccrt4| danping commenced, -which was kept up wfl mu&h spirit until far into the small hourn i (lie following morning. Upon Die whole, most enjo\able evening wnfi passed. We :i glad to report tint the proceeds realised ll hundc-ome sum of £2b lis. 0 1.

At angling oft lie miners held nt the Vil toria Hall, on (lie evening of Wednesday hj« to determine upon the candidate whom thfl Phould mfpporf id the lute election, Mr. (J. ■ IJaughton, Commissioner on the waters' ppl\ addressed the miners in nil eloquent nnd telj iiVj} speech, strongly urging upon Miem toelej' Mr. .Mervyn or the other loeal candidate v ftty IJ.irtslet), and pointing out t lie ill cU'eetn wjhit'-l ■Would accrue lo the district hy electing n law ver from Dunedin—a nominee of the i-qunllen The Government, must be well up in fui,< when they can afford to wild their paid m Hints towing through the country at the iij| of an election. We think that if Mr. Ham-l ton lm> really any business to do lie would I better employed in attending to it than in a< ii.g ns he acted on Wedjvci day night List, ft I Haughtou is im astute polil ieiun, multiple; ing and fluent speaker, and we have no hesit tion in saying that, his—in our opinion—ve uncalled tor and improp' r address on Wedix day evening last. tended materially to lead 1 niineis to record their votes in l'a\orof the m cessfnl candidate.

The Hev. J. Wood will preach in tlx* M sonic Lfall, Naseby, ou Sunday evening next,l hall-past six o'clock. 1